CTSJ 3:1 (Summer 1997) p. 12

Book Review — Dr. John C. Beck, Jr.*

[*Editor’s note: Dr. Beck earned his B.A. at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Th.M. at Dallas Theological Seminary,. and his D.Min. at Western Seminary. John is the Director of Discovery Ministries, which offers seminars that help to equip churches to “do the work of evangelism.” His office number is 310–829-4355; his Email address is interim John has been an interim pastor, frequently does pulpit supply, and teaches theology and apologetics at Chafer Theological Seminary.] Journey Into The Light: Exploring Near-Death Experiences, by Richard Abanes; foreword by Norman L. Geisler (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996); 288 pages.

Richard Abanes is a cult researcher who has been quoted in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Christianity Today and the Christian Research Journal. Abanes’ book is a survey of modern man’s recent excursion into the phenomenon of the near-death experience (NDE). In this book Abanes answers questions concerning: the reality of the NDE; their reliability as sources of information about what awaits us after death; the kind of religions/spiritual beliefs, if any, that are coming from NDEs; and the identity of “the light,” NDEers regularly encounter.

To answer these questions Abanes divides his book into four parts. First, he describes near-death experiences both present and historical. Second, he renews alternative natural explanations of the NDE with emphasis on the physiology of the brain. Third, he discusses the problems commonly glossed over in the consideration of 1VDES. And fourth, Abanes gives a Christian explanation for the NDE. PART 1 Near-Death Studies 101 (A history of current research on NDE)

Only twenty years ago Raymond A. Moody coined the phrase “near-death experience” (NDE) in his 1975 book, Life After Life. Twelve million copies explain why America is so familiar with this subject, but NDEs are recorded throughout history. One of the earliest is mentioned in Plato s The Republic. A soldier, who is killed in battle comes back to life on the funeral pyre, and tells about his visit to the next world. NDEs were so plentiful in the Middle Ages that Pore Gregory the Great of the sixth century compiled a collection of them in Dialogues. NDE researchers agree that modern experiences mirror closely those of the past.

Researchers study what they call the autoscopic NDE, where the experiencer allegedly becomes separated from his body and is able to mew nearby objects and events from outside of his body. The ability to describe with accuracy events and objects while unconscious or clinically dead some consider irrefutable goof that NDEs are objective realities rather than subjective experiences. Next, they study the transcendental NDE where the experiencer looks into worlds that transcend or surpass our own earthly limits. They are the most interesting, because they give expanded revelations” and describe “alternate realities.” Third, is the autoscopic/transcendent combination that is “a blending of elements of both the above.”

Moody’s book, Life After Life, opened the door to the discussion of NDEs, and has become the “classic” on the subject. Moody outlines the experiences of approximately 50 people who have had NDEs and identifies fifteen elements that are usually common to the NDE.

These are the building blocks of NDEs, though every experience does not have every element. When it comes to a critique of Moody’s research, Abanes quotes Kenneth Ring, of the University of Connecticut. Ring writes, “Unfortunately we can derive no answers from Moody’s work because it holds little scientific value: The case history material he [Moody] presents appears to be highly selective, his (sampling procedures) were essentially haphazard, and his data were not subject to any statistical analysis.” PART 2 Mind Games (Natural explanations for NDE)

Abanes recounts that during the 1960s psychologists performed experiments in sound-proofed rooms where a subject would spend days on-end until hallucinations or sensations of floating would occur, or the subject pressed the “panic button” to be released from the room. A 1967 article from the American Journal of Psychiatry related how two trapped miners, 300 feet below the surface without any visual or auditory stimuli for six days, “experienced strange lights and saw doorways, marble stairs, women with radiant bodies and a beautiful garden.” Abanes says, “This, say some researchers, is exactly what happens to NDErs. An experiencer’s central nervous system, “while hyper-aroused by stress, is starved for stimuli.” A sort of “neural foraging” results, which in turn produces a series of internal visions and sensations. This dreamlike experience,. pieced to ether from stored memories, thoughts, and beliefs, is the NDE.

Abanes shows that “neurobiological changes can produce every NDE element in random order and with varying degrees of clarity.” Researchers have studied how altered states of consciousness can be caused with drugs such as LSD, cannabis, chloroform, ether, mescaline, hashish, and ketamine (“angel dust”).

One of the most significant research discoveries made by UCLA psychiatrists Ronald K. Siegel and Ada E. Hirschman was the writings of L. A. Cahagnet (1805–85). “Cahagnet felt that the hashish state reflected ‘mental well being and truth.”‘ In his book, Sanctuaire du Spiritualism (1850), he includes the detailed notes of fifteen subjects who took hashish under his direction. Nearly aft of Moody’s fifteen NDE elements appear in these accounts (ineffability, feelings of peace and quiet, noise, darkness, tunnel, body separation, meeting others, beings of light, a life review, coming back, news of death).

G-LOC (G-force induced Loss of Consciousness) is regularly experienced by dots of military aircraft during fast maneuvers of their jet panes. To prepare them for this physical stress on their circulatory system and its effects on CTSJ 3:1 (Summer 1997) p. 13 the brain, they ride the world’s largest centrifuge that has the capacity to spin at more than forty-eight times a minute. As soon as the pilot blacks out, the centrifuge slows down and the pilot regains consciousness. However, the centrifuge also produces some of the elements of NDEs, including “out of body experiences” (OBE). NDE elements can also be experienced m the normal dream state and through electrical probes used to stimulate the cortex of the brain during surgery.

Both life threatening and non-life threatening psychological stress can initiate an NDE-like experience. A fear-death experience (FDE), without injury that may bring on death though the person believes he will die soon, has many of the elements found in a NDE. From a researcher, Abanes recounts a story where a young marine recruit dropped a hand grenade and the pin fell out. The recruit knew that there were only moments to react, but he froze. He found himself leaving his body through the top of his head, then passed through the ceiling into a tunnel where he approached a bright light and a figure beckoned to him from the light. He experienced peace, love, and his life flashed before his eyes. He realized that the grenade had not exploded and was immediately sucked back into his body where he saw the sergeant pick up the grenade chuckling to himself. It had not occurred to the recruit that the grenade was a dummy.

Abanes does not believe that biological changes in themselves bring on NDEs. He does think that “NDEs may be brought about by numerous physiological changes occurring in conjunction with the activation of our inner FDE mechanism.” He discusses Hypoxia (not enough oxygen), cerebral anoxia (complete lack of oxygen), hypercarbia (too much carbon dioxide in the brain), and their part in maintaining the chemical balance m the brain. Research indicates that all of these, when out of adjustment, can contribute to the fifteen elements of the NDE. Abanes further discusses limbic lobe syndrome, temporal lobe seizures, and the art endorphins play. At this point, it would help if the reader were a neurosurgeon because of the technical nature of the discussion.

NDE researchers are usually divided into two major groups. First, there are objectivists who believe that the NDE takes the individual out of his body into another realm of existence. A variety of people hold this view, of whom many have a religious background. Second, are the subjectivists, who believe that the NDE is a subjective experience derived from within the individual NDEer. These people are often agnostics, atheists, or humanists who are not interested in the spiritual realm.

Abanes introduces a third category that he calls the “modified subjectivist.” He does not support the idea that NDEers leave their bodies, but that their experience takes place in their mind. “They are, in my opinion, nothing more than biologically based hallucinations built from sensory data and preexisting memories/thoughts/dreams.” Abanes adds his modification when he says, “At the same time, I recognize the reality of the supernatural realm and the spiritual forces residing there.” He believes this position can best answer the three questions posed by NDE researcher Michael Grosso who says:

“There are three components of NDEs which have to be explained: (a) the consistency and universality which they generally display, (b) their paranormal (psi) aspects, and (c) their power to modify attitudes and behavior.” PART 3 Explaining the Unexplainable

Because NDEs are found from all walks of life and all corners of the world, their consistency and universality, the objectivist argues, is evidence of an afterlife. On the other hand, the subjectivists use these same facts to argue that, “everyone has a similar brain, hormones and nervous system and that is why they have similar experiences when those systems fail.” Before Abanes attempts to explain the NDE psychic phenomena, he states his religious convictions, ‘As an evangelical Christian, I look to the Bible as the standard for measuring what is objectively true and for explaining physical and metaphysical realities.”

Abanes points out that “NDE consistency is not as great as some GE researchers suggest.” The tunnel comes in a variety of types including a mist or fog. The mode of travel varies from a cart to hailing a cab. Those met along the way vary from parents, to friends, and to complete strangers. Children have reported meeting animals, pets, fictional characters, and even cartoon characters. The beings of light range from grandparents, angels, and religious figures. Some Americans saw God and some Indians saw Buddha. The destination varied from a Texas pasture (by a Texan) to a brightly-lit American city (by Natives of Micronesia). Other elements of the NDE have inconsistencies reflecting that the experience comes more from the individuals “life course and cultural background,” including what has been “learned from religious practices and what their image is of God and heaven.”

After ex most NDEs as hallucinations and chemical changes within the brain, there is still a group of experiences that can be classified as having “paranormal knowledge.” Paranormal knowledge includes: telepathy (mind reading),clairvoyance (perception of an event not witnessed), precognition (perceiving of future events), and psychokinesis (mind over matter). Researchers call these phenomena “psi” for the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet, which they use to symbolize an unknown quantity. For objectivists, psi experiences are proof that the person has traveled to a spritual realm. Subjectivists explain psi experiences as ‘sheer coincidences, self-deception, or a combination of the two.” Unfortunately for the objectivists, Abanes has shown that scientific research is lacking in the area of the paranormal (mainly a failure to verify the claims that are made), and the best that can be said is that the NDEers “tend to say they manifest a variety of psychic abilities.” Because of the “alleged contact with spirits that seems to be a common theme throughout NDE testimonies,” Abanes concludes that “Modern society may have a new breed of shamans-NDEers.”

A natural by-product of the NDE is the transformed life (improved attitude, purpose and personality). In addition, the religious beliefs of the NDEr’s were strengthened. However, Abanes points out that these transformations are not limited to only those with a NDE. They are also found in the lives of people who have had a close encounter with death who did not have a NDE. Even a few NDEers recognize that almost dying, in and of itself, CTSJ 3:1 (Summer 1997) p. 14 produces natural aftereffects such as ones’ appreciation of life after recovery from open-heart surgery. Nevertheless, there is also a dark side to the transformations. Not all NDErs have a positive change in their lives. These negative examples do not make it into the popular books on the subject.

Abanes cites the work of Nancy Evans Bush, who says these changes may include, “long-term depression, broken relationships, disrupted career, feelings of sever alienation, an inability to function in the world, long years of struggling with the keen sense of altered reality. Divorce appears to be a frequent aftereffect.”

Abanes suggests that one may ask, “What about all the positive NDE aftereffects?” His answer is, “I believe these ‘positive’ aftereffects are not really positive at all. The revelational ‘truth’ that often come through NDEs contradict the Bible.” He concludes that the, “positive” effects “are in reality negative because they ultimately lead people away from God.

PART 4 True Enlightenment

This last section completes the reader’s journey “into the light.” Complementing his research with scriptural support, Abanes gores his final analysis, which gives the reader understanding of what takes place during a NDE.

The New Age movement is closely associated with the NDE according to Abanes. There is an “expectation of an impending spiritual leap in mankind’s evolutionary develoment.” The New Ager believes “truth” is available from a spiritual dimension separated from the physical world and at this point makes the connection with the NDE. It is during the out of body experience (OBE) that new spiritual revelation is gained to support the view of the New Age movement. Abanes again connects the OBE, NDE, and FDE to show how they are natural physiological processes that give the experiencer both the feelings of transcendence and oneness that becomes the basis for the development of New Age theology.

Abanes uses scripture to combat this theology of pantheistic monism, which believes that (a) since there is no sin, there are no sinners, (b) there is no judgment, but only a brief “life review,” (c) there is no hell, and (d) finally, everyone is going to heaven. Abanes points out that, though the New Age movement promotes the word “love” and that all religions are acceptable, nevertheless, they are biased. New Agers consider themselves “spiritual,” but think of Christians as only “religious”-and this is no compliment!

In his chapter, “Netherworld Explorers,” Abanes outlines the history and personal development of nearly a dozen names associated with NDE research. He begins with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, author of On Death and Dying (1960), who opened the door to the idea of a popular study of the subject of death. She was not a religious person, but she soon progressed to dabbling in the occult, and sought her own out of body experiences. This led to “sport guides” and revelation that was in drastic conflict with biblical doctrine.

Raymond Moody, author of Life after Life (1975), denied the existence of heaven and held. Yamamoto, in the Christian Research Journal, quotes Moody, “I believe that all the great religions of man have many truths to tell us, and I believe that no one of us has all the answers.” Moody has also moved into the realm of the occult. Because many NDErs saw a loved one at the end of the tunnel as they came near to the light, Moody has attempted to contact the dead. He searched history and discovered historical accounts of the ancient Greeks who constructed psychomanteums, or oracles of the dead. It was here that people could speak with spirits of the dead.

Moody authored another book, Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones (1993). Since that time, he has constructed his own modern-day psychomanteum called “Theater of the Mind” in Anniston, Alabama. Abanes points out that Moody and his subjects fail to recognize the possibility of self-deception or hallucinations, or even that “malevolent entities may very well be disguising themselves as departed ‘loved ones.”‘

Kenneth Ring, the author of Life at Death (1980), considers all religions basically the same. In an interview with Abanes, Ring claims, “I don’t have a particular religious orientation as such, but I never have, and I don’t expect to.” Nevertheless, Abanes shows that Ring identifies with the basic theology that is developed by the NDEers and its consistency with the New Age movement. Ring theorizes, according to Abanes, “that NDEs may be ‘an evolutionary catalyst in humanity’s ascent toward higher consciousness’ and that NDE’ers may, in some way, be a sign that humanity is nearing the conscious reunion with the Divine. Ring has called this reunion “Omega” or “the end point of human evolution.” Ring further suggests that NDEs and UFO encounters may be “alternate pathways” to “psychospiritual transformation,” and at this time he indirectly endorses channeling.

The only Christian Abanes interviewed was cardiologist Michael Sabom, author of Recollections of Death: A Medical Investiganon (1982). Dr. Sabom is the only known NDE researcher who affirms the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. He is also the only researcher who is quoted as saying

[E]verybody brings their own bias into the research. That includes me, Ring, Morse, Moody, everybody …. When someone is using an experience like the NDE as a reason for their beliefs, you have to question whether they had the belief that preexisted the research.

Dr. Sabom further states, “… to say that anyone is just objectively looking at the NDE with no preconceptions, no presuppositions, no worldviews is naive.”

In his closing chapter, Abanes gives the biblical perspective to death: the spirit/soul leaves the body. According to this, Abanes writes, “then the NDEers cannot be leaving their bodies.” This would mean that they were irreversibly dead. Hebrews 9:27 states, “it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment. “ Abanes concludes, “NDEers are not coming back from the dead, nor are their spirits leaving and returning to their bodies. CTSJ 3:1 (Summer 1997) p. 15

NDEers are simply being physically resuscitated from ‘clinical’ death, or cessation of some bodily functions.” This chapter includes an excellent use of scripture to discuss various aspects of death including: irreversible death being reversed, Lazarus; the sting of death; heavenly myths; and heavenly truths.

Abanes does excellent research. He consults and evaluates the major sources of information on NDEs, and includes in his book the results of several interviews with names prominent in the field. There are twenty-five pages of source footnotes to support the text, and a ten page bibliography. The appendix includes an interesting discussion of “hellish” NDEs.

It is interesting that the major researchers in the field do not believe that there is a Hell and, for the most part, do not include such stories in their research. Also, there is an article on the book Embraced by the Light, by Betty J. Eadie, a member of good standing in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Through Eadis’s NDE “revelations,” her book espouses many doctrines of Mormonism. When she first published her book in 1993, it circulated in Utah and was considered a Mormon book. When the book gained national attention, the text was changed, editing out distinctively Mormon words and phrases and in subsequent interviews, Eadie does not divulge her denomination because she does not “want the sharing of her experience to be confused with proselytizing.”

In his book, Richard Abanes offers in depth coverage of the NDE and brings together under one cover the work of dozens of studies and books on the subject. Abanes provides the background that a reader needs for a satisfactory understanding of the NDE and the framework that could be the basis for further study. I recommend reading this book.