Exploring Near-Death Experiences, by Richard Abanes; Foreword by Norman L
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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.