Can Near Death Experiences Tell Us What Happens After We Die?
NDEs are compelling. They’re also wildly inconsistent. They can stir curiosity, spark hope, and even nudge a skeptic toward considering God. But they are not a foundation for Christian doctrine. If we’re serious about truth, we must keep experience in its place and Scripture in its rightful seat.
The Core Problem: Experience Is Not Revelation
Let’s be honest about physiology: if someone truly had no oxygen to the brain for hours, we’re beyond “near” death and into a bona fide miracle of bodily regeneration. That’s not ordinary resuscitation; that’s divine intervention. If such a miracle occurred, the miracle itself, not the vision, would be the headline.
Now the theological problem: people report NDEs that feel just as real to them whether or not Jesus, judgment, or hell appears anywhere in the narrative. Some describe Jesus; many do not. Some describe judgment; many do not. You simply cannot build doctrine on a data set that contradicts itself across cultures, languages, and worldviews.
Why the Stories Diverge So Sharply
NDE content typically mirrors the experiencer’s spiritual framework.
- Hindu/Indian frameworks
Reports include encounters with deities like Shiva or Kali, “cave” passages, or bureaucratic afterlife “clerks” who discover a mistaken identity and send the person back. None of that is Christ-centered. - Islamic frameworks
Accounts emphasize God’s throne and Islamic confession rather than meeting Jesus. Life-review narratives common in Western stories are often absent. - Buddhist frameworks
Pure Land traditions expect visions of Amida Buddha; Tibetan accounts speak of post-mortem meditative states like tukdam; Thai narratives involve Yama (lord of the dead) and his messengers. Again, not Christ-centered. - Pagan/animist frameworks
Meadows, animal-spirit beings, and non-biblical guardians populate the landscape. The symbolism isn’t Christian; it’s tribal, nature-centric, or esoteric. - New Age/mystical frameworks
“Mother of the Universe,” cosmic libraries, universal oneness, and unconditional love without the cross are common motifs. Moving? Sure. Christian doctrine? No.
These contradictions don’t mean everyone is lying. They mean the experiences are subjective and interpreted through human lenses. That’s why they can be pastorally useful but doctrinally dangerous.
A Word About John Burke’s Approach
Evangelistically, using NDEs as on-ramps is smart. People who won’t open a Bible will watch a testimony. As a bridge to conversation, fine. But treating NDE “commonalities” as if they confirm Christian theology confuses correlation with causation and invites syncretism. Stitching together overlapping themes from incompatible religions to argue for a universal core is not how doctrine is established.
Scripture’s Pattern: Guardrails Over “Glimpses”
Even Paul, who had an unspeakable encounter, refused to turn his experience into dogma: “whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows” and he heard “things that cannot be told” (2 Corinthians 12:2–4). He doesn’t systematize heaven from it; he anchors doctrine in Christ’s revelation and the prophetic/apostolic Scriptures. We’re commanded to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1) and warned against accepting messages that distort the gospel (Galatians 1:8). Experiences are to be weighed, not enthroned.
ECT, Annihilationism, and the Fire Category
Eternal Conscious Torment leans on fear and often points to hellish visions as if they settle the debate. Annihilationism points to oblivion and sometimes uses quiet NDEs as emotional reinforcement. Both outsource theological weight to testimonies. Biblically, God’s fire is consistently judicial and purifying, exposing and consuming what is worthless, preserving what is true and built on Christ (1 Corinthians 3:13–15). Our framework must rise from the cross, resurrection, and the promises of God, not from tunnels, gardens, or beings of light whose identities shift with culture.
A Conflict Map (Why NDEs Can’t Be a Theological Blueprint)
| Feature people claim as “universal” | Non-Christian variance that breaks the “universal” |
|---|---|
| Being of light equals Jesus | Hindu: deities or luminous forms; Buddhist: Amida Buddha/Clear Light; Islamic: God’s throne/confession, not Christ |
| Life review with moral clarity | Often absent or framed through karma, fate, or dharma rather than Christ’s judgment and mercy |
| Tunnel, relatives, paradise gardens | Replaced by caves, bureaucratic afterlife offices, spirit-beings, or cosmic libraries depending on culture |
| Message: “love is all you need” | Often detached from sin, repentance, cross, or new creation in Christ |
If you elevate “common features,” you still have to explain the clashes. You can’t; the contradictions are baked in.
How to Use NDEs Responsibly (Without Letting Them Use You)
- Treat them as testimonies, not texts. Encourage what points to Christ; refuse what competes with Him.
- Filter them through clear doctrine, not the other way around. Scripture sets the boundaries; stories stay inside the fence.
- Look at fruit, not fireworks. Transformation that aligns with holiness and the gospel carries more weight than spectacle (Matthew 7:16).
- Keep the cross at the center. Any “love” that floats free of the cross is not the love that saves.
The Pastoral Sweet Spot
Honor people’s stories. Some genuinely awaken to God’s kindness and moral reality through these experiences. But don’t trade the rock for sand. Doctrine comes from the Word of God, fulfilled in the Son of God, witnessed by the Spirit of God. Experiences can illustrate; they cannot legislate.
Bottom Line
Can near-death experiences tell us what happens after we die? They can’t tell us reliably, consistently, or authoritatively. At best, they whisper. Scripture speaks. Build on what God has said, and let every story find its place under that light.
