Chapter 18
Imagine you are a scientist trying to predict what people would report after a near-death experience, assuming the materialist view is correct. Assume the brain alone produces the experience — that NDEs are nothing more than dying neurons firing randomly, oxygen deprivation, or a cocktail of chemicals released as the body shuts down. What content would you predict?
The answer is straightforward. We would predict wild variation. Some people would see Hindu gods. Others would see Norse warriors. Others would see their dead pets, or erotic fantasies, or terrifying nightmares unique to their personal fears. The content of NDEs would mirror the content of ordinary dreams — random, idiosyncratic, shaped almost entirely by the experiencer's own background, expectations, and culture. There would be no pattern. There would be no consistent moral message. There would be no convergence on any particular religious tradition.
But that is not what we find. Not even close.
What we find instead is a remarkable consistency in the core content of NDEs and deathbed experiences (DBEs) across cultures, religions, and historical periods. And when this consistent content is laid alongside the central teachings of the Bible, something striking happens: the two overlap to a degree that should astonish us. J. Steve Miller, in his careful study of the professional NDE research, has identified at least forty-seven specific points of compatibility between NDE/DBE reports and mainstream biblical teachings.1 That is the centerpiece of this chapter — and the centerpiece of the book's biblical case.
The argument I want to make in this chapter is cumulative. No single point of compatibility, taken alone, proves that NDEs are genuine encounters with biblical reality. But forty-seven points? That cannot reasonably be coincidence. Either the Bible has, with stunning accuracy, anticipated the content of an experience invented by dying brains — or NDEs are tapping into the very reality the Bible has been describing all along.
Before we look at the points themselves, let me sharpen the logic. Miller's argument is what philosophers call an inference to the best explanation. We have a body of data — thousands of NDE and DBE reports collected by competent medical researchers over the past fifty years. We have several competing hypotheses about what produces these experiences. The hypothesis that fits the data best is the one we should provisionally accept.
If naturalism is true, we should expect a flood of NDEs from secular Western experiencers reporting things like, "I've got to take school more seriously," or, "I need a better-paying job," or, "I should have built my career harder."2 Many cultures, especially in the modern West, drill into children from birth that winning, achieving, and accumulating wealth are the highest goods. If NDE content were generated by the experiencer's prior beliefs and values, those values should pour back out in the life review and post-NDE outcomes.
Yet that is precisely what we never see. Miller, who has read thousands of NDE reports, says he cannot recall a single experiencer returning and saying anything of the sort.3 Instead, the message coming back is almost monotonously consistent — and almost monotonously biblical. Love your neighbor. Forgive your enemies. Care for the least of these. Material things do not matter. God is real. Death is not the end. Light, love, life review, judgment, accountability. Hard to escape the impression that someone, somewhere, is sending the same message over and over again.
The core question: If NDEs were merely brain-generated hallucinations, why does their content track so closely with the central themes of the Bible — and so poorly with the dominant values of secular Western culture? Naturalism predicts diversity and randomness. The data show convergence and biblical alignment. That mismatch is the heart of the argument from compatibility.
Before listing the 47 points, a word about how Miller arrived at them. Miller is a careful researcher. He drew his data from the body of professional NDE literature — not from cherry-picked popular books or sensational online accounts. His sources include Pim van Lommel's prospective Lancet study, Jeffrey Long's NDERF database (the largest in the world), Bruce Greyson's academic research, Penny Sartori's UK hospital studies, Michael Sabom's Atlanta Study, Kenneth Ring's work, and many others.4 He also conducted his own systematic studies of consecutively uploaded NDEs on the NDERF website, which prevents the bias of selecting only the cases that "fit."
The result is not a wish list. It is a sober inventory of what the research consistently reports. I will organize the 47 points into four broad categories, condensing each one for the sake of space. Readers wanting Miller's full treatment, with citations and NDE excerpts, should consult Is Christianity Compatible with Deathbed and Near-Death Experiences? chapter 2.
The first cluster of compatibility points concerns the character of God Himself. NDErs encounter a being who matches the biblical description of God with remarkable precision.5
1. God exists. The most basic finding. NDEs convince almost every experiencer that God is real. "In the beginning, God…" (Gen. 1:1).
2. God is love. The defining quality of the encounter is love — overwhelming, unconditional, and indescribable. "God is love" (1 John 4:8).
3. God knows us intimately. Experiencers consistently report that the Being of Light knows everything about them — every thought, every action, every motive. Compare Psalm 139:1–4 and Hebrews 4:13.
4. God is personal. Not an impersonal force, energy field, or universal consciousness, but a Person who communicates, listens, asks questions, and decides. Compare Exodus 34:6.
5. God is desirable, beautiful, winsome. NDErs do not want to leave. The being is so attractive that returning to earthly life is often described as the worst part of the experience. Compare Psalm 27:4.
6. God is just. The life review confronts the experiencer with the moral weight of every action. Compare Romans 2:6 and 2 Corinthians 5:10.
7. God is associated with light. The very first thing many NDErs notice is the light. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).
8. God comforts people in their most distressing times. NDEs commonly occur in moments of acute crisis — accidents, cardiac arrests, surgeries — and bring profound peace. Compare 2 Corinthians 1:3–4.
9. God especially attends to children and "the least of these." Children's NDEs (chapter 9) and reports involving the marginalized show striking divine attention. Compare Matthew 18:10 and Matthew 25:40.
10. God sometimes teaches us through children. Children's NDE reports often carry simple, profound theological insight unburdened by adult rationalizing. Compare Matthew 11:25.6
The second cluster addresses the existence and structure of the spiritual realm. The Bible is unembarrassed about the supernatural. So is the NDE/DBE literature.
11. Sometimes people die, encounter the other side, and return. This is the basic NDE phenomenon itself. Compare 2 Kings 4:32–37; 2 Corinthians 12:2–4.
12. God sometimes communicates through vivid dreams. The Bible is full of these (Joseph in Genesis 37; Joseph in Matthew 1–2; Daniel; Joel 2:28). Modern dream-and-vision reports parallel them.
13. God sometimes communicates through visions. Compare Acts 9 (Paul); Acts 10 (Peter and Cornelius); Acts 16 (the Macedonian call).
14. The other side is more than just heaven and hell. A whole spiritual world of angels and demons exists alongside our physical world (Eph. 6:12; 2 Kings 6:17).
15. People sometimes experience the other side while still aware of this side. Many DBEs work this way — the dying see deceased relatives in the room while still talking to family.
16. Bystanders sometimes share part of the experience. These are shared-death experiences (chapter 10), which the Bible parallels in episodes like Acts 7:55–56 (Stephen).
17. People sometimes experience the other side while consciously absent from their bodies. Out-of-body experiences (chapter 11). Compare 2 Corinthians 12:2–3 — Paul is unsure whether he was in or out of the body.
18. Angels accompany people to heaven. A common NDE/DBE feature. Compare Luke 16:22 — Lazarus is carried by angels to Abraham's side.
19. Angels communicate with the living and the dying. Compare Hebrews 1:14 and the angelic visits throughout Luke 1–2.
20. The deceased sometimes see or communicate with the living. Compare Matthew 17:1–8 (Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration).
21. Some people know in advance when they will die. A common DBE phenomenon. Compare 2 Peter 1:14 — Peter knew his death was near.
22. Many see Jesus. This will be the focus of chapter 13, but it deserves its place here too. Jesus appears in NDEs more than any other religious figure, even to non-Christians.7
The third cluster concerns what the other side is actually like. Again, the Bible and the NDE data agree to a remarkable degree.
23. Death is not the end of life. The most common NDE outcome: experiencers no longer fear death. Compare 1 Corinthians 15:54–55.
24. Extraordinary beauty awaits us. NDErs strain language describing the beauty of the heavenly realm. Compare 1 Corinthians 2:9 — "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard."
25. Heaven (or its vestibule) is varied and beyond earthly description. NDErs report widely diverse landscapes — gardens, cities, meadows, light. The diversity is expected if the realm is vast (chapter 17). Compare John 14:2 — many dwelling places.
26. There will be no pain in heaven. A common NDE finding. Compare Revelation 21:4.
27. Time operates differently there. Time stops, compresses, expands, or ceases altogether (chapter 16). Compare 2 Peter 3:8.
28. We will have spiritual bodies, different from and superior to physical bodies. Raymond Moody coined the term "spiritual body" from NDE reports;8 Paul used the same phrase in 1 Corinthians 15:44.
29. The mind can exist apart from the body. The very heart of substance dualism (chapters 5, 35). Compare 2 Corinthians 5:8.
30. We know and understand things much more clearly there. Compare 1 Corinthians 13:12 — "now I know in part; then I shall know fully."
31. There are intermediaries between God and people. Angels and other celestial beings. Compare Hebrews 1:14.
32. The other side is not rosy for everyone. Distressing NDEs — perhaps as many as one in five — testify to a real but temporary realm of separation from God (chapter 21). Compare Luke 16:23.9
33. Heaven is a place you want to go. Many NDErs are heartbroken to be sent back. Compare Philippians 1:23 — Paul desires to depart and be with Christ.
The fourth and largest cluster of compatibility points concerns the moral and spiritual lessons NDErs bring back. This is where the case becomes especially difficult to dismiss as cultural projection. The values consistently reported by NDErs are not the dominant values of any modern secular culture I know of. They are, however, almost a direct summary of the Sermon on the Mount.
34. Your life has meaning and purpose. NDErs return convinced that their lives are not random or pointless. Compare Ephesians 2:10.
35. Your choices matter to God. The life review records every action, good and bad. Compare 2 Corinthians 5:10.
36. Material things are temporary and not worth obsessing over. Post-NDE shifts away from materialism are well documented. Compare Matthew 6:19–21.
37. A huge part of why we're here is to love people. The single most consistent NDE finding. Compare Matthew 22:39 and 1 Corinthians 13:13.
38. Love is more than a feeling — act with love toward people. NDErs return to act, not merely to feel. Compare James 2:15–17 and 1 John 3:18.
39. It is important to love God. The first and greatest commandment surfaces repeatedly in NDE testimonies. Compare Matthew 22:37.
40. Prioritize those closest to you — family and neighbors. Pastor Steve Sjogren's NDE jolted him with the realization that he had ministered to strangers at the expense of his own children's friendships.10 Compare 1 Timothy 5:8.
41. Seeking knowledge is very important. Many NDErs return with a hunger to learn. Compare Proverbs 3:13–15.
42. Requests, desires, and prayers are taken into account. NDErs sometimes ask to return for unfinished tasks; the request is granted. Compare James 5:16.
43. Don't lust for power and possessions. Post-NDE drops in interest in money and status are well documented in van Lommel and others. Compare Matthew 23:11–12.
44. Be a decent person — forgive, tell the truth, give generously. NDErs become more forgiving, more compassionate, and more inclined to give. Compare Luke 6:37; Ephesians 4:25; 1 Timothy 6:18.
45. Don't be consumed with cultural norms. NDErs become less interested in "keeping up appearances." Compare Romans 12:2.
46. Appreciate ordinary things. Eight years after their NDEs, 84 percent of van Lommel's subjects reported greater appreciation for ordinary life.11 Compare Colossians 3:15.
47. Connect with God through spiritual disciplines. Sabom's Atlanta Study and Sartori's UK study both found that NDErs increased — not decreased — their prayer, Bible reading, and church attendance after the experience.12 Compare Hebrews 10:25.
Forty-seven and counting. What strikes me, reading through this list, is how much it sounds like a Sunday school summary of the New Testament. God is real. God is love. God is personal. The afterlife is real. Your life matters. Love your neighbor. Forgive. Don't chase money. Take prayer and Scripture seriously. If a researcher with no theological training had assembled this list from a thousand NDE reports without ever opening a Bible, you could hand it to any literate Christian and they would say, "That sounds about right."
One of Miller's most important findings is what NDEs leave out. He calls it, half-jokingly, the "gag order from the other side." NDErs who return with long, detailed theological lectures are, in his words, "so rare as to be anomalous."13 NDEs do not adjudicate denominational disputes. There is no consistent message about the mode of baptism, charismatic versus cessationist gifts, Protestant versus Catholic, Calvinist versus Arminian, age of the earth, or any of the other questions that have divided the church.
This is, in my opinion, exactly what we should expect if NDEs are God-permitted glimpses of His reality, intended to confirm the central, agreed-upon themes of the faith and not to settle in-house theological arguments. The core message is the message that already unites Christians: God is real, He is love, the afterlife is real, judgment is real, love your neighbor. The peripheral disputes — important as they may be in their place — are simply not on the agenda over there.
Miller's negative finding also undercuts a common skeptical objection. If NDEs were just elaborate confirmations of the experiencer's prior beliefs, we would expect Catholic NDErs to come back affirming purgatory, Calvinist NDErs to come back affirming limited atonement, charismatic NDErs to come back hearing tongues, and so on. We don't see that pattern. The experience seems determined to keep its hands off internal Christian debates while emphasizing what nearly every faithful Christian already affirms.
Now I want to be careful here. I do not want to overstate what the 47 points prove. Three honest concessions are in order.
First, the 47 points do not prove that every NDE is from God. Some NDEs include elements that are clearly inconsistent with Scripture — encounters with reincarnation teachings, syncretistic messages, or beings whose character does not match the biblical God. These exceptions exist, and chapter 25 will address the discernment framework. But the core NDE experience, as documented in the professional research, is overwhelmingly compatible with biblical Christianity.
Second, the 47 points do not prove that every detail of every NDE is accurate revelation. NDEs are personal experiences interpreted by fallible human minds. The experience may be genuine while the experiencer's interpretation may be partly mistaken (chapter 26). The compatibility argument operates at the level of consistent core themes, not at the level of every detail in every report.
Third, the 47 points do not prove the truth of Christianity in some self-contained way. A skeptic can always construct alternative explanations — though the more points there are to explain, the more contrived those alternatives become.
What the compatibility argument does prove. When the consistent core of NDE/DBE reports is laid alongside Scripture, the overlap is so extensive — at least 47 specific points — that coincidence is implausible. The compatibility is also greater with biblical Christianity than with any other major worldview. Not every worldview teaches that love is the supreme value, that God is personal, that the soul survives bodily death, that both blessed and distressing afterlives exist, and that material striving is empty. Many do not. NDEs fit the biblical world snugly. They do not fit Buddhism's no-self, Hinduism's reincarnation cycle, Islam's strict legalism, secular materialism's randomness, or New Age "all is one" pantheism with anything close to the same precision.14
Two further voices reinforce the argument. Cardiologist Michael Sabom, after years of clinical study and a deep engagement with Scripture, concluded that NDEs do not draw experiencers away from biblical Christianity but consistently deepen their Christian commitment.15 Of the four patients in his Atlanta Study who actually changed their religious views after their NDE, every one of them moved toward a more conservative Christian theology, not away from it. That is not what we would expect if NDEs were Trojan horses for liberal or syncretistic theology.
Pastor John Burke, in Imagine Heaven, spent over a decade laying NDE accounts side by side with biblical descriptions of heaven. His conclusion was the same as Miller's: the fit is striking, the divergences are mostly explained by the vastness of the heavenly realm and the limits of human language, and the cumulative testimony is a powerful encouragement to faith rather than a threat to it.16
I began this chapter by asking what we should predict if NDEs were merely hallucinations. The answer was: chaos, diversity, randomness, cultural projection. What we find instead is a stable, cross-cultural, multi-decade pattern of experiences whose central themes track the central themes of the Bible with stunning precision. Forty-seven specific points. That is not a coincidence. It is, in my judgment, evidence.
This evidence does not stand alone. As we will see in subsequent chapters, the Bible itself describes a geography of the afterlife (chapter 19) and a conscious intermediate state (chapter 20) that the NDE data map onto naturally. The presence of Jesus in NDEs (chapter 13) and the priority of love in life reviews (chapter 15) are also part of this larger pattern. Each chapter contributes one piece. Together, they form a strong cumulative case.
For the Christian who has been told that NDEs threaten the faith, I want to offer a simpler word: the data, soberly examined, do the opposite. They confirm what we already believed. God is real. He is love. He sees us. The afterlife is real. Love is what matters. Death is not the end. These are not New Age inventions. These are the mainstream teachings of historic Christianity, echoing back to us from the experiences of millions of people at the threshold of death.
That convergence is, in my view, exactly what we would expect if the God of the Bible has been telling the truth all along.
1 J. Steve Miller, Is Christianity Compatible with Deathbed and Near-Death Experiences? The Surprising Presence of Jesus, Scarcity of Anti-Christian Elements, and Compatibility with Historic Christian Teachings (Acworth, GA: Wisdom Creek Press, 2023), chap. 2, "Compatibility with Mainstream Biblical Themes." Miller's full list of 47 specific points anchors this chapter; what follows is my own condensation and organization of his material. ↩
2 Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 2, "About What Really Matters Outcomes." Miller draws the contrast with Pew Research Center data showing that family, occupation, and material well-being dominate as life priorities in the general population, while NDErs return prioritizing spiritual reality and selfless love. ↩
3 Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 2, "Loving Others in NDEs." ↩
4 For Miller's methodology in working with the NDERF database, see Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, "Why I Reference NDERF Cases So Often." On the prospective Dutch study, see Pim van Lommel et al., "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A Prospective Study in the Netherlands," The Lancet 358, no. 9298 (December 15, 2001): 2039–45. On the leading academic survey, see Bruce Greyson, After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond (New York: St. Martin's, 2021). ↩
5 For the divine attributes encountered in NDEs, see Jeffrey Long, God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience (New York: HarperOne, 2016), 36, 192. Long's analysis of 420 qualifying NDEs documents the consistency of these descriptions across religious backgrounds. ↩
6 Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 2, "About God Section." On children's NDEs more broadly, see Melvin Morse and Paul Perry, Closer to the Light: Learning from the Near-Death Experiences of Children (New York: Villard Books, 1990). ↩
7 J. Steve Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 6, "The Surprising Presence of Jesus." Miller's NDERF studies show Jesus appearing far more frequently than any other religious figure, including in NDEs reported by non-Christians. This phenomenon is treated in depth in chapter 13 of this book. ↩
8 Raymond A. Moody Jr., Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon — Survival of Bodily Death, anniversary ed. (New York: HarperOne, 2015), 35–37. Moody's introduction of "spiritual body" language in 1975 to summarize the NDE form-data is a striking convergence with 1 Corinthians 15:44. ↩
9 Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 2, point 32. For comprehensive treatment of distressing NDEs, see Nancy Evans Bush, Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing Near-Death Experiences (Cleveland, TN: Parson's Porch, 2012); also Barbara Rommer, Blessing in Disguise: Another Side of the Near-Death Experience (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2000). The relation of distressing NDEs to Hades (rather than the final Lake of Fire) is developed in chapter 21. ↩
10 Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 2, "Loving Others in NDEs." Sjogren's account of realizing in the ICU that he did not know the names of his children's friends is one of Miller's most striking illustrations of the family-priority motif. ↩
11 Cited in Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 2, point 46. The original van Lommel data is reported in Pim van Lommel, Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (New York: HarperOne, 2010). ↩
12 Michael Sabom, Light and Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998), chap. 11, "Conclusions." On Sartori's parallel UK findings, see Penny Sartori, The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully (London: Watkins, 2014). ↩
13 Miller, Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 2, "Summary." Miller's "gag order from the other side" observation deserves more attention than it usually receives. It is, in effect, a methodological control: if NDEs were projections of prior belief, they should reflect denominational projections. They do not. ↩
14 Miller pursues this comparison at length in Is Christianity Compatible?, chap. 3, "Incompatibility with Certain Worldviews and Religious Views." The argument is not that other worldviews share zero compatibility points with NDEs, but that biblical Christianity shares dramatically more — and on the points that other religions and worldviews actively deny. ↩
15 Sabom, Light and Death, chap. 1, "The Atlanta Study: A Second Look at the Near-Death Experience"; see also chap. 11, "Conclusions." Sabom's finding that the four patients in his study who changed religious views all moved toward more conservative Christianity is particularly striking against the popular narrative that NDEs lead toward New Age or universalist theology. ↩
16 John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), chap. 1, "What If?" and chap. 2, "Common Elements of NDEs." Burke's project is essentially a pastoral echo of Miller's scholarly one — laying NDE accounts and biblical descriptions side by side to invite the reader into worship rather than skepticism. ↩
Burke, John. Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015.
Bush, Nancy Evans. Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing Near-Death Experiences. Cleveland, TN: Parson's Porch, 2012.
Greyson, Bruce. After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond. New York: St. Martin's, 2021.
Long, Jeffrey. God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperOne, 2016.
Miller, J. Steve. Is Christianity Compatible with Deathbed and Near-Death Experiences? The Surprising Presence of Jesus, Scarcity of Anti-Christian Elements, and Compatibility with Historic Christian Teachings. Acworth, GA: Wisdom Creek Press, 2023.
Moody, Raymond A., Jr. Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon — Survival of Bodily Death. Anniversary edition. New York: HarperOne, 2015.
Morse, Melvin, and Paul Perry. Closer to the Light: Learning from the Near-Death Experiences of Children. New York: Villard Books, 1990.
Rommer, Barbara. Blessing in Disguise: Another Side of the Near-Death Experience. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2000.
Sabom, Michael. Light and Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998.
Sartori, Penny. The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully. London: Watkins, 2014.
van Lommel, Pim. Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperOne, 2010.
van Lommel, Pim, Ruud van Wees, Vincent Meyers, and Ingrid Elfferich. "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A Prospective Study in the Netherlands." The Lancet 358, no. 9298 (December 15, 2001): 2039–45.