Free Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven: A Brief Introduction in Plain Language by J. Steve Miller

him until later in life. (46)
     
    The
childhood NDE seems to clearly fit better with the spiritual hypothesis than
naturalistic hypotheses that lean on expectations or wish fulfillment,
especially when corroborating details are present.
     
    Exhibit
#6 - Deathbed Visions Provide Corroboration.(47)  
     
    The
first known attempt to pull together accounts of people’s deathbed visions was
by Sir William Barrett, professor of experimental physics at Ireland’s Royal
College of Science. His study was prompted by his wife (who was a physician),
who rushed home to tell Sir William about a remarkable vision seen by Doris, a
lady who was about to die after giving birth to her child. Doris spoke with
great delight about seeing her deceased father. Then, with a rather puzzled
expression, she said, “He has Vida with him.” Doris turned toward her and
repeated, “Vida is with him.” She soon died.
     
    Doris’
sister Vida had died three weeks before, but nobody had told Doris, due to her
state of health. (48)  
     
    Three
large-scale studies of deathbed visions were done in the second half of the
twentieth century. The first study collected and analyzed the reports of nurses
and doctors concerning over 35,000 patients. A second gathered about 50,000 reports.
These were both American studies. Later, a third study compared 255 reports of
deathbed visions in India. Amazingly, “the results from the Indian survey were
in agreement with results from the earlier surveys on almost all points.” (49)
 
     
    Some
points of evidential interest from these studies:
     
    1 -
Those who said that the deceased relatives or angelic beings had come for the
purpose of taking them away, tended to die sooner than the ones who merely
spoke of seeing beings on the other side. (50)  
     
    2 - Sometimes
the visions were reported by people who were not expected to die, thus ruling
out expectations as the cause. A college-educated Indian man, still in his 20s,
was doing very well after a hospitalization. He was to be discharged that day
and both the doctor and the patient fully expected a recovery. Suddenly the
patient shouted, “Someone is standing here dressed in white clothes. I will not
go with you!” He died within ten minutes. (51)
     
    If
these visions were caused by culturally influenced expectations, you’d expect
them to differ vastly from person to person and culture to culture. Their high
degree of convergence would seem to fit better with a spiritual explanation
(there is an afterlife) than a purely naturalistic explanation (there is no
afterlife). (52)
     
    Exhibit
# 7 - “Shared NDEs” Provide Multiple Eye Witnesses.(53)
     
    Often,
those who are near (relationally and/or physically) the dying share the NDE.  These
reports are evidentially valuable in that several people may independently
report and corroborate the experience. Additionally, these reports can’t likely
be explained by naturalistic explanations such as the dying brain hypothesis,
since those sharing the experience were not in the process of dying. Neither
were they suffering from oxygen deprivation, hypercarbia, fear of personal
death, or other symptoms that may influence the brain at death.  
     
    Here’s
an example experience, corroborated by all who were present:
     
    Five
members of the Anderson family in metro Atlanta were at their mother’s bedside
as she was dying. Since this was the end of an extended illness, none were
especially psychologically distraught at the time. As one of the daughters
reported, “Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the room.” The appearance of
the light was unlike “any kind of light on this earth. I nudged my sister to
see if she saw it too, and when I looked at her, her eyes were as big as
saucers. …I saw my brother literally gasp. Everyone saw it together and for a
little while we were frightened.”
     
    They
next saw lights that shaped themselves into an entranceway. Her mother left her
body and departed through the