Posted on by wrote in General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible.

Editor’s note: This is a series of two questions and two answers.

Question #1:

How do we demonstrate to non-Christians the Christian understanding of life after death – that we will either be sent to hell or go to heaven based on whether or not we have accepted God’s gift of eternal life in this life – is true, without assuming Biblical inspiration/inerrancy?

Some of my skeptical friends point out there is no scientific evidence of life after death, and argue that those who claim to have been to the Christian conception of heaven and come back is likely explained through having a lack of oxygen to the brain. And also that these Near Death Experiences are certainly not unique to Christians, and thus the experience more reflects someone’s faith commitments, and is not a reliable method of working out what is true is this whole area (i.e: A Muslim sees Allah and paradise in their NDE, and just as much believes this). Because of all of this, my skeptical friends believe that the Christian message of being dead in sin and being saved from judgement is meaningless because in their minds there isn’t a heaven to enter into to or a hell to be saved from. How would you respond?

Answer #1:

I am afraid that the best proof we have of life after death is that it is stated to be true in the inspired Word of God.  We establish the reality of life after death because we have established that the Bible is the Word of God.  There is a massive amount of evidence for the inspiration and authority of the Bible.  The best way to present this to people, in my opinion, is to introduce them to Jesus Christ, in particular through a reading of the Book of John.  The best proof of life after death is found in the miracles of Jesus, and, most especially the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.  If Jesus was raised from the dead, and if Lazarus was raised from the dead, then this proves with certainty that there is life after death.  The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is quite strong.  He certainly was crucified.  His tomb certainly was empty, and the resurrection certainly was preached in Jerusalem within weeks of his death.  The only reasonable explanation of these facts is that Jesus was raised from the dead.
I believe that Near Death Experiences (NDEs) are very poor evidence for life after death.  These experiences are anecdotal and they are subjective.  I would not personally use NDEs to try to “prove” life after death.
In addition, sorry, but I agree with the critics that there is no scientific evidence for life after death.  In fact, all the scientific evidence leads us to believe that death is the end of life.  Science neither proves, nor does it disprove life after death.  Science cannot prove that there is a soul, and science cannot prove that there is no soul. The soul cannot be measured, and science deals with measurable things.  So, NDEs are poor “proof” of life after death, and science neither proves nor disproves life after death.  Belief in the existence of the soul after death comes down to belief in the inspiration of the Bible and evidence for biblical miracles, especially for the resurrection of Christ.
My suggestion, then, for you to help your unbelieving friends is for you to ask them politely but with deep conviction to read the Bible, and I would start with the book of John.
John Oakes

Question #2:

What do you think of Gary Habermas’ view that NDEs support belief in life after death, although from a universalistic perspective? He says that they most likely point to materialism being false, and thus are of some use to support the Christian case?

Answer #2:

Like I already said, I believe that NDE’s are subjective and anecdotal, and they are very poor proof of anything.  They are poor support for universalism, as they are poor support for Hinduism, Christianity or Islam.  The fact that a very famous Christian believes differently does nothing to change my mind on this topic.  I understand that some people have have religious experiences when near death, and this has served as proof for these individuals.  I have no desire to demean someone’s experiences, but it does not change my conclusion. NDEs are too subjective to be support for any particular worldview.

John Oakes

 

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