Does the Bible support 'near death experiences' or NDEs?

The Bible does not mention anything about "near death experiences", but the are many things that the bible is silent on. Perhaps these things happen. Who's to say?

Answer:

It seems today, many people are fascinated with the 'phenomenon' of this so-called 'near death experience.' Yet the Scripture is silent on this scenario and rather is explicit on calling death a 'great sleep.' Yes, there are examples of people being 'resurrected' back to life after they had died - some for several days or more - but none discuss what some today describe as their experiences going to the 'other side.'

Some people would say the Apostle Paul was describing such an event in his own life in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 -similar to what some people describe as a near-death experience. But a proper reading of this letter in its context would show Paul was only describing a dream-like state or a vision he had. There are many instances where Paul describes death as sleeping. Here is one example:

New International Version (NIV)

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

So other than the one example of Paul's noted above in 2 Corinthians, the Bible is silent on near death experiences. Clearly, the Scripture uses the analogy of sleeping to describe the state of death for all - even Jesus was dead for 3 full days and nights. And Christ, Himself, describes death as sleeping in this example of His friend Lazarus' death:

New International Version (NIV)

11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."

12 His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

14 So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,

In summary then, NDEs are a recent phenomena of mankind in their vain attempt to describe the accounts of many who have claimed to have similar experiences - some pleasant and some unpleasant. Interestingly, a "Dr. Sam Parnia, Director of the Awareness during Resuscitation Study is the author of the ground-breaking book Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death . Now, he concludes that death is a process that can be interrupted well after it has begun. Dr. Parnia claims that many near-death experiences may just be the function of the human brain while still working after the heart and lungs have stopped." (see link below for quote and a video on this topic for your edification).