The Afterlife Debate Just Got a Lot More Awkward for Atheists
What people say after clinical death is forcing a new conversation about God.
This one. This one, my friends, is absolutely wild.
Now before we get started, let me just say this: some of you are going to dismiss what I am talking about for one of the following reasons:
“Near-death experiences are just brain chemistry.”
“It’s oxygen deprivation. Hallucinations. Trauma.”
“People see what they already believe.”
“This is emotional manipulation dressed up as faith.”
Or my personal favorite: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
Fair enough. But here’s the awkward part.
The stories coming out of operating rooms, cardiac units, and emergency wards are not coming from Sunday school teachers. They’re coming from hardened skeptics and people who have flat lined. These are men and women who had no belief in God… until they were clinically dead.
Ohhh and there’s also this….from the Holy Bible itself:
2 Corinthians 12:2–4
Paul writes:
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
These are not “mythical stories” or ideas pulled out of thin air. Yes, some people lie for attention. That’s real. But when independent accounts start overlapping across cultures and beliefs, that’s not random. That’s what I call converging evidence.
My guest writer John Ball will explain.
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As Christians, we’ve experienced God’s communication in the most inspiring of ways. Maybe it was a song that played at the right moment, or a completely “random” scripture that hit us just when we needed it. It’s likely we’ve all experienced a Sunday sermon which prompted our hearts to leap with joy and our body to shift in our seats, all because we knew beyond any shadow of a doubt, it was God speaking directly to us. Some have been fortunate enough to have heard a “voice” they knew belonged to no one else but Him. All these events can be viewed as answers to a prayer, affirmation that you’re living in the Spirit and the Word. Or that you’re not – and a serious call to action must be mandated to get your spiritual house in order before that final day arrives. It will be for all of us. But for some, it came in the form of something they never expected, and with shuddering results.
For thousands of people - Christians, Atheists, Agnostics, Satanists, Muslims, and Buddhists to name just a few - their “God-wink” came in the form of a life-altering, breathtaking, and sometimes, terrifying biological end. In Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), people were given a rare opportunity to visit heaven (or hell) and returned to tell us about their experiences. Before anyone discounts this concept as heresy, nonsense, or fantasy, consider the means available to us today in the fields of medicine and science. We’re living in an age where the two can, in fact, live in relative harmony with one another, where one can substantiate the occurring miracles of the other which would otherwise defy any imaginable logic. To many of us, that would invariably point to none other than God Himself. I personally owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to NDE testimonies. I also owe an enormous debt to God for allowing them to happen.
We’ll drill down on some fascinating research and studies relating to NDE’s here in a moment, but first I want to elaborate on why NDE’s may hold amazing promise for the Christian and non-Christian alike. These encounters have completely reshaped the people who endured them. For some, it ignited a faith that never existed their entire lives. For the faithful, it emblazoned a courage and conviction to share with the world, the existence with our God Who awaits. The others contend that they experienced a terrifying separation from God, and it was but one poor choice away. For nearly everyone, it paved the way for making sweeping life-changes necessary in making things right with God. For me personally, their testimonies completely upended the way I view God, and how I worship Him in a much deeper way.
One of the most compelling studies to be completed by any one person is with former Agnostic, Engineer, and former Lead Pastor of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas, John Burke. He authored the NY Times best-selling book, “Imagine Heaven” where he describes his detailed research on NDEs. For over 35 years, Mr. Burke conducted studies with over 1,500 people who had Near-Death Experiences. Of the 1,500s+, an alarming 23% described a hellish experience. While I’m no expert in this field, I’ve watched close to a hundred interviews to date - their body language, comfort/discomfort levels, and the common descriptions used throughout the stories speak volumes to their integrity. The details they provided have significant parallels to each other.
In one of the most alarming testimonies, just shy of two hours long, John Burke interviews former self-proclaimed agnostic Riley Huddleston. Riley was only 19 years old when she was severely wounded in a jet ski accident. While the details aren’t appropriate to describe here, her body succumbed to catastrophic damage and substantial blood loss. She was ultimately recovered by paramedics and wheeled into an ambulance. There was little hope she would survive. During that brief time, she not only experienced a tour of heaven from an angel in what she assumed would be her new home, Riley met an unmistakable presence she knew to be God (NDEs unanimously describe communication between themselves and others as “telepathic”).
What began as the most joyful experience no earthly words could articulate, quickly transitioned into extreme sadness – but it was not hers. Riley was acutely aware the deep sadness was to be of God’s. He expressed to her that she had never established a relationship with Him while she was alive. He recounted the opportunities where she consciously brushed Him aside, and were designed to bring them closer. He sadly revealed to her that she could not join where He was going. She immediately fell to her knees in supplication and regret, begging Him for forgiveness. What stands out to me to this very day, and what she recounts as His clear response to her, remains posted throughout my home in several rooms as a constant reminder. Simply, “YOU HAVE TO STAY AWAKE. IF YOU DON’T, THE CARDS WILL LAY WHERE THE CARDS LAY.”
As quickly as God’s command was voiced, Riley regained consciousness in the ambulance. She immediately understood what was being asked of her and the dire consequences if she didn’t comply. God had the knowledge of what was required of her medical team to save her life. It would be necessary for her to undergo emergency surgery with only local anesthetic; death was virtually certain if placed under full anesthesia. Her choice was clear – remain awake for a chance to live and change, or fall asleep, likely not survive, and have no second opportunity to make things right in her faith. To witness Riley’s testimony from start to finish is worth every minute of your time. I’ll be providing a video link below to Riley’s interview with John Burke (note #3).
My belief in NDEs has transitioned well beyond speculation. Long before my established faith, I’d likely have passed them off as nothing more than great filler for a “20/20” or “Barbara Walters” episode. I was simply too self-immersed in my own world to genuinely consider anything of spiritual consequence to be taking place outside of my own radius. Then one day in 2025, the NDE topic happened to clearly manifest itself at the tail end of five other significant spiritual events. When combined, they led me to a profound experience with God that was nothing short of providence. I’ll share more of that at the end.
I do recognize that there will be many who might argue the validity of placing faith in something which lacks biblical support. I respect that. I also have a tremendous anchor of conviction in both sides of the Heaven/Hell Near-Death Experiences. They provided the fuel to my now electrified conviction that the Lord our God has a personality that transcends the ancient antique figure we see painted on chapel ceilings. One of the most beautiful facets to the Christian faith, in my opinion, is that we have a very tangible, very approachable King in our Lord Jesus Christ. He makes Himself more accessible than any world version of gods that exist today, and there are many. God commands reverence, while making Himself available to us anywhere and anytime; no schedule, no intercessions from another, no appointments, no holds barred. Worthy to note, in cases where the Atheist, Agnostic, Muslim, or Hindu NDEs have occurred, their experiences did NOT manifest any presence of their familiar icons or statues – they saw Jesus Christ, the Risen Son of God. This in itself provides fuel for consideration by so many seeking meaning in God.
To be clear, NDEs did not serve as a means for defining my faith. I never questioned that “He is the same yesterday, today, and forever” Hebrews 13:8. The vivid imagery I came to discover in their testimonies felt to me like I was being given a sacred gift of a rare and beautiful view into the Heart of our Lord; not as an abstraction, but as a very real presence with personality and nearness to each of us. As each of the experiencers attested, God has only one goal in mind - to expend any effort necessary that will reunite His faithful children in the mission of establishing the eternal Kingdom He always intended.
The heaven testimonies are…incredible. The visual imagery painted in their words is unfathomably beautiful for those who only have visions of this world to compare. For those who glimpsed hell, the scenes and experiences were far beyond any nightmare you could create in your imagination. And it was the hellish experiences that introduced doubt into my salvation. So, there you have it – the last of six dominoes that prompted me to make sweeping changes in my life. I am absolutely convinced that had I died at any time before witnessing these testimonies, I most certainly would be one of the many souls in devastating shock after discovering I had actually traversed the wider path.
The transition of my beliefs beyond mere speculation relative to NDEs involved three critical stages:
(1) Listening from a clinical perspective; the following video initially introduced me to John Burke. It’s “the” video that opened my eyes to the reality that I was likely in very real trouble in my position with God:
2) Listening from a hellish perspective; this disturbing NDE as described by now, Pastor R. Cook, is perhaps the most detailed and frightening of the testimonies I’ve come across:
– Warning: P. Cook goes into very graphic detail as he describes the scenes he was forced to witness in the many levels of hell he endured.
3) Listening from an agnostic perspective; Riley Huddleston is interviewed by John Burke, who he included in his studies of over 1,500 NDEs. This is undeniably one of the most compelling, heart-felt testimonies by a former Agnostic, now-Christian, who actively sought to deny the existence of God. Medically speaking, the fact that she is alive is nothing short of a miracle:
I invite you to review any one of these testimonies and judge for yourself. There are hundreds on YouTube. There is absolutely no question in my mind that God has used both astonishingly beautiful and terrifying Near-Death Experiences to ignite the hearts of the faithful, and the formerly unfaithful. In strengthening our convictions through such mysterious glimpses of eternity with Him, sharing the gospel with renewed confidence and clarity is certain to induce a meaningful outcome in the Grand Commission. I know it has personally moved me in ways I never would have imagined possible.
As John Burke describes in his interviews, the experiencers of NDEs are doctors, college professors, CEOs, and everyday people - many of whom have been reticent to share their stories for fear of being called ‘crazy’ or losing credibility in their professions and communities. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder remains a very common struggle for many NDEs, particularly those who experienced hell.
There are striking parallels and eerily consistent traits within NDEs. Even more gripping is the common vernacular they use when recounting their experiences. The words used often mirror themselves with remarkable precision to others’ accounts. Unless these witnesses had meticulously compared notes with everyone else who reported similar experiences over the years, their consistency warrants serious consideration and lends significant weight to their accounts. The descriptions below are the ones most commonly appearing in people’s testimonies, and I’ve sectioned them by locations:
Heaven Experiences
The Presence of God and Jesus Christ is without question.
LOVE DEFINES GOD. LOVE DEFINES JESUS. “LOVE.” It’s all about LOVE. Not the kind of “love” we’re even familiar with. It’s more than anything we can humanly define as “love.” It’s more than an emotion. “LOVE” EMBODIES the entire realm of Heaven.
Jesus Christ is unmistakable and as we “pictured” Him to look (beard/hair/nail scars)
The robe of Jesus Christ contains colors upon colors within brilliant spectrums of light, radiating energy we can’t even relate to.
Every question ever presented in life is instantaneously answered, consumed within the “mind” upon their very arrival to heaven.
A “Life Review” is provided by Jesus Christ for everyone, with impeccable detail on every significant event ever experienced, good and not-so-good
Upon their life review, they fully understood all of the hurts their actions inflicted upon Jesus Christ
For survivors of traumatic events, pre-determined questions in life like, “Why was ____ allowed to happen” are replaced by, “Why didn’t I do more”
Colors that don’t exist in our spectrum are displayed in vivid detail.
Senses are heightened to a level multiplied many times over our current understanding of the five senses.
Travel/mobility between destinations was as sudden as a thought.
Everything appears in the sharpest of detail.
Limitless vision into the distance with unmistakable clarity and understanding of what they’re looking at.
Cities of gold, towering structures, translucent water and roads
“Breathing” doesn’t function as it does here, people can “breathe” in water.
Communication between everyone is “telepathic” and understood without confusion.
For those with pets, they’re there too. Communication between your pets is a reality.
Nature is perfect, trees have no broken branches, leaves can be seen from long distances as well as the veins within the leaves.
All wildlife “rejoices” for God – it’s clearly perceived that everything which grows, exists in full glory and celebration to God (rejoicing can be heard and “felt”)
Indescribable beauty in the simultaneous, audible chorus of all living things with the sole purpose of praising God – this is joined by the birds, animals, trees, and down to the blades of grass.
The concept of “Eternity” is finally understood, and based on the final grasping of exactly Who God is, those who visited Heaven were able to understand WHY it will take all of Eternity to Praise God for Who He is (their words, not mine).
Hellish Experiences
This is the most prevalent comment made in testimonies – the emotion of complete and utter HATRED of Christians and occupants of hell from demons is rampant. “Lukewarm Christians” have specifically designed realms of torture which are designed to allow demons to extract their vile anger towards those who were on the brink of salvation, yet failed to attain it. It’s exercised in a most excruciating and mocking manner. Demons hate the lukewarm Christians for the same reason they hate the light – they had the chance and they blew it. It will never be provided to them. This is also acknowledged by the Catholic Church.
From the onset of death on earth, the transition from the body to a spirit form is instantaneous; they maintain full recognition of what form they left behind as their own and take it with them.
Each are met by dark and evil presences, to include menacing dark and grey figures who project a mocking tone, bitterly and excitingly exclaiming, “We’ve been expecting you.”
They discover the “color” black, and it’s nothing they can describe from their previous life; it has an evil, indescribable thickness and existence to it. While shrouded in darkness, they have 360 awareness and a physical inability to turn backwards, rather they’re pushed forward into further outer darkness and mocked along the way.
Distance is travelled at the speed of a thought.
They acknowledge their “sin nature”, and it’s a knowledge they cannot argue against – they know WHY they’re there and they understand it was for the sake of rejecting Jesus Christ. They also understand this realization will be repeated in their minds for eternity.
From the first realization they’re in hell, everyone knows exactly why they’re there. It’s an immediate acceptance they know is impossible to change or fight against.
Overwhelming emotions take over - hopelessness, fear, and anxiety, accompanied by complete acknowledgement of their separation from God and any source of light.
Overwhelming audible screams of every soul contained within (it is often compared to multiple football stadiums of screaming attendees).
Unquenchable thirst (Luke).
Lakes and rivers of fire, bodies chained in rivers, conjoined by their common sins, millions of lights viewed as candles and seen for miles in the distance which are actually souls on fire.
Traveling from one place to another is as sudden as a thought.
Perhaps the most frightening and most common observation amongst every hellish experience, is the agonizing torture played upon all inhabitants by demons. Torments are customized to with the highest degree of pain; each torment is tailored to the individual’s specific sins and addictions while they lived. Torture scenarios are designed to magnify fear; while barring any description here of unspeakable actions performed by demons, the condition of every single tortured “body” regenerate, and the process repeats, with the suffering having complete knowledge of it lasting for an eternity.
Relative to my own personal discernment process, I will tell you that I consciously spent more time scouring testimonies that focused on Hell. I make sure I reconnect my joy to those who experienced Heaven, but the others are the ones which really remind me of the choices I made, the poor decisions that hurt others, and hurt God. I see my failures and selfish desires as my having senselessly driven the nails into Jesus Christ all over again. Consciously aligning myself with those who have journeyed the wider path and later experienced the devastating outcome (only to return and warn those willing to listen) is what fuels my passion to share the gospel. The phenomenal American Christian Apologetic, Cliff Knechtel, quoted a Las Vegas comedian during one of his interviews, “How much do you think I have to hate you if I believe that Jesus is the way to heaven and not tell you.” Yeah, let that one sink in. THAT my friends, is exactly why we proselytize. It may irritate people, but they’ll thank us when they’re saved.
If there’s anything that has resonated with me more as a Christian, it’s the fact that God will use whatever means is necessary to make us HEAR Him. He enables each of us to grasp exactly Who He is if we listen, and pray, and study His Word. It is up to each of us to seek His will for our lives and prepare TODAY for the eternal life that awaits. But it must be done in such a way that we are seeking Jesus Christ on a personal level, and not just by going through the motions. It’s important for me to note that I strongly believe the foremost source of communication from God is our Holy Bible. It’s taken decades for me to appreciate embracing it more as the love story it was intended to be than any other book I’ll ever read. We also have the technology at our fingertips which open our hearts and minds to boundless reach and communication from people who we otherwise never would have heard from. Just like the people who’ve experienced heaven or hell, and returned to tell us about it. The real question is, will we listen?
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done’”. C.S. Lewis, “The Great Divorce”
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