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The NDE
and Religion |
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Kevin Williams Research Conclusions |
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 Many near-death
accounts reveal that the religions of this world are merely an external path whose ideal is to lead people inward toward true
spirituality. People often confuse religion with spirituality. Religion is
the outward form of worship and spirituality is the inward form of
worship. People who
have a near-death experience often return less religious and more spiritual.
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1. A Brief Summary
An example of the spiritual change that often takes
place in near-death experiencers can be found Tom Harpur's excellent documentary entitled Life
After Death. In it, he profiles a minister named Ken Martin who had a
near-death experience. Upon his return from his experience, he discovered that everything he had previously
known - his ministry, his calling, everything - was insignificant in comparison
to his experience with the afterlife.
Heaven is not about religious beliefs, but
about spiritual actions.
It is not true, as some people believe, that we get to heaven by giving verbal assent to belief in
God.
It is love, not religious doctrines, that creates spiritual growth.
Religions
are cultural institutions but love is universal.
Those
religions which claim superiority over other religions or exclude people
for various reasons, go against God's law to love others as we love
ourselves. Although religion, in itself, is not important to God, all
religions are necessary because there are people who need what they teach.
For this reason, all religions are precious in the sight of God. All religions refer to the same God.
All religions are different ways of trying to describe the same God. After
death, if you insist upon searching for an old man on a throne as God, you will do this for awhile until you get the idea that you are following an
illusion.
2. Religion is
not as Important as Many People Believe
Doctrine and creed and race mean nothing. No matter what we believe we were all children joined under one
God. The only rule is God's true law: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
(May Eulitt)
God does not care which religion is best. God does not care what religion people practice. They are all a
blooming facet of the whole. All religions refer to the same God. (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)
One man who had a near-death experience realized that the "God" of his religious background wasn't anything like the reality.
He learned that it doesn't matter if people call him God, Allah, Great Spirit or
whatever, he is one and the same. (Dr. Liz
Dale)
Everyone, religious or not, believing in God or not, transitions to the spirit world as part of the natural process of
life. Just as one does not need to be religious to live in the physical world, one does not need to profess a
particular faith to live in the spirit world. (Nora Spurgin)
Heaven is about deeds, not creeds. Therefore, persons of many cultures and religions form the societies of
heaven. (Emanuel Swedenborg)
Religious beliefs have little to do with what we experience in the transition from one realm to another, except
that we are allowed to see briefly the teacher or guru that we followed. Regardless of cultural or religious
beliefs, we have the same basic experience at death. (Betty Bethards)
God is not dependent on our belief, for our belief or disbelief in God does not affect God - only
us. (Dr. PMH Atwater)
God cares little about our religious affiliation or church membership. Love is not limited to any one religion or even
religion at all. Religions are cultural institutions but love is universal. (Kevin
Williams)
Kenneth was born and raised a Southern Baptist. As a child, he first made his commitment to Christ and was baptized
with water. He was a member of the church all his life. He was saved, on the path toward heaven, a believer, a follower of Jesus, and he knew this assured him a place in heaven. Nevertheless, he had a NDE and it sent him straight to hell.
(Rev. Kenneth Hagin)
God is not a member of any church or religion. It is the churches and the religions that are members within the vastness and the
glory that is God. There is no one religion just as there is no chosen people or person, nor any single way of regarding what
cannot be fully comprehended. We are all sons of God in the sense that we are all souls of God's creation, without gender,
without form, without nationality, complete and whole and perfect as we explore the never-endingness of God's
wonderment. (Dr. PMH Atwater)
Having faith in Christ doesn't matter
as much as having the faith of Christ. It is foolish to think that
Jesus will carry your cross for you because he taught people that they
must take up their own cross. Having the faith of Christ means to
practice unconditional love. (Kevin
Williams)
There is a lot of solid evidence in the Bible itself that
the Bible has serious and devastating errors
in it. (Kevin
Williams)
3. Emanuel Swedenborg's
Discourse on Religion
Some people believe that it
is hard to lead a heaven-bound life (which is called a spiritual life) because
they have heard that a person needs to renounce the world, give up the
appetites that are associated with the body and the flesh, and live like
spiritual beings. They take this to mean nothing other than rejecting what
is worldly - especially wealth and prestige - and walking around in constant
devout meditation on God, salvation, and eternal life, passing their lives
in prayer and in reading the Word and devotional literature. They think
that this is renouncing the world and living by the spirit instead of by
the flesh.
But an abundance of
experience and discussion with angels has enabled me to know that the
situation is completely different from this. In fact, people who renounce
the world and live by the spirit in this fashion build up a mournful life
for themselves, one that is not receptive of heavenly joy; for
everyone's life on Earth stays with them when they enter the spiritual
realm. On the contrary, if people are to accept a life in heaven, they must by all means live in the
world and become involved in its
functions and dealings. Then through a moral and civic life they will
receive a spiritual life. This is the only way a spiritual life can
be formed in people and their spirit be prepared for heaven.
Living an inward life and
not an outward life at the same time is like living in a house with no
foundation, which gradually settles, or develops cracks and gaps, or
totters until it collapses.
If we examine a
person's life with rational acuity, we discover that it is threefold:
there is a spiritual life, a moral life, and a civic life; and we
find these lives distinct from each other. There are people who live a
civic life but not a moral or a spiritual one. Then there are people who
live both a civic life and a moral life and a spiritual as well. These are the ones who are leading heaven's life - the others are
leading the world's life separated from heaven's life.
A heaven-bound life is not a
life withdrawn from the world but a life involved in the world. A life of
piety without a life of love (which occurs only in this world) does not
lead to heaven. Rather, it is a life of love, a life of behaving honestly
and fairly in every task, every transaction, every work, and from a more
inward source that leads to a heavenly one. This source is present in that life
when a person behaves honestly and fairly because it is in keeping with
divine laws. This life is not hard. (Emanuel
Swedenborg)
3. Love is
the True "Religion"
I asked the
light, which I call Christ, how people from other religions get to heaven. I was
shown that the group, or organization, we profess alliance to is inconsequential.
What is important is how we show our love for God by the way we treat each other.
This is because when we pass to the spiritual realm we will all be met by him, which
substantiates the passage, "No one comes to the Father, but by me."
The light showed me that what is
important is that we love God and each other, and that it isn't what a person says, but
the love in their being that is examined in the afterlife. (Sandra
Rogers)
What is truly important is love, not religion. (Beth
Hammond)
The best religion is the religion that brings you closest to God. (Rev. Howard
Storm)
There are only two true religions - the religion of love and the religion of fear.
(Sandra Rogers)
Your religion is where your love is. (Henry David
Thoreau)
How are we saved? By unselfish love. When we love
unselfishly, our vibrations are so high that the only place we'll fit into is
heaven. There is no other place we can go if we want to. This is divine justice
because it gives all the people who ever lived, as well as all the higher
animals who know right from wrong, an equal chance to eventually attain internal
harmony which will fit them into some kind of heaven - regardless of their
intelligence, education, indoctrination, ignorance, wealth or poverty. (Arthur Yensen)
The central message that Buddhist near-death experiencers bring back from their
journey is that the most important qualities in life are love and knowledge, compassion and wisdom.
(Lingza Chokyi)
People who truly practice the religion of love will find themselves in a universal sphere where everyone
understands that true religion is to love others as ourselves. (Nora
Spurgin)
There is light that can be found in many, many
other faiths. All faiths which stress love have this focus. All have their own paradise, but the devoted eventually
learn the tremendous experience that all is one under God and that there is no division in purpose. There is one
God of us all. (Margaret Tweddell)
Near-death accounts suggest that unconditional love is the highest form of
religion there is.
(Kevin Williams)
Jesus didn't come to preach a new religion. Jesus was a Jew who preached unconditional love.
(Kevin Williams)
4. Religions have an Important Purpose
I wanted to know why there were so many churches in the world. Why didn't God give us only one church, one pure religion? The answer came to me with the purest of understanding. Each of us, I was told, is at a different level of spiritual development and understanding. Each person is therefore prepared for a different level of spiritual knowledge. Each church fulfills spiritual needs that perhaps others cannot fill. No one church can fulfill everybody's needs at every
level.
(Betty
Eadie)
The
different religions just have different ways of explaining the same Creator.
(Dr. Liz Dale)
God created differences in religion because of the different lessons we all need to learn.
(Sandra Rogers)
All religions are necessary because there are people who need what they teach. (Betty
Eadie)
Religions have a place and any one person in that religion is on the path of learning what is important for that
soul. (Darlene Holman)
The most important thing is to really live
what our religion teaches. Even if we have the greatest religion of all, it won't do us any good if we don't put it
into practice in our lives. Whatever we practice becomes a part of us.
(Daniel Rosenblit)
Religion is used as a
stepping stone to further knowledge. As an individual raises his level of understanding about God
and his own eternal progress, he might feel discontented with the teachings of his present church and seek a
different philosophy or religion to fill that void. When this occurs he has reached another level of understanding
and will long for further truth and knowledge, and for another opportunity to grow. And at every step of the way,
these new opportunities to learn will be given. (Betty
Eadie)
One does not have to be religious to dwell in the spirit world,
but one inevitably will benefit from a thorough
understanding and practice of a particular tradition.
(Nora Spurgin)
We have no right to
criticize any church or religion in any way. They are all precious in
God's sight. Very special people with important
missions have been placed in all religions that they might touch others. (Betty
Eadie)
It is possible for the uneducated and unbelieving spirit to be a virtual prisoner of this Earth. Such
spirits may not recognize the energy and light which draws one toward God. Lacking the faith and power to reach for the light, unenlightened spirits may actually stay on Earth until they learn of the higher power which surrounds, and is available to them.
(Betty
Eadie)
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5. NDEs are
the Source of Many Religious Concepts |
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(1) |
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NDE archetypal images |
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NDE archetypal images have
been consistent throughout history.
Jenny
Yates describes how the phenomenology of the archetypal Being
of Light in world myths and religions shows the archetypal
parallels with the Light in the NDE that are consistent across
time and cultures. Yates shows how the phenomenon of the Being of
light of the NDE has parallels to: |
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(2) |
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NDEs
correlate with Judaism: |
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Jewish scholars
have discovered contemporary NDEs in Israel and found
parallels in the Talmud, Zoharic
traditions, and later Rabbinic literature and
folklore. The theme of judgment before a heavenly court is
particularly prominent in the Jewish NDE tradition (Jonathan
Neumann). |
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(3) |
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NDEs
correlate with Buddhism: |
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Carl
Becker reports that Japanese Pure Land Buddhism is
grounded upon the reality and accessibility of NDEs for
all (1984 b,c). Becker also explores the strong
parallels with the Tibetan Book
of the Dead (1985). The Tibetan Buddhist leader
Sogyal Rinpoche explores the parallels between NDEs and
the classic Tibetan Book of the Dead in his article in
this book. |
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(4) |
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NDEs
correlate with Hinduism: |
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The Hindu subtle
body that leaves the body at death, Arvind
Sharma shows, is analogous to the spiritual body
described in Hindu NDEs. The
flash of light experienced by the youthful guru Yogananda
is an archetypal parallel to the NDE light. (Yogananda,
167). |
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(5) |
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NDEs
correlate with mysticism: |
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NDEs have also been compared
to mystical shamanic journeys (Doug
MacDonald) and to Kundalini yoga's mystical states (Dippong;
Ring, 1984). Christian mystics such as Edgar
Cayce and Emanuel Swedenborg
describe having visionary experiences identical to NDEs. John
Pennachio defines a NDE as a mystical state, since
NDEs show congruence with Walter
Pahnke's nine categories of a mystical experience:
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(a) |
Intuitive unity (a
sense of cosmic oneness) |
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(b) |
Transcendence of
space and time |
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(c) |
A deeply felt
positive mood |
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(d) |
A sense of sacredness |
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(e) |
A feeling of insight
or illumination |
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(f
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Paradoxicality |
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(g) |
Ineffability |
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(h) |
Transiency yet
persisting positive changes in attitude and
behavior (the experience passes) |
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(i
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Persisting positive
changes in attitudes and behavior |
David
Lorimer interprets NDEs and the psychic experiences of
NDE survivors as their participation in the immanent,
divine presence described in the mystical literature of
the Perennial
Philosophy, from Plato's
Being to Emerson's
Oversoul. Judith
Cressy shows a number of specific parallels between
NDEs and mystics in the classical tradition, such as St.
Theresa and John
of the Cross. In her essay in this book, she
encourages NDE survivors to seek supportive spiritual
communities that can support their journey of integrating
the Light into daily life.
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Some religious beliefs can be harmful |
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Soul Sleep: Throughout history, Christians have believed in the
idea of soul sleep. This is the repulsive doctrine that people sleep in their graves until the second coming of Christ
at which time their corpses come alive and crawl out of their graves
like the movie Night of the Living Dead. Near-death experiences show that this doctrine is not only
false, but is a very harmful doctrine to believe in. The following are
NDE insights that show the dangers of believing in this doctrine: |
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(1)
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One of the places we observed seemed to be a receiving station. Beings would arrive here oftentimes in a deep hypnotic sleep. I call it hypnotic because I realized they had put themselves in this state by their beliefs. Here were what I would call angels working with them trying to arouse them and help them realize God is truly a God of the living and that they did not have to lie around sleeping until Gabriel or someone came along blowing on a
horn.
(Dr. George Ritchie) |
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(2)
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Things change little in the hereafter. Suppose we have the fixed idea that we'll sleep till the resurrection of the body. Then suppose there isn't a resurrection of the body. We might sleep a very long
time.
(Arthur Yensen) |
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(3)
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Those that died believing they would sleep until awakened by Gabriel, reported a black darkness, a feeling of being trapped and alone, stranded. What I've finally come to realize is we truly and most literally create our own realities. When we die, the reality we created is where we will live and what we will
become.
(Dr. PMH Atwater) |
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(4)
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Betty Bethards has this to say about not believing in life after
death: |
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You will probably be kept in a sleep state for the first two to three day period. You will wake up in a beautiful meadow or some other calm and peaceful place where you can reconcile the transition from the death state to the continuous life. You are given teachings in the hope that you do not refuse to believe that you are
dead.
(Betty Bethards) |
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(5)
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Ruth Montgomery has this to say about a person who does not believe in life after
death: |
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He expects to find nothing when he passes through the door called
death, and for a long time that is usually what he finds - nothing. He is in a state like unto death for a goodly while, until at last something arouses
him.
(Ruth Montgomery) |
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Fundamentalism: People who have strong and
uncompromising religious beliefs generally have temporary problems
after death when they discover their beliefs to be false. The
following are insights that support this: |
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(1)
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If we have no fixed beliefs about anything,
we'd be free to adapt to the new surroundings and fit in where we belong with no unusual difficulty. Everything
has its place. Fixed beliefs are useful in prayer where doubt is fatal. Yet doubt is always useful in sizing up
religious dogma, reading junk mail, listening to commercials, and the promises of politicians.
(Arthur Yensen) |
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(2)
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Deeply held religious beliefs come into visible expression in the spirit realms, just as they do in the physical realm. We create our own experience. Eventually, restrictive minds slowly open and expand allowing them to accept greater understanding. Then they are ready to move from their limited concept of life to the eternal adventure, for there is ever more to know, to do, to be.
(Jan Price) |
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(3)
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Some people believe that to be a spiritual person, we must renounce the world, give up worldly things and read
the Bible all the time. But people who live this way create a mournful life for themselves and one that is not
receptive of heavenly joy. Everyone's life on Earth stays with them when they enter the afterlife. If people want to
live a heavenly life, they must live a moral and civil life in the world.Living an inward life and not an outward life
at the same time is like living in a house with no foundation which gradually develops cracks and collapses.
(Emanuel Swedenborg) |
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(4)
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The most difficult thing for a person who has been deeply steeped in a particular religious tradition is to realize
that the form alone is not what elevates a person; it is the heart.
(Nora Spurgin) |
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(5)
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Some Christians enter the spirit world and are led into thoughts they had during their physical life about the
soul's state after death, heaven, and hell, until they come to resent their former utter ignorance of things like this,
and resent the Church's ignorance of such matters. (Emanuel
Swedenborg) |
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(6)
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Many people, when they come to the astral world, experience a great deal of turmoil and distress because they have been too positive and too dogmatic in their earthly lives and have tried to impose that dogmatism on other people. I think you can find, if you will think about it and look back at your own lives, that there are times when you wish you hadn't been so forceful in persuading someone to do something. When one does this he is cutting across a divinely given attribute of each person, which is free
will. (Margaret Tweddell) |
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(7)
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After death, people do not keep their religious faith if it does not come from a heavenly love.
(Emanuel Swedenborg) |
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(8)
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The following revelation from
Ruth Montgomery is an example of a fundamentalist preacher's death
experience: |
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First, he is
shocked to find that God is not sitting on a throne surrounded by angels. He may think this is only a brief
interlude until he adjusts. He may begin to preach to people there who he believes are lost souls
who lack the
righteousness to advance to heaven. His sermons may attract some people.
But he begins to demand that the
older souls around there help him find the way to the throne of God. He may honestly believe that it is being
concealed from him in some mysterious way.
At last the old souls gather around and explain to him that he is
preaching a false doctrine; that heaven is within each man, and so is his private hell; that he has arrived, and
nothing is being hidden from him. It is up to him to begin work on his own spiritual advancement, and he is
retarding the progress of others by misleading them with false hopes of a promised land. For this is the
promised land, and we make of it what we will through our own
endeavors. (Ruth
Montgomery) |
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(9)
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Some people believe we must be baptized to go to heaven. Some people believe we must speak in tongues. Some people
believe we must accept Jesus as God or savior. Such people believe that religion is the way to heaven.
But unless the religion we practice is unconditional love, then
we are not following in Jesus' footsteps. (Kevin Williams) |
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God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in
him.
(1 John 4:16) |
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Religious bigotry: Many
religious people have the erroneous and bigoted belief that only their
religion is true and that all other religions are false. Such a belief
has been the scourge of humanity and has been the source of the
multitude of horrible religious wars and atrocities that have plagued
humankind. The following are some NDE insights concerning this
problem.
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(1)
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In the hell realms, there are souls who argue over some religious doctrine and try to kill those who do not agree with
them. (Dr. George
Ritchie) |
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(2)
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Those
religions which claim some singular relationship with God, claim superiority over others, or exclude people for various reasons, go against God's
law that we love one another as we love ourselves. (Sandra
Rogers) |
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(3)
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God is not a member of any church or religion. It is the churches and the religions that are members within the
vastness and the glory that is God. There is no one religion just as there is no
chosen people or person, nor
any single way of regarding what cannot be fully comprehended. (Dr.
PMH Atwater) |
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(4)
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We are all different aspects of the same
being who is not committed to one
particular religion. (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict) |
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(5)
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Not all
teachings described as religious are beneficial. Religion which is judgmental, prejudicial, critical, and narrow
may impede the spirit's natural growth. Where religion
teaches love, there is growth. Where religion impedes love, there is stagnation.
(Nora Spurgin) |
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(6)
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Many religionists think they
have the whole truth and the only short-cut to heaven. Some churches force their particular brand of God's love
on people who were perfectly satisfied and thought they were on good terms with God already. But even though
the churches have abused religion, I believe
everyone should have some kind of a religion, or philosophy, to encourage them to think and grow spiritually.
(Arthur Yensen) |
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(7)
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Despite what some people think, heaven is not limited only to Christians. Jesus reveals the way, the truth, and
the life. However, unless we can give someone the true Christian experience of the Christ, it is not right for us to
say to them, 'You must not be a Buddhist -you must be a Christian.' (Margaret
Tweddell) |
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(8) |
Many faiths on
Earth do not include Christ but are loved and used by God
nevertheless. Our Father never turns away a person who searches
for him. He created our mortal conditions and knows perfectly
what we face in sometimes godless circumstances. A person born
to a home that does not recognize God is not cursed, but rather
blessed with the needed opportunities of growth uniquely
available in that home. Any person searching for any degree of
light, in any religion or system of belief, is graced by God
with opportunities for greater light. (Betty Eadie) |
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(9)
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There is a tendency among certain religious people in the afterlife to congregate in their little groups and have
their little sessions of what they feel are heaven. Eventually they become very bored with this narrowness, and
then their own helpers and teachers will try to give them another idea to help them to break away from this
narrow mindset. In the higher realms there is a unity of God-praise, not a
segregation of the praise of God. (Margaret Tweddell) |
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Faulty religious doctrines: Within some
religions are various sects or denominations that are often based upon
the magnification of some particular religious doctrine. Below are
some insights about this: |
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(1)
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Some Christians expect heaven to be a place where people stand in front of the throne, worshipping forever.
Such a view of heaven is boring and childlike. There are so many heavenly realms and in each of them there is
a fractal that is your particular interpretation, unless you are part of the group soul that believes in only the God
of a particular religion. (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict) |
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(2)
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Insincere prayers of repetition have little, if any, light. These, having no power, are not heard.
But there is no prayer
greater than that of a mother for her children. (Betty
Eadie) |
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(3)
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The belief that we are separate from God is the only real
sin. (Dr.
PMH Atwater) |
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(4)
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When we die, there is no so-called Judgment Day
involving the hellfire and brimstone that is
described in the Bible. God judges no one. The only judgment is
self-judgment. (Sherry Gideon) |
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(5)
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We do not sit at the feet of a man with a long white beard called God.God is
within, whether you are in or out of the body. (Betty Bethards) |
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(6)
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There is no doctrine and no belief to pursue other than knowing that the Being of Light
is God.
(Norman Paulsen) |
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(7)
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When we enter the spirit realm, we are given glimpses of things we expected to see in order to bring us
comfort.We may briefly see a teacher we worshipped in our lifetime: Jesus, Buddha, or another guru,
according to your expectations. But gently we are brought out of many of our illusions and are shown that we
have not landed in an ultimate paradise with gold paved streets. (Betty Bethards) |
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(8)
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It is not true, as some people think, that if we only give verbal assent to belief in God, that is our passport to
heaven and everything will be all right. Not so. God helps those who help themselves.
(Margaret Tweddell) |
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(9)
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We do not go to heaven by worshipping
Jesus, or by believing in his name, or by believing in his work on the
cross, or by accepting him as our Savior. The way to
heaven is through love. God is love. We grow to heaven by allowing love to
grow in our hearts and create heaven within us by practicing unconditional
love. (Kevin Williams) |
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(10)
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Being a Christian is not enough to attain heaven. We grow to heaven by emulating the love of Jesus rather than by worshipping
Jesus. (Kevin Williams) |
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(11)
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If
you insist upon searching for God, you will do this for awhile until you get the idea that you are following an
illusion. God is love in all religions, so the more we live love the closer we are
to God. (Betty Bethards) |
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(12)
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Religious beliefs can limit an open mind.
Any belief such as soul sleep, God on a throne, angels with wings, the trinity, etc.
etc., is initially carried over at the time of death, but very soon, all beliefs that don't correlate with afterlife reality will just simply not be believed anymore. This is all a process of instruction.
(Kevin Williams) |
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Atheism: There is a misconception that people
who don't believe in God or an afterlife are heading straight to hell
after death. Believing that atheists go to hell is, in itself, a
harmful religious belief. And like all rigid beliefs, the belief that
death is the end of everything can create problems for those who hold
this belief. Here are some insights: |
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(1)
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Disavowing the possibility of
the existence of a Higher Power may contribute to the why of a
"Less Than Positive"
(LTP) near-death experience: 19.4
percent of my LTP study group labeled themselves as atheist or agnostic prior to their
experience.
(Dr. Barbara Rommer) |
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(2)
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An atheist was as likely to have one as was a
devoutly religious person. Regardless of their prior attitudes - whether skeptical or deeply religious - and
regardless of the many variations in religious beliefs and degrees of skepticism from tolerant disbelief to
outspoken atheism - most of these people were convinced that they had been in the presence of some
supreme and loving power and had a glimpse of a life yet to come. Almost all who experienced
a NDE found their lives transformed and a change in their attitudes and values, and in their
inclination to love and to help others. (Dr. Ken
Ring) |
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(3)
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If you don't believe in God or an afterlife, you will probably be kept in a sleep state for the first two to three day period. You will wake up in a beautiful meadow or some other calm and peaceful place where you can reconcile the transition from the death state to the continuous life. You are given teachings in the hope that you do not refuse to believe that you are
dead.
(Betty Bethards) |
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(4)
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People do not have hellish NDEs because they are atheists.
My research shows that it is what is within us that matters, not the
religious belief we have or don't have. Nevertheless, not having a
belief in life after death can lead to serious problems such as having
an excuse to treat others badly. Before his NDE, Howard
Storm was such a person and his
NDE was certainly very hellish because of it. Interesting enough, his
NDE is remarkably similar to the hell witnessed by Dr.
George Ritchie during his NDE. Another remarkably similar hellish
experience was documented by Ruth
Montgomery through her paranormal research. Also, the Tibetan
Book of the Dead describes a similar hell for people who lack
spiritual development. All four of these sources agree that having an
excuse to treat others badly can create a hellish condition. Such a
hellish spiritual condition is certainly not limited to atheists. (Kevin
Williams) |
Religious after-effects resulting from a NDE
One of the truths about
NDEs is that each person integrates their NDE into their
own pre-existing belief system. (Jody Long)
The Beings of Light found in NDEs usually conform to the predominant religion the
person was exposed
to, but not always. Jesus has appeared in near-death scenarios of Jewish people, for instance; a Muslim man
once told me he was met by Buddha. (Dr. PMH Atwater)
Some experiencers find joining a church to be helpful. Others find quitting their church to be helpful. Near-death experiences tend to make people less religious and more spiritual.
(IANDS faq)
Experiencers tend to become more spiritual -though not necessarily more involved in organized
religion. (Dr. Ken Ring)
No matter what the nature of the NDE, it alters some lives. Atheists embrace the existence of
a deity, while dogmatic members of a particular religion report feeling welcome in any church or temple or
mosque. (Dr. PMH Atwater)
After having a NDE, people tend to exhibit a significant shift in their beliefs on a wide
range of subjects including a general tendency toward an increased openness to the idea of reincarnation.
(Dr. Ken Ring)
After having a NDE, religious observance may increase or lessen, but a deepened belief in
God, or a Higher Power, is almost certain. People say, "Before, I believed; now I know."
(IANDS faq)
Religious orientation is not a factor affecting either the likelihood or the depth of the
NDE. An
atheist is as likely to have one as a devoutly religious person. Regardless of their prior attitudes -
whether skeptical or deeply religious - and regardless of the many variations in religious beliefs and degrees of
skepticism from tolerant disbelief to outspoken atheism - most of these people were convinced that they had
been in the presence of some supreme and loving power and had a glimpse of a life yet to come. Almost all
who had a NDE find their lives transformed and are changed in their attitudes and
values, and in their inclination to love and to help others. (Dr. Ken
Ring)
An experiencer's religious beliefs do not prevent the expansion ofpsychic abilities resulting from their
experience. (Dr. PMH Atwater)
Death does not
suddenly turn a non-religious person into a religious person. (Margaret
Tweddell)
Miscellaneous NDE and religion
insights
I saw that we could literally call down thousands of angels in our aid if we ask in faith.
(Betty
Eadie)
The gods of one faith are the angels, saints, or supernatural beings of other faiths.
(Sandra
Rogers)
Prayer is a tangible force - a power for good here on this Earth!Many people ask me what was the first thing I thought or felt when I came out of my coma, about 3 weeks after the accident. I could feel Christ's love and compassion for me and I believe the
prayers of many for me made him tune into me personally, and led to my incredible experience with Christ in that heavenly
garden. (Derry Bresee)
There is one God who is worshipped through many different teachings of many different religious faiths.
(Sandra
Rogers)
NDErs are not more or less religious than in the cross-section of the
population. They come from many religious backgrounds and from the ranks of agnostics and even atheists.
(IANDS faq)
Religious backgrounds do not affect who are most likely to have
a NDE.
(Dr. PMH Atwater)
Many people are turned off by religion. Any complete body of knowledge is like a spoke in a wheel - pointing to the
center of ultimate truth. Science, art, music, philosophy and religion run into trouble because they are not yet
complete bodies of knowledge even though religion is advertised and sold as such.
(Arthur Yensen)
Evil and the
devil do not
exist. What people consider evil is really ignorance. Hitler
was not an evil man. He was just so incredibly ignorant that
he was practically retarded at a spiritual level. Such people are to be
pitied and our unconditional love should extended even to him because it
is hard
to hate a retarded person. (Kevin Williams)
There is no such thing as sin.
There are only mistakes. Everything is a learning experience. We are here to make mistakes in
order to learn and grow from them. (Jayne Smith)
If you read the Bible with the idea of finding contradictions
and problems, you will find them. The
Bible contains spiritual truth and it has to be read spiritually in order to understand it. It should be read
prayerfully. When read prayerfully, it talks to you and reveals itself to
you. (Rev. Howard Storm)
Religious figures including the founders of world religions, the
saints and prophets, exist in various spirit realms. The similarity of one's life, heart and
knowledge to a particular figure determines one's closeness to these religious figures.
(Nora Spurgin)
The Being of Light seen in near-death experiences can change into different figures, such as Jesus, Buddha, Krishna,
mandalas, archetypal
images and signs. Our beliefs shape the kind of feedback we get from this
Being. If we were a
Buddhist or Catholic or Fundamentalist, we would get a feedback loop of our own beliefs.
(Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)
In the spirit realms, you are able to go back in time and live in the minds of Jesus and his disciples. You can heard their conversations, experience
them eating, passing wine, smells, tastes - as pure consciousness. Any time in history, you can go there.
(Dr. George Rodonaia)
There is no difference between scrubbing floors and praying, between balancing your checkbook and praising God. It's all the
same energy from the same Source. The only difference is how we choose to manifest that energy at any given moment in time
and space. (Dr. PMH Atwater)
Outward worship does not accomplish anything, but rather it is the inner elements from which the outward ones come that really
count. (Emanuel Swedenborg)
I saw the Christian heaven. We expect it to be a beautiful place, and you stand in front of the throne, worshipping forever. I tried it. It is boring! This is all we are going to do? It is
childlike. (Mellen-Thomas Benedict)
Life is what you worship as God. (Edgar
Cayce)
Then I thought about Jesus and he came. There was never any feeling or need to worship him. No awe or fear. Rather, it was a
feeling of seeing a beloved elder brother after being apart for so long. (Dr. PMH
Atwater)
Worship those around you through love and you will be
worshipping the God within them. (Kevin Williams)
Hindu near-death experiences often consist of someone reading a person's record of their life.
In some Christian near-death experiences, it is the Book of
Life that is read. (Pasricha and Stevenson)
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Spiritual
concepts of religion
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Christianity: The
following Bible verses show exactly how love is the greatest, most
important, supremely exalted concept in the entire Christian faith
and the source of all heavenly worship and object of all
adoration. Love is God. |
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(a)
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The way to eternal life is simply through the practice of love.
(Luke
10:25-28) |
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(b)
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Everyone who loves is born of the Spirit and knows God. (1
John 4:7) |
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(c) |
Whoever does not love does not know God because God
is love. (1
John 4:8) |
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(d)
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Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1
John 4:16) |
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(e)
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Anyone who does not love
his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
(1
John 4:19-21) |
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(f )
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We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.
Anyone who does not love remains in death. (1
John 3:14) |
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(g)
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Faith implies the possibility of
doubt. Knowledge implies certainty; but love surpasses both of them.
(Eph
3:19) |
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(h)
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The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
(Gal.
5:6) |
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(i )
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But the greatest of these is love.
(1
Cor. 13:13) |
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(j )
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If you have the gift of prophecy, can fathom all mysteries and all
knowledge, have the faith that moves mountains, speak in the tongues of humans and of angels, give all you possess to the poor
and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, you gain nothing.
(1
Cor. 13:1-3) |
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(k)
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Love is God. Love does not keep a record of
wrongs. (1
Cor. 13:5) |
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(l )
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Love
removes a multitude of sins. (1
Peter 4:8) |
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(m)
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Love is the fulfillment of God's law.
(Rom.
13:10) |
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(n)
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Love is the commandment of God.
(John
15:12) |
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(o)
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Love holds all things together because God is love. (Col.
1:7) |
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(p)
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Love is patient, kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, is not proud, is not rude, is
not self-seeking, is not easily angered, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.
(1
Cor: 13:4-8) |
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(q)
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God
shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears God and
does what is right is acceptable to God. (Acts
10:34-35) |
Buddhism: Hatreds do not ever cease in
this world by hating, but by love: this is an eternal truth. Overcome
anger by love, overcome evil by good ... Overcome the miser by giving,
overcome the liar by truth. (Dhammapada
1.5 & 17.3)
Hinduism: A man acts according to the desires to which he clings. After death he goes to the next world bearing in his mind the subtle
impressions of his deeds; and, after reaping there the harvest of those deeds, he returns again to this world of action. Thus he
who has desire continues subject to rebirth. He who lacks discrimination, whose mind is unsteady and whose heart is impure,
never reaches the goal, but is born again and again. But he who has discrimination, whose mind is steady and whose heart is
pure, reaches the goal and, having reached it, is born no more. (Upanishads)
Judaism: What is hurtful to yourself do not to your fellow man. That is the whole of the Torah and the remainder is but
commentary.
(Rabbi Hillel)
Islam: Shall I tell you what acts are better than fasting, charity, and prayers? Making peace between enemies are such acts; For enmity and malice tear up the heavenly rewards by the
roots.
(Koran)
Sufism: I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the
spirit.
(Kahlil Gibran)
Zoroastrianism: One good deed is worth a thousand
prayers. (Zarathushtra)
Wicca: Bide ye the Wiccan Law ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust. Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: An ye harm none, do what ye will.
(The Wiccan Rede)
Atheism: Love is the expression of one's values, the greatest reward you can earn
for the moral qualities you have achieved in your character and person, the emotional price paid by one man for the joy he receives from the virtues of others.
(Ayn Rand)
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The Bible
in the light of the NDE |
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The following are Kevin
Williams' interpretation of Christian doctrines as they relate to
his NDE research. |
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God:
The Bible teaches that
God is life,
God is love,
God is light,
God
is Spirit, and God
is not a man. This agrees with NDE accounts. God is not a divine man sitting on a throne. God is everything and everywhere.
Everything is a manifestation of God from one degree to another. |
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Jesus:
In
the Bible, Jesus revealed himself as a
Being of Light. And Jesus taught that we too are
beings of light. Jesus is the way, an example, the pattern which we can follow to attain
at-one-ment with God as Jesus did. |
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Trinity:
Jesus referred to the oneness of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which suggests that God has a three-dimensional nature. One particular NDE
account revealed
that humans are made up of a trinity
of bodies: physical body, mind (soul) body and spirit
body. This is also a reference to life, light and love. Thus, the Bible refers to
divinity as the body of Christ, the
mind of Christ,
and the spirit of Christ.
Paul states that "we have the mind of Christ" which
shows that we too have God within us. |
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Humanity:
Jesus taught that we are
gods which means that God dwells within us all. This agrees with NDE accounts. We were made in the image
(a trinity) of God. We are
sons of God just as Jesus is. |
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Silver cord: The Bible
mentions a "silver
cord" which traditionally is a cord that connects the soul body with the physical body.
During a NDE or OBE,
this tinsel-like
cord can be seen. During a NDE, if this cord is broken
then return to the body is impossible. |
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Heaven/hell:
Traditional Christianity believes in
three
realms: hell, the world, and heaven. NDE accounts agree with this except that
there are many hell realms and many heaven realms -
many
mansions. Heaven and hell are actually spiritual conditions within us.
The
kingdom of heaven is within us. The Bible and NDEs reveal that
communication in the afterlife is by mental
telepathy (01). |
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Evil:
The Bible states that evil and sin are like
plagues afflicting humanity. NDE accounts reveal that
"evil" is really spiritual ignorance and
"sin" are mistakes we make out of ignorance. God allows us to be ignorant and make mistakes for the
purpose of instruction and spiritual growth. |
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Salvation:
Jesus taught that eternal life is attained through loving others and
God unconditionally. Eternal life means no more death. NDE accounts overwhelmingly agree. In fact, many NDE accounts reveal that
we are already "saved." We just have to realize it and make it a reality. |
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Judgment:
The Bible states that God does not judge anyone
nor does Jesus
judge anyone. (01)(02).
The Bible states that the
great Judge will set us free (01)
(02)
(03) (04) (05) (06).
God is love; and love
keeps no record of wrongs. NDE accounts affirm this to be true also.
Both agree that the
only judgment that exists is self-judgment and self-condemnation
(01).
After death, we judge our entire life - every
thought, every word, and every deed. |
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Damnation:
The concept of eternal
damnation also comes from the symbolism of the
parables of Jesus and the
Book of Revelation
(along
with this verse) which were never meant to be interpreted literally as even Jesus
taught. Hell
is not literal fire (01) (02) (03).
NDE accounts and the Bible affirms that hell is state of purification and
reflection - not eternal damnation, although it may
seem like an eternity for those who are in that condition.
Hell
is a temporary state (01). |
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Resurrection:
Traditionally, Christians believe that
resurrection means
corpses crawling out of graves at the Last Judgment when Jesus appears on Earth again. But NDE accounts and early Christian history agree that
resurrection really means spiritual regeneration and
spiritual
reincarnation (01) (02) (03) (04) (05) (06).
Death is an out-of-body experience to other realms (01) (02).
There is no sleeping in graves. The Bible describes people
who returned from the dead. Millions of people are returning
from the dead today. The Bible and NDEs reveal that we
existed before we were even conceived (01) (02) (03) (04) (05). |
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Bible:
During one man's NDE, he was told by Jesus that
the Bible is true, but it has to be interpreted spiritually and read prayerfully. Early Christian history shows that
there were many writings considered sacred
but not included in the Bible. Hundreds of years after the death of Jesus,
it was a relatively small group of bishops who determined what would be included in the Bible and what would not. |
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Prophecy: The Bible predicts a future of
major
catastrophes both natural and man-made. This agrees with predictions
of the future found in NDE accounts. |
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Prayer:
One woman learned during her NDE that
prayers of repetition are not even
heard. And there is no prayer more powerful than a mother's prayer for her children. Sincere prayers can be seen on the Other Side as beacons of light shining out from the Earth. Group prayer appears as a gigantic beam of light. All sincere prayers are answered; but we cannot tell God how to answer them. |
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Evolution:
NDE insights reveal that both evolution and creationism are
true. Science strongly suggests that the universe was created through the process of evolution. NDE accounts reveal that
evolution is a divine process which all things go through.
The Bible affirms that astrology
is a fact (01) (02) (03). |
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Abortion:
Some people believe life begins at conception and others believe life begins at birth.
Some NDE insights suggests that the soul enters the fetus anytime during a particular timeframe of the pregnancy. That timeframe is roughly between
six months after conception and up to an hour after
birth. Concerning abortion, some
women have had NDEs while having an abortion. None of the accounts that I have read, indicated that God was displeased with
what they did. All of them were heavenly experiences with no condemnation. Indeed,
NDEs show that abortion is never even an issue with God. In fact, the
Bible actually condones abortion. |
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Homosexuality, sexual immorality,
slavery, etc: The Bible was written during a time when society considered all sinners,
homosexuals, adulterers, and prostitutes as outcasts and worthy of
death. Women had the same status as cattle, slavery was
sanctioned, and so-called sexually immoral people were stoned to death. But Jesus didn't follow the social norms of those days. He hung out with sinners,
prostitutes, tax collectors and even made some of them apostles.
He even told the religious bigots that
the prostitutes were
entering heaven before they were.
Jesus and the Hebrew prophets were virtually silent
about the issue of homosexuality. There are only six verses in the
Bible that refer to homosexuality and they have been misinterpreted
for thousands of years. Historically, people's misinterpretation of
the Bible has left a trail of suffering, bloodshed and death. Over
the centuries people who misunderstood or misinterpreted the Bible
have done terrible things. The Bible has been misused to
kill
homosexuals; defend bloody
crusades and tragic
inquisitions; to support
slavery, apartheid and segregation;
to persecute Jews and other
non-Christian people of faith;
to support Hitler's Third Reich and the Holocaust;
to oppose medical science; to condemn
inter-racial marriage;
to execute women as witches, and to support the
Ku Klux Klan.
The Bible is a book about God - not human sexuality - nor was it
meant to be anything else. In fact, the Bible accepts sexual
practices that we condemn today. It also condemns sexual practices
that we accept today. Here are a few examples.
If a bride is found not to be a virgin, the Bible demands that she
be executed on the spot by stoning (Deut.
22:13-21). If a married person has sex with someone else's
husband or wife, the Bible commands that both adulterers be stoned
to death (Deut.
22:22). Divorce is strictly forbidden by the Bible in both
testaments as is remarriage by divorcees (Mark
10:1-12). The Bible forbids a married couple from having sexual
intercourse during a woman's period. If they disobey, both man and
wife shall be executed (Lev.
18:19). When a man died childless, his widow is ordered by
Biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn
until she bears her deceased husband a male heir (Mark
12:18-27). If a man gets into a fight with another man and his
wife intervenes to rescue her husband by grabbing the enemy's
genitals, her hand shall be cut off and no pity shall be shown her (Deut.
25:11-12).
The Bible considered
polygamy (having more than one wife) to be acceptable. It was
acceptable when
the
prophet Hosea married a prostitute.
Slavery and sex with slaves was acceptable according to the
Bible. Marriage for girls at the age of eleven was acceptable
according to the Bible.
Inter-racial marriage was not acceptable.
Birth control was not acceptable. Discussing or even naming a
sexual organ was not acceptable.
Seeing your parents nude was definitely not acceptable.
Over the centuries, particular Biblical commands became no longer
appropriate, wise or just. God uses science to teach us why those
ancient commands no longer apply to our modern times. There is a
growing mass of evidence from science, psychology, history,
psychiatry, and medicine to prove that homosexuality is a natural
and genetic trait. It is neither a sickness nor a "sin." The
evidence is that people are born they way they are. Unfortunately,
the Church has always been the last institution on Earth to accept
new truth. In 1632, Galileo (a scientist and a man of faith) dared
to support the radical 15th century idea of Copernicus that all
planets, including the Earth, revolve around the sun. Immediately,
Galileo was proclaimed a heretic by the Pope who quoted scriptures
in his attempt to disprove what science now knows is true.
Protestants also quoted scriptures condemning Copernicus. These men
just couldn't admit that the Bible is not a doctoral dissertation on
the astrophysical mechanics of the cosmos. It is the same with
people today who have trouble admitting that the Bible is not a
science book on human sexuality.
Some people falsely claim that the story of Sodom (Genesis
19:1-14) is a story about a city that was destroyed because it
was filled with homosexuals. But Jesus and five Hebrew prophets all
describe the sins that led to the destruction of Sodom and not one
of them mentions homosexuality.
In
Ezekiel 16:48-49, the prophet says, This is the sin of Sodom;
she and her suburbs had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease,
but did not help or encourage the poor and needy. They were arrogant
and this was abominable in God's eyes.
Sodom was destroyed because the people there didn't take God
seriously about the poor, the hungry, the homeless or the outcast.
It says nothing to condemn homosexuality itself. As for the story of
Lot, it was common for thieves, soldiers and bullies to rape their
vanquished enemies to assert their victory and to dehumanize and
demean them. The act of rape or threatening to rape is about power
and revenge, not about homosexuality. A modern example can be seen
in the June 1999 rape of a black Haitian immigrant who was held down
by a police officer while another officer rammed a broken stick into
his rectum. These two men and the other officers who covered it up
were not gay. It was not a homosexual act. It was all about power.
In
Leviticus 20:13 you will read these words: "If a man lies
with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is
detestable. They must be put to death."
The idea of executing homosexuals should be repulsive to the
spiritual person of today. But there is an important truth about God
in this verse that has nothing to do with sex.
Leviticus is a holiness code written about 3,000 years ago. This
code includes prohibitions against round haircuts, tattoos, working
on the Sabbath, wearing garments of mixed fabrics, eating pork or
shell fish, getting your fortune told, even touching the skin of a
pig. These abominations are offensive cultural behaviors. They
were something people in those days considered tasteless. They were
a holiness code containing a list of cultural behaviors which was
written for priests only, to set the priests of Israel over and
against priests of other cultures.
To the Jews an "abomination" was not a law. An abomination was not
something evil such as rape or murder which are forbidden by the Ten
Commandments. An abomination was a common behavior by non-Jews that
Jews believed was displeasing to God. But Jesus and Paul both said
the holiness code in Leviticus does not pertain to Christian
believers. Nevertheless, there are still people who quote that one
verse about men sleeping together from the ancient holiness code to
falsely claim that the Bible condemns homosexuality. But if they
were consistent, they would also condemn eating pork, condemn eating
shell fish, condemn working on the Sabbath, etc..
Consider this single Biblical verse that has been used for centuries
to condemn masturbation.
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"He spilled his semen on the ground to keep from
producing offspring for his brother. What he did was
wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death
also." (Gen.
38:9-10). |
For Jewish writers of the Bible, a man sleeping
with another man was an abomination. But it was also an abomination
(and worthy of death) to masturbate or even to interrupt sex with
your spouse before ejaculation as an act of birth control. These
sexual practices were abominations to them because the Hebrews
believed that male semen contained the whole of life. Without
scientific knowledge of eggs and ovulation, they assumed that a
man's sperm contained the whole child and that the woman provided
only the incubating space. Therefore, the spilling of semen without
the possibility of having a child was considered murder.
In Romans 1:2627 the Apostle Paul describes non-Jewish women who
exchange natural use for unnatural and non-Jewish men who leave
the natural use of women, working shame with each other.
This verse appears to be clear. Paul sees women having sex with
women and men having sex with men, and he condemns that practice.
But to understand what Paul is talking about, one must study the
historical context which Paul was writing in. Paul is writing this
letter to Rome after his missionary tour of the Mediterranean where
great temples were built to honor
Aphrodite, Diana and other fertility gods and goddesses of sex and
passion instead of the one true God that the apostle honors.
Apparently, these priests and priestesses castrated themselves,
carried on drunken sexual orgies and even had sex with young temple
prostitutes (male and female), all to honor the gods of sex and
pleasure.
The Bible is clear that sexuality is a gift from God. God wants us
to be fruitful. But the Bible is also clear that when passion takes
unnatural control over lives, serious problems develop. When we live
solely for pleasure, we may end up serving the false "gods" of sex
just like people did in Paul's time. In our obsession with pleasure,
we may even stray from God and cause God to abandon us as he did
with
the prodigal son to "feed on the husks" until he returned to
God. But the priests and priestess whom Paul referred to were not
abandoned by God because they were practicing homosexuals. According
to Rev. Dr. Louis Smedes, the distinguished Christian author and
ethicist, these priests and priestess were abandoned because they
refused to acknowledge and worship God. Being abandoned by God, they
sank into the sexual depraved behavior of participating in orgies.
Nor is it true that homosexuals give up heterosexual urges for
homosexual urges. Scientific studies show that people are born
homosexual. It is a genetic trait. Homosexuals do not change from
one orientation to another as a person might change their mind or
their tastes. Homosexuals discover that they are homosexual at a
very young age. It would be unnatural for most homosexuals to have
heterosexual sex. And homosexuals generally do not lust after each
other any more than heterosexual people do. It is unreasonable (and
unjust) to compare homosexuals in general to these priests and
priestesses who pranced around the statues of Aphrodite and Diana.
This passage says a lot about devotion to God, but nothing about
condemning homosexuality.
Also, note that Romans 2 begins with Therefore, [referring to
Romans 1], you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge
others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself
Paul warns us that judging others is God's business, not ours.
1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 are verses have to do with
the mystery of the Greek words "malakoi" and
aresenokoitai. These verses are the last two significant places in
the Bible that refer to homosexuality. These two verses show how
exasperated Paul was with the Christians fighting among themselves
in Ephesus and Corinth. In Corinth, Christians are even suing each
other in secular courts. Paul admonishes them by basically telling
them, You are breaking God's heart by the way you are treating each
other. To remind the churches in Corinth and Ephesus how God wants
us to treat each other, Paul recites examples from the Jewish law
first. Don't kill each other. Don't sleep with another man's wife.
Don't lie, or cheat, or steal. The list goes on to include
admonitions against fornication, idolatry, whoremongering, perjury,
drunkeness, revelry, extortion. He also includes malakoi
and aresenokoitai. Here's where the confusion begins. These two
Greek words - malakoi
and aresenokoitai - have confused Bible scholars until to this very
day.
Greek scholars believe that in first century the Greek word "malakoi"
probably meant effeminate call boys. The new Revised Standard
Version renders it male prostitutes. Greek scholars don't know
exactly what "aresenokoitai" means. Some scholars believe that Paul
was coining a name to refer to the customers of the effeminate call
boys. The modern terminology would be that they were dirty old
men. Others translate it as sodomites and never explain what that
means. Then, in 1958, for the first time in history, a person
translating that mysterious Greek word into English decided that it
meant "homosexuals"; when in fact there is no such word in Greek or
in Hebrew. For the first time in history, the word homosexual
appeared in the English-language Bible. But a closer look at the
Greek word "aresenokoitai" in its original context shows that Paul
is condemning the Roman custom of married men (aresenokoitai) hiring
hairless young boys (malakois) for sexual pleasure just as they
hired smooth skinned young girls for that purpose. Responsible
people, both homosexual and heterosexual, would agree with Paul in
condemning those who used children for sex. In the same way,
responsible people condemn the practice of gang rape or the behavior
of the sex-crazed priests and priestesses in Rome. So we see that
these verses do not condemn homosexuality.
In the past, Paul's writings have been used to support slavery,
segregation and apartheid. People are still using Paul's writings to
oppress women, and to limit their role in the home, in church and in
society.
A young Jewish scholar asked Jesus, What is the greatest
commandment? Quoting the prophets, Jesus replied, The great
commandment is this ... to love God with all your heart, soul, mind,
and strength, and the second command is like it, to love your
neighbor as you love yourself. This is my commandment, Jesus
said, that you love one another, as I have loved you. On this the
Bible is explicitly clear. Even if people disagree about what the
Bible says concerning sexuality, we can all agree that above all
else we are commanded by the scriptures to love God and to love each
other.
In conclusion, Jesus loves
homosexuality and homosexuals and this is supported by the
gospels, and the NDEs of gays and
lesbians. Some scholars even point to early Christian writings
to support the argument that
Jesus was gay. Scientific evidence exists which suggests that
homosexuality is genetic. This means they are born homosexual
which explains why God loves them so much because He creates so many
of them every day. |
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"The purpose of religion is not so much to get us into heaven, or to keep us out of hell, but to put a little bit of
heaven into us, and take the hell out of us. This has always been the greatest responsibility of religion."
- E. Stanley Jones |
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Copyright 2010 Near-Death Experiences
and
the Afterlife |
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