A Christian Near Death Experience

Howard Storm's book "My descent into death" is a real classic, but I didn't hear about the book until quite recently, when browsing Youtube clips about Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). The author was interviewed on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).

Storm is a former atheist and art professor, who became a Christian minister after a shattering near-death experience. During an agonizing and near-fatal stay at a French hospital, Storm drifted into an unconscious state and experienced several visions of both Heaven and Hell. The visions of Hell are particularly controversial, since many people in the NDE community believe that NDEs are wholly positive. In his book, Storm describes - very vividly - how demons tricked his soul to come down to Hell, and tortured it in various bizarre ways. However, Storm's sojourn in Hell ended with his soul being saved by Jesus Christ, who took him to Heaven. There, Jesus and a group of angels subjected Storm to a "life review" which made him realize that most of his life had been spent in an atmosphere of cynicism, lack of love and meaningless dog-eat-dog competition. Naturally, the experience shattered Storm's worldly-wise egoism. He eventually gave up his work as an art professor and joined a main-line Protestant denomination, the United Church of Christ, where he eventually became a pastor.

I never met Storm, but I readily admit that he comes across as a pretty likable guy in his book. Please note that the author actually claims to have met *Jesus Christ* and visited both Heaven and Hell. Yet, he didn't become a cultist or fundamentalist. Instead, he joined a broad church with an Inclusivist theology. Judging by his book, Storm's on good terms with a number of Catholics, including a nun and former student who prayed for him for 13 years. He also admits that he isn't perfect, and even humbled himself by working for a Christian soup kitchen.

It's fascinating to compare Storm's book with "Saved by the light" by Dannion Brinkley, who also had a number of dramatic NDEs. Rather than meeting Jesus, however, Brinkley met a group of weird spirit-beings and ended up as a kind of New Age prophet, even co-operating with the cultist Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Another interesting comparison would be with Robert Monroe, who claims to have communicated with spirits during self-induced out-of-body experiences. The "god" met by Monroe was a cold, indifferent being...

However, it does seem that many people who experienced an NDE end up as *some* kind of inclusivists or pluralists in religious matters, either a form of Christianity that doesn't condemn literally all "non-believers" to Hell, or some kind of even broader form of spirituality.

What this might mean is anybody's guess. The out-of-body experience during NDEs is notoriously difficult to explain away. I did notice, however, that Storm had a Christian upbringing and went to Sunday school as a child, so he clearly had *some* kind of Christian background before his NDE. He also writes that there was an almost violent spiritual struggle going on inside him for most of his adult life. The NDE does seem to conform to Storm's psychological make-up and childhood faith: a violent combat between Heaven and Hell, with Storm's soul eventually being saved by Jesus.

Thus, while NDEs have some components that are clearly paranormal, other components look more subjective. Even so, "My descent into death" is a fascinating book, and I readily recommend it to anyone interested in Near-Death Experiences, Christianity and spirituality.