A Quick Reference for Evaluating Any NDE or DBE
Sooner or later, a real one will land in your lap. A friend will text you about a book she just finished. A neighbor will tell you, over the backyard fence, about what his mother said in her last hours. A coworker will corner you after a meeting because she heard that you "know about this stuff." And you will need to answer.
This appendix exists for that moment. Everything in this book up to now has been the long version — the biblical foundations, the careful arguments, the chapter-length case studies. This appendix is the short version. Think of it as a folded pocket map you can pull out when you are already on the road. It will not tell you everything. It cannot replace the chapters. But it can orient you quickly when a story comes at you fast and you need a framework for listening well.1
The checklist below moves through seven stages. Each stage answers one question. The stages build on each other. If the first stage fails, the others may not matter. If the first stage passes but the second raises serious concerns, the later stages help us sort the concerns into categories. By the time we reach the Final Verdict Framework at the end, we should be able to land somewhere responsible — not because the checklist made the decision for us, but because it gave us a place to stand while we did the work of discerning.
Read through the whole thing at least once before trying to apply it. Then, when you need it, you can skim it. The checklist is designed for use in two modes: the deliberate mode (you sit down with a book or a recorded testimony and work through each stage carefully), and the conversational mode (someone is telling you their story and you are mentally running the questions in the background while staying fully present with them). Both modes are legitimate. Both require the Holy Spirit's help.
Before running any of the later tests, we need to decide whether the account is worth our time in the first place. Not every NDE or DBE claim deserves equal attention. Some accounts are so poorly sourced, so internally incoherent, or so far removed from the original experiencer that the responsible Christian response is to set them aside rather than labor over them.
Ask these foundation questions first:
If the foundation check raises serious concerns — no reliable source, significant internal incoherence, a long pattern of inflation — we may be looking at an account that does not merit the labor of the seven tests. We can set it aside without being uncharitable. Discernment includes knowing when not to spend our energy.
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If the account survives the foundation check, the next stage is the seven-test framework developed in Chapter 10. These tests are rooted in Scripture's own pattern for evaluating spiritual claims: the Apostle John's command to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (1 John 4:1, ESV), Jesus's insistence that we will "recognize them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16, ESV), and Paul's warning that Satan himself disguises as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).3 The Greek verb John uses for "test" is dokimazō (δοκιμάζω), a word borrowed from metalworking — it means to assay a piece of metal to see whether it is genuine precious metal or a counterfeit. That is exactly the posture we are adopting here.
Run the account through each test. For each test, note whether it clearly passes, raises a concern, or is ambiguous. Some tests will not be applicable to every account; that is fine.
Does the experience point toward or away from the specific, incarnate, crucified, risen Jesus Christ of the New Testament?4
This is the fundamental test. A being of light who refuses to name Jesus, who claims to be "beyond" Jesus, or who teaches that all paths lead to God is not passing this test, regardless of how loving the encounter felt. Miller's research documents that Jesus is named remarkably often in NDE accounts — far more often than skeptics of NDE literature tend to realize — but this does not mean every luminous figure is Jesus.5 Discernment is still required. The rule here is simple: biblical Jesus in, biblical Jesus out. If the Jesus described in the account cannot be lined up with the Jesus of the four Gospels, something has gone wrong somewhere.
Does the content of the experience cohere with the core doctrines of biblical Christianity as summarized in the ancient creeds?
The early creeds — Apostles', Nicene, Chalcedonian — are not arbitrary tests. They summarize the boundaries of historic Christian faith that the church has held for nearly two millennia. When an NDE account teaches something that Galatians 1:8 would classify as "a different gospel," we are on solid biblical ground in raising a concern.6
Does the experience call the experiencer toward holiness, repentance, and moral responsibility, or toward moral relativism and self-divinization?
Jesus's own rule — "you will recognize them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16) — applies here. Real encounters with the holy God produce the response we see in Isaiah 6: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5, ESV). An NDE that produces no such response, and instead produces a serene sense of self-affirmation, is not necessarily counterfeit, but it is worth examining more closely.7
Does the experience lead the experiencer toward the church — the body of Christ, the worshiping community, the ordinary means of grace — or away from it?
Hebrews 10:24–25 commands believers not to neglect meeting together. An NDE that produces solo spirituality — "I don't need the church, I've been there" — is violating a clear biblical pattern. This test usually takes time to apply. Many genuine experiencers need a season to process what happened before their church relationships stabilize. But over the long run, the direction matters.
Over the long run, does the experience produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) in the experiencer's life?
This test is the long game. Five years after the experience, ten years, twenty years — what has happened to the person? Fruit takes time to ripen, but when it is ripe, it is unmistakable. Sabom's follow-up research on NDErs is instructive here: genuine Christian experiencers tend to show lasting transformation that their neighbors and coworkers can see.8
Does the experience fit the patterns of genuine biblical encounters with God, or the patterns Scripture associates with spiritual deception?
Biblical encounter patterns include:
Deception patterns include:
When the pattern lines up with Isaiah or Paul or John on Patmos, we have good reason to take the experience seriously. When the pattern lines up with what Scripture warns against, we have good reason to be cautious.
Considering the experiencer's overall trajectory — belief, practice, relationships, witness, long-term fruit — does the experience belong to the kingdom of God or to something else?
This is the integrative test. It recognizes that individual elements of an NDE may pass some tests and raise concerns on others. The question at this stage is: when we step back and take the whole picture, what do we see? A life pointing toward Christ, or a life pointing elsewhere?
The seven tests are not a pass-fail gate where one failure sinks the whole account. Most genuine NDE and DBE accounts pass all seven clearly. Most fabricated or seriously corrupted accounts fail on multiple tests simultaneously. The interesting cases — and the hard ones — are the accounts that pass some tests cleanly while raising real concerns on others. Those are the "hybrid" cases discussed in Chapter 17. For those, we keep the good, correct the bad, and love the experiencer through the sorting.
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Some NDE and DBE accounts contain specific elements that have repeatedly appeared as red flags in the modern literature. These elements do not automatically sink an account, but they each deserve careful examination. If the account contains any of the following, evaluate carefully and consult the corresponding chapter of this book.
Reincarnation claims or past-life memories. The experiencer reports seeing past lives, being told they have lived before, or receiving instructions about future incarnations. Hebrews 9:27 — "it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" — directly contradicts the reincarnationist framework. Tabatt treats past-life memories as one of the chief doorways Satan uses to hijack NDE accounts.9 See Chapter 23 for a full treatment.
Pre-life memories, soul contracts, councils of elders. The experiencer reports remembering a pre-birth existence, signing agreements about what their earthly life would contain, or meeting with a pre-life "council" that planned their incarnation. This framework owes far more to Mormonism, Theosophy, and modern occult teaching than to biblical theology. See Chapter 24.
"All religions are equal" messages. The experiencer reports being told — often by a luminous being — that every religion is a path to the same God, that doctrinal differences are ultimately illusions, or that Christianity's claims about Jesus being the only way are mistaken. This directly contradicts the words of Jesus himself in John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (ESV). See Chapter 25.
Psychic abilities given, mediumship encouraged. The experiencer reports receiving psychic gifts during the experience, being told to become a medium, or being encouraged to help others "make contact" with the dead. Scripture repeatedly prohibits necromancy and consulting spirits of the dead (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:9–14; Isaiah 8:19). See Chapter 26.
Alien contact, star beings, cosmic federations. The experiencer reports meeting extraterrestrial beings, being told their soul originated on another planet, or receiving teachings about a cosmic federation of advanced civilizations. These themes cross-pollinate heavily with the occult and with New Age teaching. See Chapter 27.
New Age theology in Christian vocabulary. The experiencer uses Christian words — "Christ," "light," "love," "spirit" — but fills them with meaning drawn from pantheism, cosmic monism, or Eastern mysticism. "Christ consciousness" is the classic example: a phrase that sounds Christian but often means "the divine spark in every human" rather than "the eternal Son of God incarnate." See Chapter 28.
Universalist conclusions drawn from the love experience. The experiencer had a genuine encounter with overwhelming love and concluded from that encounter that no one will face judgment, that hell does not exist, or that salvation is automatic for all. The error here is not in the love experience — which may have been entirely genuine — but in the inference drawn from it. Genuine divine love and real divine judgment are not contradictions in Scripture. See Chapter 20.
Denial of sin, hell, or final judgment. The experiencer teaches that there is no sin, no hell, no accountability. This is not always the same as universalism. A person can believe in universal salvation while still affirming sin and judgment (on one historic view, universalism means everyone eventually is saved through judgment, not apart from it). The concern at this stage is the flat denial that sin, hell, or judgment are real categories at all. See Chapters 16, 20, and 21.
Self-divinization or "Christ consciousness" teaching. The experiencer comes away believing they are God, or a god, or that all humans are divine in their essential nature. This is the serpent's lie from Genesis 3:5 in modern dress. See Chapters 19 and 28.
Occult or channeling-related instructions. The experiencer is told to develop psychic gifts, channel messages from beings on the other side, learn to use a pendulum or Ouija board, or engage in any practice Scripture identifies as occult. See Chapter 26.
The presence of one of these elements does not automatically mean the whole experience was demonic or fabricated. Many genuine experiencers return to consciousness, try to make sense of what happened, and reach for whatever vocabulary is available to them — which in our culture often includes New Age or generically spiritual categories. The experience may have been real; the interpretive vocabulary may be wrong. This is the "hybrid" phenomenon discussed in Chapter 17. Sort carefully before concluding.
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Just as there are red flags to watch for, there are also positive indicators that tend to appear in accounts that later prove trustworthy. No single indicator is decisive, but their presence strengthens the case for taking an account seriously.
Verified veridical content. The experiencer reports seeing or hearing something during their NDE that they could not have known through normal means, and that is later independently confirmed. Examples include accurately describing the shoes on a nurse's feet (the famous "Maria's shoe" case), repeating specific conversations that happened in other rooms during the cardiac arrest, or describing medical equipment and procedures with a precision they could not have had beforehand. Long's research documents hundreds of such cases in detail.10 See Chapter 11.
Clear encounter with Jesus displaying biblical markers. The experiencer names Jesus, describes him in terms consistent with the New Testament (including, often, the nail scars), and reports teachings that cohere with the biblical Jesus rather than contradicting him. Burke's collection of such encounters is especially valuable here.11 See Chapters 13 and 14.
Angelic escorts or reunions with deceased saints consistent with biblical teaching. The experiencer meets angelic beings who behave like biblical angels (focused on God's glory, not seeking worship of themselves), or is met by deceased loved ones who are now with Christ. The reunions are loving but not focused on the experiencer's specialness. See Chapter 15.
Life review producing moral transformation. The experiencer undergoes a review of their life that produces genuine repentance, not flattery. They come away more aware of their sin, more committed to loving others well, and more humble. See Chapter 16.
Fruits of the Spirit in the experiencer's subsequent life. Over months and years after the experience, the experiencer visibly grows in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Their family can see it. Their church can see it.
Reluctance or humility on the experiencer's part. The experiencer is not eager to tell the story, not selling conference tickets, not branding themselves as an NDE celebrity. They share when asked, with some reluctance, and always in a way that points to Jesus rather than to themselves.
Connection to local church and biblical community. The experiencer is rooted in a local body of believers, accountable to pastors and fellow Christians, engaged in Scripture reading and prayer, and participating in the sacramental life of the church.
Consistent testimony over years. The account has not changed substantially over time. Details are the same. The theology is the same. The experience is not growing more dramatic with each retelling. See Chapter 32 for the contrast with fabricated accounts.
Deepened rather than diminished love for Scripture. After the experience, the experiencer reads the Bible more, not less. They do not claim the experience has replaced Scripture. They do not say "I've been there, I don't need the Bible anymore." If anything, they describe the experience as having illuminated and confirmed what Scripture already taught.12
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If the account in question is not from a private person but from a published NDE teacher — someone with books, podcasts, conferences, and a public platform — a different layer of evaluation becomes possible. We can look at the author's overall body of teaching.
This stage does not replace the earlier stages. An author with a problematic trajectory may still have told a genuine account at one point. An author with an excellent track record may still make specific errors. But author evaluation helps us calibrate expectations and focus our attention where it is most needed.
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This is the saddest stage of the checklist. Most NDE and DBE accounts are genuine, and most problematic accounts are hybrids — real experiences with wrong interpretations layered on top. But some accounts appear to be fabricated. The Alex Malarkey case is the most famous example: a book marketed as the testimony of a boy who visited heaven turned out, by the boy's own later statement, to be invented.13
Fabricated accounts typically display a cluster of markers. No single marker is proof of fabrication, but a cluster is worth paying attention to.
Claiming that a specific account is fabricated is a serious charge, and the discernment posture this book recommends is generally patient and charitable. Most accounts should not be labeled as fabricated unless there is clear evidence — typically including either a public retraction by the experiencer or multiple credible witnesses contradicting the account. When in doubt, set the account aside rather than label it. "I'm not sure this is reliable" is almost always a safer and kinder judgment than "this is a fraud."
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The checklist up to this point has been mostly evaluative. This final stage is pastoral. Discernment in the abstract — evaluating a book on a shelf — is one thing. Discernment in a relationship — listening to your cousin at the kitchen table — is another. The same framework applies, but the pace and tone shift dramatically.
I want to press one point hard here. In my experience, most Christians who find themselves in a conversation with an experiencer make one of two mistakes: they either leap immediately to correction ("let me tell you what was wrong with your experience") or they collapse into unlimited affirmation ("that's so beautiful, I'm sure it was all Jesus"). Both mistakes cost the relationship something. The first treats a human being as a target for a theology lecture. The second abandons the human being to error. The middle path is slower, harder, more prayerful, and much more Christlike. It looks like asking good questions, listening for months and sometimes years, and speaking truth in love when the moment opens.
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After working through the previous seven stages, you should be able to land somewhere. Not with perfect certainty — discernment rarely comes with that — but with a responsible working conclusion. The following five verdicts cover most cases.
The account passes the foundation check, passes the seven tests clearly, contains positive indicators, and shows no significant red flags. The author (if applicable) has a trustworthy track record. There are no fabrication markers.
Response: Engage with joy and appreciation. Let the account strengthen your own faith. Share it with others as appropriate. Be grateful to God for the window of reassurance he has provided. Still keep the reminder in view that even genuine accounts are supplements to Scripture, never replacements for it.
The core of the experience appears genuine — there is a clear encounter with God, real veridical content, lasting good fruit — but specific elements within the account raise concerns. The interpretation includes universalist inferences, or a specific teaching element contradicts Scripture, or the experiencer's current theology has drifted from where the experience itself seems to have been pointing.
Response: Affirm what is genuine. Do not pretend the core was nothing just because parts were corrupted. At the same time, do not accept the corrupted elements as if they were part of the genuine core. Address the specific concerns patiently, with Scripture, over time, and within the relationship.
The account fails multiple tests, contains multiple red flags, teaches doctrines that directly contradict Scripture, and is producing bad fruit in the experiencer's life or in the lives of those who follow their teaching.
Response: Engage with caution. Do not accept the theological conclusions the account is advancing. Do not share the account as if it were edifying Christian material. At the same time, continue to love the experiencer as a person made in God's image and, if they are a Christian, as a brother or sister. Correction is not the same as rejection.
The account shows a cluster of fabrication markers, has been publicly retracted or credibly disputed, and cannot be trusted as a genuine spiritual experience.
Response: Do not endorse. Do not promote. If asked, explain charitably why you have concerns. If you are a pastor or teacher with a public platform, warn others when appropriate. But do so without speculating about the experiencer's eternal destiny or personal character. Evaluate the teaching; do not judge the soul.
This is often the right verdict. The account has some positive indicators and some concerns. It does not clearly pass all seven tests, but it does not clearly fail them either. The author's trajectory is unclear. The fabrication markers are absent, but the positive indicators are not strong either.
Response: Hold lightly. Continue to observe. Do not rush to endorse. Do not rush to reject. Time is one of the most reliable discerners we have. Many "uncertain" accounts clarify over the next five or ten years — either the fruit grows and the account stabilizes, or the teaching drifts further and the concerns sharpen. Patience is not compromise; it is wisdom.
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The checklist above is a tool, not a verdict machine. It cannot replace the slow work of prayerful attention. It cannot replace the Holy Spirit's ministry to the believer's conscience. It cannot replace the wisdom of the local church, the counsel of mature believers, or the plain reading of Scripture. What it can do is give us a structured way to pay attention — to notice what we might otherwise miss, to name what we might otherwise leave vague, and to avoid the twin errors of wholesale credulity and wholesale rejection.
I want to end where this book began. Most NDEs and most DBEs, I am convinced, are genuine spiritual experiences. The majority do not contain unbiblical elements of the kind this checklist is designed to spot. The dying grandmother who sees Jesus in her hospital room an hour before her death is, most of the time, really seeing Jesus. The woman who woke from cardiac arrest with a new and unshakeable conviction of God's love is, most of the time, telling us the truth about what she met. A discernment handbook can create the impression that most accounts are suspect. They are not. The baseline is genuine. Discernment exists precisely because the baseline is genuine — counterfeits only exist where there is a genuine currency to counterfeit.
So use the checklist. But use it with the posture of someone who expects, more often than not, to find something real. Use it gently. Use it prayerfully. Use it with humility about your own limits. And when you are wrong — because you will sometimes be wrong — let the Spirit correct you over time, just as you hope he will correct the experiencers you are trying to serve.
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1, ESV)
John does not say "reject every spirit." He says test the spirits. The posture is neither paranoia nor naïveté. It is faithful, careful, loving examination, grounded in Scripture and submitted to the Spirit of God. That is the posture this appendix is trying to help us cultivate. May the Lord give us grace to keep cultivating it, one conversation and one account at a time.
Burke, John. Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015.
Cooper, John W. Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting: Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000.
Farris, Joshua R. An Introduction to Theological Anthropology: Humans, Both Creaturely and Divine. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020.
Long, Jeffrey. God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperOne, 2016.
Miller, J. Steve. Is Christianity Compatible with Deathbed and Near-Death Experiences? The Surprising Presence of Jesus, Scarcity of Anti-Christian Elements, and Compatibility with Historic Christian Teachings. Acworth, GA: Wisdom Creek Press, 2023.
Sabom, Michael. Light and Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998.
Tabatt, Shaun. The NDE Conspiracy. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2025.
Wilkinson, Michael A. Crowned with Glory and Honor: A Chalcedonian Anthropology. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2022.