Forty-seven figures in the NDE landscape, organized alphabetically with theological orientation and reading recommendations.
Christians who begin reading in the near-death experience (NDE) literature quickly discover something puzzling. The field is enormous. Authors abound. Some books are written by careful evangelical pastors; others by New Age teachers who happen to use the word "heaven." Some NDE accounts are consistent with the Bible from start to finish; others quietly teach reincarnation, universalism, or the divinity of the human self. A single visit to a Christian bookstore or a YouTube search can put the reader in contact with authors whose theology ranges from rock-solid orthodoxy to outright heresy — often side by side on the same shelf.
This appendix exists to help the reader find a footing. It is a quick-reference guide to forty-seven of the most influential NDE authors, teachers, and researchers a thoughtful Christian is likely to encounter. Each entry offers basic identification, major works, a one-sentence summary of theological orientation, a reading recommendation, and a short rationale. The goal is not to tell anyone what to think about a given author. The goal is to help the reader know what kind of voice they are reading and what sort of care the reading requires.
The book this appendix belongs to evaluates NDE teachers using the seven-test framework developed in Chapter 10. Those tests ask: Does the teaching line up with Scripture? Does it exalt Jesus Christ as the Bible presents Him? Does it fit with historic Christian orthodoxy? Does it produce spiritual fruit consistent with Christian faith? Does it pass the test of coherence across the author's corpus? Does it submit itself to the church? And does the teacher display humility about their own experience? The evaluations in this appendix are compressed distillations of that same kind of work.
Several principles shape every entry. First, the evaluation is of published teaching, not of persons. The appendix does not speculate about anyone's heart, motives, or eternal destiny. That is God's business, not ours. Second, the evaluation is documented — it tracks what the authors actually say in print, rather than caricatures circulated online. Third, the evaluation is charitable. Where a teacher's best case can be made, the appendix tries to make it. Fourth, the evaluation takes seriously both errors this book is written against: wholesale credulity (believing every NDE book uncritically) and wholesale rejection (dismissing everything). Both errors fail the reader.
Read with Confidence. The author's teaching is substantially consistent with biblical Christianity, and their work can be recommended with appropriate discernment to ordinary Christian readers.
Read with Discernment. The author offers valuable material but has specific areas where caution is needed — theological drift, mixed influences, or particular claims requiring careful evaluation.
Read with Caution. The author's theological framework departs from biblical Christianity in ways serious enough that only mature, well-grounded readers should engage their work, and only for specific reasons such as research or rebuttal.
Not Recommended. The author's published teaching is incompatible with Christian faith in ways that would more likely mislead than edify the ordinary Christian reader. This category is reserved for genuinely dangerous content, not for everyone the reader will disagree with.
One further note before the entries. Some of the most problematic authors in this list are also the most charming and sincere. Sincerity is not the measure. The test is doctrine, not personality. A kind, warm, lovely person can still teach things that, if believed, would cost a soul eternity. Paul's warning that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) is precisely about this: the dangerous thing often does not feel dangerous.1 That is why discernment is commanded, not optional.
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American neurosurgeon (b. 1953) whose 2008 NDE during bacterial meningitis produced the bestseller Proof of Heaven and launched a second career as an NDE teacher and New Age speaker.
Major Works: Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife (2012); The Map of Heaven: How Science, Religion, and Ordinary People Are Proving the Afterlife (2014); Living in a Mindful Universe: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Heart of Consciousness (2017).
Theological Orientation: Spiritual-but-not-religious monism with growing New Age and consciousness-based spirituality; no meaningful role for Christ, sin, or judgment.
Recommendation: Not Recommended for ordinary Christian readers; Read with Caution for researchers and apologists.
Alexander's story has been perhaps the most influential NDE account of the twenty-first century, largely because of his medical credentials and his Newsweek cover. The account itself is evocative, but the theological content is troubling: the central message he reports receiving was that "you are loved and cherished, you have nothing to fear, and there is nothing you can do wrong" — a message that, taken seriously, dissolves the entire moral framework of Scripture.2 Pastor Greg Boyd has pointed out that this last sentence, if true, would mean that raping a child is not wrong — a conclusion Alexander himself would surely reject, but which the reported teaching entails.3 Pastor and professor Donald Whitney notes that Jesus is absent from Alexander's heaven, that all paths apparently lead there, and that the book implicitly contradicts the biblical gospel.4 Alexander's later works (The Map of Heaven and Living in a Mindful Universe) move deeper into explicit New Age territory, including channeling and consciousness research. A careful Christian researcher may wish to read Proof of Heaven to understand the landscape, but should do so alongside the biblical critiques.
American NDE researcher and former NDEr (b. 1937) who experienced multiple NDEs in 1977 and has published extensively on NDE aftereffects for nearly four decades.
Major Works: Coming Back to Life (1988); Beyond the Light (1994); Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of the Story (2011); Children of the Fifth World (2012).
Theological Orientation: New Age universalism integrated with reincarnation, psychic development, and what Atwater calls "the evolving consciousness" framework.
Recommendation: Not Recommended for theology; Read with Caution for empirical research on NDE aftereffects.
Atwater is one of the most prolific writers in the NDE field. Her empirical observations about the long-term behavioral and psychological aftereffects of NDEs are cited across the literature, including by some Christian authors. However, her theological interpretation of NDE data is consistently non-Christian: she treats reincarnation as established, promotes psychic development as the normal outcome of NDE transformation, and positions NDErs as a vanguard of humanity's spiritual evolution. Christians drawing on her empirical work should do so the way one might read an excellent medical textbook by a non-Christian author — for the data, not the worldview, and never leaving the two unseparated. Her religious framework cannot be harmonized with biblical faith.
American former pastor (b. 1970), founder of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, and writer whose trajectory has moved from evangelical megachurch leadership into post-evangelical territory.
Major Works: Velvet Elvis (2005); Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived (2011); What We Talk About When We Talk About God (2013).
Theological Orientation: Hopeful universalism, relativized hell, reframed Jesus; formally still claims "Christian" but departs from evangelical orthodoxy at several points.
Recommendation: Read with Caution; Not Recommended as primary theological reading.
Bell is included in this appendix not because he has written an NDE book but because his theological influence on NDE-adjacent conversations has been significant, especially among younger evangelicals. Love Wins argued for a hopeful universalism that framed hell as a kind of self-chosen condition rather than a state of divine judgment, and the book effectively ended Bell's evangelical standing. His NDE-adjacent readers often arrive at his work through popular NDE testimonies that emphasize universal love without biblical specificity, and his framing confirms their instincts. Readers who want to consider biblical universalism seriously would do better with Robin Parry, Thomas Talbott, or the historical patristic universalists than with Bell, whose treatment is more devotional than theological. Bell's positive contributions — his invitation to wonder, his critique of stale fundamentalism — can be heard, but his theological conclusions should not be the lens through which one evaluates NDE content.
American Pentecostal Christian who clinically died during kidney stone surgery in 2006 for over one hour and experienced heaven, including an extended encounter at the throne of God.
Major Works: In Heaven! Experiencing the Throne of God (2012, rev. ed. 2014).
Theological Orientation: Charismatic/Pentecostal evangelical Christianity; clear affirmation of Christ's deity, the exclusivity of the gospel, and biblical heaven and hell.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
Braxton's account is vividly charismatic in flavor — readers from cessationist or low-church backgrounds may find some descriptive language unfamiliar, and should not stumble over style — but the theological content is thoroughly biblical. His encounter places Jesus at the center, describes worship around the throne consistent with biblical imagery, and produces fruit consistent with Christian discipleship: evangelism, teaching ministry, and submission to Scripture.5 John Burke draws on Braxton repeatedly in Imagine Heaven as an example of the pattern most NDE accounts confirm.6 Braxton does not claim his experience adds to Scripture, does not promote himself as a prophet, and has built his teaching around drawing hearers toward Christ. A solid, recommended testimony.
American former military intelligence officer (b. 1950), struck by lightning in 1975, who emerged from his NDE claiming prophetic visions of the future and psychic abilities.
Major Works: Saved by the Light (1994); At Peace in the Light (1995); The Secrets of the Light (2008).
Theological Orientation: New Age psychic spirituality; post-NDE practice of mediumship, energy work, and "future revelation."
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Brinkley's NDE included distressing elements and a life review in which he experienced the pain he had caused others — an unusual and arresting detail that has kept the book in print for three decades. However, the post-NDE trajectory of Brinkley's work places him squarely outside Christian practice. He has functioned as a professional psychic, claimed prophetic foresight of specific future events (with a mixed accuracy record), and built his ministry around exactly the practices Deuteronomy 18:10-12 prohibits. Scripture's test of a true prophet is perfect accuracy (Deuteronomy 18:22); Brinkley's record does not meet this standard. Christians should not engage his psychic work, and readers curious about the NDE itself would be better served by an account from a writer who submitted the experience to Scripture rather than building a psychic career from it.
American evangelical pastor, founder of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas, and author who has systematically cross-referenced hundreds of NDE reports against biblical teaching.
Major Works: Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You (2015); Imagine the God of Heaven (2023); No Perfect People Allowed (2005).
Theological Orientation: Mainstream evangelical Christianity with a warm pastoral tone and a soft-complementarian, missional-church flavor.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
Burke's Imagine Heaven is arguably the most influential Christian NDE book of the past decade, with endorsements from J. P. Moreland, Gary Habermas, and Lee Strobel.7 Burke reads the NDE literature with both appreciation and evaluation, letting biblical teaching norm the discussion while allowing the NDE reports to illuminate passages about heaven that readers have often skimmed.8 One caveat: Burke is more willing than this book would be to accept certain popular accounts at face value, and he does less theological sorting among NDEs than the present volume recommends. Readers should approach Imagine Heaven as a rich and faithful resource while keeping the seven tests of Chapter 10 in hand. His recent Imagine the God of Heaven extends the same method to the question of God's character as disclosed in NDE reports.
Todd Burpo is an American evangelical Wesleyan-holiness pastor in Imperial, Nebraska; his son Colton had an NDE at age four during surgery for a ruptured appendix in 2003, which Todd narrated in the 2010 bestseller Heaven Is for Real.
Major Works: Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back (2010); Heaven Is for Real for Kids (2011); Heaven Changes Everything (2013).
Theological Orientation: Evangelical (Wesleyan-Arminian); Jesus-centered content with some distinctively charismatic elements.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment.
The Burpo account has been read by millions, made into a feature film, and introduced countless evangelicals to the category of NDE. The content is broadly Christian — Colton reports meeting Jesus, seeing angels, encountering deceased family members including a sister lost to miscarriage and a great-grandfather he had never met — and includes specific veridical details that are difficult to explain as fabrication.9 J. Steve Miller treats the book as broadly compatible with the professional NDE literature.10 The appropriate caution is that the account is mediated through the father, a pastor, and was given over a period of years, so readers cannot fully separate Colton's original experience from the shaping process of family conversation and eventual publication. A second caution concerns specific visual claims (the appearance of Jesus, details of heaven's furniture) that Scripture does not confirm and that readers should hold loosely. The book can be a blessing; it should not be a doctrine.
American researcher and NDEr (b. 1938), past president of IANDS, who has devoted her career to the study of distressing near-death experiences.
Major Works: Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing Near-Death Experiences (2012); The Buddha in Hell and Other Alarms (2016).
Theological Orientation: Liberal-mainline Protestant with significant engagement across religious traditions; not an evangelical voice but not militantly secular either.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment as a research resource on distressing NDEs.
Bush's Dancing Past the Dark is the definitive single-volume treatment of distressing NDEs. Her empirical work — cataloguing the patterns, the long-term effects, the different types of distressing experiences — is cited by virtually every serious researcher in the field. Her own theological framework is more spacious than evangelical orthodoxy, and her interpretive preferences tend toward a Jungian-archetypal reading of hellish content rather than taking such experiences as indicators of real judgment. Christians reading Bush should learn from her data, take her categories seriously (they inform Chapter 21 of this book), and respectfully disagree with her interpretive frame where it flattens the biblical teaching on judgment and the lost. Her work is one of the most important voices one can read in this subfield, even where her theology differs from the reader's own.
American author (b. 1942) whose 1973 NDE became a #1 New York Times bestseller nineteen years later and introduced millions of readers to what is essentially an LDS-flavored universalist heaven.
Major Works: Embraced by the Light (1992); The Awakening Heart (1996); The Ripple Effect (1999).
Theological Orientation: LDS-influenced syncretism: preexistence of souls, heavenly councils, Lucifer-as-misunderstood, universal paths to God.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Eadie's background in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shapes her NDE account in pervasive ways. The book teaches pre-mortal existence of souls, a council of gods, and a Lucifer who is not truly fallen but simply plays a tragic role in the divine plan. The "Jesus" Eadie reports meeting teaches content that the biblical Jesus explicitly rejected — most notably, that all paths lead to God and that there is no need for a particular faith in Christ. Hank Hanegraaff's critique of Embraced by the Light is largely sound: the book is not Christian NDE literature but Mormon-syncretist NDE literature with the distinctive LDS doctrines softened enough to pass unrecognized in the evangelical market. J. Steve Miller notes that Eadie's book yielded "a veritable systematic theology of Mormon and New Age doctrine" — a clear warning to Christian readers.11 Readers who have been moved by Eadie should be gently shown how her "Jesus" differs from the Jesus of the Gospels.
British husband-and-wife research team; Peter Fenwick (b. 1935) is a neuropsychiatrist and leading NDE/DBE researcher in the UK, working often with palliative-care and hospice staff.
Major Works: The Truth in the Light (1995); Past Lives: An Investigation into Reincarnation Memories (2001); The Art of Dying: A Journey to Elsewhere (2008).
Theological Orientation: Open, non-dogmatic spirituality; not hostile to Christianity but not specifically Christian; sympathetic to reincarnation research while acknowledging NDE data as evidence for the afterlife.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment for empirical research, especially on DBEs.
The Fenwicks' research on deathbed experiences — drawing on extensive interviews with hospice caregivers and relatives — is among the most valuable in the field. Their careful documentation of deathbed visions, "nearing-death awareness," after-death communications, and the specific patterns of end-of-life spiritual experience gives Christians a rich empirical basis for what Scripture and pastoral tradition have long taught. Caution arises when Peter Fenwick's Past Lives book treats reincarnation memories as real evidence of past lives rather than offering an alternative explanation consistent with Christian anthropology. Christians should take their DBE research seriously (it supplies much of the data in Chapters 3 and 12 of this book) while rejecting the reincarnation framework.
American evangelical pastor of Southern View Chapel (Springfield, Illinois) and prolific writer whose pastoral ministry includes careful critique of the "heaven tourism" genre.
Major Works: Is That You, Lord? Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Biblical Perspective (2007); Out of Formation: Spiritual Disciplines of the Church (2010); the Heaven Tourism series of pastoral articles and booklets.
Theological Orientation: Conservative evangelical, broadly dispensational, cessationist; Reformed-leaning on soteriology.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; helpful on specific critiques, too sweeping on the category as a whole.
Gilley is a careful, loving pastoral critic of popular NDE accounts. His critiques of specific books — Alex Malarkey, some Burpo-style accounts, and several New Age NDE works — are often sound and worth reading. His theological framework, however, leans toward the wholesale dismissal position addressed in Chapter 35 of this book: he tends to treat the whole NDE phenomenon as either unreliable by nature or outright deceptive, rather than distinguishing genuine from corrupt experiences as the present volume does. Readers should take his critical work seriously as a second opinion on specific books, while recognizing that his framework would also dismiss experiences this book treats as genuine. Read alongside Miller and Tabatt as a useful balance.
American academic psychiatrist (b. 1946), emeritus professor at the University of Virginia, co-founder of the Greyson NDE Scale, and widely regarded as the dean of academic NDE research.
Major Works: After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond (2021); The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences (co-ed., 2009); numerous peer-reviewed journal articles.
Theological Orientation: Broad, non-dogmatic spirituality; Greyson does not claim a particular religious affiliation and treats NDE data as pointing to the reality of consciousness beyond the body without endorsing any specific religious interpretation.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; foundational for the empirical field.
Greyson's scholarly corpus is the closest thing the field has to a consensus empirical baseline. His sixteen-item NDE Scale, developed with Ian Stevenson in 1983, remains the standard tool for identifying and grading NDEs. His 2021 After presents five decades of research in accessible form. Christian readers will find Greyson's data invaluable and his theological reticence respectful: he does not promote an alternative religion from his platform, but neither does he endorse the Christian gospel. Read him for the empirical foundation (especially the evidence for consciousness beyond the brain) while supplementing his theological reading with Miller, Sabom, Habermas, and Moreland. Greyson's personal warmth and his readiness to take NDErs seriously — without either dismissing or deifying them — models a posture Christians can learn from.
American evangelical philosopher and distinguished research professor at Liberty University, best known for his work on the resurrection of Jesus, who has written philosophically on NDEs as evidence for the afterlife.
Major Works: Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality (with J. P. Moreland, 1998); The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (with Michael Licona, 2004); numerous journal articles on NDE evidence and philosophy of religion.
Theological Orientation: Conservative evangelical; defender of substance dualism and the bodily resurrection of Christ.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
Habermas is one of the most important evangelical voices on NDE evidence. His work with Moreland in Beyond Death argues carefully that veridical NDEs provide real evidential support for the Christian view of the afterlife, without claiming that every NDE account is accurate or that the NDE phenomenon is the main evidence for Christian hope (which remains the resurrection of Christ). J. Steve Miller cites Habermas among the "respected Christian intellectuals" who have engaged NDE data rather than dismissing it wholesale.12 Habermas's philosophical rigor, evangelical theology, and decades-long engagement with the resurrection evidence make him a trusted bridge between the academic world and the pew. Any Christian who wants to understand why NDEs matter apologetically should start here.
American apologist, host of the Bible Answer Man radio program since 1989, president of the Christian Research Institute, and prominent critic of Betty Eadie and similar NDE accounts.
Major Works: Christianity in Crisis (1993, rev. 2009); Resurrection (2000); AfterLife: What You Need to Know About Heaven, the Hereafter & Near-Death Experiences (2013); numerous articles in the Christian Research Journal.
Theological Orientation: Conservative Christian (now Eastern Orthodox, since 2017); defender of orthodoxy against New Age, cultic, and syncretist spiritualities.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; strong on specific critiques, sometimes over-sweeping in general posture.
Hanegraaff's critique of Betty Eadie was a major evangelical response when Embraced by the Light was dominating bestseller lists. His analytical framework — testing specific claims against Scripture, identifying LDS and New Age imports, unmasking syncretism — is exactly the kind of work needed in the NDE space. On Eadie specifically, and on similar New Age NDE literature, Hanegraaff's critique is substantially correct. Where his approach needs supplementing is in his tendency, shared with John MacArthur, to treat the entire NDE phenomenon as more suspect than the evidence warrants. J. Steve Miller notes that Hanegraaff's legitimate concern with specific problematic accounts sometimes spills over into "all-encompassing language that delegitimizes all such experiences."13 Read him as a valuable critical partner on specific books; complement with Miller, Sabom, and Burke for a balanced picture.
American medical-technology executive turned evangelical NDE teacher; had a dramatic NDE during septic shock in 2008 and has since built a speaking and writing ministry grounded in his encounter with Christ.
Major Works: Dying to Meet Jesus (2021); Heaven Stories (2022); co-author (with Shaun Tabatt) of Stories of Heaven and the Afterlife (2022); contributing voice to various NDE anthologies including the introduction to Tabatt's NDE Conspiracy.
Theological Orientation: Evangelical charismatic; high view of Scripture, robust Christology, committed to the exclusive gospel.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
Kay's NDE testimony centers on a personal encounter with Jesus that he describes in distinctly biblical terms. His post-NDE ministry has been noticeably evangelistic, consistently submitting his experience to Scripture rather than claiming his experience adds to Scripture. His role as introduction-writer for Shaun Tabatt's The NDE Conspiracy signals that Kay stands with those who call for discernment rather than wholesale acceptance of every NDE account.14 Readers from non-charismatic backgrounds may find the tonal register slightly unfamiliar, but the content is biblically sound. A trustworthy contemporary Christian NDE voice.
American hospice physician and chief medical officer of Hospice Buffalo; has led the most extensive recent prospective study of end-of-life dreams and visions in dying patients.
Major Works: Death Is But a Dream: Finding Hope and Meaning at Life's End (with Carine Mardorossian, 2020); numerous peer-reviewed papers on end-of-life dreams and visions.
Theological Orientation: Nominally Catholic but professionally framed in broad humanistic-spiritual terms; not aggressively secular, not specifically Christian.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment.
Kerr's empirical work on deathbed visions is of enormous value, especially because it was conducted with medical-research rigor in a modern hospice setting. His catalogue of what dying patients see, whom they see, and how these visions affect their peace at death largely confirms the pattern documented by Osis and Haraldsson decades earlier and by the Fenwicks more recently. His theological framing is softer than his data: he tends to interpret deathbed visions as meaningful psychological phenomena without adjudicating their reality. Christian readers should take his data as corroboration of what Scripture suggests about the intermediate state and the ministering presence of angels at the time of death (Luke 16:22), while supplying from biblical teaching what Kerr himself leaves undeveloped.
Swiss-American psychiatrist (1926-2004) whose pioneering work on death and dying in the late 1960s and 1970s opened modern thanatology and included careful attention to deathbed phenomena.
Major Works: On Death and Dying (1969); On Children and Death (1983); On Life After Death (1991).
Theological Orientation: Started in a Swiss Protestant context but moved through significant theosophical and spiritualist influences in later life; by her later career, her framework was a non-specific spiritual universalism.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; early work stronger than late.
Kübler-Ross's observations on dying patients, particularly children — including the frequency with which dying children reported seeing deceased relatives they could not have known about by normal means — are significant and often cited by later researchers.15 Her early work on the stages of grief, though often misused as a rigid sequence, opened the modern literature on death and dying. Her later engagement with mediums and discarnate entities moved her into territory Christians should not follow. Read her early work (especially On Death and Dying and the DBE portions of On Life After Death) with appreciation; skip the later spiritualist material.
American radiation oncologist and founder of the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF), whose online archive has collected more than 5,000 NDE accounts, the largest such database in existence.
Major Works: Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences (2010); God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience (2016).
Theological Orientation: Theistic universalism; Long believes NDE data supports belief in God but sees all religions as equally valid paths.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; valuable empirical work paired with a universalist theological frame.
Long's empirical contribution is enormous. His 2010 summary of 1,300 NDE accounts demonstrated remarkable consistency across the phenomenon. His 2016 God and the Afterlife focused on the specifically theistic content of NDEs — the overwhelming sense of encountering a personal, loving God of light.16 Christians can read Long's data as powerful confirmation of the reality of encounter with God in the NDE, while respectfully disagreeing with his conclusion that all religious paths lead equally to this God. The Bible's own teaching — that God is known definitively in Christ (John 14:6) — stands against the universalist inference Long draws. Read Long for the data; read Miller, Burke, Sabom, and Habermas for the theological framework.
American evangelical pastor of Grace Community Church (Sun Valley, California) since 1969, president of The Master's University and Seminary, and prolific author; the best-known proponent of the wholesale-dismissal view of NDEs.
Major Works: The Glory of Heaven: The Truth About Heaven, Angels, and Eternal Life (1996; revised edition 2013); The MacArthur Study Bible; many other works across a fifty-year preaching ministry.
Theological Orientation: Conservative Reformed, cessationist evangelical; committed to the sufficiency of Scripture in a strict form that rejects contemporary revelatory experience.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; respected critic whose specific concerns are partly valid but whose conclusion is too sweeping.
MacArthur's revised 2013 edition of The Glory of Heaven included substantial new material critiquing the "heaven tourism" genre — the wave of popular NDE books that peaked in the 2000s. His specific critiques of Alex Malarkey, Colton Burpo, and Don Piper raised real concerns, some of which (particularly regarding Malarkey) have been vindicated. His broader conclusion — that all NDEs should be dismissed — does not follow from his data and sets up the wholesale-rejection error addressed in Chapter 35 of this book.17 MacArthur's argument that Scripture is sufficient is true but conflates sufficiency with sole-sourcing: the biblical authors themselves engaged visions, dreams, and supernatural encounters without treating these as threats to Scripture. Read MacArthur for the legitimate pastoral concerns; supplement with Miller, Burke, Habermas, and Moreland to see where the wholesale-dismissal position over-reaches.
Kevin Malarkey is an American Christian counselor; his son Alex (b. 1998), paralyzed in a 2004 car accident, was the named subject of the 2010 bestseller The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven.
Major Works: The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven (2010; withdrawn 2015).
Theological Orientation: Marketed as evangelical Christian content; now known to be substantially or wholly fabricated.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
The Malarkey case is the paradigmatic cautionary tale in the NDE genre. Published by Tyndale House, marketed to Christians, and selling over a million copies, the book was retracted in 2015 when Alex Malarkey — then sixteen — issued an open letter stating that he had not died, had not gone to heaven, and had said he did "because I thought it would get me attention."18 He called on Christians to test every NDE account against Scripture. Tyndale withdrew the book from sale, LifeWay removed it from stores, and it is now out of print.19 The case is a sobering reminder that commercial pressure, even in Christian publishing, can produce fabricated content; that alignment with Christian expectations (Jesus, angels, heaven) is not sufficient validation; and that primary sources — especially children — should be engaged directly rather than only through intermediaries. Alex Malarkey's courage in recanting is commendable, and his current advocacy for biblical discernment is a gift to the church.
New Zealand-born backpacker whose 1982 jellyfish-sting NDE on the island of Mauritius led to conversion to Christianity, subsequent evangelical ministry, and decades of international evangelistic speaking.
Major Works: A Glimpse of Eternity (with Jenny Sharkey, 2008); the widely circulated video testimony A Glimpse of Eternity.
Theological Orientation: Evangelical Christianity, charismatic in expression; exclusive-gospel, high view of Scripture.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
McCormack's account is among the most consistently told and theologically clean NDE testimonies in the literature. Stung multiple times by box jellyfish while night-diving, he experienced a distressing NDE (outer darkness, awareness of lostness) followed by a direct encounter with Christ that he describes in distinctly biblical terms. His post-NDE trajectory — conversion, Bible study, evangelical ministry, consistent testimony across decades — displays exactly the kind of fruit Chapter 29 of this book identifies as a marker of genuine Christian NDE. McCormack does not claim his experience adds to Scripture, does not style himself a prophet, and does not promote psychic or mediumistic content. A model testimony for Christian NDE readers.
American evangelical researcher and educator; author of the most important recent work on Christian engagement with NDE and deathbed experience literature, and a Th.D. in the field.
Major Works: Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven (2012); Deathbed Experiences as Evidence for the Afterlife, Volume 1: A Groundbreaking, Scientific Apologetic (2021); Is Christianity Compatible with Deathbed and Near-Death Experiences? (2023); "Deathbed Experiences as Evidence for the Afterlife: A Multicultural Examination of the Literature" (PhD dissertation, Columbia International University, 2019).
Theological Orientation: Conservative evangelical; careful biblical scholarship combined with empirical NDE/DBE research.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence — highest recommendation.
Miller is the most important living Christian scholar of NDE and DBE research. His 2023 Is Christianity Compatible? examines more than a thousand NDE accounts from the professional literature and demonstrates the remarkable compatibility of most NDEs with mainstream biblical teaching — as well as the surprising prominence of Jesus in non-Christian NDErs' accounts.20 His Deathbed Experiences volumes establish DBEs as one of the most under-appreciated bodies of evidence for conscious survival of death. Miller writes with rigor, charity, and genuine pastoral warmth. He engages the critics (MacArthur, Hanegraaff) respectfully while demonstrating where their wholesale dismissals over-reach.21 Every Christian seriously engaging NDE literature should own and study Miller first.
American radio executive (1915-1995) whose self-induced out-of-body experiences in the 1950s-60s led to the founding of the Monroe Institute and the systematic teaching of astral-projection techniques.
Major Works: Journeys Out of the Body (1971); Far Journeys (1985); Ultimate Journey (1994).
Theological Orientation: Non-Christian spiritual research framework; astral-projection and consciousness-exploration methodology without any theological grounding.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Monroe is not an NDE author in the strict sense — his experiences were not near death — but his work is often shelved alongside NDE literature and has influenced the field significantly. The Monroe Institute continues to teach audio-technology-assisted methods for inducing out-of-body states. Christians should not pursue these practices. The biblical testimony about the human constitution does not support seeking to separate one's consciousness from one's body through trance or technology, and the historical pattern of such practices has produced significant spiritual and psychological harm. Monroe's work is included here as a warning; it is not an NDE resource Christians should engage for edification.
American psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1944) whose 1975 book Life After Life coined the term "near-death experience" and effectively founded the modern field.
Major Works: Life After Life (1975); Reflections on Life After Life (1977); The Light Beyond (1988); Glimpses of Eternity (2010).
Theological Orientation: Initially broad, open, non-sectarian; later work drifted into syncretism, past-life regression, and "shared-death experience" research with a distinctly non-Christian framing.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment for the early work; Read with Caution for the later.
Life After Life remains a foundational text for the field, and its cataloguing of the basic NDE elements (out-of-body perception, tunnel, being of light, life review, border/limit, deceased loved ones) is still the taxonomy most researchers use. Moody's early research deserves respectful engagement. His later work, however, has moved further from biblical Christianity: he has promoted past-life regression, hosted psychomanteum sessions (mirror-gazing designed to induce contact with deceased loved ones), and written about "shared-death experiences" with framings that go beyond what the data support. Read the 1975 book to understand the field's origins; approach later works with much greater caution.
Hong Kong-born author (b. 1959), of Indian Hindu background, whose 2006 NDE during end-stage lymphoma produced a dramatic remission and the 2012 bestseller Dying to Be Me.
Major Works: Dying to Be Me (2012); What If This Is Heaven? (2016); Sensitive Is the New Strong (2021).
Theological Orientation: Hindu-monist non-dualism; "we are all God," fear is the only problem, love is the only solution, all religions are equal paths.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Moorjani's story is deeply moving: a dying woman's sudden remission and her experience of being embraced by unconditional love. Her theological conclusions, however, are straightforwardly Hindu-monist. The claim that "we are all God" is blasphemy within biblical Christianity; it is also a claim the biblical Jesus explicitly rejected by drawing the sharpest possible distinction between Creator and creature. Her interpretation of love as the absence of any moral category (including judgment) collapses the biblical doctrine of God's holiness. Christian readers reading Moorjani should recognize that they are reading a non-Christian religious text that uses warm, universalist language Christians find appealing — which makes it more dangerous, not less.
American evangelical philosopher (b. 1948), distinguished professor of philosophy at Biola University's Talbot School of Theology, one of the foremost defenders of substance dualism in contemporary analytic philosophy.
Major Works: Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality (with Gary Habermas, 1998); The Soul: How We Know It's Real and Why It Matters (2014); A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles (2021).
Theological Orientation: Conservative evangelical; analytic-philosophical defender of substance dualism, Christian theism, and the supernatural.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
Moreland's philosophical defense of substance dualism in The Soul provides the theological-anthropological foundation that makes Christian engagement with NDE evidence intellectually responsible. If humans are merely complex brains (as physicalism holds), then NDEs must be hallucinations. If humans have an immaterial soul capable of functioning apart from the body (as biblical anthropology teaches), then NDE reports are at least coherent with Christian commitments. Moreland's co-authored Beyond Death with Habermas offers a philosophically careful evangelical treatment of NDE evidence. J. Steve Miller cites Moreland among the "respected Christian intellectuals" who have seen real authenticity in some NDEs.22 Essential reading for anyone wanting to think theologically and philosophically about NDEs.
American orthopedic surgeon (b. 1957) who drowned in a 1999 kayaking accident in Chile and was revived; her post-NDE writings frame a Christian-aligned interpretation of her experience.
Major Works: To Heaven and Back: A Doctor's Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again (2011); 7 Lessons from Heaven: How Dying Taught Me to Live a Joy-Filled Life (2017).
Theological Orientation: Broadly Christian; evangelical-friendly but with occasional language open to softer inclusivist interpretations.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment / Read with Confidence on the core testimony.
Neal's NDE account describes being welcomed by beings she identifies as angels and sensing Christ's presence, followed by being returned with a specific purpose. Her surgical credentials give the book medical weight, and her post-NDE life — continued surgical practice, active church involvement, continued Christian writing — aligns with genuine Christian discipleship. Some readers have noted that Neal's language about heaven and the afterlife occasionally drifts toward inclusivist phrasings that could be read either evangelistically or universalistically. Read her as generally trustworthy while noting the specific places where her phrasing may need to be held more carefully. John Burke draws on her interview testimony repeatedly in Imagine Heaven.23
American hypnotherapist (1931-2016) whose "life-between-lives" regression work claimed to document the soul's journey across multiple incarnations.
Major Works: Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives (1994); Destiny of Souls (2000); Life Between Lives (2004).
Theological Orientation: Full-throated reincarnationism; the soul cycles through many bodies, selects each incarnation for learning purposes, and returns between lives to a structured spirit world.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Newton's work is often cited in NDE-adjacent and New Age circles as evidence for reincarnation. The methodology — deep hypnotic regression producing consistent reports across subjects — is notoriously susceptible to confabulation, suggestion, and cultural shaping. The theological framework is flatly incompatible with biblical teaching that "it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27, ESV). Christians should not engage Newton's work as a source of information about the afterlife; the content is neither biblical nor empirically reliable. Chapter 23 of this book addresses the reincarnation question more fully.
Karlis Osis (1917-1997), Latvian-American parapsychologist, and Erlendur Haraldsson (1931-2020), Icelandic psychologist and professor at the University of Iceland; their joint cross-cultural DBE research is a landmark of the field.
Major Works: At the Hour of Death: A New Look at Evidence for Life After Death (1977; reprinted repeatedly).
Theological Orientation: Parapsychological and broadly spiritualist; not specifically Christian but not hostile to religious interpretation.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; indispensable DBE research.
At the Hour of Death compared deathbed visions and DBEs across American and Indian populations, finding both the strong cross-cultural consistency of core deathbed phenomena (deceased visitors, religious figures, feelings of peace) and the culture-specific flavoring of particular details. This cross-cultural robustness is difficult to explain on purely naturalistic terms and supports the Christian claim that something real is happening at the threshold of death. The authors' own theological framework is non-specifically spiritualist, but their empirical work is honest and detailed. John Burke and J. Steve Miller both draw on this research extensively.24 A foundational text for DBE research.
British-American critical-care physician, director of critical care and resuscitation research at NYU Langone, lead investigator of the AWARE studies of consciousness during cardiac arrest.
Major Works: What Happens When We Die? (2006); Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death (2013); the AWARE I (2014) and AWARE II (2023) research papers.
Theological Orientation: Broadly Muslim background with a professional framing that treats consciousness survival as an open empirical question; not Christian but not hostile to Christianity.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; critical for the empirical case.
Parnia's AWARE studies are the most rigorous prospective investigations of consciousness during cardiac arrest ever conducted. The 2023 AWARE II report documented auditory awareness, EEG markers of consciousness, and recognizable cognitive content in patients during cardiac arrest — findings that materially support the Christian claim that consciousness is not merely a product of brain activity. Parnia himself carefully stops short of theological interpretation, maintaining the posture of a scientist. Christian readers can benefit enormously from Parnia's empirical work and should understand that the evidence for conscious survival is stronger today than at any previous point. Read him for the science; supply the theology from Moreland, Habermas, and Miller.
American Baptist pastor (b. 1950) declared dead at the scene of a 1989 head-on collision in Texas and revived by another pastor's prayer after ninety minutes, during which he experienced heaven.
Major Works: 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life (with Cecil Murphey, 2004); Heaven Is Real (2007); Getting to Heaven (2011).
Theological Orientation: Conservative Southern Baptist evangelical; high view of Scripture, exclusive gospel.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
Piper's account includes the characteristic Christian NDE elements — a welcoming committee of deceased Christian loved ones, a sense of heavenly worship, the presence of God — without the syncretistic, universalist, or occult elements that mar so many popular NDE accounts. His post-NDE ministry has been consistently Christ-centered. John Burke engages Piper's account at multiple points in Imagine Heaven.25 Some critics, including MacArthur, have raised specific questions about elements of the account; these concerns are worth hearing but do not undermine the overall coherence or fruit of the testimony. Piper is a trustworthy evangelical NDE voice whose book can be recommended with reasonable confidence.
American evangelical cardiologist (1922-2010) whose clinical work with cardiac arrest patients in the 1970s produced one of the first major Christian engagements with NDE literature.
Major Works: Beyond Death's Door (1978); To Hell and Back: Life After Death — Startling New Evidence (1993); Life Wish (1981).
Theological Orientation: Conservative evangelical Christian; Reformed-friendly, high view of Scripture.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence; foundational.
Rawlings was a pioneer of Christian NDE engagement. His central empirical claim — that distressing NDEs are substantially underreported because experiencers repress memory of them, and that immediate post-resuscitation interviewing yields far more distressing reports than delayed interviewing — has been partly confirmed by later researchers. His overall interpretive framework, emphasizing the reality of hell as a post-mortem destination, is consistent with biblical teaching even if some specific claims have been debated. Shaun Tabatt and Ivan Tuttle both engage Rawlings's work constructively. An important voice especially for Christians seeking to understand the distressing-NDE phenomenon without either denying its reality or dismissing pleasant NDEs as false.
American psychologist (b. 1935), emeritus professor at the University of Connecticut, co-founder of IANDS, and an influential NDE researcher whose empirical work is strong and theological conclusions are universalist.
Major Works: Life at Death (1980); Heading Toward Omega: In Search of the Meaning of the Near-Death Experience (1984); Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind (with Sharon Cooper, 1999).
Theological Orientation: New Age-inflected universalism; NDErs as vanguard of planetary spiritual evolution ("Omega Point" futurism).
Recommendation: Read with Discernment for the empirical work; Not Recommended for the theological framework.
Ring's empirical contributions are substantial — especially Mindsight, which documented NDE and OBE experiences among blind persons who sometimes reported veridical visual perceptions during their experiences. This material is genuinely compelling evidence against purely naturalistic explanations of NDEs. Ring's theological framing, however, places him firmly in the "Omega Point" tradition of spiritual evolutionism, treating NDErs as a vanguard of a humanity-wide spiritual transformation that will reconcile all people and all religions. Christian readers should take the empirical data seriously and set the universalist-evolutionist framework aside.
American Franciscan priest (b. 1943), founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, and one of the most widely read contemporary contemplative teachers.
Major Works: Everything Belongs (1999); Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (2011); The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe (2019).
Theological Orientation: Progressive-contemplative Catholicism with strong universalist tendencies and a "cosmic Christ" framework distinguished from the historical Jesus.
Recommendation: Read with Caution.
Rohr has not written an NDE book as such, but he is included here because his framework has become pervasive in NDE-adjacent progressive Christian circles, where readers moved by NDE accounts of universal love often find Rohr's "universal Christ" a ready articulation. The difficulty is that Rohr's "Christ" is detached from the historical Jesus in ways that orthodox Christology — across Catholic, Orthodox, and evangelical traditions — cannot accept. The biblical Jesus is a particular incarnate person, not a cosmic principle present in all traditions. Rohr's treatment of substitutionary atonement is dismissive, and his universalist tendencies are not balanced by the biblical teaching on judgment. Christian readers drawn to Rohr's contemplative warmth should weigh it against the specific theological claims of his Universal Christ and read with the alertness Chapter 31 of this book commends.
American physician (d. 2010) who devoted her medical practice to NDE research, particularly on distressing experiences.
Major Works: Blessing in Disguise: Another Side of the Near-Death Experience (2000).
Theological Orientation: Broadly spiritual; not specifically Christian but not hostile to Christian interpretation.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment.
Rommer's careful study of distressing NDEs developed a typology that has shaped later research, including the framework this book uses in Chapter 21. Her key contribution is showing that distressing NDEs come in multiple varieties — some terror-dominated, some characterized by emptiness, some including explicit hell-like content — and that the meaning of a distressing experience is not self-evident but requires careful interpretation. Rommer's theological framing is broader than evangelical Christianity, but her empirical work is respectful of the data and helpful for Christians who want to engage distressing NDEs without either denying their reality or reducing them all to single explanations.26
American cardiologist and evangelical Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) elder whose careful prospective study of NDEs at Emory University and in the Atlanta area established the empirical benchmark for Christian NDE research.
Major Works: Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation (1982); Light and Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences (1998).
Theological Orientation: Conservative evangelical Reformed (PCA); high view of Scripture.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence — foundational.
Sabom's Light and Death combined medical rigor with pastoral sensitivity in a way few NDE books have matched. The Atlanta Study, which compared NDEs of Christians and non-Christians with careful medical correlation, documented the case of Pam Reynolds — whose NDE during a hypothermic cardiac arrest with induced flat-line EEG remains one of the strongest veridical NDE cases on record.27 Sabom's Chapter 6 on "The Problem of Syncretism" remains one of the clearest treatments of the theological differences between Christian and non-Christian NDE accounts.28 His combination of medical credentials, Reformed theology, and prospective research methodology makes him a model for Christian NDE engagement. A must-read.
British former intensive-care nurse and researcher whose UK-based five-year prospective hospital study of NDEs is among the most rigorous in the field.
Major Works: The Near-Death Experiences of Hospitalized Intensive Care Patients: A Five Year Clinical Study (2008); The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully (2014).
Theological Orientation: Broadly spiritual; not specifically Christian; sympathetic to the reality of NDE phenomena without a sectarian interpretive framework.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment.
Sartori's prospective hospital study addressed many of the methodological weaknesses of earlier retrospective NDE research. By identifying NDErs in the immediate post-resuscitation period and following them over time, she produced data that are harder to dismiss as confabulation or post-hoc construction. Her theological framing is not Christian, but her empirical work supplies important corroboration for the reality of the NDE phenomenon. Christian readers can profitably draw on her data while reading her interpretive conclusions with discernment.
American former atheist university art professor (b. 1946) whose 1985 distressing NDE during a perforated-duodenum medical crisis in Paris became the occasion of his Christian conversion; later became a pastor in the United Church of Christ.
Major Works: My Descent into Death: A Second Chance at Life (2005); numerous testimony videos and interviews.
Theological Orientation: Christian; the original 1985 experience is strikingly evangelical in content, while later teaching shows drift toward universalist and broadly inclusivist framings consistent with mainline UCC theology.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence on the original testimony; Read with Discernment on later teaching.
Storm's original NDE testimony is one of the most powerful atheist-to-Christian conversion accounts in the NDE literature. His description of falling among torturing beings, calling out to Jesus from the childhood hymn "Jesus Loves Me," and being rescued by Christ has led many to faith.29 The ESV-soaked clarity of the rescue-by-Jesus account stands in sharp contrast to the syncretist NDE genre. Over subsequent decades, however, Storm's teaching — under the influence of his mainline UCC pastoral context — has drifted toward softer universalist framings. Readers should engage his original book and early interviews with confidence, while evaluating later material with the same discernment applied to any other author. The original conversion-through-NDE testimony is a gift to the church.
American horror novelist and self-described "contactee" (b. 1945) whose UFO-abduction and spiritual-contact claims merge NDE-like and extraterrestrial material in ways that put him outside both the NDE mainstream and Christian faith.
Major Works: Communion: A True Story (1987); The Key (2001); The Afterlife Revolution (with Anne Strieber, 2017).
Theological Orientation: Esoteric spiritual-contact framework blending UFO phenomena, NDE-like themes, and channeled content; non-Christian.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Strieber's work is included in this appendix because NDE-adjacent readers sometimes arrive at his books seeking fuller answers about contact with non-human intelligences, and because his writing illustrates the "cosmic spirituality" drift addressed in Chapter 27 of this book. The framework is consistently non-Christian; the entities in his accounts teach content incompatible with biblical faith; and the practices he has engaged (including deliberate contact invitation) fall within the categories Scripture prohibits. Christians should not engage this material for edification.
American Christian broadcaster, publisher, and author; host of The Shaun Tabatt Show and executive producer at Destiny Image Publishers; his 2025 book The NDE Conspiracy is a landmark in Christian discernment regarding NDE literature.
Major Works: The NDE Conspiracy (Destiny Image, 2025); Stories of Heaven and the Afterlife (with Randy Kay, 2022).
Theological Orientation: Evangelical charismatic; high view of Scripture, exclusive gospel, strong discernment orientation toward the NDE space.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence — highest recommendation.
Tabatt's NDE Conspiracy provides the discernment framework on which the present book builds.30 As a Christian broadcaster who has interviewed dozens of NDErs, Tabatt occupies a rare position: he has heard more personal NDE testimony than almost any other evangelical writer, and he writes with the warmth of a brother rather than the coldness of a debunker. His book names names — engaging Eben Alexander, Betty Eadie, Bryan Melvin, and others — with both charity and clarity. He treats Satan's interest in corrupting the NDE space with biblical seriousness while refusing the wholesale-dismissal error. Alongside Miller, Tabatt is essential reading for any Christian engaging the NDE field.
American real-estate broker and evangelical Christian who had an NDE in 1982 including experience of both hell (distressing) and heaven (redemptive), now active in evangelical teaching ministry.
Major Works: A Journey to Hell, Heaven, and Back (2020); appearances on Christian television programs and NDE podcasts.
Theological Orientation: Evangelical Christianity; biblical doctrine of hell, exclusive gospel, high view of Scripture.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
Tuttle's testimony is unusual in the genre for its inclusion of both distressing and heavenly elements in a single account, which gives his book pastoral utility for engaging the full biblical picture of post-mortem realities. His teaching is evangelical in framework; he treats his experience as consistent with Scripture rather than adding to it; and his post-NDE life has been marked by evangelism and teaching rather than the spiritual-entrepreneur pattern visible in many popular NDE authors. A reliable Christian testimony, particularly helpful for readers who need to hear both sides of the biblical afterlife picture.
Dutch cardiologist whose 2001 Lancet prospective study of NDEs in cardiac-arrest patients was one of the most influential empirical studies in the history of the field.
Major Works: Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (Dutch 2007, English 2010); the 2001 Lancet article "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A Prospective Study in the Netherlands."
Theological Orientation: Generally spiritual with quantum-consciousness speculation; not Christian but treats the NDE phenomenon as evidence for non-local consciousness.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment; significant for the empirical case.
Van Lommel's Lancet study and subsequent book provide some of the strongest empirical evidence that NDEs cannot be explained purely by brain physiology: NDEs occurred in patients with documented flat EEGs, without correlation to physiological factors, and the content of NDEs could not be predicted by medication, oxygen levels, or duration of cardiac arrest. His theological framing is a non-specific spirituality integrated with speculative interpretations of quantum physics — a framing Christians need not adopt. Read him for the data; supplement the interpretation from Christian sources.
American professional medium and celebrity psychic (b. 1958) whose work claims to facilitate communication with deceased loved ones.
Major Works: Talking to Heaven (1997); Reaching to Heaven (1999); Unfinished Business (2009).
Theological Orientation: Professional mediumship; claims to receive messages from the dead for living clients; not Christian.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Van Praagh's work is not NDE research but professional mediumship of exactly the kind Scripture prohibits (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Isaiah 8:19-20). He is included in this appendix because NDE-adjacent readers grieving the death of loved ones sometimes migrate toward mediums promising contact, and Christian pastoral awareness of this drift is important. Chapter 26 of this book addresses mediumship in detail. Christians should not engage Van Praagh's work, attend his events, or consume his television programming.
American former radio host (b. 1943) whose 1995 Conversations with God series has sold more than 10 million copies and whose NDE-adjacent work promotes what is essentially New Age monism.
Major Works: Conversations with God, Books 1-3 (1995-1998); Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends (2006); What God Said (2013).
Theological Orientation: Full New Age monism; "God" is a universal consciousness, all is one, all paths are equal, there is no sin, there is no judgment.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Walsch's Conversations with God series is presented as channeled material from God himself, with "God" teaching content that flatly contradicts Scripture at virtually every point. The "God" of Walsch's books rejects the fall, denies objective moral categories, affirms all religions as equally valid, and promises that there is no such thing as hell or judgment. The framework is a clear case of what Paul described as "another gospel" (Galatians 1:6-9) and should be recognized as such. Included in this appendix because Walsch's work is often marketed to NDE-adjacent readers and sometimes mistaken for a Christian voice.
American psychiatrist (b. 1944), former chairman of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center Miami, and widely read promoter of past-life regression therapy.
Major Works: Many Lives, Many Masters (1988); Only Love Is Real (1996); Same Soul, Many Bodies (2004).
Theological Orientation: Reincarnationist; the soul lives many lives across many bodies, and psychological issues in the present life often derive from traumas in past lives.
Recommendation: Not Recommended.
Weiss's work is influential in bringing past-life regression into the therapeutic mainstream. His methodology — deep hypnotic regression yielding reports of past lives — faces the same methodological problems as Newton's work, and his framework is flatly incompatible with Hebrews 9:27 and the overall biblical teaching on a single embodied life followed by judgment. Chapter 23 of this book addresses reincarnation more fully. Christians should not engage Weiss's work as a source of information about the self or the afterlife.
American real-estate professional whose 1998 dramatic vision or visitation of hell became the basis of the bestselling 23 Minutes in Hell.
Major Works: 23 Minutes in Hell: One Man's Story About What He Saw, Heard, and Felt in That Place of Torment (2006); Hell: Separate Truth from Fiction and Get Your Toughest Questions Answered (2013).
Theological Orientation: Evangelical charismatic; high view of Scripture, traditional doctrine of hell.
Recommendation: Read with Discernment.
Wiese's account is not strictly an NDE — there was no cardiac arrest or clinical death — but a vision or visitation, which he himself describes accurately in those terms. The content is broadly consistent with biblical descriptions of suffering in Hades: darkness, torment, awareness of lostness, dread of God's justice. The evaluation is complicated by the terminological conflation of "hell" (in English usage) with "Hades" (the biblical intermediate holding place of the unsaved dead before final judgment); readers should apply the distinctions of Chapter 21 of this book. Wiese's post-experience ministry has been evangelistic and biblically focused. Read with appreciation for the warning content and with discernment about the specific terminology.
Canadian businessman and commercial pilot whose 2006 NDE during a medical crisis led to his conversion from nominal to committed Christianity; Catholic-charismatic in background.
Major Works: Heaven, an Unexpected Journey: One Man's Experience with Heaven, Angels, and the Afterlife (2017); Foreword to Shaun Tabatt's The NDE Conspiracy (2025).
Theological Orientation: Evangelical-leaning Catholic charismatic; clear Christology, submission to Scripture.
Recommendation: Read with Confidence.
Woodford's testimony has been told consistently across more than a decade and displays the fruit pattern of a genuine Christian NDE: conversion, evangelistic burden, submission to Scripture, ecclesiastical accountability. His relationship with Shaun Tabatt — including writing the foreword to The NDE Conspiracy — signals his alignment with the discernment-oriented stream of the NDE community rather than the credulous-universalist stream. Readers from non-charismatic traditions may find some tonal elements unfamiliar, but the theological content is solid. A reliable contemporary Christian NDE voice.
· · ·
This list of forty-seven figures is not exhaustive. The NDE field is dynamic. New teachers emerge every year, older teachers shift their framing, and books come into and out of print at a steady pace. By the time this appendix reaches print, there will be voices to consider that did not exist when it was written. The reader should treat this guide as a starting point, not a final word.
What matters more than the list itself is the framework by which the list was made. Every author in this appendix was evaluated by the seven tests developed in Chapter 10: Does the teaching align with Scripture? Does it exalt Christ as Scripture exalts Him? Does it cohere with historic Christian orthodoxy? Does it produce Christian fruit? Does it cohere across the author's corpus? Does it submit to the church? Does it display appropriate humility? These seven tests work equally well on any author the reader encounters tomorrow who is not in this appendix today. The discernment checklist in Appendix B of this book puts the tests in practical form.
A gentle pastoral note in closing. It would be easy to walk away from this appendix having developed a spirit of criticism toward NDE teachers — a suspicion that every author is suspect, a defensive crouch against every experience. That is not the spirit this book commends. The majority of the names on this list are trustworthy or at least recoverable. The majority of NDEs and DBEs in the world are real encounters with the reality of the spiritual realm, most often marked by the presence of Jesus Christ. The reader should walk away not with cynicism but with clear eyes: able to read with confidence when that is warranted, able to read with discernment when that is needed, and able to set aside with charity what cannot be safely read at all.
Jesus Himself told His followers to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16). This appendix aims at exactly that balance. May the Lord give the reader the wisdom of serpents — the ability to see what is actually being said — and the innocence of doves — the refusal to turn discernment into suspicion or contempt. We are all beggars pointing other beggars toward bread. The NDE field has its hucksters, but it also has its faithful witnesses. Know the difference. Love both. Follow only the Lord.
If a reader has been shaped by an author in the "Not Recommended" or "Read with Caution" category — especially if they were comforted by that author after the death of a loved one — they should not be made to feel foolish or condemned. The pastoral path is not to rip away the book but to gently bring the reader to Scripture, to the living Christ, and to a better class of author. Kindness and clarity together, not clarity alone.
Alexander, Eben. Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Atwater, P.M.H. Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of the Story. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads, 2011.
Bell, Rob. Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. New York: HarperOne, 2011.
Boyd, Greg. "Review of Proof of Heaven (Eben Alexander)." ReKnew, October 2012. https://reknew.org/2012/10/review-of-proof-of-heaven-eben-alexander.
Braxton, Dean. In Heaven! Experiencing the Throne of God. Revised edition. Chambersburg, PA: Divine Design Publishing, 2014.
Brinkley, Dannion, with Paul Perry. Saved by the Light. New York: Villard, 1994.
Burke, John. Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015.
Burpo, Todd, Sonja Burpo, and Colton Burpo. Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010.
Bush, Nancy Evans. Dancing Past the Dark: Distressing Near-Death Experiences. N.p.: Nancy Evans Bush, 2012.
Eadie, Betty J., with Curtis Taylor. Embraced by the Light. Placerville, CA: Gold Leaf Press, 1992.
Fenwick, Peter, and Elizabeth Fenwick. The Art of Dying: A Journey to Elsewhere. London: Continuum, 2008.
Gilley, Gary E. Is That You, Lord? Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Biblical Perspective. Darlington, UK: EP Books, 2007.
Greyson, Bruce. After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond. New York: St. Martin's Essentials, 2021.
Habermas, Gary R., and J. P. Moreland. Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1998.
Hanegraaff, Hank. AfterLife: What You Need to Know About Heaven, the Hereafter & Near-Death Experiences. Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing, 2013.
Kay, Randy. Dying to Meet Jesus. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2021.
Kay, Randy, and Shaun Tabatt. Stories of Heaven and the Afterlife. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2022.
Kerr, Christopher, with Carine Mardorossian. Death Is But a Dream: Finding Hope and Meaning at Life's End. New York: Avery, 2020.
Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan, 1969.
Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Life After Death. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1991.
Long, Jeffrey. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences. New York: HarperOne, 2010.
Long, Jeffrey. God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperOne, 2016.
MacArthur, John. The Glory of Heaven: The Truth About Heaven, Angels, and Eternal Life. Revised edition. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013.
Malarkey, Alex. "An Open Letter to Lifeway and Other Sellers, Buyers, and Marketers of Heaven Tourism." January 2015.
McCormack, Ian, and Jenny Sharkey. A Glimpse of Eternity. Self-published, 2008.
Miller, J. Steve. "Deathbed Experiences as Evidence for the Afterlife: A Multicultural Examination of the Literature." PhD dissertation, Columbia International University, 2019.
Miller, J. Steve. Deathbed Experiences as Evidence for the Afterlife, Volume 1: A Groundbreaking, Scientific Apologetic. Acworth, GA: Wisdom Creek Press, 2021.
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.
Moody, Raymond A., Jr. Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon — Survival of Bodily Death. Atlanta: Mockingbird Books, 1975.
Moorjani, Anita. Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2012.
Moreland, J. P. The Soul: How We Know It's Real and Why It Matters. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2014.
Neal, Mary C. To Heaven and Back: A Doctor's Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again. Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2011.
Newton, Michael. Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1994.
Osis, Karlis, and Erlendur Haraldsson. At the Hour of Death: A New Look at Evidence for Life After Death. Guildford, UK: White Crow Books, 1977.
Parnia, Sam, with Josh Young. Erasing Death: The Science That Is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death. New York: HarperOne, 2013.
Piper, Don, with Cecil Murphey. 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2004.
Rawlings, Maurice. Beyond Death's Door. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1978.
Rawlings, Maurice. To Hell and Back: Life After Death — Startling New Evidence. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993.
Ring, Kenneth, and Sharon Cooper. Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind. Palo Alto, CA: William James Center for Consciousness Studies, 1999.
Rohr, Richard. The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe. New York: Convergent, 2019.
Rommer, Barbara R. Blessing in Disguise: Another Side of the Near-Death Experience. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2000.
Sabom, Michael. Light and Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998.
Sartori, Penny. The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully. London: Watkins, 2014.
Storm, Howard. My Descent into Death: A Second Chance at Life. New York: Doubleday, 2005.
Strieber, Whitley. Communion: A True Story. New York: Beech Tree Books, 1987.
Tabatt, Shaun. The NDE Conspiracy. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2025.
Tuttle, Ivan. A Journey to Hell, Heaven, and Back. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2020.
van Lommel, Pim. Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. New York: HarperOne, 2010.
Van Praagh, James. Talking to Heaven: A Medium's Message of Life After Death. New York: Dutton, 1997.
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