From time to time there are reports in the news media about "out of body" or "after death" experiences - about people who reputedly died and came back to life again. They tell of things they saw and heard while in the state of death. Is it true? Can a person die, leave his body, and then return to life with a report from the "other side"?

What does the Bible say? In Heb. 9:27, it says that "it is appointed unto men ONCE to die" - not die, come to life, and die again and again. There were some cases of raising the dead in the Bible, but we are not now living in the age of miracles. (I Cor. 13:8-13) The Hebrew writer goes on to say that after death comes the judgment. And, I Cor. 5:10 explains the purpose of judgment: ". . . that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

According to reports people from different walks of life and different religious backgrounds told of similar experiences. Even people with no religious background, with no reverence for God, with no faith in Jesus Christ, who lived sinful lives, reported pleasant after-life experiences. How can this be true when we consider the clear teachings of God's Word? Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 4:16) Revelation 22 describes the beauties of heaven, and the says: "Blessed (happy) are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murders, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." If that is not clear enough, then consider this statement from Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness (that's homosexual activity) lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." And there are many such other passages.

The rich man (Lk. 16) died and had an after-life experience, but it was far from pleasant. Paul, it seems, had an after-life experience. (2 Cor. 12:4). He speaks in the third person, but most Bible students believe that he was referring to himself when he said this man he knew about fourteen years before was taken up into the "third heaven" or "paradise" and "heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." If Paul was not allowed to relay such information, why should we believe that others, even non-Christians, would be permitted to do so.

What, then is the explanation? First, it is possible that those who were pronounced dead may not have actually died. Sometimes death is prematurely pronounced. Death occurs only when the spirit is separated from the body. (Jas. 2:26) also, research with LSD has revealed that there were many similarities with this and out of body experiences. This shows that if such drugs can produce such effects upon the brain, then the brain is capable of manufacturing such images. It has further been demonstrated that the brain produces hallucinations in the absence of drugs when triggered by natural stimuli such as high body temperature, traumatic injuries, series sicknesses, as well as emotional and physiological stresses associated with dying. Some have reported seeing loved ones before death. One man reported seeing his dog.