Last night I saw “Heaven is for Real” available to rent at Redbox. Having read the book, and presented seminars critiquing it, and having written a sixty page book proposal titled What on Earth Happened to Colton Burpo? which was rejected by the publishers because they were worried that I (and they) would appear to […]
NDE
Apologetics and the Crisis Apparition
When it comes to the veridical value of ghost appearances, among the most intriguing are so-called “crisis apparitions”. Lisa J. Schwebel writes: “A crisis apparition is the recognized apparition figure of a friend or relative appearing around the same time that he or she is undergoing some great crisis: at the time of an accident, […]
J.B. Phillips and the Ghost of C.S. Lewis
J..B Phillips was a well known Bible translator of the highly regarded Phillips Translation as well as the author of the popular 1962 book Your God is too Small. In his 1967 book Ring of Truth: A Translator’s Testimony (London: Hodder and Stoughton) Phillips recounts a stunning experience he had with a ghost … and not just any […]
NDEs and those determined not to believe in them
In “Sprites and near death experiences” I argued that current study of NDEs is in the early stages of first-person reports analogous to the study of “sprites” (a rare meteorological phenomenon) which was initiated forty years ago with a growing collection of first-person reports. Mike D replied: I thought Sam Harris did a bang up […]
Sprites and near death experiences
During my recent appearance on “Unbelievable” with Justin Brierley, the topic of NDEs (near death experiences) and OBEs (out of body experiences) became a significant point of discussion. Hemant Mehta expressed his incredulity to the NDE literature, even though he had clearly never examined it including, as I noted, several dozen major studies and hundreds […]
An Unbelievable debate on heaven with the Friendly Atheist
Today (February 1st, 2014) Unbelievable with Justin Brierley broadcast a discussion / debate I had with the Friendly Atheist (Hemant Mehta). I have included the 1 1/2 hour episode below. After listening to the broadcast feel free to join the discussion. (Of course you can also join the discussion before listening to the broadcast, just […]
Near-Death Experiences: A Review
J. Steve Miller, Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven. Acworth, GA: Wisdom Creek Press, 2012. Stories of near death experiences are not hard to come by. But can these popular anecdotes of a light at the end of a tunnel and one’s life flashing before their eyes provide any hard […]