John Burke on Near-Death Experiences and Faith
Near-death experiences have both been cited as proof of heaven and dismissed as mere hallucinations or frauds. John Burke, a pastor and author, changed his opinion after investigating more than a thousand near-death experiences, or NDEs.
“Not only did I not believe in near-death experiences, I didn’t believe in Jesus or God,” he recently stated on CBN News, “Many decades ago, my dad was dying of cancer and someone gave him the very first research that coined the term near-death experience.”
Burke has often highlighted how near-death experiences reveal remarkable consistencies. He previously noted that across hundreds of interviews, people from diverse backgrounds describe encounters with a radiant Being of light that radiates overwhelming love — a presence many identify as Jesus and that he says aligns with biblical portrayals of God’s character.
Burke said this came in the form of a book, which he ended up reading. It featured stories of people who were clinically dead and resuscitated. Among the stories, he noticed many of those experiencing NDEs claimed to have seen Jesus. “That really began my whole faith journey, because so many saw Jesus,” he said. “I was like, ‘I better be open to the Bible.’ So I started reading and studying the Bible, came to faith.”
His wife, Kathy, has a different faith trajectory and can’t remember a time when she wasn’t a believer. “Scriptural truths have always been a big part of my life, and I’ve enjoyed being able to stand on them,” she said. “And I know they’re solid. It just has really given me a fresh perspective and revitalized my faith, and the power of my faith, and the power of God in really amazing ways.”
John expressed some of the most fascinating reflections he has had after exploring these stories, particularly the types of people who claim to have experienced NDEs.
“The thing that I like to point out is that many of these people that I’ve interviewed and write about, they were CEOs, they were spine surgeons, commercial airline pilots, bank presidents, lawyers,” he said. “They don’t need money, and they have nothing to gain by making up crazy, wild stories about dying and going to heaven and seeing Jesus, and yet, they consistently say it was the most real thing that ever happened to them.”
He believes God is using these journeys to help illuminate Scripture and point people back to Him. “God operates in more mystery than I think sometimes we’re willing to allow in the church and in our box of theology,” he said. “And God doesn’t feel any need or constraint to the box we try to put him in.”
–Alan Goforth
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