After Death (and the Heaven Tourism Genre)
I haven’t seen it, I won’t see it, and here’s why.
There is nothing novel about the topic of near death experiences (NDEs). Whether a journal article or a novel or a documentary or a movie, no stone remains unturned or unexamined. The intrigue that permeates and encapsulates the “what happens when we die” question has captured the wonder of the young and the fear of the old for as long as sentience has been within the human mind. I get it. It is the same set of dynamics that drives people into space exploration and philosophy, neurology and psychology. Humanity is driven by the desire to do what is not yet done and to know what is what is not yet known.
This is why all of those bizarre programs on The “History” Channel are so intriguing to so many of us. How did the ancients build the pyramids? What was the purpose of Stone Henge? If modern technology can’t reproduce it now, how did they do it then? Could it be aliens?
If you listen closely to those programs, you’ll notice a quirk of narration: they never make a statement. The narrator of each of those programs—almost exclusively—begins his “statements” by saying one of the following things:
Is it possible that…
Could it be that...
Perhaps the answer is…
The narration of those programs belies their premise. The premise is that your desire to know will be satisfied; meanwhile, the narration reveals that the writers, directors, producers, and presenters have no more knowledge than you do. It is a genre built entirely on monetizing your curiosity while never satisfying it. It is all speculation.
It’s not quite so straightforward for the heaven tourism genre, but nearly.
Who among us has never wondered about what happens after death? Even those of us who are lifelong, fully-convinced-of-our-salvation Christians would be lying if we said that we have never wondered about what happens after death. Why do we wonder? Well, the Scriptural data—for as confident as we can be of what it promises—is relatively sparse on details (relative, that is, to how many details we’d like to have).
Daniel 12:2-3 says that “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”
In Psalm 30, David thanks God saying, “O Lord, you have brought me up from Sheol; you restored my life from among those who go down to the pit.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, speaking of the coming of the Lord, says that “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
Jesus speaks of final judgment and the division of the righteous from the unrighteous (Matthew 25:31-46). He also shares a parable which some interpret as offering a glimpse of life after death (Luke 16:19-31). Then you have Jesus speaking to the repentant criminal on the cross beside him, telling him that on that day he will be with Jesus in paradise (Luke 23:43).
Scripture offers us the assurance of judgment, separation of the righteous from the unrighteous, an everlasting after-death existence of either life or contempt (heaven or hell), and—for those who are “in Christ”—entrance into the paradise of the Lord’s presence. Certainly the New Testament goes on at length about how we can be assured of entering into paradise, but—as I said above—it is sparse on the details of what that promised paradise will be like.
Okay, but what does this have to do with the heaven tourism genre? Why won’t I be watching After Death?
The Authentication Problem
Perhaps this goes without saying, but I will say it anyway: NDEs cannot be authenticated. Yes, through comparing stories and experiences it is possible to come up with commonalities among the stories and experiences, but these commonalities cannot be understood as authentication. Why? Because these are commonalities among individual observations of multiple individual experiences, not commonalities among multiple individual observations of the same experience.
Multiple eyewitness accounts of the same accident on the interstate, taken together, can produce a reliable singular narrative of the accident itself.
On the other hand, five eyewitness accounts—each eyewitness having witnessed a different accident—taken together will not produce a reliable singular narrative for any of the accidents.
They didn’t witness the same thing so any one testimony cannot be taken as authentication of any other testimony. That’s not how evidence works.
It is important to note here that the inability to authenticate does not demonstrate that that which can be inferred through these experiences is false; however, what can be inferred through these experiences does not rise to the requirements of authentication.
Personal Experience ≠ General Revelation
I have heard stories from people close to me who have had interesting or enlightening or life-altering experiences while on the edge of death. These stories have been chilling and intriguing and have made me wonder about the realities of life beyond death; however, no matter the rhetorical force of these stories, the fact remains that personal experience is not equivalent to general revelation.
Romans 1:19-20 tells us that “what can be known about God is plain to [mankind], because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in things that have been made.”
These experiences are not things that are or can be universally experienced by all people at all places across all times; that is, they cannot be experienced in a first-person sense. These experiences are not demonstrations of God’s glory and power such that anyone and everyone can access them from their own personal observations.
It is important to note here that this inequality (personal experience ≠ general revelation) does not demonstrate that that which could be inferred through these experiences is false; however, whatever can be inferred through these experiences does not rise to the requirements of general revelation.
Personal Experience ≠ Special Revelation
Higher up the revelation hierarchy, the NDE runs into other issues. I say “higher” here in the sense that general revelation, while sufficient in demonstrating and communicating the fact that God exists and that he is powerful and worthy of praise, general revelation is insufficient in demonstrating and communicating saving knowledge (you cannot discern the Gospel from it).
Special revelation, then, carries saving information—information that, when heard and believed, will lead to salvation. All of this information is already contained in the Scriptures. The Scriptures outline who God is, who man is, the way our relationship with God was broken, the way that relationship is restored, and instructions for living a life that is holy and acceptable unto the Lord.
Personal experience, while it will certainly interface with special revelation, does not add anything to that revelation that is necessary. There is nothing life-giving about personal experience; rather, personal experience can only be understood—at most—as a single cog in the mechanism that leads one to accept or to reject the life-giving special revelation of God.
It is important to note here that this inequality (personal experience ≠ special revelation) does not demonstrate that that which could be inferred through these experiences is false; however, whatever can be inferred through these experiences does not rise to the requirements of special revelation.
The Scriptures are Sufficient
We do not need NDEs to be confident of the promises of God. General revelation points us to a God who is powerful and worthy or worship. Special revelation points us to our need for a savior and the savior we need. All that we need for faith and practice—for what we believe and how we live—is provided in the Scriptures.
It is important to note here that the fact that these experiences are not Scriptural does not demonstrate that that which could be inferred through these experiences is false; however, whatever can be inferred through these experiences actually doesn’t matter because if Scripture is sufficient, it doesn’t matter if those inferences are true.
Following those four brief explanations, it is important to note here that, while none of these demonstrate that that which could be inferred through these experiences is false, it does not follow that these potential inferences are true. To the degree that they address things that are not addressed by Scripture, we cannot know for sure if they are true or false. With that said, the absence of proof either way should tilt Christians in the direction of false. Why? Because when it comes to non-salvation issues, it is better to not believe something that is true than it is to believe something that is not.
Why, then, will I not go see this movie?
I won’t watch it because it positions itself as revelation in a revelation-landscape that is sufficiently full. I won’t watch it because I cannot envision any way in which watching it will improve my life, increase my faith, deepen my understanding, or make me better able to serve Jesus. I won’t watch it because it trades on our desire to know something which is unknowable. I won’t watch it because it is indiscernible to me from those The History Channel programs that seek to cash in on a curiosity that they can’t actually satisfied.
God, in his wisdom, did not reveal to us the kinds of details about life after death that we might crave; however, what he did reveal is sufficient. When the Lord descends, we who believe will be caught up and we will always be with the Lord. Amen.
One final note: I would not go so far as to say that it is wrong to go see this movie (or to read or watch any of the other books or programs that fall into this category). I will, however, go so far as to ask this: When you see this movie, what is it you are looking for? Be on guard as you read and watch, then, that your heart and mind remain focused on God, the Savior he sent, the Spirit who empowers, and the Word which instructs. You need no more than that.