Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience by Pim van Lommel Page B
Authors: Pim van Lommel
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people kept coming into his room to pay their last respects.
A Decline in Religious Affiliation Coupled with Greater Religious Sentiment
A near-death experience can sometimes engender profound religious feelings and give people the impression of a personal bond with God.
I now have a much, much stronger bond with God. I see and feel him as the greatest force in my life. He entered my life unbidden, but I welcomed him.
But an NDE leads some people to believe that they are one of God’s chosen. This sense of salvation can make them feel relatively invulnerable and extremely important and may result in a strong urge to spread word of the NDE as a deeply religious experience. Such proselytizing is often seen as intrusive and stirs a great deal of resistance. But generally speaking, people’s religious sentiment increases after an NDE while their interest in organized religion declines sharply (see table “Changes in Religious Affiliation After an NDE”).
I have strong religious feelings now. I no longer “believe” in God; I’m absolutely certain. But it has nothing whatsoever to do with the church.
Changes in Religious Affiliation After an NDE
No religion
Before NDE (percent): 46
After NDE (percent): 84
General Population (percent): 16
Church of England
Before NDE (percent): 24
After NDE (percent): 4
General Population (percent): 28.3
Roman Catholic
Before NDE (percent): 12
After NDE (percent): 8
General Population (percent): 25.6
Methodist
Before NDE (percent): 4
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 4.3
Presbyterian
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 7.2
Jewish
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 0.4
Baptist
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 2.1
Lutheran
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 1.3
Calvinist
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): NA
Brethren
Before NDE (percent): 4
After NDE (percent): 2
General Population (percent): NA
Buddhist
Before NDE (percent): 0
After NDE (percent): 2
General Population (percent): 0.2
Average interval between NDE and interview: 19 years (Sutherland 16 )
The table shows Australian data from 1990. Because of major international variation in church attendance, the percentage of nondenominational people referred to in studies depends largely on both year and country of research.
It is important to bear in mind that, irrespective of NDEs, the percentage of nondenominational people in the Netherlands increased sharply in the twentieth century. In 1900 only 2 percent of the Dutch people were not affiliated with any church, by 1960 their number had risen to 18 percent, and by 1999 it was up to 63 percent. More and more people believe that religiosity has nothing to do with church attendance. Figures from 2002 also show that 37 percent of nondenominational people in the Netherlands believe in life after death, 25 percent believe in heaven, 19 percent believe in the sense of praying, and 31 percent believe in religious miracles. In other words, religious beliefs can exist independently of religious affiliation. 17
There is no comparable decline in religious affiliation in the United States: 78 percent of Americans today are still Christian, of which the majority (55 percent) are Protestant, and only 16.1 percent have no religion. In the United States 28 percent of people never attend any religious service, and 40 percent attend at least once a week. In the United Kingdom there is similarly a high percentage of people with a religious affiliation: 71.6 percent are Christian and 2.7 percent Muslim, but only 14 percent attend church at least once a week (statistic from 2005). From 1964 to 2005 religion combined with church attendance decreased in the United
A Decline in Religious Affiliation Coupled with Greater Religious Sentiment
A near-death experience can sometimes engender profound religious feelings and give people the impression of a personal bond with God.
I now have a much, much stronger bond with God. I see and feel him as the greatest force in my life. He entered my life unbidden, but I welcomed him.
But an NDE leads some people to believe that they are one of God’s chosen. This sense of salvation can make them feel relatively invulnerable and extremely important and may result in a strong urge to spread word of the NDE as a deeply religious experience. Such proselytizing is often seen as intrusive and stirs a great deal of resistance. But generally speaking, people’s religious sentiment increases after an NDE while their interest in organized religion declines sharply (see table “Changes in Religious Affiliation After an NDE”).
I have strong religious feelings now. I no longer “believe” in God; I’m absolutely certain. But it has nothing whatsoever to do with the church.
Changes in Religious Affiliation After an NDE
No religion
Before NDE (percent): 46
After NDE (percent): 84
General Population (percent): 16
Church of England
Before NDE (percent): 24
After NDE (percent): 4
General Population (percent): 28.3
Roman Catholic
Before NDE (percent): 12
After NDE (percent): 8
General Population (percent): 25.6
Methodist
Before NDE (percent): 4
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 4.3
Presbyterian
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 7.2
Jewish
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 0.4
Baptist
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 2.1
Lutheran
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): 1.3
Calvinist
Before NDE (percent): 2
After NDE (percent): 0
General Population (percent): NA
Brethren
Before NDE (percent): 4
After NDE (percent): 2
General Population (percent): NA
Buddhist
Before NDE (percent): 0
After NDE (percent): 2
General Population (percent): 0.2
Average interval between NDE and interview: 19 years (Sutherland 16 )
The table shows Australian data from 1990. Because of major international variation in church attendance, the percentage of nondenominational people referred to in studies depends largely on both year and country of research.
It is important to bear in mind that, irrespective of NDEs, the percentage of nondenominational people in the Netherlands increased sharply in the twentieth century. In 1900 only 2 percent of the Dutch people were not affiliated with any church, by 1960 their number had risen to 18 percent, and by 1999 it was up to 63 percent. More and more people believe that religiosity has nothing to do with church attendance. Figures from 2002 also show that 37 percent of nondenominational people in the Netherlands believe in life after death, 25 percent believe in heaven, 19 percent believe in the sense of praying, and 31 percent believe in religious miracles. In other words, religious beliefs can exist independently of religious affiliation. 17
There is no comparable decline in religious affiliation in the United States: 78 percent of Americans today are still Christian, of which the majority (55 percent) are Protestant, and only 16.1 percent have no religion. In the United States 28 percent of people never attend any religious service, and 40 percent attend at least once a week. In the United Kingdom there is similarly a high percentage of people with a religious affiliation: 71.6 percent are Christian and 2.7 percent Muslim, but only 14 percent attend church at least once a week (statistic from 2005). From 1964 to 2005 religion combined with church attendance decreased in the United
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