The basis of my endorsement of Dr. J. Steve Miller's exceptional study, a work that seems likely to become a classic.
Review of DEATHBED EXPERIENCES AS EVIDENCE FOR THE
AFTERLIFE
Author: J. Steve Miller, Kennesaw State University,
Kennesaw, GA
This extraordinary book, this scholarly tome, will set the
agenda for future studies of the phenomena associated with “life after death”
or “deathbed experiences,” happenings that indicate what happens to us as we
pass from life to death and the hereafter. Prof. Miller’s 400-plus pages of
closely argued text, with nearly 800 footnotes and approximately 1000
references, set a research standard hard to match, essential to those
interested in the topic.
In the future, scholars unfamiliar with this work will be
identifying themselves as producing analyses warranting little serious
attention.
As a semi-retired scientist, a physicist/engineer with a
long history of interest in not only science but also philosophy, I was
privileged to receive a nearly final Advance Review Copy from Prof. Miller, an
acquaintance through internet correspondence. I spent decades as an agnostic,
only recently returning to the Christian faith, as a lapsed Protestant who
views the Bible as history written by fallible mortals.
Prof. Miller’s book is so well-argued that it has moved me
from hoping there is a life after death to expecting that there is, being only
somewhat short of certain.
Here’s the book’s outline, in brief:
Part
I: Examining DBE Phenomena
Chapter One. Phenomena Before Death
Chapter Two: Phenomena at Death
Chapter Three: Phenomena After Death
Chapter Four: Phenomena Throughout the Death Experience
Chapter Five: Conclusions from the Evidence
Part
II: Challenges from Science and Naturalism
Chapter Six: Charges That the Evidence Isn’t Scientific
Chapter Seven: Challenges to the Afterlife Hypothesis
Part
III: Deathbed Experiences and Christianity
Chapter Eight: Comparing DBE and NDE Research to Christian
Teachings
Appendices
Bibliography
The appendices include definitions of key terms, an example
of a detailed DBE report, the math behind a major British Census study,
application of Bayesian statistical analysis, a tabulation of scientific
journals in which related work is found, and an extensive discussion of Rev.
John MacArthur’s theological criticism of NDE.
The range and depth of this work are breathtaking, beyond
this reviewer’s ken in several areas. Two areas raised questions for me: first,
an early anecdote about Mark Twain’s detailed vision of the funeral
arrangements for his younger, distant brother before the boy’s death…how do we
have the effect (the vision) before we have the cause (the death)? Second, the
correct application of Bayes’s theorem to improve our estimate of the
probability of the existence of an afterlife, from new information, a topic for
future research.
This profound and carefully researched book will encourage
all who hope for a life after death in the presence of a just and benevolent
God.
Douglas Winslow Cooper, Ph.D.
Formerly, Associate Professor of Environmental Physics
Harvard (now, Chan) Graduate School of Public Health
Available from, among others, amazon.com:
Definitely need to read this, Doug. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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