Abstract
There has been a continuous discussion of religious experience since William James, culminating in a rich and varied literature on the epistemology of religious experience in the late twentieth century. There has also been a burgeoning literature on near-death experiences (NDEs), largely on neurology and physiology and sometimes as possible counterevidence to naturalism. One important subject is largely missing, and that is a discussion of NDEs as religious experiences, and what light that might shed on their epistemic status. This paper is an attempt to fill that gap. In part one, we will delineate the topic of NDEs and what medical science has to say about them. In part two, we will lay out a general view of the epistemology of religious experience. In part three, we will apply that understanding of religious experience to NDEs and draw what lessons we may.
Highlights
At the heart of religious belief are numerous claims of personal experiences with a divine or unseen reality (Badham 1997)
Examining near-death experiences (NDEs) may provide a framework through which to describe religious experiences in a well-defined and accessible manner to help physicians understand the elements of spirituality in themselves and their patients
NDEs have been reported throughout history, the first account of NDEs reported in academic circles was by Albert von St
Summary
At the heart of religious belief are numerous claims of personal experiences with a divine or unseen reality (Badham 1997). The proportion of Americans reporting having a religious or mystical experience has continued to increase (Pew Research Center 2009). 33% of those who seldom or never attended a religious service reported having any religious or mystical experience (Pew Research Center 2009). Based on these results, religious experience of a kind is far more widespread than often supposed. More recent estimates estimate NDEs occur in 4–9% of general community members and up to 23% of critical illness patients (Cant et al 2012) These experiences share many of the characteristics of the deepest religious experiences known to humanity (Badham 1997; Facco et al 2015; Greyson 2010, 2015). Examining NDEs may provide a framework through which to describe religious experiences in a well-defined and accessible manner to help physicians understand the elements of spirituality in themselves and their patients
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