Customer Reviews

Religion, Spirituality and the Near-Death Experience

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Not everyone who is resuscitated after reaching a point where they would be pronounced clinically "dead" has what has come to be called an "NDE"; but an awfully significant proportion do have such an experience - extraordinary both subjectively and objectively, as can be seen by the research reports.

The phenomenon refuses to be explained away in any simple or straight forward way. The thousands of cases analyzed to date offer scientists a lot of evidence to weigh, present theologians with challenges to long-established scriptural interpretations, and give any inquisitive mind a pause to re-ask fundamental questions about human consciousness and spirituality.

Mark Fox has done a fine job of pulling together the most current studies and the persisting issues surrounding the NDE phenomenon. He is level-headed and fair and writes with a pleasant, reader-respecting style (unlike some other strident volumes which are bent on sharpening some particular ideological or social axe).

The fundamental crux in resolving what to do with the NDE phenomenon seems to be: Why does a moment when PHYSICAL functioning is at its worst provide (more often than not) a CONSCIOUSNESS that is functioning peacefully, joyfully, and even with greater accuracy and more information than ordinarily?

If you read Fox's documentation of this phenomenon, I think you'll find the search for satisfactory answers to this mystery well worth your consideration.

As someone with a keen curiosity about Near Death Experiences, I found this book to be something of a disappointment.

On the plus side, Fox collects and examines a wide assortment of near-death narratives from a variety of sources, including the standard books on NDEs (near-death experiences) by folks like Raymond Moody and Kenneth Ring. In addition, Fox draws upon the files of the Religious Experience Research Centre housed at the University of Wales; these accounts provide a further means with which to identify the key elements of the particular type of religious experience known as an NDE, in contrast and comparison with the other types of religious-experience collected in the RERC files. For those who are new to this literature, Fox's book provides a helpful overview; he is to be commended for the thoroughness of his research.

I was less impressed, however, with Fox's attempts at walking readers through the complex maze of current academic conversation regarding NDEs. To his credit, Fox approaches each academic paradigm with a genuine spirit of openness; nevertheless, this reader was left with the impression that Fox was simply unwilling to engage these various academic paradigms with critical rigor, let alone acknowledge that they can't all be of equal validity. Those shortcomings would be less of an irritant, were Fox himself not so inclined to lecture theologians and philosophers over their reluctance to become more engaged in the whole area of NDE research. Indeed, Fox's book unwittingly provides powerful justification for their reluctance! Despite their considerable fascination, theologians and philosophers alike are wise to approach NDEs with considerable caution since they provide--Fox's assertions to the contrary notwithstanding--a thin foundation on which to build either a theological or a philosophical edifice.

On the whole, this is a volume I would recommend only to those deeply interested not only in Near Death Experiences, but in the multi-dimensional academic conversation that has grown up around NDEs over the past 25 years.

After reading many books by several empowering authors such as Betty Eadie, John Edward, Sylvia Browne, and Tiffany Snow,- that I am still reading, my life has opened up to me in such a compelling and wonderful way. This new book is well written, and thought provoking. There are great transforming authors, who shift the consciousness of humankind in a way never known before, and have the courage to reveal their paranormal experiences. Snow does it by bridging religion and spirituality after a personal lightning strike NDE, and "Religion, Spirituality" does it from a combination of others.

In a way, I've been looking for this book for a long time. I've always wanted an in depth, impartial scholarly study of the Near Death Experience, and of the many books and research projects related to the field. This book is it. It's substantive, clearly written, very well documented and filled with important insights. I am in the midst of reading it, but can already recommend it whole-heartedly to those who are interested in this research. After reading many popular accounts of NDE's, I have not been able to understand why the general public is not more curious about them, and why so many skeptics buy into the rather flippant idea that the NDE is simply a chemical reaction of the human brain under stress. The popular accounts have always left me intrigued and wanting more. This book is providing the rigorous study that I've craved. Highly recommended.

I came to this subject fairly fresh in that I have not studied this material before. I have heard stories in the media about near-death experiences (NDE) of course as have most people and have been curious about them. This book proved to be an excellent volume to gain some real insight into this fascinating subject.

Fox spends the first 2/3 of the book reviewing and discussing the various disciplines which have attempted to engage with the NDE phenomena. His style is to report what the leading thinkers in each area have said or proposed and then to ask questions of that view and compare it with the views from other disciplines. The result was that each chapter created fascination for me as each new area was explored, enriching what I had learned in the earlier ones with a new viewpoint and enabling me to see both the strengths and weaknesses in each area.

After this thorough grounding, in the final 1/3 of the book he embarks on his presentation of his research into a set of previously unpublished accounts found in the Religious Experiences Research Centre. With the knowledge gained in the first part of the book I found it easier to engage with these accounts. Contrary to the "standard wisdom" purported to exist elsewhere, these accounts demonstrate a great deal of variability. Fox chooses to present them using a series of themes, such as "light", "sound", "ineffability" and "meeting others", looking for consistency between accounts and demonstrating significant differences between them.

Overall I found this book an excellent introduction to this subject area and heartily recommend it.

I really liked this book. I am an avid reader and would recommend adding this book to your must read list. Another book that really impressed me is Psychic Gifts in the Christian Life - Tools to Connect, by Tiffany Snow, pub. 2003. In this time of increasing awareness for the need to help our relationships, workplace, family, self and environment, these two books are at the forefront of giving us the tools to do so - not only by positive reinforcements, but in the case of "Psychic Gifts," showing we have a Divine birthright to access the supernatural in our lives, and how to tap into that. I encourage you to Keep Reading, apply what you learn, and be a force for good in your part of the world.

I love this book! I put this one right next to my Top Five Great Reads = (1) Psychic Gifts in the Christian Life by Tiffany Snow (2) The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (3) The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire by Deepak Chopra (4) The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (5) Closer to the Light by Melvin Morse. Winter is coming. Snuggle up to a warm fire or under your electric blanket and let these books be your warm fuzzy!

Mark Fox has written an interesting book, but so many people just focus on their own lessons they learned, which makes for an interesting story, but I am always looking for more - how does this apply to me? Do I have to have an NDE myself? I liked Tiffany Snow's book better, just one chapter about her great NDE, but the rest of it shows how anyone can open up, if they learn how. I'm not saying Mark's is a bad book, really, but I guess I was just expecting more.