Is God Dead? Series: The Greatest is Love

The phenomenon of Near-Death Experiences (NDE) is nothing new. In his literary masterpiece, Republic, Plato (428-347 B.C.) writes of the battlefield death of Er only to somehow return from the dead to tell what he saw in the afterlife. One finds some frequency of recorded such experiences running through the Middle Ages. However, with the Enlightenment Movement of the 17th century and the scientific revolution of the 18th century, reports of “mystical” phenomena became so heavily criticized that, although NDEs no doubt continued, very few people were willing to report them. That all began to change in the late 20th century as improved resuscitation methods allowed for even greater numbers of people to be “brought back” and thus report their NDE. In modern times, researchers contend that some 25 million people have reported having a NDE. Interestingly, one of the most commonly reported experiences is that of love. Near Death Experience researcher John Burke says, “Those who get a glimpse of heaven agree on one thing more than anything— love is the point of it all. In the presence of God, they experience a love that words cannot explain, and the people of heaven seem to be filled with a light that is love.” Burke reports the case of Harvard neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, who suffered a rare illness that caused his neocortex to shut down. In short, Dr. Alexander’s brain wholly ceased to function. While his NDE contained many of the classic elements—lush foliage, beautiful flowers, magnificent trees, lots of light-emitting people—Eben said the central message he received was “You are loved.” Burke goes further, saying that the single most important thing that Eben said he learned from the experience was that “none of us are unloved.” And yet, God’s love feels uniquely personal. One NDEr said, “Everything about Him is love. Yes, love for you, and it seemed as if the love is only for you.” Another person reported after his NDE, “You know in yourself that he loves all, but the love for you is so personal it seems as if it is only for you.” Yet another NDEr echoes so many others, noting, “It was like I was the only one he loved in all his creation. I knew He loved others, but it seemed as if I was the only one.” Reading these accounts, I cannot help but think of C. S. Lewis, who once wrote, “He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.” Personal indeed. For the Christian, love is nothing less than the very purpose of life. And I find it incredibly fascinating that the same message is often brought back from the other side by NDErs, even by those who are not familiar with the Bible, because the details of NDEs so closely corroborate what the Bible has to say about life, love, and purpose. Case in point, no greater expression of love in heaven or on earth can be found than God’s so loving this world that He gave over the life of His only Son to secure everlasting life for believers (cf John 3:16). Since Christians hold, as John the apostle proclaims, that God is love (1 John 4:16), it stands to reason that the Bible would be full-filled with verses affirming just that. In reality, as much as the Bible has to say about it, all God’s love for humanity is subsumed under that singular passage: “For God so loved the world . . ..” (John 3:16). However, as so many NDEs make clear, there is an expectation of God concerning human reciprocation of the love He has shown in Jesus Christ. It is an expectation clearly put forward by Jesus Himself who taught: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:37-39). Jesus said that the teachings of the entire Bible hang on these two commandments.