If I Should Die Before I Wake: The Medical and Biblical Truth about Near-Death Experiences

Leon Greene is a cardiologist and professor of medicine. In his book "If I Should Wake" he sets out to debunk the near-death experience or NDE. He does so primariliy because he finds the idea of an NDE contrary to his Christian beliefs: "Moody's synthesis of the NDE leaves us with the impression that there is no sin inherent in mankind's existence, that there is no judgment, that a just and righteous God does not exist, that there is no system of rewards and punishments for our acts on earth, and - most importantly - that Jesus has no place in any redemptive strategy ... [the NDE] makes the claim that we are not really responsible for our lives and actions on this earth; everyone (or almost everyone) will encounter peace and love in the end, no matter what we have done with our lives, whether or not we have accepted Jesus as Savior. It gives the believer in the NDE what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called 'cheap grace' - a gift from God without commitment to God - 'no-fault eternity' ... It tells us that all religions are equally valid, from Buddhism to Islam to Hinduism to Christianity." If these were Greene's only objections to the NDE as a real phenomenon, they could be dismissed as projections of his particular religious stance; in fact it could even be argued that he is taking too prescriptive a view of the NDE in condemning it as incompatible with Christianity. But there is much more to this physician's objections to the NDE and he marshalls a scientific based argument to underpin his case. First he argues that the NDE is rare in practice, citing that he had never personally encountered such a phenomenon despite his years of experience with just the kind of patients who are claimed to be NDE candidates. Second, he points out that there are two types of possible explanation for the NDE that do not invoke spirituality: physical (drug effects, low blood flow etc.) and psychological (fear of death and dying). He points to the fact that temporal lobe stimulation has caused a patient to "relive certain experiences from his past as though they were occurring at that exact time" and that: "It would seem that any event that can be produced by stimulation of the brain is not really a vision of the afterlife or a trip to heaven. Such visions are simply a set of neural discharges coming from a complex area of the brain that integrates such functions as vision, emotion, hearing, perception of time, language, moods, attitudes, and social behavior." He also argues that "the brain that is not perfused cannot have the metabolic activity necessary to produce energy to form memory." Referring to the phenomenon of syncope, Greene claims that "the components of the NDE can be explained on purely physiologic bases." Greene cites findings from many NDE advocates and suggests weaknesses in their methods or assumptions about the NDE. For example, he critiques the work of Dr. Kenneth Ring as described in the book "Life at Death". But Ring has recently updated his findings

In this book, Dr. Greene presents evidence and compelling arguments that counter the near death experience as being a legitimate spiritual experience. He explains away the characteristics of the stereotypical near death experience in a medical and biblical context. If I Should Wake Before I Die is divided into three sections. In the first section, Dr. Greene takes time to introduce the near death experience and some of its most popular proponents and authors. In the second section, the near death experience is examined from a medical perspective. Dr. Greene is a cardiologist and is able to present an in depth view into its physiology. His focus is primarily on what takes place in the central nervous and cardiovascular systems during the medical situations in which near death experiences would occur. He is able to offer a medical explanation for all the events that have been reported by those who said they have had a near death experience. In the third section, Dr. Greene goes over biblical scriptures that go against the phenomenon of a near death experience, giving instances in the Bible where near death experiences could have occurred but never did and giving some theological reasoning against their existence. The book is written from a decidedly Christian perspective, and Dr. Greene's faith is evident in this text. The second section can feel a little technical at times during the medical explanations, but it is still understandable for the layman. Overall, I thought the book presented intelligent arguments against the near death experience being able to scientifically explain its popular characteristics and show how it does not fit within Christian teachings.

Have you questioned the validity of near death experiences(NDEs)? Read this thoroughly researched book to find answers from a medical and biblical perspective. A Christian cardiologist, Greene finds NDE descriptions contradict his experience with cardiac arrest patients and sheds new light on this subject. Section one defines NDE, reviews popular books, and answers major questions. Part two summarizes medical knowledge relating to the NDE, focusing on central nervous and cardiovascular systems. This portion may be of most interest to medical scholars. Part three examines biblical examples of death, resuscitation, and resurrection to expose the spiritual deception of the NDE philosophy and guide readers to embrace the truth. Included are extensive documentation and bibliography, Scripture and general indices.