What Happens When We Die?

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By: Brian G. Chilton, Ph.D., M.Div. | June 16, 2023

Death is one of the greatest mysteries of life. The term “death” holds such a stigma that many of us do not even mention it when speaking of our dearly departed. Some may use the term “passed away” or even “expired.” While taking Clinical Pastoral Education, I was told about a staff chaplain who scolded someone who used the term “expire” to reference a person’s passing. The chaplain said, “People are not milk. They don’t go bad.” While everyone received a great laugh from the chaplain’s remarks, he did bring up an interesting point. Conversations about death and passing are often avoided.

British philosopher and documentarian Adam Curtis spoke about how people in Victorian times rarely spoke about sex but often mentioned death. However, in today’s culture, people never talk about death but are obsessed with sex.[1] Curtis’s observations are on point. Perhaps as a culture, it is easier for us to ignore the reality of death. Yet in my current profession as a hospice chaplain, death cannot be ignored.

Regardless of whether a person admits it or not, we often wonder what death will be like when it comes. You may have wondered whether we can know anything about the death experience. It may surprise you to discover that we can to a degree.

Objective Evidence for What Happens When We Die

In my doctoral work, I was introduced to the concept of near-death experiences by one of the world’s leading scholars on NDEs, Dr. Gary Habermas, a research professor at Liberty University. Dr. Habermas took up this study when he tragically lost his wife to breast cancer when she was only in her thirties. Both he and J. P. Moreland, a research professor at Biola University, discovered that good objective evidence suggests that a person’s soul survives death.

Some individuals return to their bodies and report what they have seen and heard outside the scope of their bodies. While their experiences in the heavenly realm cannot be verified, their encounters outside of the body can. In one famous case, a woman died, left her body, and overheard her obnoxious brother-in-law say in the waiting room that he was going to “wait and see if the ol’ girl kicks the bucket.” She later returned to her body. A month after her recovery, she gave her brother-in-law an earful.[2] Principle: Be careful what you say in a waiting room. You never know who’s listening.

Similarities of Experiences Tell Us What Happens When We Die

Some have objected to NDEs by saying that the reported encounters are too varied to tell us anything about the death experience. However, that is not entirely true. In a massive research study, medical doctor Jeff Long and Paul Perry investigated over 1,300 cases of reported NDEs from across the world. Evaluating the varied stories, they discovered some fascinating parallels.

•             75.4% reported feeling an out-of-body separation from their bodies.
•             74.4% reported having heightened senses, including experiencing a “reality that was more real than the present reality.”
•             76.2% reported having experiences of incredible emotions and overwhelming peace.
•             33.8% reported passing through a tunnel.
•             64.6% reported seeing a divine being of magnificent light.
•             57.3% reported encountering angelic beings, seeing deceased relatives, and/or deceased friends.
•             60.5% reported having an altered sense of space and time.
•             22.2% reported having a life review.
•             52.2% reported having encountered unworldly heavenly realms.
•             56% experienced some special learning of life.
•             31% witnessed some boundary or barrier.
•             58.5% of those who returned to their body reported having the free choice to return as their time had not yet come.[3]

As noted, Long and Perry researched over 1,300 NDE cases across the globe when they penned their book. Amazingly, at Long’s website, the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (nderf.org), the number of cases now surpasses over 5,000, all reporting eerily similar phenomena that Long and Perry reported over 10 years prior. These reports come from people from various walks, different ethnicities, and a panoply of languages. Yet, they all still convey having the same kind of experiences that others maintain, even though many had not heard of other NDEs.

The NDEs of the Physically Blind Indicate What Happens When We Die

In Chapter 8 of my book Conversations about Heaven, I give numerous other examples that provide additional evidence for near-death experiences. The chapter, called “Are Near-Death Experiences Real?,” features recent studies conducted with blind individuals who reported visual experiences outside their bodies. The descriptions of their out-of-body experiences were confirmed by the medical team in the hospital room. Furthermore, when they returned to their bodies, the NDErs maintained their physical blindness.[4] There is simply no other way to account for these kinds of encounters outside of accepting that the soul lives beyond the scope of the body.

No matter what you make of NDEs, one thing is fairly evident: our conscious selves (i.e., our souls) appear to survive death. And the evidence suggests that we are fully embraced by a loving God who grants us peace, immensely surpassing anything felt on earth. This certainly does not bring back the ones we loved and will never replace the real grief we feel when thinking about our losses. Nonetheless, this data offers me comfort in knowing that the loved ones I have lost were welcomed into their eternal home with feelings of rapturous joy, exhilarating excitement, and overwhelming love.

Conclusion

Some have asked me how it is possible to serve as a hospice chaplain where death is seen nearly every day. This morning, I officiated a funeral for 14 unclaimed persons in a common grave. One of the social workers told me that many have a difficult time with those kinds of services. So, how is it that hospice chaplains and ministers are able to lend such care? For me, it stems from the promise of eternal life. NDEs confirmed for me something that the Word of God promises—that is, on the other side of eternity, there awaits a greater reality for the child of God.

Therefore, when my time comes to leave this world, I have better reasons for believing that I will experience the same emotions of love, grace, and joy in my eternal home. The apostle Paul said it best when he wrote, “For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17–18, CSB).

About the Author

Brian G. Chilton is the founder of Bellator Christi Ministries and the co-host of the Bellator Christi Podcast. Dr. Chilton earned a Ph.D. in the Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University (with high distinction), a M.Div. in Theology from Liberty University (with high distinction); his B.S. in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Gardner-Webb University (with honors); earned a Certificate in Christian Apologetics from Biola University, and completed Unit 1 of Clinical Pastoral Education at Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine. Dr. Chilton is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Evangelical Philosophical Society.  In his spare time, he enjoys reading, working out in his home gym, and watching football. He has served in pastoral ministry for over 20 years and serves as a clinical chaplain.

https://www.amazon.com/Laymans-Manual-Christian-Apologetics-Essentials/dp/1532697104 

https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-about-Heaven-Difficult-Questions/dp/1666762687

Notes

[1] Referenced in Rainn Wilson, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution (New York, NY: Hachette Go, 2023), 55.

[2] Brian G. Chilton, Conversations about Heaven: Difficult Questions about Our Eternal Home (Eugene, OR: Resource, 2023), 118; Melvin Morse and Paul Perry, Closer to the Light: Learning from the Near-Death Experiences of Children (New York, NY: Random House, 1990), 3-9; Gary R. Habermas and Moreland, Beyond Death (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2004), 158.

[3] Jeffrey Long and Paul Perry, Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences (New York, NY: HarperOne, 2011), 6-7; John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2015), 46; Chilton, Conversations about Heaven, 130-131.

[4] Chilton, Conversations about Heaven, 119–120.

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