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...