1. p. 15

The NDERF Study Methodology: A Closer Look

To expand on the inclusion criteria for the NDERF studies quoted throughout the book: The experience had to describe a single NDE and be shared in English on the English version of the NDERF survey. Second-person NDE accounts were excluded.  

Survey at: http://nderf.org/forms/ShareNDE/ShareNDE.php

The current version of the NDERF survey asks all 16 questions that comprise the NDE Scale.  The NDE Scale asks sixteen questions about the content of the experience and is the most validated research method to help distinguish experiences that are near-death experiences from those that are not.  Responses to the 16 questions are each scored on a 0-2 scale.  Those with a total score of 7 or above are considered near-death experiences for research purposes.  For the NDERF studies, there was a requirement that the experiences had to occur at the time of an imminent life-threatening event.  The NDErs in the NDERF studies are generally so physically compromised that they are unconscious or clinically dead with absent heartbeat at the time of the experiences.

REFERENCES:

Greyson, B. (1983). The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, reliability, and validity. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 171, 369-375.Greyson, B. (1985). A typology of near-death experiences. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 967-969.Greyson, B. (1990). Near-death encounters with and without near-death experiences: Comparative NDE Scale profiles. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 8, 151-161.

2. p. 51

The God Study Methodology: A Closer Look

I reviewed all NDEs shared with the NDERF website from January 16, 2005 to November 7, 2014.  For inclusion, all NDEs had to meet these criteria:

Shared in English

Shared by the person who had the NDE

Describe only one NDE

Have a score of 7 or higher on the NDE Scale

Out of all these NDEs, there were 277 that described an awareness or encounter with ‘God’ or ‘G-d’.  Only NDEs that used either of these two terms were included in the God Study.

3. p. 43

Bibliography

            https://www.nderf.org/NDERF/EvidenceAfterlife/evidence/Bibliography.htm
            http://iands.org/resources/education/82-books.html

FAQ- Frequently Asked Questions       

1.  The NDERF survey is very long with over 150 questions that require a response before the survey can be submitted.  The survey length is a substantial disincentive to filling it out falsely as a ‘joke’.
2.  Those who take the NDERF survey receive no payment of any kind.

3.  Experiences are posted anonymously.  There is no personal recognition to incentivize sharing false accounts.

4.  In the 16 year history of NDERF, we have had exactly one person contact us to let us know that they shared a falsified account, and that we posted it.

5.  The fact that the NDERF website has 60,000-70,000 unique visitors a month from all around the world greatly reduces the risk that any accounts posted are plagiarized.  With so many readers, any plagiarized account would likely be recognized by NDERF readers and we would be notified.  This happened once in the history of NDERF.  The plagiarized NDE was not shared on the NDERF survey but by an interview (which we no longer do).

6.  My background as a physician helps me to identify NDEs that describe medical events that seem implausible.

7.  It is rare that experiences are submitted as a ‘joke’ on the NDERF survey, and they can be easily identified.  Years ago there were two NDEs shared sequentially that described, among other fanciful things, encountering Pamela Anderson in their “experiences”.  These are recognized as ‘joke’ accounts when submitted to NDERF as quickly as they would be recognized as ‘joke’ accounts that are shared personally.  Such “joke” submissions to NDERF average about one every few years.8.  My experience in reviewing nearly 4000 NDEs and about 10,000 experiences of all types helps me to recognize which experiences may be falsified.  In my experience, the experiences at higher risk of being falsified are those where the contributors have a financial incentive in their experience.  This includes those who have written books about their experiences.  It also includes those whose vocation, such as channelers or alternative medical healers, may benefit in gaining credibility in the view of their clients if they had a particular experience (especially an NDE).

Finally, a rare falsified NDE that slips through the filters does no real harm unless it changes our understanding of NDEs as a whole.  It is almost inconceivable that enough falsified NDEs would be shared that we end up with a false understanding about NDE.  After all, what is real is consistently observed.

4.2    What are the major God Study findings about God?    What are the major God Study findings about God?

The God Study found that God in near-death experiences:

            Loves us all for who we are and what we are

            Is often associated with overwhelming unearthly feelings of love

            Is often associated with a magnificent unearthly light with variable appearance

            NDErs become aware that everyone and everything seems connected and one with God

            God is often found to be beyond description in human words

            God is not judgmental/condemning

            God is generally not angry/wrathful

            God does not communicate a requirement that God be worshiped

            God generally does not give specific commandments about what the NDErs should in their earthly lives

            God does not specify any earthly religion as the “chosen religion” or the “one true religion.”   There is a sense that all religions may be a path toward the same destination.

            In the view of many people, if an afterlife exists, then God exists. In his new book he goes further, revealing evidence that indeed God is real. At the Near Death Experience Research Foundation, Dr. Long studied the stories of thousands of people who have journeyed to the afterlife. Over 200 near-death experiences describe an encounter with God during a close brush with death. Those having these NDEs come from all walks of life, including physicians, scientists, and people all around the world. Remarkably, regardless of their prior cultural or religious or beliefs, there was exceptional consistency in their descriptions of God. The evidence from near-death experiences is that God loves us all. NDE accounts repeatedly share that God loves everyone for who they are and what they are regardless of their religious belief, lack of religious belief, age, gender, sexual preference, social status, education, and wherever in the world they live.

            These insights occurred while people were generally unconscious or clinically dead.  The consistency of what was observed at a time that they should have no possibility of a conscious memory is strong evidence that these insights are real.

            Just the knowledge that we are loved by a God and that there is an afterlife should be in and of itself be sufficient to help us in our earthly journey in some significant way.  Such awareness would empower us to make decisions based more on love than fear.  This concept awareness, if widely known and believed, could change the world.  This is the one of the most practical uses of this type of spiritual awareness.

     4.3    What evidence is there that God in NDEs is not caused by pre-existing or cultural beliefs?

            Atheists encounter God in their NDEs even though they have no belief in God.

             The religious background of NDErs at the time of their NDEs does not seem to affect the probability that they will encounter God.

             NDErs that encounter God have a dramatic increase in their belief in the reality of God, with almost all accepting that God is definitely real after their NDEs.  For these NDErs, seeing God seems to mean believing God.

             What is described about God in NDEs is so consistent that it fulfills a basic scientific principle: What is real is consistently observed.

             Many aspects of what NDErs describe about God are not widely taught in traditional Western/Abrahamic religious beliefs.  Such as:

                         God’s love of everyone for who they are and what they are regardless of their religious belief, lack of religious belief, age, gender, sexual preference, social status, education, and wherever in the world they live.

                         The awareness of NDErs in the unearthly realm that God is connected/united with everyone and everything.  This is not commonly taught by conventional Western religions.

                         The NDErs awareness that God is not judgmental/condemning

                         The NDErs awareness that God is generally not angry/wrathful

                         God does not communicate a requirement that God be worshiped

                         God generally does not give specific commandments about what the NDErs should in their earthly lives

                         God does not specify any earthly religion as the “chosen religion” or the “one true religion.”   There is a sense that all religions may be a path toward the same destination.

                         When NDErs encounter God it is often emphasized that it had unworldly elements.  These include an unearthly love from God that is outside their life experience, an unearthly light associated with God, and the finding that God is often beyond description in human words.      

4.4    Are NDERF's NDEs Typical of All NDEs?  

5.

Updated NDERF Research Findings

          This section will be updated as new research findings from the NDERF investigations become available.

6.  p. 214

Religion and Near-Death Experiencers  reference 249

The older version of the NDERF survey asked near-death experiencers to give their religious background at the time of the NDE and also at the time they shared their experiences. For both questions, the three options were “liberal,” “moderate,” and “conservative/fundamentalist.” Of 1,122 NDErs who completed this version of the NDERF survey, there were 144 NDErs who encountered or were aware of God and 978 NDErs who did not encounter God. The religious background of the NDErs at the time of their experiences was:

Using chi-square statistics, there is no significant difference in religious self-categorization between NDErs who did and NDErs who did not encounter God. Here are the detailed chi-square statistics:

OBSERVED Data 1: NDErs that encountered God.  Data 2: NDErs that did not encounter God                        

Religious background pre experience                                         

                                                                        Data 1   Data 2          Total

            Liberal                                                47          341               388

            Moderate                                           56          423               479

            Conservative/fundamentalist         41          214               255

            Total:                                                  144       978               1122

EXPECTED  Data 1: NDErs that encountered God.  Data 2: NDErs that did not encounter God                        

Religious background pre experience                                         

                                                                        Data 1                        Data 2                        Total

            Liberal                                                49.79679144             338.2032086             388

            Moderate                                           61.47593583             417.5240642             479

            Conservative/fundamentalist         32.72727273             222.2727273             255

            Total:                                                  144                             978                             1122

            0.208164371 =CHITEST, not statistically significantly different

The same group of 1,122 near-death experiencers was asked about their religious background at the time that they shared their NDEs, which was an average interval of about twenty years from the time they had their NDEs. The results using chi-square statistics were:

OBSERVED Data 1: NDErs that encountered God.  Data 2: NDErs that did not encounter God                        

Religious background now                                    

                                                                        Data 1 Data 2            Total

            Liberal                                                60        405                 465

            Moderate                                           46        385                 431

            Conservative/fundamentalist         38        188                 226

            Total:                                                  144     978                 1122

EXPECTED  Data 1: NDErs that encountered God.  Data 2: NDErs that did not encounter God                        

Religious background now                                    

                                                                        Data 1                         Data 2                        Total

            Liberal                                                59.67914439             405.3208556             465

            Moderate                                           55.31550802             375.684492               431

            Conservative/fundamentalist         29.00534759             196.9946524             226

            Total:                                                  144                             978                             1122

            0.082014301 =CHITEST, not statistically significantly different               

7. p. 216

The Top 7 Current Religious Affiliations of Near-Death Experiencers Who Encountered God

8.  p. 221

Changes in the Religious/Spiritual Life of Near-Death Experiencers who Encountered God

In reviewing the responses to this question from NDErs who encountered God, it was striking how, over time, their belief in the importance of their religious/spiritual life increased:

For the purists who want chi-square statistical analysis of this data, the p value is essentially zero:

9. p. 44

Near-Death Experiences and Religion: God in Non-Western NDEs

10.  p. 17

Policy for Paraphrasing Experiences Quoted in God and the Afterlife

NDEs quoted throughout this book are generally paraphrased for clarity. The original source of the quoted NDEs is referenced on the NDERF website.  The referenced NDE on the NDERF website contains the original quote and entire associated NDE.  It was important that the God Study be transparent. I wanted to be sure that any who wanted to could go to the NDERF website and read for themselves the hundreds of near-death experiences that describe encountering God.  My goal was to make it possible for any who were interested or skeptical to review the entire NDE account, including the complete details before, during, and after the NDE encounter with God. This is a unique and important strength of the God Study. 

The overriding concern in paraphrasing NDE quotes was accuracy.  In Evidence of the Afterlife copyediting changed the quoted NDEs to make them clearer.  We contacted NDErs to confirm that copyedited quote was as accurate as or more so than the original quote.  Scores of NDErs accepted the copyedited quote as accurate.  There were only one or two NDErs that wanted only minor changes to their copyedited quotes.  Given this, we felt confident that we had the experience and track record to paraphrase NDEs and maintain their accuracy.