I met the author many years ago. He had been a Presbyterian minister who found his religious beliefs were inadequate to shed light on his mystical experiences. Since I grew up in a Presbyterian household and have served as a deacon and elder, we had a shared background. His book lays out the difficulty he had trying to reconcile his experiences with the limited Christian willingness to accept such experiences. Ultimately, I believe he left his ministry because traditional Christian beliefs were too constraining.

This resonates with my experience. I was allowed to teach 2 classes on near-death experiences at my church but when I proposed a more expanded syllabus, I was told to limit my teachings to Biblical subjects. For example, one proposed subject was reincarnation for which there is strong evidence out of the University of Virginia. Christianity is still not comfortable entertaining the possibility of embracing this research.

Jim Fisher ( )