Religion, spirituality, and the near-death experience /

Fox (Joseph Chamberlain College, Birmingham, UK) offers a comprehensive and analytic history of research into near-death experiences (NDEs). To summarize his findings: proponents of the idea that NDEs provide evidence for something supernatural have failed to establish that claim, and the opposing neuropsychological work has failed to explain away these experiences. Fox remains open, however, to the possibility that NDEs are "real"; he is distressed that the disciplines of theology and philosophy seem unwilling to take them seriously. There is an urgency in his plea to the mainstream academic community, for "so much is at stake," including "the possibility of proving the existence of the human soul ... that soul's immortality ... [and] of learning what lies beyond the grave." But all this sounds too familiar: one could almost replace every instance of "NDE" with "UFO" and find the testament of a "UFOlogist" demanding "further investigation" into "unexplained sightings" because, after all, discovering a real extraterrestrial intelligent life would be quite momentous. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, but as Fox makes clear, such evidence as there is for NDEs does not even rise to ordinary standards, and one concludes that people may safely turn their attention elsewhere. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Researchers and faculty. M. Berheide Berea College