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Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been popularized globally for decades through best-selling books, feature films, documentaries, and social media. Yet, scholars are often unaware that respected researchers have been widely publishing studies of NDEs in books and peer-reviewed literature that have implications for topics of interest to theologians and philosophers.

This paper suggests the best resources (books, videos, documentaries, articles, and organizations), some popular and some scholarly, to help scholars get up-to-speed in this vast and fascinating field of study.

The full-text of this paper is available for FREE by clicking here. The paper is part of an ongoing EPS web project focused on Philosophical Issues in “Afterlife Apologetics.”

This paper was first presented at the 2024 annual meeting of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, imploring Christian philosophers, theologians, and apologists to acquaint themselves with five decades of near-death studies, assessing the data for relevance to their fields of study.

A brief history of near-death studies introduces the topic, followed by suggestions as to why this field has typically been neglected by Christian scholars.

While some Christian scholars have indeed engaged near-death studies, much more work needs to be done, integrating them into specific sub-fields of study, some of which are suggested.

The full-text of this paper is available for FREE by clicking here. The paper is part of an ongoing EPS web project focused on Philosophical Issues in “Afterlife Apologetics.”

Philosophers and theologians may wish to incorporate near-death or deathbed research into their specialized research/publications. This article suggests that recognizing four tiers of NDE/DBE research can help them determine where to focus their research. Tiers include:

• Interviewing personal circles of trust.
• Researching highly evidential cases.
• Digesting the best NDE studies of multiple cases.
• Studying or replicating large-scale surveys.

The full-text of this paper is available for FREE by clicking here. The paper is part of an ongoing EPS web project focused on Philosophical Issues in “Afterlife Apologetics.”

This paper explores the implications of a simplified appraisal model of emotion to show that our emotions can be best understood as the subjective experience of agency.

First it is explained how emotions are fundamentally influenced by two main factors: will, defined as value or what is taken to be good; and control, the determination of whether an identified value will be able to be brought to bear in the world. These two factors are then identified as the essential components of agency.

Next it is shown that an agent’s power to influence extends even to her own emotions, which can be modified by exercising control over circumstances or by changing her will about them.

The paper ends with a look at how empathy, the understanding of the emotional experience of other agents–most importantly God as the ultimate all-powerful agent for good, can help to widen an agent’s perspective, orient her will to true goodness, and allow her to thrive emotionally in a world which is not fully controlled.

The full-text of this paper is available for FREE by clicking here. The paper is part of an ongoing EPS web project focused on a Philosophy of Theological Anthropology.

Scientific research into the deathbed vision phenomena is hospice based. It studies frequent cases where dying persons have transcendent deathbed experiences. Some researchers argue this data points to the existence of the afterlife.

However, we must adopt a posture of heuristic skepticism toward deathbed research.

This paper proposes “The Gray Scale” as a detection tool that will assess whether a deathbed report may support the afterlife hypothesis or not.

The full-text of this paper is available for FREE by clicking here. The paper is part of an ongoing EPS web project focused on Philosophical Issues in “Afterlife Apologetics”

Visionary experiences such as near-death experiences (NDEs) and deathbed experiences (DBEs) have been widely documented, professionally studied and published, but have not received sufficient attention by Christian philosophers and theologians, leaving a gap in peer-reviewed religious literature.

This paper identifies several types of visionary experiences that seem to offer data relevant to many philosophical and theological themes, such as the afterlife, substance dualism, and the existence of a personal, loving God.

Types of experiences include NDEs, deathbed visions, crisis apparitions, after death communications, terminal lucidity, visions of Jesus, demonic visions, premonitions of death, and angelic visions.

Thus, this paper invites scholarly discussion via the Philosophical Issues in ‘Afterlife Apologetics’ project.

The full-text of this paper is available for FREE by clicking here.