Amazing grace: The near-death experience as a compensatory gift
Journal of Near-Death Studies September 1, 1991 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-1991-10-1-p11-39 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 4 |
| Population | Persons whose lives were marked by deep anguish and hopelessness prior to a near-death experience or NDE-like episode |
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Key findings | Argues that near-death experiences and NDE-like episodes occurred at providential moments and had a healing character in four cases of people previously experiencing deep anguish and hopelessness, suggesting to the author the intervention of a guiding intelligence conferring a form of "amazing grace." Contends that understanding the full significance of such experiences requires taking the person's life history into account. |
Abstract
This paper illustrates the apparently providential timing and the healing character of near-death experiences (NDEs) and NDE-like episodes, through four case histories of persons whose lives, prior to their experiences, were marked by deep anguish and a sense of hopelessness. Spiritually, such case histories suggest the intervention of a guiding intelligence that confers a form of “amazing grace” on the recipient. Methodologically, these reports point to the importance of taking into account the person's life history as a context for understanding the full significance of NDEs and similar awakening experiences. The article ends with a retrospective account of a childhood NDE in which “the big secret” of these experiences is disclosed.
Comparable studies
Other case reports and case series on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near-Death Experiences in India Individuals in India who reported near-death experiences | 1986 | Case study | n = 16 |
| The Near-Death Experience as a Focus of Clinical Attention Patients presenting with near-death experience-related problems | 1997 | Case study | n = 4 |
| A prospectively studied near-death experience with corroborated out-of-body perceptions and unexplained healing. A person who had a near-death experience | 2006 | Case report | n = 1 |
| Verified account of near-death experience in a physician who survived cardiac arrest. A 32-year-old female physician experiencing childbirth | 2020 | Case study | n = 1 |
| This is your brain on death: a comparative analysis of a near-death experience and subsequent 5-Methoxy-DMT experience. An individual who had a near-death experience during a coma caused by bacterial... | 2023 | Case study | n = 1 |