[catonsville]

There was another thread today about an athiest who had such a terrifying NDE that he later became a minister. I thought Freepers would be interested in the unusual experience of A. J. Ayers, the most famous atheist of the last half of the 20th century who also had such an experience and how it affected him. Ayers was a remarkable man ( the story hints at his unusual love life) in many ways. Philospher, developer of language theory, writer, poet and more. Even those who disagreed with him found him charming, kind and very likable. The debate still rages, did Ayers really change after his experience? I think so.

[luvbach1]

Near-death is the key phrase. Nobody has returned from the dead since the resurrection of Christ. Unless you count ghosts who, technically, are still dead.

[plain talk]

Thanks for posting. I guess he never became a Christian after his near-death experience?

[Grut]

Descriptions of NDEs have been so widely published for so long that no 'testimony' of this sort can be regarded, on the basis of choosing the simplest explanation, as anything except a false memory induced by urban myth.

That said, accounts of NDEs from before they became so widely discussed do sound a lot like this.

[xJones]

Thank you for this thread, very interesting.

My favorite line, though, is, "Freddie became so much nicer after he died," said Dee."

[jaz.357]

"Freddie became so much nicer after he died,"

PLEASE DON'T PRAY FOR ME!

[Jorge]

I read a book by an agnostic Doctor who worked with terminally ill children.

She was converted to Christianity due to many of these children testifying that they had spiritual encounters with Christ before their deaths.

The book was wonderful and honest. Titled " A Window to Heaven".

[strongbow]

Is this NDE day? I just got through reading another thread on FR on the same subject. Paging Art Bell.

[joesnuffy]

John 10 : 24-31
24: Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt?If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25: Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not:the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

26: But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you

27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow after me.

26: And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29: My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand

30: I and my Father are one

31: And then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.........


Faith is a gift of God....man is saved by grace..lest any man should boast

[Zeroisanumber]

Deprive a brain of oxygen and it starts to imagine all sorts of wacked-out, crazy things. These patients (Ayers included) had experiences that were nearly identical to those of astronauts who passed out during high-G training. It doesn't pass muster for proof of an afterlife, just another example of the perceptual gymnastics that the brain is capable of.

[GOPJ]

Do you have a link?

There was another thread today about an athiest who had such a terrifying NDE that he later became a minister.

[utahagen]

Thank you very much for posting this! I have read much about A.J. Ayer and consider him the "purest" atheist I know about, in that he thought the very concept of God was preposterous. (This is in contrast to one of his fellow philosophers, Isaiah Berlin, who was an agnostic but wasn't opposed to others' believing in God.)

Your post fascinated me.

[WKB]

bump to save

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Clinton OD'd on crack?

[aculeus]

"I found a lot of secretions and sputum but the smoked salmon was a red herring."

Fishy sentence ping.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[12B]

I thought I was the World's most famous atheist.

[bc2]

Sorry that this might be slightly off-topic, but if anyone can help me here, it's FReepers!

Who knows anything about Evelyn Waugh? I have read his book entitled "When The Going Was Good" which is a collection of writings from a few of his books at the time, mostly about travel in Africa and South America. I found him to be a fantastic author and every so often, in circumstances such as this, I find weird references to him. What did he do besides write books and work as a newspaper correspondant?

Anyone who has any info on the man please let me know. I'm hitting Google right now...

[pax_et_bonum]

"Ayer's article, with his vivid memory of being pulled toward a red light, 'exceedingly bright, and also very painful,'"

Hmmmmm.... doesn't sound like Heaven.

;)

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Ayer's article, with his vivid memory of being pulled toward a red light, "exceedingly bright, and also very painful,"

Is it just me or does this strike anyone else as not being a good thing?

[Salvation]

**What I Saw When I Was Dead, about his bizarre visit to the other side and how, as a humanist philosopher, it had affected his view of death.**

Will finish reading later.