Is there life after death?
In an interview with Michael Knowles, Lee Strobel explores a growing body of near-death experiences, deathbed visions and supernatural encounters that offer compelling, corroborated proof of life beyond the grave.
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Strobel began his investigation as a skeptic. But after discovering more than 900 peer-reviewed scientific and medical articles on NDEs, his journalistic instincts were triggered. “This is not fringe stuff,” he explained. “It’s well-documented. And some cases provide evidence that simply can’t be explained naturally.”
One such case involved a woman who was pronounced clinically dead in a London hospital. After being revived, she reported floating above the room and watching doctors try to resuscitate her. More startlingly, she described a red sticker on top of a ceiling fan blade—something invisible from the ground. When staff checked, they found the sticker exactly where she said it was.
Another case Strobel pointed to centered around a nine-year-old girl who had drowned and was later revived in a hospital. She not only drew an accurate layout of the emergency room, which she had never previously seen, but also described in vivid detail what her family did and wore at home while she was unconscious, including what her mother cooked for dinner and the toys her brother played with.
These stories aren’t just anecdotal. In 2009, researchers documented 107 NDE cases with external verification. For Strobel, this points to a key biblical truth: when we die, our spirit separates from our body. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” he quoted from 2 Corinthians 5:8.
Not all NDEs are pleasant, however. Strobel shared the story of Howard Storm, a tenured art professor and avowed atheist who experienced a terrifying descent into darkness, torment and violence. When he cried out to Jesus, he was rescued by a light and forever changed. Storm renounced atheism, became a Christian and now pastors a small church—his life transformed by the experience.
Strobel and Knowles also discussed deathbed visions and terminal lucidity, where dying individuals suddenly become aware, lucid, or reach toward unseen presences. In a New York hospice study, 88% of patients reported such visions before death. Far from hallucinations, researchers concluded these were real and consistent with accounts in Scripture, such as Stephen’s vision of heaven in Acts 7.
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Ultimately, Strobel believes these accounts confirm what Scripture has taught all along. “We’re going to be forgotten in this world,” he said. “But that’s not the end. Eternity has been written in our hearts.” The longing for meaning, he argues, is not only natural but supernatural—evidence of a soul designed for something more.
These near-death experiences and supernatural accounts offer compelling evidence that life does not end at death. They challenge us to reconsider our beliefs about eternity and the reality of the spiritual world. Far from mere speculation or fantasy, these testimonies point to a deeper truth: our souls continue beyond this life and that the choices we make now have eternal significance.
Abby Trivett is content development editor for Charisma Media.
