What Is it Like to Be Dead?

Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, and the Occult

Jens Schlieter

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

First study dealing with near-death experiences as a decisive element of modern religious discourse
Demonstrates how important elements such as the "panoramic life review," "tunnel experience," or "out-of-body experience" were combined with traditional elements of Christian deathbed narratives
Provides previously undiscovered accounts of near-death experiences from 1580-1975

What Is it Like to Be Dead?

Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, and the Occult

Jens Schlieter

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Description

Studies of "near-death experiences" show that such experiences not only provide a new certainty of post-mortem survival, but often function as a call for fundamental change in the present. Reported aftereffects encompass changes in attitudes, beliefs, and life orientation. It is said that "experiencers" have lost their fear of death, found their purpose in life, or become "more spiritual." The experience - often declared to be indescribable, inexplicable, or ineffable - is held by many to be the most important of their lives and, moreover, the best proof available for matters "transcendent."

In What Is It Like To Be Dead?, Jens Schlieter argues that to understand recent testimonies of near-death experiences, we need to be aware of the history of innumerable reports of earlier near-death experiences that were communicated and handed down in scores of newspapers, journals, and books. Collections of such testimonies have been published for more than 150 years, accompanied by attempts to classify and interpret them. Schlieter analyzes the religious relevance of near-death experiences -for the experiencers themselves, but also for the growing audience attracted by these testimonies. Near-death experiences bear ontological, epistemic, intersubjective, and moral significance, ranging from reassurance that religious experience is still possible to claims that they initiate a new spiritual orientation in life, or offer evidence for the transcultural validity of afterlife beliefs. This study is the first to document and analyze four centuries of near-death testimonies before the codification of the genre in the 1970s, offering the first full account of the modern genealogy of "near-death experiences."

What Is it Like to Be Dead?

Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, and the Occult

Jens Schlieter

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Preface
Acknowledgements

Introduction
Outline of the Argument and Remarks on Method

Chapter I: Near-death experiences as Religious Discourse

Chapter II: The Different Strands of Death: Western Discourse on Experiences Near Death (1580-1975)

Chapter III: "Near-death experiences" as Religious Protest against Materialism and Modern Medicine in the 1960s and 1970s

Chapter IV: Wish Fulfilling Expectations, Experiences, Retroactive Imputations - In Search of Hermeneutics for Near-death Experiences"

Bibliography

What Is it Like to Be Dead?

Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, and the Occult

Jens Schlieter

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Author Information

Jens Schlieter (Ph.D. University of Bonn, Germany) is Professor of the Systematic Study of Religion and Co-Director of the Institute for the Science of Religion, University of Bern, Switzerland. His publications comprise contributions on methodological and theoretical questions of the study of religion, on Buddhist bioethics, and comparative philosophy.

What Is it Like to Be Dead?

Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, and the Occult

Jens Schlieter

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Reviews and Awards

"...this work represents a step forward in the study of near-death reports. Schlieter has grasped the importance of researching the "genealogy" of these narratives, rather than naively receiving them without any context, either within a culture or the reporter's life, let alone accepting the accounts without any critical or even analytic engagement. The word "indispensable" is overused, but in my opinion, for those interested in the field of near-death narratives, this volume is indeed indispensable." -- Joseph Azize, Numen

"Filling an almost unbelievable gap in the existing literature by interpreting and historicizing a concept everyone is familiar with—near-death experiences—Jens Schlieter's book is an insightful academic study that will surely touch some on a more personal level." --Julie Chajes, author of Recycled Lives: Madame Blavatsky and Reincarnation

"Finally a study of near-death reports that breaks with the predictable clichés of the popular genre. Schlieter shows that even intimate personal experiences cannot be understood unless they are placed in a solid historical framework. Many readers may be surprised to discover how strongly esoteric and occultist traditions have come to determine common ideas—perhaps even their own ideas—about what it's like to be dead." - Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents, University of Amsterdam

"Jens Schlieter has made a fascinating and indispensable contribution to the study of 'near-death experience' in historical perspective; especially eye-opening is the meticulous attention he gives to early modern examples from a wide range of literary, philosophical, religious, and occultist movements."--Carol Zaleski, author of Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times

"Recommended" -- CHOICE