FOOTNOTES:
A The Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 67 defines private revelation, which NDE’s fall under. 1Thes 5:19-22 instructs the Church to be open to private revelations, but evaluate them.
B Within Catholicism exists 2000 years of non-NDE visions or mental revelations of Heaven, beginning with the apostle Paul. Two of the more detailed non-NDE visions are those of St. Suso, and the Irish monk Adamnán. Visions of Purgatory and Hell are also numerously recorded. Those having a NDE seem to be in complete mental control and reason. Their visions do reflect their personal and societal culture overlaid upon the absolutes of Heaven.
D “www.near-death.com, notable experiences”; www.nderf.org, exceptional NDE’s; www.iands.org.
E In NDE’s Jesus is the single most frequently encountered person, but any member of the body of Christ may be encountered: guardian angel, deceased family, saints, Moses, Buddha.
F “The Handbook of Near Death Experiences” reports that of 1369 subjects, in twelve studies, 23 percent had distressing NDE’s. During a positive NDE the patient’s soul has acute sensation of peace, love and harmony, but during a distressing NDE the soul senses disorder and evil, to some degree great or small.
G NDE’s do include Hell in all its horror, but they also allude to, or speak directly of ultimate universal salvation, with Hell being eventually overcome. Christ will overcome not only death, but Hell itself. This eventual victory over Hell itself is not expected by current Catholic doctrine, but it is acknowledged as a possibility. By Catholic theology, God cannot possibly produce Hell, or assign and retain people there, because it is an evil with no possible good outcome, therefore it is within the realm of divine power that Hell itself may be one day destroyed. This would require direct intervention of Christ, those in Hell cannot work themselves out of it. See also the section titled “Hell” in this book.
H Definitions must be understood when speaking of the person of Christ:
— “Person” is the title given to a moral being. A person is considered human or divine according to his highest mode of existence. Jesus was a complete human man, and completely God. Since Jesus’ highest mode of existence is divine, he is considered a divine person.
— “The Son of God”, is the second person of the Trinity of God, also called Trinitarian Christ. The Son of God may include others into his person, and does just this in enlarging the body of Christ. Jesus was not included into the Son of God, but originated from, and existed within the Son of God.
— “Christ” is first of all the Son of God. “Christ” is used Biblically as a title for the Messiah, but its present meaning is the entire body of Christ: Trinitarian Christ, Jesus Christ, angels, the faithful.
— “Jesus” is the man Jesus, who is now the pre-eminent individual of the person Christ. “Jesus of Nazareth” describes the human nature of Jesus. “Jesus Christ” describes the divine nature of Jesus. These two natures constitute one person, who is called Jesus, or Jesus Christ.
— “God” is all that has absolute existence and being. It is impossible to become God, because God cannot be brought into being. However, God is free to include others into his person, and does this via Jesus who is the human nature of God.
— “Divine” refers to all who are fully and irrevocably included into the absolute being of God, via the body of Christ. This idea of divinization has been spoken of by the apostles and saints for 2000 years. The idea of our divinization is supported in catechism and scripture, (2Pet 1:4, 1Jn 3:2, Lk 6:40, 16:26; CCC 260, 398, 460, 795, 1988); St. John of the Cross also spoke of this idea. The book “Mystical Evolution” by Fr. John Arintero, is an extensive study of spiritual advancement from humanity to divinity and is still in print.
NDE’s sometimes speak of additional incarnations of Jesus. As frequently occurs, terms are mislabeled and theology presumed. Trinitarian Christ (not human Jesus, who did not then exist) appeared as Melchizedek in the Old Testament. Melchizedek was "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life…", (Hebrews 7:3). Melchizedek was, and remained eternal, he only took on a temporary human appearance, unlike Jesus who was fully human. Christ again took on a human appearance and appeared to Abraham in Genesis chapter 18.
We observe that the many instances of angels taking on a human appearance does not make them human, they remain angels and not humans. Christ has taken on several human appearances, but only one human incarnation.
I The cross reveals to us, the human or divine status of each attribute of Jesus. On the cross, every human element of Jesus was corrupted by sin, “he became sin for us”, 2Cor 5:21. Jesus’ emotions, logic, body were all assaulted by sin, the divine will of Jesus alone remained uncorrupted. The will of Jesus was distinct and human, but also a subset, or contained within the divine will, and necessarily remediated the assaulting sin into virtue.
J We become a member of the body of Christ by inclusion via the sacraments. Both Catholic doctrine and NDE’s allow non-human members of the body of Christ. Recall that Christ is Heaven itself (Jn 11:25), and will include even the lion that lies down with the lamb, and former pets. We observe that animals in Heaven will then have immortal souls in accordance with eternal Heavenly existence. Dr. Pim van Lommel has interviewed hundreds of NDE patients, and notes that some do speak of their pets being in Heaven, (“Consciousness Beyond Life”, page 74).
K The destiny of every member of the body of Christ is divinization, (2Pet 1:4, 1Jn 3:2, Lk 6:40, 16:26; CCC 260, 398, 460, 795, 1988), in which our created nature is included into the very divine nature of Christ. The human Jesus is no exception. The human nature of Jesus is now divine and has no contact with sin. God relies on the ongoing human Christ on earth (that’s us), to remediate sin. The apostle Paul speaks of this necessary and ongoing remediation of sin in Col 1:24, as does Peter in 1Pet 2:21.
L Because of sin, and imperfection in our soul we may not share in the divine nature of Jesus Christ, until we attain perfection of will. If after death, we are still imperfect the soul lives on, but still in a situation short of full divine inclusion, which we call Purgatory. Christ attempted inclusion of the angels, who were either fully perfect, or fully evil. The perfect ones made immediate divine inclusion, while the evil ones were completely excluded. The proof of angelic divine inclusion is the fact that some angels are now devils. This exclusion came about as an unintended failure of divine inclusion or communion. This communion that Christ desires for all creation is what we call judgment, now with Purgatory and Hell as possible outcomes. God may not desire evil, and cannot assign anyone to Hell, because it is an evil with no possible good.
M The Catechism of the Catholic Church states explicitly that we become Christ in at least two paragraphs: (1) CCC 1213, “Through baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ.”; (2) CCC 795, “…Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself…he and we together are the whole man.” The idea and term “Whole Christ”, occurs at least six times: CCC 795, 796, 797, 1136, 1187, 1188. Christ is now all who constitute the body of Christ: Jesus, Eucharist, humans, angels.
N Angels are among the nine orders of Heavenly beings; the apostle Paul lists four of them in Col 1:16-17. All in Heaven are members of Christ, who is now the entire body of Christ, who is Heaven itself. Christ is the Trinitarian Son of God, (Jesus is the human nature or incarnation of Christ). Christ desires union with all of his creation, so that “God will all in all”, (1Cor 15:28).
All the orders of Heaven, including angels, are now members of Christ, who is the entire body of Christ. Angels now “participate in the divine nature”, (2Pet 1:4). This is the intended destiny of humans, angels and all creation, (2Pet 1:4, 1Cor 15:28).
Judgment of the angels was the cause of their separation into Heaven and Hell. This judgment was their originally planned communion. Those angels who made communion with Christ, the Son of God (directly, since human Jesus did not then exist), now “participate in the divine nature of God”, (2Pet 1:4). The angels who were judged were either fully perfect, or fully evil, so Purgatory was not an option. Those who were sinless made communion into the divinity of the Son of God. All of creation: angels, humans, the lion who lies with the lamb, pets, etc. are intended for inclusion into Christ. The book of Revelation shows angels as members of Heaven, all in Heaven are necessarily divinized as members of Christ. The inclusion of the angels into Christ sets back the date of Christianity thousands of years before Jesus. Christianity at its core is a person’s (human or angelic) inclusion into Christ.
In thinking of Christ as Heaven, recall that all elements of creation existed within Christ prior to their creation. Humans, angels, heaven, earth, physics, logic, virtues, emotions existed internal to Christ, prior to their creation outside of Christ. The person of Christ is our resurrection (Jn 11:25), and our Heaven; our beginning and our end, (Rev 22:13).
O It is not a matter of Heaven being an actual place, or a state of being, it is both. The same could be said of Hell. The actual and the symbolic are both true aspects. Brad N (www.nderf.org, exceptional NDE’s 4040), observed evil spirits near earth during his NDE, but was told that they were bound to (fallen) earth, and may not venture to higher realms. Heaven is not in the sky…but it is, in that it is far from our imperfect earthly existence.
P The desk clerk at Heaven knew that Jill was supposed to be on mission, on earth, and not yet due back in Heaven. Our lives, our purpose and our circumstances are determined by Christ, for the purpose of spiritual advancement, which advances ourselves and all of Heaven upon our reunion with the body of Christ.
Q Howard’s is not the only recorded NDE in which a prayer, plea or admission of belief to God brings deliverance from Hell. Belief is the first and most basic participation in God. Even if we have the smallest participation in Christ, we are a member of the body of Christ, and not eligible for Hell. Thought and especially will, is real participation in the object of thought or will. According to Jesus in Mt 5:27-28, to think or will toward adultery is to commit adultery, we have a first stage participation in the act of adultery, just by inclining our will toward it. Instead we should incline our entire “heart, mind and soul” (Mt 22:37), toward God. This would be a real participation in God.
This evidence of the power of prayer is motivation to cultivate our own prayer life. Sincere prayers for ourselves are always a participation in God. Prayers for others go far in preventing their condemnation. Prayer should be viewed as a real act of construction and not just words.
Howard’s sins were forgiven after death, which is implied in Mt 12:32. This verse says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this life or the life to come, thus implying some other sins may be forgiven after death. The reason why speaking against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, is because the Holy Spirit is the agent delivering graces of all types including forgiveness. If we reject the Holy Spirit, we reject the graces he offers. Mt 12:32 shows the danger of atheism and its more harmful variant, anti-theism.
R NDE patients speak of sensing love from all beings during their visit the boundary of Heaven. This love is proactive, unconditional, and immense beyond words. This love is the religious ecstasy that many saints have experienced.
S This change in God’s tone of voice, or focus occurs in the Bible. The Old Testament records God’s justice, and the New Testament records God’s mercy. Both attributes are authentic elements of God.
T This is an accurate description of the body of Christ in Heaven. Christ is now all individuals who constitute the body of Christ. These individuals retain their former attributes (individual awareness and will), but are now the single, divine person of Christ, the Word of God. Those individuals (formerly human persons) in Heaven are now members of the single, divine person Christ, who is Heaven.
U Because Heaven is the person of Christ, only those who are Christ (who is now the entire body of Christ), may enter into Heaven…who is Christ. This whole idea seems like the beginning is the end, and that is exactly how Christ describes himself in Rev 22:13.
A more specific truth that JB observes is the difference between The Word, and its creation. The Word of God is non-optional (see section on Christology). Creation is optional, it has no inherent right or necessity to exist, The Word does.
V In NDE’s the idea of past lives is not uncommon, and sometimes called reincarnation. This is a mislabeling of the Christian idea of the “ongoing incarnation of Christ”, and is discussed in detail in a later section. The basic idea is that Christ in Heaven includes specific dimensions of himself, these dimensions become humans, angels, rocks and trees when they are incarnated, or enter into creation. The prophet Jeremiah was such a dimension of the single person of Christ in Heaven before his incarnation as a human, (Jer 1:5). Later when Jeremiah made communion with Christ, he again became a dimension of the single person of Christ, (and he brought his hard gained virtues, which somehow added to the perfect virtue of Christ). The set of dimensions of Christ we call “Jeremiah” may be incarnated again if Christ desires, (this likewise happened when Elijah was incarnated again as John the Baptist, Mt 11:14). This is not a “bank of souls”, or reincarnation which is the serial migration of a soul amongst bodies, but the “ongoing incarnation of Christ”. The single person of Christ incarnates selected dimensions of himself at his pleasure, and some of these dimensions may have been incarnated previously.
One possible source of previous existence would be cyclical creation which exists as a possibility in the Big Bang theory of an expansionary universe. Most theories of the Big Bang include general or localized gravitational collapse of the universe, returning it to its infinite point of initial creation. At this point God would make his expected communion with all of his creation, not already in communion with him. “When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.”, (1Cor 15:28). The created nature of all things, even the humanity of Jesus will attain its divine union with God, as intended from the beginning, (CCC 398, 1Pet 1:4). God may at his pleasure make another cycle of creation. Pope Pius XII was the first pope to state that scientific models of a non-static universe were possible.
W NDE’s show the body of Christ in Heaven existing as individual members both prior to incarnation, and after salvation. These members of Christ seemingly exist as human persons, but anyone in Heaven actually exists as dimensions of the single person of Christ.
NDE’s show Christ in Heaven having individual points of awareness and will. These individuals would be called human or angelic persons, but they are actually the single person of Christ existing as human or angelic dimensions of Christ. Catholic theology does allow Christ to exist in Heaven in any configuration he desires.
John 3:13 tells of Jesus being the first to Heaven. Those members of Christ in Heaven incarnating prior to Jesus would presumably rejoin the body of Christ only after the coming of Jesus, such a limbo of the just occurs in 1Samuel, chapter 28. If some sort of cyclical big bang/big crunch of creation exists, it is possible that lives were lived and returned to Heaven before our current existing cycle of creation, at least one NDE speaks specifically of this ongoing cycle of creation.
John 3:13 is not really about order of inclusion into Heaven. A close reading of John 3:13, simply says that Jesus Christ alone, has attained Heaven. And so it is, we may attain Heaven only as a member of Jesus Christ, who is now the entire body of Christ.
John 3:13 must also be understood within its context, Jesus was speaking to and of humans. Christ desired divine communion with all his creation as part of the original plan. The coming of Jesus Christ was not an emergency rescue operation after sin. Jesus came as planned but first had to remediate sin before communion with humanity. Christ came as human Jesus, not because of sin, but in spite of sin.
Angels, principalities, thrones and dominions of Heaven (Col 1:16), were likewise always intended for divine communion with Christ their maker. The angels and the Heavenly orders made communion with Christ directly, before the existence of the human Jesus. The proof of this communion is the existence of the devils. Christ attempted communion with the angels but not all made it.
Hell was not a punishment assigned to the bad angels, while the good angels remained as they were. Hell is the failed portion of Christ’s attempt to make communion with all the Heavenly orders.
X Private revelations may become dogma as in the case of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The doctrine of Purgatory was given existence largely by private revelations. Scripture alludes to Purgatory only in 1Cor 3:15, and this passage alone is not enough to produce the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory. Repeated post biblical private revelations of the saints concerning Purgatory, largely developed the doctrine of Purgatory. NDE private revelations are now useful in rounding out the idea of individual existence prior to individual creation, as written of in Jeremiah 1:5. Such individual existence has the individual existing as an individual dimension of the single person of Christ, and internal to Christ, and not as a bank of souls. Nevertheless, Jeremiah 1:5 speaks of a well developed individual prior to his human incarnation into the world.
Y Heaven is simply our perfected existence as a dimension of Christ, before or after our creation. Heaven is the person of Christ. In John 11:25 Jesus teaches that his own person is our resurrection, and our eternal life which we call Heaven.
Z The Catechism of the Catholic Church states explicitly that we become Christ in at least two paragraphs: (1) CCC 1213, “Through baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ.”; (2) CCC 795, “…Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself…he and we together are the whole man.” The idea and term “Whole Christ”, occurs at least six times: CCC 795, 796, 797, 1136, 1187, 1188. Christ is now all who constitute the body of Christ: Jesus, Eucharistic bread and wine, humans, angels. Jesus often said, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is upon you.” The kingdom of Heaven was Jesus Christ himself, who spoke the words.
From Mt 25:40 we learn that when we feed, clothe, or show any sort of kindness to the least of people, of the body of Christ, we do these things to Jesus, who is now the entire body of Christ. From Acts 9:4 we learn a similar lesson that any evil done to a member of the body of Christ is done to Jesus, who is now the entire body of Christ.
AA A Big Crunch scenario would have created energy and matter regressing back to its original singularity, or infinite point of being. Annihilation of creation is not the same as communion with Christ. At this point of singularity, Christ could make communion with it, so that “God may be all in all”, (1Cor 15:28). In a creation cycle, Christ would be “The first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega”, (Rev 22:13). The created nature of Jesus himself would assume final divinization, again from 1Cor 15:28, “…then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.” The church accepts both the Big Bang and Big Crunch as possibilities; in the event of a Big Creation Cycle, the new creation would likely not be identical to the first creation cycle, and the human nature of the Son of God, might be some other human than a first century carpenter.
This idea, that our creation cycle may not be the center of the universe, so to speak, may be the 21st century version of Galileo’s idea that earth was not the center of the universe. Howard Storm’s video interview (not his book), speaks of the Holy Trinity of God being the absolute, but also of many other worlds with living moral beings, some of which accepted an incarnation of Christ, rather than crucify him when he came to make union with his creation. Big Bangs, Crunches, and Cycles would all be the will of God of course.
From the viewpoint of the super dimension of eternity, the possibilities for time and sequence in creation are endless. Time, sequence and position are additions, and not fundamental, and Christ may use any combination. For instance, Christ could create a person (including the person of Jesus), inhabiting several universes at once. This could be one more source of what NDE’s call “previous lives”.
The created nature of the Son of God is not necessarily limited to the human person of Jesus Christ. For example the Son of God also exists under the forms of bread and wine. Ultimately all of creation will be united with the Son of God, “so that God may be all in all.”, (1Cor 15:28). If all of creation is to be included into the Son of God, then he would be expected to provide an incarnation appropriate to any existing alien persons, even those existing in a time-parallel universe.
Any thought in existence, (even unconventional quantum time formulas) was first thought of by Christ, otherwise it could not exist. If God thinks of something it is brought into real existence in some manner. The physicists were not the first to have such thoughts of unconve