Descriptions of Hell and Heaven from individuals who have experienced clinical death:
“Hell? It’s snakes, vipers, unbearable stench, and demons!” recounted Sister Antonia.
This woman experienced clinical death during surgery in her youth when she was still an unbeliever. The impression of hellish torments endured by her soul for mere minutes was so powerful that, repenting, she entered a monastery to atone for her sins.
“Heaven? Light, ease, flight, and fragrance,” described former chief engineer of the Impulse Design Bureau, Vladimir Efremov, after his near-death experience. He shared his post-mortem experience in a scientific journal of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
“In heaven, the soul knows everything about everything,” Efremov shared. “I remembered my old television set and immediately recognized not only which bulb was faulty but also the technician who installed it, even his entire biography, including scandals with his mother-in-law. And when I remembered the defense project our design bureau was working on, the solution to the most complex problem for which our team later received a state prize came to me immediately.”
Medical professionals and clergy conversing with resuscitated patients note a common trait of human souls. Those who visited heaven returned to their earthly bodies calm and enlightened, while those who glimpsed hell could not shake off the horror they witnessed.
The general impression of people who have experienced clinical death is this: heaven is above, hell is below. This is consistent with the structure of the afterlife described in the Bible. Those who saw the state of hell described approaching it as descending, while those who ascended to heaven felt as if they were rising.
In some cases, when a person was absent from Earth for a long time, they saw the same images of heaven and hell beyond the boundary as depicted in the Holy Scriptures. Sinners suffer from their earthly desires. For instance, Dr. Georg Ritchie saw murderers who were chained to their victims, while Valentina Khrustalyova witnessed homosexuals and lesbians intertwined in shameful poses.
One of the most vivid accounts of the horrors of hell comes from American Thomas Welch, who survived an accident at a sawmill.
“On the shore of the fiery abyss, I saw several familiar faces that had died before me. I regretted not caring more about my salvation earlier. If I had known what awaited in hell, I would have lived differently. At that moment, I noticed someone walking in the distance. The stranger’s face radiated great strength and kindness. I immediately realized it was the Lord and that only He could save a soul doomed to torment. Suddenly, the Lord turned His face and looked at me. With just one glance from the Lord, I found myself back in my body and revived.”
Often, after experiencing the afterlife, people take on religious roles, openly admitting that they saw hell.
Pastor Kenneth Hagin underwent clinical death in April 1933 while living in Texas. His heart stopped.
“My soul left my body,” he recounts. “Reaching the bottom of the abyss, I felt the presence of a spirit guiding me. At that moment, a powerful voice resounded above the abyss. I didn’t understand what was said, but I felt it was the voice of God. The entire underworld trembled at the power of that voice—like leaves trembling on an autumn tree in the wind. Immediately, the spirit released me, and the whirlwind carried me back upwards. Gradually, earthly light shone again. I found myself back in my room and jumped into my body like a man jumps into his trousers. Then I saw my grandmother, who said to me, ‘Son, I thought you had died.'”
Kenneth became a pastor of one of the Protestant churches and dedicated his life to God.
Descriptions of heaven are always opposite to accounts of hell. There is a testimony from a scientist who, as a five-year-old boy, drowned in a pool. The child was found lifeless and taken to the hospital, where the doctor declared him dead. But unexpectedly for everyone, the child revived.
“When I was underwater,” the scientist later recounted, “I felt like I was flying through a long tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, I saw a light so bright that I could almost touch it. There I saw God on His throne and below people, likely angels, surrounding the throne. As I approached God, He told me that my time had not yet come. I wanted to stay, but suddenly I found myself back in my body.”
American Betty Malts described in her book “I Saw Eternity” how she found herself on a marvelous green hill immediately after death. She was surprised that despite having three surgical wounds, she stood and walked freely, without pain. Above her was a bright blue sky. There was no sun, but light spread everywhere. The grass under her bare feet was of such bright color that she had never seen on Earth—every blade of grass seemed alive.
The hill was steep, but her legs moved effortlessly, without effort. Around Betty were bright flowers, bushes, and trees. Then she noticed a male figure in a robe to her left. Betty thought he was an angel. They walked without speaking, but she understood that he didn’t know her. Betty felt young, healthy, and happy.
“I understood that I had everything I ever wanted, was everything I ever wanted to be, and went where I always dreamed of being,” she said upon returning. “Then my entire life flashed before my eyes. I realized I had been selfish, I felt ashamed, but I still felt care and love around me. My companion and I approached a magnificent silver palace. I heard the word ‘Jesus.’ Gates of pearl opened before me, and behind them, I saw a street in golden light. I wanted to enter the palace, but I remembered my father and returned to my body.”
Russian Boris Pilipchuk, who experienced clinical death, also spoke of radiant gates and a palace of gold and silver in heaven: “Behind the fiery gates, I saw a cube shining with gold. It was enormous.”
The ecstasy from the bliss experienced in heaven was so great that after resurrection, Boris Pilipchuk completely changed his life. He quit drinking, smoking, and began to live by the commandments of Christ. His wife didn’t recognize him:
“He used to be often rude, but now he is always gentle and affectionate. I believed it was him only after he told me about things only we knew. But initially, sleeping with someone who returned from the afterlife was scary, like sleeping with a dead person. The ice melted only after a miracle happened—he named the exact birth date of our future child, day and hour. I gave birth exactly at the time he mentioned. I asked my husband, ‘How could you know that?’ And he replied, ‘From God. After all, God sends us all children.'”
