EP: 365 The Hell Question: What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Judgment and Eternity with John Burke

31 snips

Oct 14, 2025

John Burke, an author and researcher of near-death experiences, shares insights from over 1,500 cases he's studied. He dives into chilling accounts of hell, spiritual warfare, and how many NDEs reveal consistent patterns like life reviews and encounters with a divine figure, regardless of religious background. Burke discusses the dangers of deceptive spiritual beings and the comforting role of protective tunnels during these experiences. Fascinating testimonies, including encounters with Jesus from diverse faiths, challenge conventional views on the afterlife.

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INSIGHT

NDE Research Changed A Skeptic's Mind

John Burke found near-death reports persuaded his agnostic, engineering mindset to reconsider God's reality.
He then spent ~40 years interviewing ~1,500 varied cases to trace consistent afterlife patterns.

INSIGHT

Hell Shows Varied, Hyper‑Real Forms

Hellish near-death reports come in many forms: voids, darkness, and direct torment.
Experiencers often feel hyper‑real presence whether heading to bliss or suffering.

ANECDOTE

Addicts Trapped In Unsatiable Loops

Dr. George Ritchie saw dead people trapped in their own addictions, unable to drink the substance they craved.
The experience portrayed souls stuck in unsatisfiable loops, present but unable to fulfill their vice.

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John Burke returns for a deeper dive into the harder questions surrounding near-death experiences. After 40 years of researching over 1,500 cases from every continent and religious background, Burke tackles what people consistently report about hell, spiritual warfare, angelic beings, and the nature of God.
This episode explores the uncomfortable testimonies of hellish experiences—from the outer darkness to pits of fire, from victims of spiritual torment to those trapped chasing earthly addictions. Burke discusses why some NDEs involve deception by malevolent beings, the role of tunnel experiences as spiritual protection, and whether there's a "liminal space" where souls can still cry out to God before crossing into eternity.
Burke shares stories that don't make it into most Christian discussions: the Muslim imam who saw Jesus with holes in his wrists and woke up at his own burial, the Jewish woman who sat on God's lap while Jesus stood nearby (but they were somehow "one"), the Hindu engineer who saw a lake of fire despite never reading the Bible, and the atheist professor dragged into darkness by deceptive beings claiming to be hospital staff.
These aren't ghost stories or hallucinations—many occurred during documented clinical death with flat EEGs and no heartbeat for extended periods. Burke explains the consistent patterns he's discovered: the tunnel as protection, the life review, the welcoming committee of angels, and the terrifying reality that some people initially head toward places of torment before being rescued. We discuss AI deception, astral projection, why time works differently on "the other side," and whether these experiences prove the Bible's descriptions of the afterlife are more literal than we thought.

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