The story of Alma ‘s conversion (recounted in Mosiah 27:10-32) includes his specific mention in verse 28 that his repentance occurred when he was “nigh unto death.” Back in 1991, a reading of Raymond Moody’s The Light Beyond inspired me to compare Alma ‘s account with modern studies near-death experiences. I discovered that Alma ‘s experience is thoroughly typical of a well documented form of human experience.
This was not only in Alma ‘s report of what he experienced while “nigh unto death,” but also in comparison to studies of the aftereffects. I published an essay on this topic in the second volume of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies . 1 Here I want to highlight a few of my findings from that essay, focusing on Alma , and a few things I learned since I wrote it.
Dr. Moody’s initial study of the near death experience, or NDE as he called it in his first book on the topic, Life After Life had triggered other, more rigorous follow-up studies. This interest snowballed into the formation of the International Association for Near Death Studies.
From an LDS perspective, it became very interesting that before Moody, LDS author Duane Crowther had already written a study of LDS after-life accounts in his book, Life Everlasting . Indeed, Moody’s second and third books made mention of the LDS reports preceded his own studies.
Several LDS authors have made collections of NDE accounts, and made their own contributions in both academic and popular books. LDS interest was such that in 1999, the International Association of Near Death Studies (IANDS) had its annual conference in Salt Lake City . Due to my son having entered the mission home that same week, I was able to attend. One of the most interesting presentations I heard was by Howard Storm. Howard Storm has since written a book about his experience. 2 He turns out to be a modern-day Alma.
In the Book of Mormon, Alma first appears as a “wicked, and idolatrous man” (Mosiah 27:8). While going about “to destroy the church of God ,” an angel appeared to Alma and four companions (Mosiah 27:10). This encounter so astonished Alma that he fell to the earth “and it was for the space of three days and three nights that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs” (Alma 36:10).
Alma describes this period as “wandering through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death ” (Mosiah 27:28).
Not only does Alma declare himself as near death, but the formal response of those around him also resembles the “Opening of the Mouth” rite for initiation and rebirth that was intended to “reverse the blows of death.” 3
A religious leader called a multitude of people to gather to witness the event ritually (Mosiah 27:21). The priests assembled and fasted and prayed for two days and nights that “God would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that his limbs might receive their strength” (Mosiah 27:22).
Notice the word pairs in Mosiah 27:22–23, which collectively reinforce the notion of a ritual context: open the mouth — speak, limbs — strength, eyes — see and know. 4
While “nigh unto death,” Alma had an experience that combines aspects of both positive and negative NDEs. Alma ‘s first report of his NDE comes as he rises on the third day of his crisis and addresses the waiting multitude:
After wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God. My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more. (Mosiah 27:28–29; cf. Alma 38)
Although most reported modern NDEs lack the hellish aspects, such reports have been noted with much interest and were, according to Carol Zaleski’s Otherworld Journeys , a typical feature of medieval Buddhist, Muslim, Zoroastrian, and Judeo-Christian accounts. 5 P. M. H. Atwater 6 and Margot Grey have also shown the point-for-point antithesis between positive and negative NDEs.
In place of elation, the emotions of fear and panic; similar though less pleasant sensations of being out the body; the plunging into a totally black void instead of an end-lit tunnel; and not least, a sense of an overwhelming proximity of the forces of demonic evil. 7
Stanislav and Christina Grof, in Beyond Death , elaborate on three themes from hellish experience that also stand out in Alma ‘s accounts: 8
- the polarities of the hellish and heavenly experience
- the subjective sense of eternal torment in finite duration
- the use of “rebirth” imagery
In retelling his experience, Alma artfully highlights this positive/negative polarity using the reflexive pyramidal poetic form, chiasmus ( Alma 36). I have inserted bracketed comments to emphasize parallels to Moody’s NDE pattern.
I fell to the earth and I did hear no more. [“Nigh unto Death.”]
But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities. [Life Review]So great had been my iniquities , that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror . Oh, thought I, that I could become extinct both soul and body that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God to be judged of my deeds .
And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment , while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins , behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought , I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy upon me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. [Forgiveness] And oh, what joy , and what marvelous light I did behold; [Light] yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain ! [Elation]
Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains . Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy . Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, [Being of Light] surrounded with numberless concourses of angels [Others] in the attitude of singing and praising their God; [Music] yea, and my soul did long to be there [Reluctance to Return] But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet.
[Rebirth] ( Alma 36:11–23)
Three Stages
In the Grofs’ discussion, the process of psychological death and rebirth “bears a striking similarity to the events described through the ages in shamanistic initiation, rites of passage, temple mysteries, and in the ecstatic religions of many ancient and preliterate cultures.” 9 They identify the first of three stages as cosmic engulfment , related to the onset of biological delivery, beginning with “an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and an awareness of a vital threat.” 10 This corresponds to Alma ‘s shock at seeing the angel.
The second stage is no exit , related to “the second stage of delivery in which uterine contractions encroach on the foetus, but the cervix is closed.” Subjectively, “the situation is inescapable and eternal. There is no hope and no way out either in space or in time.” 11
Notice how Alma describes a longing for annihilation while he felt “racked with eternal torment,” being “encircled about by the everlasting chains of death” ( Alma 36:12, 18). Concerning “the ordeal of hell,” the Grofs write:
The feeling that suffering is eternal is an essential experimental attribute of hell. The endlessness of this state does not consist in an extreme extension of linear time, but in its transcendence. The individual undergoes tortures beyond any imagining which at that point are the only available reality; since the sense of the linear flow of time is lost, there appears to be no way out. It is only when this situation is fully accepted that one has experienced hell, and the journey can continue. 12
In Alma ‘s account of his torment, the terms “everlasting” and “eternal” do not refer to duration, but to quality. Alma reports that his “eternal torment” lasted for three days (cf. D&C 19:1–21). The third stage is the death-rebirth struggle . Again, the Grofs’ description illuminates Alma ‘s experience.
The “death and rebirth” phase represents the termination and resolution of the “death-rebirth struggle.” Suffering and agony culminate in an experience of total annihilation on all levels — physical, emotional, intellectual, moral, and transcendental … Such annihilation is often followed by visions of blinding white or golden light and a sense of liberating decompression and expansion. The universe is perceived as indescribably beautiful and radiant; subjects feel themselves cleansed and purged, and speak of redemption, salvation, moksha , or samadhi . Numerous images of emerging into light from darkness, glorious opening of the heavens, revelation of the divine … and the final victory of the pure religious impulse, express this state of consciousness … In death and rebirth mythologies, the correspondence is with the revival and resurrection of the sacrificed god. 13
Evidently, none of Alma ‘s three accounts gave the full details of his experience. Alma associated his teachings on life after death with the angel whose appearance triggered his NDE.
Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection — Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.
Alma ‘s remarks indicate that a life review occurred during his NDE.
Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities … yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God … I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins. ( Alma 36:13, 17)
Similarities with NDEs
Several of Alma ‘s remarks resonate with modern accounts of the NDE life review. Alma conceives of life as a probation. “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors” ( Alma 34:32). NDErs often comment on timelessness in God’s presence. Alma concurs, saying “all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men” ( Alma 40:8).
NDErs are often told that their “time” has not yet come. Alma remarks, “God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man” ( Alma 40:10). NDErs discuss the life review in terms of self-judgment. Alma treats this theme frequently, saying, “for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or evil” ( Alma 41:7). Those who experience the life review often discuss how they felt the effects of their good and bad acts on other people.
But when I was in that review there was no covering up. I was the very people that I hurt, and I was the very people I helped feel good … When I die I am going to have to witness every single action of mine again, only this time actually feeling the effects I’ve had on others. 14
What occurred was, every emotion I have ever felt in my life, I felt. And my eyes were showing me the basis of how that emotion affected my life, what my life had done so far to affect other people’s lives using the feeling of pure love that was surrounding me as a comparison. 15
Alma ‘s discussion of restoration is suggestive in this context:
But the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish — good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.
Therefore, my son see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again. For that which ye send out shall return unto you again, and be restored. ( Alma 41:13–15)
Several researchers have commented on distinctive NDE aftereffects such as these. As NDE survivors, both Alma and the resurrected Christ in the Book of Mormon demonstrate nearly all of these traits. 16
- No fear of dying
- A sense of the importance of love
- A sense of the connection of all things (D&C 88:11-13, 41)
- An appreciation of learning
- A feeling of responsibility for the course of their lives
- A sense of urgency
- Better developed spiritual side
This last of Moody’s criteria deserves a close examination. All commentators see a tendency to be less materialistic.
I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world. ( Alma 7:6)
Moody describes tendencies for NDErs to be less doctrinaire and more tolerant.
From Alma:
Why should I desire that I were an angel, that I could speak [with a voice of thunder] unto all the ends of the earth? For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have.
(Alma 29:7–8)
From the risen Christ:
Neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been … Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away. (3 Nephi 11:28, 30)
Six of Kenneth Ring’s seven tendencies for NDE spiritual orientation 17 group nicely here under Moody’s “better developed spiritual side.” They serve to extend Moody’s definition.
- A tendency to characterize oneself as spiritual rather than religious per se [ Alma 5:14–16; 3 Nephi 17:5–25].
- A feeling of being inwardly close to God [ Alma 5:46, 3 Nephi 19:23].
- A deemphasis of the formal aspects of religious life and worship.
Ring’s informants like to contrast inner religious feelings and outward, formal religious behavior. 18 According to Ring, they express distaste for:
- formal aspects of religious life (ritual and trappings)
- doctrinal disputes
- the layer of dogma that often encrusts the religious impulse. 19
In Ring’s accounts, these complaints often arise in the context of an NDErs frustrated search for a formal religious setting that speaks to their experience. One NDEr said that “what [the NDE] did was propel me back into church to find one that spoke to the things I knew and I didn’t find one.” 20
Other modern experiencers join churches or become ministers, which argues that some formal religious settings can speak to an NDEr. Medieval accounts cited in Zaleski typically favored a particular monastic order. Many of the Mormon accounts mention temple work, and therefore, explicitly endorse certain formal religious acts. Therefore, I see the specific frustrations as being more fundamental to the NDErs than the deemphasis of formal religion altogether.
Alma ‘s reaction to the Zoramites ( Alma 31:12–31, 32:9–10) conforms to the specific objections Ring’s informants raise. The Zoramites gathered together weekly to pray, but otherwise never spoke of God. Their rote prayer included the phrase, “thou hast elected us to be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee” (Alma 31:17). Alma demonstrates typical NDE values in being appalled by their hypocrisy and materialism.
In his Book of Mormon ministry, notice that the resurrected Christ puts an end to the rituals of sacrifice (3 Nephi 9:19–20), criticizes doctrinal disputations (3 Nephi 11:22, 28), and limits what should be called the “doctrine of Christ” to a few simple essentials (3 Nephi 11:31–40).
- A conviction that there is life after death, regardless of religious belief [ Alma 40; 3 Nephi 26:4–5].
- An openness to the idea of reincarnation (and a general sympathy toward Eastern religions).
Of Ring’s criteria, this “openness to the idea of reincarnation” is absent in Alma and Christ. However, as Ring admits (and Ian Wilson emphasizes), 21 this openness to reincarnation appears not as a general response to the NDE, but a moderate tendency in NDEr beliefs when compared to the beliefs prevailing in the surrounding American society. 22
Ring observes that the moderate percentage who shift towards reincarnation do so (in most cases) not because of anything in their experience, but as part of their life reading afterwards. Notice too that Ring includes “a sense of homecoming” in his NDE profile. 23
If reincarnation is the only familiar concept that accommodates this “sense of homecoming,” or “premortal existence,” it seems quite natural that an NDEr, knowing no other alternatives, could tilt in that direction. Ring himself demonstrates how this can happen as he remarks that “while variants of this doctrine were acceptable to and promulgated by the early Church Fathers, reincarnation was declared heretical and expunged from Christian dogma in the six century.” 24
However, Ian Wilson points out that the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 553 actually rejected Origin’s belief in premortal existence, “a very different thing from successive lives.” 25 One of the most impressive modern NDEs, that of Elaine Durham, included a vision of her own premortal life. And that element is one of the key things that led her to join the LDS faith.
Nevertheless, Alma 29 and 3 Nephi 16:1 (Christ’s descriptions of his “other sheep”) satisfy Ring’s “sympathy to Eastern religions.”
- A belief in the essential underlying unity of all religions [ Alma 29; also 2 Nephi 11:4; 26:33; 29:11; 31:3].
Note especially how Alma claims that the Lord teaches “all nations, of their own nation and tongue to teach his word, all that he seeth fit that they should have,” and Jacob remarks that “all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of [Christ]” (2 Nephi 11:4).
- A desire for a universal religion embracing all humanity [see Alma 29 (!) and 3 Nephi 12:43–45].
Those who listen to NDE accounts often feel envious of the certainty that goes with such experience. But one of the most interesting findings of NDE researchers is that those who read or listen to such accounts also begin to show the same aftereffects. One spiritual gift may be to know, and another is to believe on their words.
NDE research also serves as a background against which to appreciate the uniqueness of Joseph Smith’s contributions. In the current NDE literature, according to Zaleski:
There is no match here for the revelatory literature of the great religious traditions; and it seems unlikely that a Gregory the Great or a Dante will emerge to shape near death testimony into a religiously sophisticated or artistically ordered statement. Neither could the medieval visions we considered stand on their own; they thrived insomuch as they exemplified a larger tradition. 26
I would argue that the Book of Mormon matches the revelatory literature of the great traditions. Mormon NDE accounts thrived long before Moody’s work appeared because of the environment created by Joseph Smith’s visions and the Book of Mormon. And Joseph Smith’s own visions could survive because he found a community and a context in which he could make sense of them, and could share them.
Joseph found the context for his own visions in the Bible. He saw a continuity and compared himself with the Apostle Paul, saying, “He has seen a vision and he knew it … I had seen a vision and I knew it, and I knew God knew it.” Although the dismissal of his vision by Reverend Lane discouraged him from sharing his initial experience, when instructed by the angel Moroni to tell his father, he began finding a community. Remember that one of the reasons that Joseph Senior believed Joseph was not just his knowledge of Joseph’s character, but also because Joseph Senior had had a series of visions himself, as recounted in Lucy Mack Smith’s history.
And even as the Book of Mormon was being printed, Solomon Chamberlain knocked on the Smith’s door, and asked if there was anyone there who believed in visions. Hyrum Smith replied that “Yes, this is a visionary house.” 27Those who were attracted to the Book of Mormon were at least attracted by the notion that Biblical revelation continued.
Moody’s The Light Beyond mentions that LDS leaders have reported NDEs in the context of LDS belief nearly from the beginning.
Upon investigation, the most important of these LDS leaders turns out to be Brigham Young. When Jedediah Grant had his famous near death experience, Heber C. Kimball reported on Grant’s experience in the next conference. Moody retells the story, but misses the most interesting part of it.
When Grant returned from the spirit world, the first thing he said to Heber C. Kimball was, “Why, it was just as Brigham as told us many times.” If you read the Brigham Young Priesthood manual, and consider the chapter on “The Spirit World,” and the whole of the discourses quoted there, it soon becomes evident that Brigham Young had knowledge that goes beyond anything reported in the scriptures, yet consistent with subsequent NDE reports.
It seems evident that Young himself had at least one near death experience, very probably in February of 1847. What is equally important is that Brigham Young demonstrated that he could interpret his own experience in the context of LDS scriptural teaching, and within the traditions of the LDS community.
Notes
1 Kevin Christensenm “Nigh Unto Death: NDE Research and the Book of Mormon: in The Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2/1 1993. https://www.farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=jbms&id=16
2 Howard Storm, My Descent into Death ( London , Clareview Books, 2000).
3 Hugh W. Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1975), 106–8.
4 Cf. ibid., 106.
5 Carol Zaleski, Otherworld Journeys (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987)
6 P. M. H. Atwater, Coming Back to Life (New York: Ballantine Books, 1989), 33.
7 Ian Wilson, The After Death Experience , citing Grey, 161.
8 Grof and Grof, Beyond Death (London, Thames & Hudson 1980) 14, 26–27.
9 Ibid., 26.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid., 27.
12 Ibid., 77.
13 Ibid, 28-29.
14 Moody, The Light Beyond , 47.
15 Kenneth Ring, Heading toward Omega (New York: Morrow, 1984), 71.
16 Moody, The Light Beyond , 38–49.
17 Ring, Heading toward Omega , 146.
18 Ibid., 153.
19 Ibid., 149–50.
20 Ibid., 154.
21 See Wilson, The After Death Experience ; see also Ian Wilson’s Mind Out of Time? (London: Gallancz, 1981), later published as All in the Mind . Wilson provides a formidable counterexplanation of reincarnation reports, especially from the context of hypnotic “regression.”
22 Ring, Heading toward Omega , 159.
23 Ibid., 83.
24 Ibid., 158.
25 Wilson , The After Death Experience , 50.
26 Zaleski, Otherworld Journeys , 204.
27 Richard L. Bushman, “The Visionary World of Joseph Smith: in BYU Studies 37/1 (1997), 183-205.
