Once agnostic and trained as an engineer, John Burke’s search for logical evidence led him on an extraordinary spiritual journey through the accounts of people who claim to have momentarily died.

Burke, now a pastor and author, has spent decades studying more than 1,000 near-death experiences (NDEs), believing they offer convincing insights about the reality of the supernatural and its alignment with Christian scripture, CBN reported.

The transformation began in the 1980s when Burke discovered a book on near-death experiences by his father’s bedside as he faced terminal cancer. Burke, who was then skeptical about religion, found the book too intriguing to ignore. The contents stirred a new curiosity he hadn’t felt before.

From engineering to exploring spiritual realms

Burke had studied and worked in engineering, approaching life with a deep need for rational proof. His worldview had long been grounded in skepticism about religious belief, especially surrounding Christianity. He recalled constantly asking, “How do you know? Is there any evidence?” and feeling that answers were too elusive.

In an interview with the “Into the Supernatural Podcast,” Burke shared that he once dismissed Jesus as simply a historical figure turned legend. The book on his father’s table challenged that perception. In Burke's words, reading it made him think he might have finally found the kind of evidence he had been seeking for years.

After further exploration that included studying biblical prophecy, Burke eventually converted to Christianity. His commitment to researching NDEs sharpened, and by now, he has studied nearly 1,500 cases of people who clinically died and were later revived, with detailed memories of otherworldly encounters.

Documenting what the dying say they see

Burke has authored books that capture the essence of these accounts, including “Imagine Heaven” and “Imagine the God of Heaven.” He reports that about 5% of people have claimed a near-death experience and that many of these cases contain verifiable details.

One particularly striking account involves a woman who had no measurable brain activity and later described in detail a red sticker on top of a ceiling fan in the hospital resuscitation room—something no one could have seen from within the room. Hospital staff later confirmed the sticker’s existence after retrieving a ladder to check.

She also reported interactions with medical staff that she should not have been able to perceive during her unconscious state. Burke emphasized that her recollections included specific actions and statements by the team, which matched what actually happened while she was clinically dead.

Balancing belief and critical thinking

Despite the compelling nature of many of these stories, Burke remains cautious. He openly says that not all NDEs should be accepted unquestioningly. Because such episodes are complex and subject to personal interpretation, he encourages discernment when assessing them.

He stresses that people experiencing NDEs appear to process sensations and visuals that are difficult to describe, often lacking sufficient language to explain what they encountered. “These people are having an experience that’s truly multidimensional,” Burke said, noting the limits of human understanding.

Still, he points to studies showing high accuracy among observed details. Referencing earlier research, he stated that 92% of describable NDE elements were deemed “completely accurate,” with another 6% considered “mostly accurate.” For him, those numbers suggest the phenomenon is more than just hallucination.

Seeing without sight: blind individuals’ reports

One of the most astonishing findings, according to Burke, is the consistency of reports from people born blind compared to those from sighted individuals. These blind individuals described similar visual aspects of their NDEs, despite never having physically seen before.

Burke called this aspect “mind-boggling,” and sees it as further proof that these experiences may be encountering a deeper spiritual reality. To him, cases like these stretch conventional explanations beyond the limits of scientific knowledge.

Though Burke began his journey seeking firm logic and proof, his years of investigation led him to a faith rooted in both evidence and mystery. He sees NDEs not only as spiritually significant but as a bridge between science and belief that can speak to skeptics like his former self.