A NONSCIENCE FORERUNNER TO MODERN NEAR-DEATH STUDIES IN AMERICA

This article presents information on a nonscience forerunner, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to both the work of the original psychical researchers and modern near-death studies. It examines Joseph Smith's early knowledge of the death experience and his teachings on death, five historical Mormon NDE accounts predating 1864 and two NDEs of young people in the late 1800s, other Mormon teachings on the death experience before 1886, and the Mormon sources of knowledge on the death experience and the NDE prior to scientific investigations. The study shows Bible passages and Mormon scriptures were the basis for Mormons understanding the death experience, Early Mormon NDEs provided NDE information to Mormons that recent NDEs are providing to researchers today. Some evidence suggests that early Mormon NDEs reaffirmed Mormon teachings on the death experience rather than gave origin to them. The developing system of knowledge in the field of Near Death Studies is confirming early Mormon observations on the death experience.