Howard Storm NDE Interview (Part 1)

/ Mike Lehmann
Howard Storm Stained Glass

Howard Storm. (Photo: howardstorm.com)

Howard Storm was an atheist—but then he died, had a hellish experience, and talked with Jesus.

I interviewed Howard about his near-death experience (NDE) and atheism. Watch part 1 of the interview below. 

Before checking out my talk with him, don’t miss my recent posts on NDEs:

While I’ve read about many near-death experiences, Storm’s has always stuck out to me. Why? First, it’s rare to find NDEs about hell. Second, Howard’s experience caused him to jettison his atheism and embrace Jesus. Howard wrote about his journey in My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life.

Part 1 of the interview focuses on his near-death experience and his thoughts about atheism. Using the audio, I made a slideshow. Storm made all of the wonderful paintings you’ll see in the video.

What do you think of his story? I’ll post part 2 next week.

26 thoughts on “Howard Storm NDE Interview (Part 1)”

  1. Near death experiences are fascinating, but I can’t wrap my head around whether I think they involve experiences that are real or not. I’ve had dreams that have incredible connection to the real world, are creative to the point that I can’t believe my dreaming mind could come up with them, and yet are obviously just about a bunch of nonsense that doesn’t matter. I would love for these experiences to be related in a real way to our faith, I guess I should look into it more (I definitely enjoyed your previous NDE post)!

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  2. NDEs would indeed be important evidence if they could be proven conclusively. I guess it depends on how precisely they can design the experiment, such that people experiencing it could not possibly normally see something, or that we can be sure the results haven’t been manipulated. There is much about the brain and perception we’re still learning so it’s hard to say what our baseline perception in such an extreme situation would even be vs. one of divine origin. Therefore we assume it’s remarkable people see something without even realizing that maybe that’s somehow in our natural capacity. And even if they exist, they do little to prove the existence of a god at all, let alone a specific one.

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    • Peter, thanks for the great thoughts! You’re absolutely right about the state of brain research.

      That’s why I found the recent AWARE study so fascinating. They established objective markers, so they could test whether folks having out-of-body experiences during cardiac arrest were seeing and hearing accurately.

      The study is obviously far from conclusive, but it’s very interesting.

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  4. NDE’s freak me out. Like some of the people who commented before me, I am not sure how to take them. The cynic in me is screaming “Bull” and the Christian in me is fist pumping proudly. On the other hand, when I first saw this article I thought it said Howard Stern. Shoulda woulda coulda I suppose…

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  5. Thank you Mike for sharing Howard Storm’s unique experience. His NDE is a rare one among the many consistent stories out there of overwhelming love and compassion. He got there but not until he literally went through hell. Could that be explained by the fact that each individual seems to be influenced by their own religious background? They seem to be projecting onto the white light energy an image of Buddha, Mary, Mohamed, Jesus etc. Is it possible that his childhood Christian belief in Jesus and hell combined with the terrible pain he had recently experienced could be responsible? Just speculation, of course, no one knows but what is most important is the incredible love and beneficence that is life changing for them all. Truly a beautiful and compelling mystery.
    I look forward to Part 2!

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    • Thanks for the great thoughts!

      I have a thought about the rarity of hellish NDEs. Remember when Howard said that right after he died, he heard people calling to him in the hall? These people eventually turned out to be evil, but they didn’t start that way. Howard has said that they were initially “syrupy sweet” to him. That is, they started off kind—but eventually showed their true nature by attacking him.

      What if some of these “positive” near-death experiences would ultimately end poorly? I’ve seen other Christians invoke 2 Corinthians 11:14 about many near-death experiences: “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”

      Like you said, this is all just speculation. I don’t know how to make sense of all these experiences. I think something is happening, though.

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  8. I loved the video! It was a powerful testimony that was so encouraging and uplifting. I always feel that personal testimony, especially one so unexplainable coming from a former atheist, is God’s way of waking us up to a greater reality.

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  9. Great stuff Mike! Can’t wait to see part 2. First-hand accounts of NDE’s are fascinating – and in this case Storm’s unique NDE experience makes it even more interesting.

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  10. Pingback: Howard Storm NDE Interview (Part 2) | Jesus & Dawkins

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  12. I don’t understand why people find it so hard to believe in life after death we have seen so many times that God is real the fact that your walking around planet proves so people don’t want to believe near death experiences they are always looking for more research but the fact is it cannot be studied as only that person is having the experience God is not thereto be found by science he us foubd in your heart open your eyes and see what’s on front of you when listen to scientists try to say that we came from abig bang ffrom nothing and evolved is laughable I used to believe it as a kid as my mind was not fully developed but to hear an adult say that there us no go’s is sad God us love and it is all explained in the bible

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  13. Howard said a very important thing if you want to know if Jesus is real
    Just ask him and let him come into your life he also said another important thing when he said that there is more evidence that Jesus exists than Julius Cesar yet people don’t question Julius existence but they question Jesus if you have a kid look into his face and see God the gift of having kids is not something that was just given to us by the big bang the gift of life is so amazing its no fluke and gor people not to undetstand that is very sad

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  14. I wasca christian since I was a child but I hv strayed off the path on and off. I never had an nde but I was brought into the presence of GOD. Scared the crap out of me. A bright white light engufted me while I was in this amber colored tunnel. Beautiful colored sparkles radiated from this light. I then turned my eyes left an stared into the eyes of GOD. I then came out of it and noticed the clock read 3am. I will never forget those eyes. Pierced rite thru me.

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  15. My near death experience, where I went to hell, has some similarities. And also, the way we are treated when we come back…. barely anyone believes or listens. It’s sad.

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