
The current issue of the Journal of Near-Death Studies, the official journal of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), to which I subscribe, arrived two or three weeks ago, and I’m finally beginning to read it. It’s dated “Summer 2023,” which seems to make me really late. But, alas, such delays are all too common among small, understaffed, and underfunded academic journals. (This is far from the first time that I’ve seen such a thing.) Anyway, it’s a special issue dedicated to the theme “Should IANDS Endorse a Post-Physicalist Worldview?”
The theme is also the title of an editorial in the volume written by Janice Miner Holden, who is both the journal’s editor and the current president of IANDS: Janice Miner Holden, “Should IANDS Endorse a Post-Physicalist Worldview?” Journal of Near-Death Studies 41/21 (Summer 2023); 81-90. That editorial, which argues that, yes, IANDS should endorse “a post-physicalist worldview” and, thus, renounce its current official neutrality, is followed by fifteen responses, of which my first impression is that most agree with her while some do not. Janice Miner Holden then offers a rejoinder. I look forward to reading through all of the responses and the rejoinder. I’ve just completed her editorial.
Dr. Holden offers three broad arguments for her conclusion:
- Recent developments in the field of near-death and related studies virtually demand the adoption of a post-physicalist worldview.
- An affirmative but open-minded viewpoint based on what she calls “reflective judgment theory” would ensure that members of IANDS who don’t share a post-physicalist worldview still have a place in the conversation.
- Survey data indicate that the overwhelming majority of IANDS members are already convinced believers in a post-physicalist worldview.
Of these arguments, it is the first that is of interest to me. I’ll quote from her summary of the “recent developments” that, she says, support the adoption of a post-physicalist conception of reality. She cites
robust empirical support for the existence of psi experiences, in which people have knowledge that could not be explained in terms of sensory or rational processes; these include precognition — knowing beforehand that something is going to happen; telepathy — knowing what someone out of contact is experiencing, and remote viewing — perceiving phenomena at a distance. [She also alludes] to empirical support for the existence and impact of mystical experiences. Prominent among sources of support for their challenging perspectives is results of empirical research on near-death experiences (NDEs), in which, in many cases, people report having had complex perception and cognition during a time when their brains were seriously disabled or when measurable brain activity was absent. Another important source of support is numerous cases of veridical perception associated with NDEs, in which the experiencer reported perceptions during their NDEs that were seemingly impossible to have resulted from normal perceptual or deductive processes yet were later verified by one or more credible witnesses to have been accurate . . .
[H]aving examined the empirical evidence, I find that physicalism is inadequate to explain transpersonal phenomena — those involving the transcendence of the usual limits of space, time, identity, and influence — including paranormal and psychic phenomena. Thus, a post-physicalist worldview seems, to me, to be essential: one that both includes and transcends physicalism. (83, 84)
I’m strongly inclined to agree with her, which would (on several points) have surprised my younger self very much. And I say this despite my nagging discomfort — easily understandable to anybody who is familiar with my Latter-day Saint frame of reference — with the term post-physicalist. But that’s a problem for another day.

(Still photo from the set of ‘Witnesses” by James Jordan)
In connection with this month’s focus, in the Come, Follow Me curriculum, on the recovery of the Book of Mormon and on the witnesses to the gold plates, the Interpreter Foundation is making a number of its video productions available. Here is one of them. It’s a ten-minute piece entitled Episode 19: Why the Witnesses Project?
Witnesses of the Book of Mormon—Insights Episode 19: What is the purpose of the Interpreter Foundation’s Witnesses Project, and all the related media: the Witnesses feature film, the Undaunted companion docudrama, and the Insights videos? This is Episode 19 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. . . . These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Daniel C. Peterson, President of the Interpreter Foundation and Executive Producer of Witnesses. For more information, go to https://witnessesofthebookofmormon.org/. Learn about the documentary movie Undaunted—Witnesses of the Book of Mormon at https://witnessesundaunted.com/.
Moreover, in not altogether unrelated news, the Interpreter Foundation’s most recent theatrical release, Six Days in August (2024), is now available for streaming via Fandango, Amazon, AppleTV, Google Play, Spectrum, and Microsoft. We hope that you will enjoy these offerings! And, if you would like to see more such productions in the future, please feel free to make a supporting donation.

Up today on the never-changing website of the Interpreter Foundation: Interpreter Radio Show —January 19, 2025, including Doctrine and Covenants in Context: D&C 12–17; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75

Tithing donations are considered sacred by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are dedicated to advancing the Church’s global religious mission. Today’s unanimous decision by the eleven-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the claims against the Church and Ensign Peak. We welcome this decision inasmuch as the Church has consistently affirmed that funds used for the City Creek project came from the earnings of invested reserve funds and not from donations. Today’s decision vindicates what President Gordon B. Hinckley declared during General Conference twenty years ago and is a confirmation of constitutional rights afforded to religions in the United States of America.