Atheistic Neuropathologist Sees Christ, becomes Orthodox Priest

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(Copied from an NDE website)

George Rodonaia underwent one of the most extended cases of a near-death experience ever recorded. Pronounced dead immediately after he was hit by a car in 1976, he was left for** three days in the morgue**. He did not “return to life” until a doctor began to make an incision in his abdomen as part of an autopsy procedure. Prior to his NDE he worked as a neuropathologist. He was also an avowed atheist. Yet after the experience, he devoted himself exclusively to the study of spirituality, taking a second doctorate in the psychology of religion. He then became an ordained priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He served as a pastor at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Baytown, Texas.

George Rodonaia held (died in 2004) an M.D. and a Ph.D. in neuropathology, and after his experience, a Ph.D. in the psychology of religion.

The first thing I remember about my NDE is that I discovered myself in a realm of total darkness. I had no physical pain, I was still somehow aware of my existence as George, and all about me there was darkness, utter and complete darkness - the greatest darkness ever, darker than any dark, blacker than any black. This was what surrounded me and pressed upon me. I was horrified. I wasn’t prepared for this at all. I was shocked to find that I still existed, but I didn’t know where I was. The one thought that kept rolling through my mind was, “How can I be when I’m not?” That is what troubled me.

Slowly I got a grip on myself and began to think about what had happened, what was going on. But nothing refreshing or relaxing came to me. Why am I in this darkness? What am I to do? Then I remembered Descartes’ famous line: “I think, therefore I am.” And that took a huge burden off me, for it was then I knew for certain I was still alive, although obviously in a very different dimension. Then I thought, If I am, why shouldn’t I be positive? That is what came to me. I am George and I’m in darkness, but I know I am. I am what I am. I must not be negative.

Then I thought, How can I define what is positive in darkness? Well, positive is light. Then, suddenly, I was in light; bright white, shiny and strong; a very bright light. I was like the flash of a camera, but not flickering - that bright. Constant brightness. At first I found the brilliance of the light painful, I couldn’t look directly at it. But little by little I began to relax. I began to feel warm, comforted, and everything suddenly seemed fine.

The next thing that happened was that I saw all these molecules flying around, atoms, protons, neutrons, just flying everywhere. On the one hand, it was totally chaotic, yet what brought me such great joy was that this chaos also had its own symmetry. This symmetry was beautiful and unified and whole, and it flooded me with tremendous joy. I saw the universal form of life and nature laid out before my eyes. It was at this point that any concern I had for my body just slipped away, because it was clear to me that I didn’t need it anymore, that it was actually a limitation.

Everything in this experience merged together, so it is difficult for me to put an exact sequence to events. Time as I had known it came to a halt; past, present, and future were somehow fused together for me in the timeless unity of life.

At some point I underwent what has been called the life-review process, for I saw my life from beginning to end all at once. I participated in the real life dramas of my life, almost like a holographic image of my life going on before me - no sense of past, present, or future, just now and the reality of my life. It wasn’t as though it started with birth and ran along to my life at the University of Moscow. It all appeared at once. There I was. This was my life. I didn’t experience any sense of guilt or remorse for things I’d done. I didn’t feel one way or another about my failures, faults, or achievements. All I felt was my life for what it is. And I was content with that. I accepted my life for what it is.

During this time the light just radiated a sense of peace and joy to me. It was very positive. I was so happy to be in the light. And I understood what the light meant. I learned that all the physical rules for human life were nothing when compared to this unitive reality. I also came to see that a black hole is only another part of that infinity which is light.

I came to see that reality is everywhere. That it is not simply the earthly life but the infinite life. Everything is not only connected together, everything is also one. So I felt a wholeness with the light, a sense that all is right with me and the universe.

I could be anywhere instantly, really there. I tried to communicate with the people I saw. Some sensed my presence, but no one did anything about it. I felt it necessary to learn about the Bible and philosophy. You want, you receive. Think and it comes to you. So I participated, I went back and lived in the minds of Jesus and his disciples. I heard their conversations, experienced eating, passing wine, smells, tastes - yet I had no body. I was pure consciousness. If I didn’t understand what was happening, an explanation would come. But no teacher spoke. I explored the Roman Empire, Babylon, the times of Noah and Abraham. Any era you can name, I went there.

So there I was, flooded with all these good things and this wonderful experience, when someone begins to cut into my stomach. Can you imagine? What had happened was that I was taken to the morgue. I was pronounced dead and left there for three days. An investigation into the cause of my death was set up, so they sent someone out to do an autopsy on me. As they began to cut into my stomach, I felt as though some great power took hold of my neck and pushed me down. And it was so powerful that I opened my eyes and had this huge sense of pain. My body was cold and I began to shiver. They immediately stopped the autopsy and took me to the hospital, where I remained for the following nine months, most of which I spent under a respirator.

Slowly I regained my health. But I would never be the same again, because all I wanted to do for the rest of my life was study wisdom. This new interest led me to attend the University of Georgia, where I took my second Ph.D., in the psychology of religion. Then I became a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Eventually, in 1989, we came to America, and I am now working as an associate pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Nederland, Texas.
 
story continued:

Talked With Neighbor’s Baby

“[During George’s NDE, he] could go visit his family. He saw his grieving wife and their two sons, both too small to understand that their father had been killed.

“Then he visited his next-door neighbor. They had a new child, born a couple of days before George’s “death.” George could tell that they were upset by what happened to him. But they were especially distressed by the fact that their child would not stop crying.

“No matter what they did he continued to cry. When he slept it was short and fitful and then he would awaken, crying again. They had taken him back to the doctors but they were stumped. All the usual things such as colic were ruled out and they sent them home hoping the baby would eventually settle down.

“While there in this disembodied state, George discovered something:

“l could talk to the baby. It was amazing. I could not talk to the parents - my friends - but I could talk to the little boy who had just been born. I asked him what was wrong. No words were exchanged, but I asked him maybe through telepathy what was wrong. He told me that his arm hurt. And when he told me that, I was able to see that the bone was twisted and broken.”

“The baby had a greenstick fracture, a break in the bone in his arm probably cause by having been twisted during childbirth. Now George and the baby knew what was wrong, but neither had the ability to communicate the problem to the parents.

“Eventually the doctor from Moscow came to perform the autopsy on George. When they moved his body from the cabinet to a gurney, his eyes flickered. The doctor became suspicious and examined his eyes. When they responded to light, he was immediately wheeled to emergency surgery and saved.

“George told his family about being “dead.” No one believed him until he began to provide details about what he saw during his travels out of body. Then they became less skeptical. His diagnosis on the baby next door did the trick. He told of visiting them that night and of their concern over their new child. He told them that he had talked to the baby and discovered that he had a greenstick fracture of his arm. The parents took the child to a doctor and he x-rayed the arm only to discover that George’s very long-distance diagnosis was right.”
 
If you search George Rodonaia NDE several pages give the story using the same words. The UK Times mentioned him in a story on NDE (but they didn’t include his testimony).
 
As a psychologist, I can tell you what many non-believers generally say, ‘hallucinations whilst under physical and emotional stress, an attempt by the mind to comfort itself, a retrospective attempt to make sense of a confused and confusing period whilst in an altered state of consciousness.’ All of which are possible, none of which can be proved and none of which disprove the concept of life after death.

It is too challenging and frightening for some people to accept the testimony as an accurate account of a life coming to its end, and what may await us after death.

God Bless
 
Fran65 said:
As a psychologist, I can tell you what many non-believers generally say, ‘hallucinations whilst under physical and emotional stress, an attempt by the mind to comfort itself, a retrospective attempt to make sense of a confused and confusing period whilst in an altered state of consciousness.’ All of which are possible, none of which can be proved and none of which disprove the concept of life after death.

It is too challenging and frightening for some people to accept the testimony as an accurate account of a life coming to its end, and what may await us after death.

God Bless
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Not to disagree at all, but I would also point out that, apparently, this person did not die. From the atheist’s perspective this is an important point, since his physical brain was essentially intact and it was still functioning even though he was bodily incapacitated.

He was no nearer to physical death than a person who narrowly escapes being hit by a train, perhaps fainting immediately after the incident. It hinges on what you mean by “near” death. You’re either dead or you’re not and, ironically, I find it fascinating that modern doctors can make mistakes (even if rare) about who is dead and who isn’t.
 
celluloid said:
Not to disagree at all, but I would also point out that, apparently, this person did not die. From the atheist’s perspective this is an important point, since his physical brain was essentially intact and it was still functioning even though he was bodily incapacitated.

He was no nearer to physical death than a person who narrowly escapes being hit by a train, perhaps fainting immediately after the incident. It hinges on what you mean by “near” death. You’re either dead or you’re not and, ironically, I find it fascinating that modern doctors can make mistakes (even if rare) about who is dead and who isn’t.
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Your evidence of this please. Was you there?
 
Death is a process. It is not a single ‘event’. That is why these experiences and accounts are classed as near death experiences. This is one of the reasons why they are interesting, many people who have had an NDE talk of having been given a choice about continuing their journey into the after death, or of having been suddenly wrenched back into their body as the process of dying is interrupted by a medical intervention.
 
celluloid said:
Not to disagree at all, but I would also point out that, apparently, this person did not die. From the atheist’s perspective this is an important point, since his physical brain was essentially intact and it was still functioning even though he was bodily incapacitated.

He was no nearer to physical death than a person who narrowly escapes being hit by a train, perhaps fainting immediately after the incident. It hinges on what you mean by “near” death. You’re either dead or you’re not and, ironically, I find it fascinating that modern doctors can make mistakes (even if rare) about who is dead and who isn’t.
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He was in the morgue, being pronounced dead three days earlier.​

There are people who have NDEs, who are blind, yet during their experience can see the environment.
 
tonyrey said:
I am interested to know your reaction. 🙂
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It was a pretty typical story, I’ve heard them before and I never found them very convincing. However, psychologically speaking they are intriguing.
 
Fran65 said:
As a psychologist, I can tell you what many non-believers generally say, ‘hallucinations whilst under physical and emotional stress, an attempt by the mind to comfort itself, a retrospective attempt to make sense of a confused and confusing period whilst in an altered state of consciousness.’ All of which are possible, none of which can be proved and none of which disprove the concept of life after death.

It is too challenging and frightening for some people to accept the testimony as an accurate account of a life coming to its end, and what may await us after death.

God Bless
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It’s not that it’s frightening, it just goes against everything we know about how the physical world works… not to mention it’s anecdotal evidence. However, this doesn’t mean it’s not interesting to us… do you realize how many studies on NDE go on every year?
 
Anecdotal evidence *is *problematic. An anecdote can be true; however, it is unwise to base decisions, policies and beliefs on them. For that we need triangulation. Triangulation does not exclude anecdote, it supplements them. Keith Ward talks about personal experience as a source of evidence for belief in God in several of his books. 🙂

BTW I’m pleased that you don’t find it frightening. And, yes, there are a lot of studies - some good, some poor.
 
Fran65 said:
Anecdotal evidence *is *problematic. An anecdote can be true; however, it is unwise to base decisions, policies and beliefs on them. For that we need triangulation. Triangulation does not exclude anecdote, it supplements them. Keith Ward talks about personal experience as a source of evidence for belief in God in several of his books. 🙂
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Perhaps you can explain this triangulation concept to me?
 
Evidence from one source is compared with and supplemented by other evidence from other sources. The conclusion can be thought of as the upper point of a triangle and the the three lines making it up are three lines of evidence from differing sources that this is the case.

For example, one can triangulate a diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia using the following three lines of evidence:
  1. Physical symptoms characteristic of pneumonia.
  2. A sputum culture showing bacterial infection.
  3. A previous history of pneumonia or an underlying condition predisposing the person to pneumonia.
The method is used particularly in social sciences to increase the validity of conclusions.
 
Fran65 said:
Evidence from one source is compared with and supplemented by other evidence from other sources. The conclusion can be thought of as the upper point of a triangle and the the three lines making it up are three lines of evidence from differing sources that this is the case.

For example, one can triangulate a diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia using the following three lines of evidence:
  1. Physical symptoms characteristic of pneumonia.
  2. A sputum culture showing bacterial infection.
  3. A previous history of pneumonia or an underlying condition predisposing the person to pneumonia.
The method is used particularly in social sciences to increase the validity of conclusions.
Click to expand...
This sounds useful only when previous evidence cannot influence other evidence. In the case of NDE, everyone has heard previous stories and so any new evidence from such people would be considered tainted.
 
Everyone has heard previous stories?

Au contraire mon ami…

Children and people from other cultures that have not been exposed to Western education, narratives and concepts report remarkably similar NDEs.

This similarity despite disparate cultural influences is often cited as evidence that NDEs are the product of neurological processes during the process of death.

Atheists also report them - why would an atheist use supernatural concepts to explain their experience?
 
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