Former pastor who researched over 1,000 near-death experiences now convinced 'Hell is real'
If there was a list of questions that humanity asked most often, 'what happens after death' would surely secure top spot.
It's something we've likely all wondered at one point or another in our lives.
Religions throughout the ages have sought to provide answers to this existential pondering.
Many believe an afterlife exists, whilst others prefer the option of reincarnation.
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Some choose not to believe in anything at all.
But one former pastor is convinced that Hell is indeed real.
John Burke studied over 1,000 reports of near-death experiences and come to the conclusion that the afterlife is real, but it certainly won't be fun for everyone.
Talking to podcaster Shawn Ryan, the author said: "Studying this has actually changed my theology – even as a Christian and even as a pastor.
"I used to think a lot of it was just fantastical or metaphorical, but hearing enough of these people saying the things they say, what I've come to is that on the good side all of our wildest dreams and fantasies and fiction and the the things we only dream of that might be possible [Heaven is] better than that.
"And the horror that we can imagine and see and come up with – [Hell is] worse than that. And both are based in a reality that's beyond this life."
Many of the people that Burke has spoken to claim to have seen visions of Heaven and Hell.
However, they aren't sent anywhere straight away.
Burke explained: "They get both a heavenly and a hellish experience, and I find that those who cry out to God for forgiveness at the last minute – it's almost like he lets them see where they were headed before rescuing them."
One case he highlighted was that of Jim Woodford, who accidentally overdosed on painkillers.
Burke recalled: "He said to me ‘You know when you're dying, I felt it coming up like this fire coming up through me,' and he had this realisation ‘I've never thanked God for the life I thought was my own making.’
"I have heard enough of these to realise that you know you don’t want to wait until the last minute, but God is pursuing people to the last minute."
Woodford claimed to experience passing through a tunnel of light and seeing beauty, then saw 'a line of delineation' that lead to grey and black.
Inside a dark pit, Woodford claimed he saw a creature crawling up out of flames.
Burke said he would have dismissed this claim - if he hadn't heard similar accounts from hundreds of people.
Ben Thompson