When I read the question about "Soul leaving the body before death" from NiNi ... it made me wonder if the questioner was referring to the astral travel or near death experience type of thing we sometimes hear about.

Remember Shirley McClaine's description in the book/movie "Out on a Limb"? Or people who have the "near death experience" of floating out of their body during an operation or a heart attack?

I know we are 3 parts (body, soul, spirit), and I know we're not to seek this experience! But if it does happen -- such as during a heart attack, etc. -- is that the spirit separating from the body temporarily?

I, too, had that thought.

Body, soul and spirit refers to man's two natural components, body and soul, and the gift of divine life which the righteous possess, that is, the spirit of God. God leaves us when we offend him gravely, and returns to us when we repent through sacramental confession or an act of perfect contrition. So, that would not apply in this case.

There are examples of such phenomenon among both the saints and occultists. St. Pio of Pietrelcina, for example, had the gift of bilocation. Without leaving his friary in San Giovanni Rotondo he would be observed even thousands of miles away by credible witnesses. Asked about this he called it an extension of his personality.

An explanation might be as follows. The human soul is a spirit, and spirit, in itself, does not have the property of being "in place." United to the human body it has definite place, by virtue of the matter to which it is joined, but does not lose its innate constitution. Rather, it is restricted or restrained. The soul survives death and operates as a separated soul until the general resurrection, when it again assumes place by re-union with the human body. The angels are likewise not in a place. They are "where they act." It may be that with the growth of grace, the spiritualization of man, the saints become capable of exercising these innate properties, not of leaving the body, but of spiritual action. It may also be that this is done with the assistance of the angels, just as Peter was mistaken for his guardian angel in the Acts of the Apostles.

This would relate to similar-appearing occult phenomenon in this way. What the good angels can assist man in doing, the bad angels can as well. The difference is that the good angels and the saints work for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, whereas, the bad angels help man satisfy his ego and his various lusts for power, vanity and pleasure. By their fruits you will know them. Since the devil is the ape of God, it may simply be that unlike among the saints, these are entirely fake phenomenon, intended to impress and attach to himself his clients and hold them in sway. I have met people who experienced such things while away from Christ and they generally affirm that such phenomenon serve exactly that purpose, whatever their true cause.

Finally, regarding near-death experiences, it is more difficult to say. It may be some innate possibility as we near death, or it may be, as some scientists have suggested, due to the lack of oxygen and the effects which occur in the brain as a result. We may never know. However, in that so many accounts do not conform to the gospels and God's revelation fo Himself, suggesting a panacea of universal salvation, I suspect there is much chaff mixed with whatever may be true in them.

COPYRIGHT 2009

Click here to send this Question and Answer to a friend