Scott Taylor says the growing body of research into near-death experiences is bringing scientific weight to spirituality.

“It’s the closest we’ve come to confirm we have a soul,” said Taylor at a talk Saturday at First Presbyterian Church.

The evidence, he suggests, comes from the multitude of vivid examples of near-death experiences provided by people who were clinically dead — flat-lined on a medical monitor — whose brain functions had stopped.

“We know that when someone flat-lines the brain is incapable of producing memories,” said Taylor, a Mankato native who studies near-death experiences.

Still, he said, many who flat-lined can recount specific details of conversations and actions in an operating room.

The most convincing case was that of Pam Reynolds in 1991 who underwent a rare surgery to remove a large aneurysm in her brain. She was put in hypothermic cardiac arrest, shutting down her brain and body, making her clinically dead for more than an hour.

After recovery, Reynolds provided a highly detailed account of the surgery procedures, tools used, conversations and readings on monitors.

Taylor said near-death experiences are reported as almost always intensely positive, although some report terror and anger. He said they are distinctly different than hallucinations, dreams or reactions to drugs in that they are vividly clear and become more detailed and clearer as time passes.

Those with the experiences report floating out of their body, aware of all around them, able to go anywhere instantly, interacting with dead relatives and friends and aware of a boundary, that if crossed, would bring intense, lasting pleasure.

While different people report some or all of the same experiences, one thing is reported by all who have a near-death experience — being enveloped in a brilliant light. “To touch the light is the most important thing. You enter the light and it becomes you,” Taylor said.

The Rev. Dawn Carder, of First Presbyterian, knows Taylor and many of his family members who are members. She read Taylor’s doctoral thesis on near death experiences.

“I was quite fascinated. One of the things was that it was so positive. The people who have had such an experience, one of the things that struck me, was that none of them wanted to come back because it was such a wonderful experience,” Carder said.

Taylor, who lives in the Twin Cities, is on the faculty in the Small Business Management program of South Central College. He is a Mankato native whose family operated the Brett’s Department Store.

Taylor is on the board of directors of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, based in Durham, N.C. In 2001 he completed his doctoral dissertation research on the impact of near death experiences on management leadership style.

In a near-death experience, a person is either clinically dead, near death, or in a situation where death is likely or expected. More experiences have been reported as medical advances keep even very ill people alive longer.