A case of twin near-death experiences?

Last updated on: September 25, 2026 at 3:49 pm by Dan Peterson

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A case of twin near-death experiences? 2026-09-25T15:49:53-06:00 Dan Peterson

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The reconstructed Nauvoo Illinois Temple, in the original of which baptisms for the dead and other ordinances were performed for the brief period, in the 1840s, between its construction and the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from the then United States of America. (LDS Media Library)

A 54-second teaser for next week’s installment in the Becoming Brigham series has gone up. (For those of you who, like me, graduated from the public schools of California, that’s less than a minute.) Here it is: “Brigham Young: Deeply Loved?” TEASER for Episode 36:

If the Saints would not leave without their endowment, how did Brigham try to both keep God’s promise and preserve their lives when Nauvoo was no longer safe? Why did so many Saints follow a blunt, sometimes offensive Brigham Young into the wilderness—and what does that fact say to modern people whose faith is shaken by that history? Brigham Young tells the Saints they must leave because it is no longer safe, but members refuse to go without the endowment they were promised. Brigham receives inspiration that they need to complete the temple before they depart for the West. Historian Brett Dowdle traces the westward idea back to Joseph as early as 1838, to Brigham’s March 1845 dream of a mountain refuge, and then Governor Thomas Ford’s April letter warning that the mobs were growing and that Illinois could not protect them. By late August Brigham tells the Saints they have a second goal besides finishing the temple: get ready to leave. Dowdle also addresses a question for people unsettled by Church history: Brigham was sharp-tongued and made enemies, yet most Saints still followed him to Utah and regarded him as a father-figure.

Probably the most prominent Norwegian member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to date is Dr. John A. Widtsoe, a respected biologist and chemist who was educated at Harvard and Göttingen and who served as president of both Utah State University (then the Utah State Agricultural College) and the University of Utah. He is shown here, standing on the upper right, in a photograph of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that was taken during the first part of 1921. Second from the left on the back row is Dr. James E. Talmage, a geologist. Dr. Joseph F. Merrill, a physicist, would be called to the Twelve later that year, evidently to replace Orson F. Whitney (shown here on the front row, second from right), who died on 16 May 1921. (LDS.org)

David L. Clark has published a new article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 70 (2026): 41-68 under the title of “Scientist Apostles” that I think many will find interesting:

Abstract: James E. Talmage, John A. Widtsoe, and Joseph F. Merrill brought unusually strong scientific training to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joining the quorum between 1911 and 1931. Tracing their education, scientific work, publications, university leadership, and ecclesiastical service, this paper details how each combined intellectual rigor with religious commitment in distinctive ways. Talmage, a geologist, defended the compatibility of science and faith, accepted geologic time and biological evolution while qualifying human origins, and gained international recognition for his geological work and museum contributions. Widtsoe, trained in chemistry, became an influential agricultural scientist whose research on soils, irrigation, and dry farming achieved worldwide reach while he also helped shape higher education in Utah and Latter-day Saint thought. Merrill, a physicist by training, redirected much of his career toward education, becoming instrumental in developing the Church’s seminary and institute programs while consistently affirming science as a legitimate avenue to truth. Considered together, their careers illuminate the interplay of science, education, and religion in twentieth-century Latter-day Saint leadership, leaving open the broader question of how their scientific backgrounds may have influenced Church culture and policy.

Also newly posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation is “Interpreting Interpreter: Apostolic Scientists,” which was written by Kyler Rasmussen:

This post is a summary of the article “ Scientist Apostles” by David L. Clark in Volume 70 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https:/interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

A video introduction to this Interpreter article is now available on all of our social media channels, including on YouTube at https://youtube.com/shorts/TGc5-o3IDJw.

The Takeaway: Clark provides a historical overview of the lives of three modern apostles that were also credentialed scientists: James E. Talmage, John A. Widtsoe, and Joseph F. Merrill, highlighting how science and education played a role in Latter-day Saint leadership in the early 1900s.

A winter view of the Bow River near Cochrane, Alberta (Wikimedia Commons public domain image). Not the river where the story below took place, but wet and flowing. And, thus, close enough for my purposes here.

Here’s an account of a curious dual near-death experience, collected and reported in P.M.H. Atwater, The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences: The Ultimate Guide to What Happens When We Die (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 2007). Incidentally, P.M.H. Atwater herself passed away on 10 July of this year, 2026, at the age of eighty-eight:

Steven B. Ridenhour of Charlottesville, Virginia, and his girlfriend, Debbie, decided to “run” the rapids at the “bullhole” part of the river that flows behind an old cotton mill in Cooleemee, North Carolina. Both had been smoking pot and were bored. Their decision to run the knee-high rapids meant that they had to start at the beginning of the rock incline, run down about twenty feet, and start skiing barefooted until they reached the moss beds. Overtaken by laughter, they were easily swept off their feet and dragged downriver before they could react.

Steven recalls Debbie screaming, “I can’t swim! I’m drowning!” He rushed to reach her, but the water was too much for him. At that moment, he said the water took on a golden glow and time stopped. He experienced floating in a vertical position, his arms outstretched, and his head lying on one shoulder.

He experienced total peace and serenity — until his life review started. “It was like looking at a very fast slide show of my past, and I do mean fast, like seconds.” He didn’t understand the significance of all that was shown to him, but he was certain there was some importance. “When this ended, it was as if I was floating very high up and looking down at a funeral. Suddenly, I realized that I was looking at myself in a casket. I saw myself dressed in a black tux with a white shirt and a red rose on my left lapel. Standing around me were my immediate family and significant friends.”

Then, as if some powerful force wrapped around him, Steven was thrust out of the water, gasping for air. He made a grab for Debbie’s hair and swam for the rocks. “After lying on the rocks for a while, I glance over at Debbie and it’s like looking at a ghost. As she describes what she went through, it became apparent that we both had the same experience underwater — the golden glow, the serenity, seeing our lives flash before us, floating over a funeral, and seeing ourselves in a casket. That’s the only time we ever talked about it. I haven’t seen or talked with her since.” (168-169)

In a postscript, Atwater adds the following:

Debbie and Steve were reunited many years later when they were both guests on a television show. In front of the cameras, Debbie confirmed Steve’s memories of the incident — including that their separate near-death episodes were virtually identical. (169)

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