St. John was not alone in this. In addition to him, the writings of many apostles and saints testified to the same. It was obvious to them then that the soul could live outside the body and could sometimes leave the body and return to it.

And in the following centuries in theological literature and in the Lives of the Saints there were many descriptions of the life of the soul.

St. Augustine tells about the unbelieving physician Gennadius. Gennady went out of his body during sleep and talked with the young man, but did not understand what was happening. This happened several times, but Gennady continued to disbelieve it. Then the young man asked him: "Do you see your body, apart from you, there, on the bed?" "After all, the eyes of your body are closed, and you see both your body and me. You see with spiritual eyes. Know that after this life there will be another."

St. Gregory writes in his Dialogue: "Often, on the verge of death, the soul recognizes those with whom it will share the heavenly abode for a similar reward or punishment"... "Saints often come to the righteous to comfort them."

Archbishop Anthony of Geneva writes that the life of the soul beyond the grave is a natural continuation of its life on earth. Having passed into the afterlife, the soul feels, realizes, perceives, and reasons.

Not only in spiritual, but also in secular literature there are many similar descriptions. In Leo Tolstoy's novel "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", the deceased passes through a dark cave, sees pictures of his entire past life and the appearance of a bright light.

Ernest Hemingway describes a case of temporary death in his novel A Farewell to Arms. The hero of the novel tells, but, apparently, what happened to the author himself.

Soldiers sit in a trench under artillery fire. "We continued to eat... I took a bite of my slice of cheese and took a sip of wine... Then I heard: choo-choo-choo, then something flashed... and the roar, all white, then redder, redder in the swift whirlwind... I tried to breathe, but there was no breath, and I felt that I had completely escaped from myself and I was flying and flying, caught up in the whirlwind. I flew out quickly, all as I was, and I knew that I was dead and that it was wrong to think that you were dying and that's it. Then I floated through the air, but instead of moving forward, I slid backwards. I inhaled and realized that I had returned to myself. The ground around was torn apart... my head was shaking, and suddenly I heard someone crying."

This soldier was seriously wounded and survived a temporary exit from his body.

And in the book, marked 1984, the story by Fyodor Abramov "Mother's Heart" was published.

A peasant woman is taking her seriously ill son to the district hospital on a sleigh. He is six years old. He always lived in poverty and misery. On the road, he gets worse. The mother is in a hurry.

"She didn't take me. It was cold, frosty. "Stepa," I said, "we are approaching the district. Can you see, I say?" and he asked me: "Mom, tell me when we are going to approach the district." A child! I have never been further than my village - I hunt to see the white world.

And so Stepanushka raised his head: "Mom," he said, "it's so light. What a beautiful area we have..." And that's it - it's over. So in his mother's arms he gave up his spirit."

There are a lot of such reports. More and more people are talking and writing about the life of the soul outside the body. Of course, not all. Those who do not want to believe in anything spiritual still do not see the light coming into the world.