Peter Marshall’s Escape from a Cliff

Peter Marshall’s escape from a cliff in the fog is presented as a formative supernatural rescue: a voice called to him from behind and prevented his death. The account links a sudden intervention in childhood with a lasting effect on Marshall, who went on to become a minister.

Background and Account

The incident is related through Catherine Marshall’s book A Man Called Peter, which describes an episode from Peter Marshall’s boyhood in Scotland. In the larger discussion of near-death experiences, the author places the story among reports of people saved from potentially fatal circumstances by a spiritual agent or being. The account itself identifies the intervention more specifically as a voice calling from behind; it does not establish who or what spoke.

The Rescue

Marshall was in danger of falling to his death over a cliff in fog. At the brink of that danger, a voice called to him from behind, and he was saved from the fall. The account gives no further details of the cliff, the speaker, or the mechanics of the rescue; its emphasis is on the abrupt call and the fatal outcome it averted.

Aftermath and Significance

The experience affected Marshall greatly, and he later became a minister. That biographical consequence gives the rescue significance beyond the immediate escape: the episode is presented as a turning point in a life that would enter religious service. More broadly, the book’s account of supernatural rescues associates such experiences with a changed sense of purpose and strengthened religious belief. Those are described as patterns across the reports, while Marshall’s own stated aftermath is the profound effect of the incident and his later ministry.