Proof of Heaven Isn’t… Still…
Proof of Heaven is the sort of book I almost never read, but I’m glad I made an exception. I don’t really follow the whole Near Death Experience, is-there-or-isn’t-there-an-afterlife debate. I’ve come to believe there is more to life than life, but I don’t think about it much. Life itself seems a pretty urgent business and I want to pay attention to it before it’s gone. If there’s nothing afterwards, I’ll never know. If there is, I’ve got an excellent lawyer.
But a friend gave me the book for Christmas. I started it, and found it weirdly compelling. As you’ve probably heard, it’s Dr. Eben Alexander’s memoir of how he, a neurosurgeon, went into a coma and saw the next world. According to Alexander, who should know, he was so brain dead at the time it happened that it’s virtually impossible for this to have been any kind of a dream or hallucination. And as the experience went on for days, there is a lot of detail, including some stuff that struck me as convincing. Nothing he sees on the Other Side is particularly startling. It’s all in line with the instincts of the best sort of faith. We’re loved; we’re forgiven. Oh, and there are angels. I’ve never been so sure about angels, but apparently there they are. Dogs too. I’d be very disappointed if there were no dogs.
Now as one of my novel characters once remarked: There’s a reasonable explanation for everything and that’s the one some people choose to believe. One of the things I liked best about the book is that Alexander is honest enough to allow us into some of the darker places in his psychology. If you want to construct a psychological explanation for his Near Death Event you can. And he even gives several “scientific” explanations of greater or lesser plausibility — the best being that the whole experience was basically the dream he had when his brain was rebooting.
All the same, I found the book oddly believable. It’s not pious or treacly like so many books about faith experiences are. And even though the doc gets pretty new age and woo-woo by the time he’s finished, it wasn’t alienating if you kept an open mind. It stuck with me for several days after I finished it.
So while no one can offer you a guarantee, I would say this book constitutes a piece of circumstantial evidence for the defense of heaven. Which makes for an interesting read, even if you decide to dismiss it.
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Cross-posted from Klavan on the Culture – visit for another thread of ongoing discussion and debate.
More perspectives on God and religion at PJ Lifestyle:
I have the book although I haven’t read it yet, having said that, any interpretation of his NDE must hinge on whether or not it actually occurred WHILE his brain was effectively shut down. Is there any way to say for certain that the two events were simultaneous? What if he experienced what he did while his brain was slipping into shut down mode, as usually is the case with near death experiences? If the brain is non-functioning, is there any way afterwards to put a time mark on anything? I must admit I’m a bit skeptical that “visions” of children and dogs running on the ground below you would originate in anything but a human brain.
I’m sure that a little research would confirm that for millennia, we have always assumed there HAD to be dogs in heaven. If I’m not going to find Snowy, Bunny-mutt and little Daisy-beast there, then I’d prefer not go.
The fact that he saw dogs in Heaven (how many Christian theologians through the centuries claimed that?) tells me right there that this was a hallucination he saw while his brain was shutting down. Most other folks who have had near-death experiences saw nothing of the kind.
We know that our conception of time is way different in dreams than it is in reality. We can dream about something that takes hours, when in fact the dream in external time is only a few minutes or even seconds. Probably this entire hallucination went through his brain in just the few seconds before his brain flatlined.
Also: There was an episode of the TV series “Night Gallery” which made the point that one person’s idea of heaven is another person’s idea of hell.
Muslims dislike dogs and prefer cats. So do some non-Muslims. They won’t like a Heaven filled with dogs. Is Heaven organized like a theme park where you get to pick which parts you want to visit? The Dog Pavilion is on your left, the Cat Pavilion is on your right….
Alexander didn’t see dogs in heaven. If you all want to disagree with his premise, that’s fine, but don’t make up stuff to prove your point.
I believe he did see dogs running around in the fields where people were dancing happily, but in any case quite a few NDErs have seen animals over there on the other side. It just answers one of the age-old questions–do animals have souls? Answer is yes. No surprise to me, considering the depth of feeling that exists in my cat.
And speaking of things that our little minds and our “science” don’t come anywhere near understanding–
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/one-cats-incredible-journey/
“I was flying, passing over fields, streams and waterfalls, and here and there, people. There were children too, laughing and playing. The people sang and danced around in circles, and sometimes I’d see a dog, running and jumping among them,” (p. 39)
Okay, I stand corrected. It didn’t stand out in my mind since most of what he saw was fairly unrelated to reality.
I mean, unrelated to what WE call reality. What he “saw” was more real to him than anything he ever experienced before, or since.
Actually, if you read “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn he says there may well be dogs in Heaven. http://www.epm.org/
Hey Mike. There was a continuous measuring of his lack of brain activity, namely, his neocortex which is the seat of thought and our identity. It was attacked by infection and he was brain dead until the miraculous re-booting, which was also measured. His escaping death was near impossible in itself, and the fact that his brain came on line again and he was not a vegetable is even more miraculous and “impossible”. And the angel he saw, (SPOILER ALERT), turned out to be his biological sister he never met, but only saw in pictures when he discovered his birth family. This same phenomena has been repeated in many near death experiences where the experiencer is met by relatives they never knew about, including sisters or brothers who were lost in miscarriage, as did the boy in “Heaven Is For Real”. This can not be explained away by any neurological reasons of scientists who are determined to disbelieve no matter what the evidence. Funnily enough, this very Doctor, Eban, was one of those disbelieving scientists himself…….until HE saw the truth.
Great comment Jim.
Geez Michael, You haven’t read the book but already have an opinion. I always enjoy that. Thanks.
Relax, buddy. I was only stating my slight puzzlement at circumstances and observations that seem hard to accept without proof. OK, so tell me: does the author address the issue of his NDE taking place during brain shut down and not before, and provide good arguments for this? And for the very earthly visions of people and dogs in heaven?
I do look forward to reading the book, and will certainly keep an open mind. Far more concerning than skepticism is blanket belief with no other rationale than wishful thinking. YMMV.
Toward the end of the NDE Alexander became aware of certain people, including a psychic, calling to him to come out of the coma. All these memories corresponded to what was actually happening while he was still in the coma.
I am also a doctor (though not a neuro-anything) and I was really impressed by this book. I don’t know if there could ever be a better first-person account. Since I read this about two weeks ago, I have been reading up on NDE’s, and its pretty fascinating stuff, and obviously also difficult to study.
Whenever I read anything that seems a little outlandish in a field I don’t know much about, I always wonder “What’s the motive here?” This guy has none- in fact, he has everything to lose by coming forward with this accounting of his NDE. He isn’t some fringe practitioner- he was at the peak of his very impressive career when it happened. That’s in direct contrast to another popular account I read- “Heaven is for Real”, where the author has a great deal to gain by telling his (child’s) tale. The merits of a great many things can be judged by the behavior and motives of its proponents- that’s also how I decided Global Warming’s merits (or lack thereof) given that I’m not a climate scientist, either. Does it change people’s behavior who claim to believe it? What do they stand to gain if it is true?
Thus, global warming fails my test and this fantastic theory passes with flying colors. People who have had NDE’s are forever changed- that much is borne out by scientific study. SOmething does indeed happen to them that is not a dream, but is “more real” than anything that’s ever happened to them before. Hardly the output of a dying organ.
And the remarkable consistency of it across cultures, the fact that it happens to people with very sudden trauma and not just those who are preparing to die (and so would be expected to have the afterlife on their minds). I don’t think it’s possible, at the very least, to deny that it’s a real thing and that it is unexplained by any evolutionary need (which the rest of our behaviors are).
I’ve been a scientist and a doctor a long time, and I guess at this point I think that both of those disciplines have their limits. There is more to reality than what the scientific method can explain, and to suggest otherwise shows both an arrogance and a lack of knowledge about science itself. Scientists didn’t believe Van leeunwenhouk about his “little animacules”, either, but there were there, all the same.
Bravo! NDEs have to be real. The evidence is overwhelming. Without having had one, just knowing a bit about the subject can change your outlook in a positive direction.
Bit of a complication with other people’s NDEs. Everybody who has them, tends to have them in the proper cultural and religious context. Meaning that Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims, etc., see and hear what they expect to see and hear. Easterners don’t wake up in a Western heaven and vice versa. Now if the good doctor had met L. Ron Hubbard while he was out…Yoicks!
People who are totally uninvolved with their religions also have transcendent NDEs and speak of an encounter with a “being of light” who is described very much like the deity of religions. Eben Alexander himself was an almost totally unreligious Christian and during his transcendent NDE he did not experience anything at all in a Christian, or any other established-religion, context. There are cultural differences between NDEs from different cultures and religions, but also strikingly similar aspects across cultures.
I don’t see that as a complication at all. It’s natural that people should put things in a context they understand. And the similarities in the NDEs seem to far overwhelm their differences.
What I find interesting is that people who have NDEs very often have them accompanied by limited or ceased brain activity. In contrast, I’ve been put under multiple times for surgeries and in each case, I had no dream or recallable experience while under anaesthesia, but I most certainly had a healthy and functioning brain during all of those surgeries with neurons still firing away, albeit in a restricted and chemically-handicapped manner. I just find it interesting that people whose brains effectively stopped have relatively continuous consciousness and pretty lucid memories while people like me have undergone totally disjointed leaps or gaps in consciousness (jumping straight from “99…98…” to the recovery room) with a living and functioning brain.
Thanks for bringing up that piece of data. It didn’t occur to me while reading the article and the comments, but that is almost exactly what I recall from being under sedation for surgery four times. Either briefly counting down from 100 and then suddenly waking up, either in a recovery room or an elevator and being wheeled somewhere, or one minute talking to a nurse and then waking up in a recovery room, and no memory of anything in between.
Also, my recollection is of just waking up after “nothing,” no dreams or thoughts whatsover. So this seems to be very different from what is being described herein.
Right on Doctor. We need more scientists like you!
So very nicely said. You’ve given much to think about. Thank you.
Also being a physician, and a scientist, I would generally agree.
I read the book when it first came out, and have also researched NDEs in the past, at the time of my daughter’s death. There are consistent and reliable features that tend to support their validity, particularly when the “experiencer” recounts information of which he could not possibly have been aware (e.g., the presence of a person whose death was unknown to the experiencer).
I was disappointed that Dr. Alexander did not detail more of the medical evidence for the depth of his neurological impairment – EEGs, MRIs, etc. Also, while he asserts that his brain was severely attacked by the very unusual infection (one for which the effects on an otherwise normal brain are relatively unknown), he made a near-miraculous recovery of most of his intellectual and motor function within a very short time frame. This seems inconsistent with a pervasive and normally lethally destructive infection with irreversible neuronal death.
I have recommended this book to several persons, including an oncologist friend. I believe it can have important benefits for those who face death, and for those who love them.
My understanding is that the book was written for a non-medical audience, thus the lack of detail regarding his results. He also apparently has another book in the works, so there may be more detail forthcoming.
However, one valid criticism I have read is that his attending physicians are obviously unable to comment. It would be interesting to know whether he’s released them from their HIPAA obligations- if that’s even possible.
I like your approach Dana…if you believe it, you would adjust your life to accommodate it. Actually profound in a way. IT was a great insight and I thank you for sharing it.
Thanks, Bill. I got the concept from reading Thomas Cahill. It has been very useful to me ever since.
” As you’ve probably heard, it’s Dr. Eben Alexander’s memoir of how he, a neurosurgeon, went into a coma and saw the next world. According to Alexander, who should know, he was so brain dead at the time it happened that it’s virtually impossible for this to have been any kind of a dream or hallucination.”
So the more brain dead someone is the wiser they are? This seems rather counter-intuitive.
“So the more brain dead someone is the wiser they are? This seems rather counter-intuitive.”
Seems like Congress, actually.
Not really. It’s actually evidence that our consciousness is not dependent on the brain. People who “return” from an NDE often feel constrained cognitively, expressively and physically. One striking description I read was that of having to put on an “earth suit” in order to function in this world.
I’ve read similar books and I’ll have to check this one out. One constant is visitors to heaven see unborn brothers and sisters who died before birth. They see them as full grown adults.
I always feel sorry for unbelievers. Either way they don’t ever get to see heaven. If it’s not real of course they don’t get in; if it’s real they don’t get in either. So sad.
The problem is, you might not like the Heaven you get.
How would you feel if you got to Heaven and found out that Allah was the True God all along? Or if you got to Heaven and found that that the Muslims and Jews were right: Jesus was not the Son of God, he was not Resurrected, etc.? In that case, you would have to hope for God’s mercy to not consign you to Hell for being a heretic.
This is the problem with Pascal’s Wager, which is what you’re talking about. He and you are assuming just two alternatives: Unbelief vs. Christian Heaven. There are plenty more–all the different conceptions of Paradise by all the different religions.
The worst case scenario is you get to Heaven and find Osama bin Laden there: Allah rewarded him for jihad against Unbelievers like YOU.
That’s a fairly common misperception about NDE’s, but when you start digging around in the literature to see what actually happens to these people, I don’t think those religious differences are important.
Because according to those who’ve been through an NDE, these specificities seem to fall away. There are certainly people who do interpret it through the lens of their faith tradition- which is understandable when faced with struggling to understand this type of experience. But when you read their accounts, the common themes seem to transcend whatever dogma we have constructed “here on earth”.
In fact, one of the most interesting studies was done in The Netherlands where most people (including the lead researcher) have no faith traditions at all, and their experiences were strikingly similar to everyone else’s.
I think organized religion is a little like the blind men and the elephant- people get a little feel for what’s there, but the reality is so much bigger and better- and completely incomprehensible in our current state.
Dana, just to add a thought or two. Philosophy and religion are nothing like the exact sciences, or mathematics. I’ve been reading up on these subjects for a few years, and have finally concluded that I will have to content myself with something that appears to be mostly correct. I was just reading Pope Benedict’s “Introduction to Christianity” and was interested to note that he agrees that the ground of all being is Mind, or Consciousness (AKA God), but he went on to specify how Christian belief is different from mere idealism. For one thing, the ground of all being is Love, and the consciousness of God is creative. That is, when God “dreams” or “creates” something, it’s NOT a dream: it’s real. And it has the freedom which God Himself created. So Christianity corresponds quite a bit with what Eben saw, but Christianity insists on love (and love of the particular) — and it is a faith of freedom.
This afternoon, all this made a huge amount of sense to me.
Also, instead of “You might not like the heaven you get,” I would substitute, “You might not like that you don’t get heaven.”
While rare, there are apparently those who have had very negative NDEs. I haven’t read up much on those- apparently those folks don’t much like to talk about it.
I read a great book called “God: the Evidence.” If I recall correctly, one man did see something extremely negative and it changed him and his life forever. He changed his ways and became a much kinder person than he had been before.
Thank you for that tip. I will try to track that down.
Mine was in Purgatory (or, it was my uninjured right-brain unfettered from my nonfunctioning left brain). It was June 4, 1986. The pain from my fall down the waterfall was overwhelming, so I left. I went up in gray nothingness (while I repented intensely of all I had done wrong) until I emerged into a vast emptiness-there was no good or evil at all except in the tiny specks of multicolored light around me that I assumed were souls. I wondered if my dad was there, so I intersected one of the specks, and someone else’s life flashed before my eyes. There were other blond children in front of “us”; they went through a black waist-high gate and toward a small bungalow in the back of the yard, where an old man was on the front porch (he may have been black). Then the person I was “with” became frantic and tried to shy away a little at what was coming. It wasn’t my business so I left. In front of me was what seemed like an infinite two-way mirror. Beyond it was a beautiful light; “golden” is the best word for the light, but still inadequate. I knew I wasn’t ready, but I just wanted to press up against the barrier. And a silent voice in my head said “It’s not your time. Go back” so I went back to where I’d come “through the floor”. Opposite the light was an archway, mostly obscured on the left by a black column. To the right a walkway was clinging to the column (but I was pretty sure the walkway wasn’t actually there). The “air” inside was a sickly greenish yellow color. I was tempted to look closer but knew it would be a very bad idea to disobey the command to “go back”, even to just veer over to take a look so I went down, and into redness and agonizing pain. I checked with a priest friend of mine (who doesn’t believe in NDEs) who said it doesn’t conflict with any Catholic teaching on Purgatory. Of course, the only thing that would support the possibility it was an NDE and not the activity of an injured brain, would be if someone who was with the other soul in that scene could verify my mental image. But I lean toward NDE.
“And a silent voice in my head said “It’s not your time. Go back”
Me too Jeanette,
I hardly ever talk about it but just coming across this PJ article plus
all the comments and then coming across your line I quote above has made me reply.
In 2003 I almost died on the operating table. I started to bleed out and they couldn’t seem to stop it. I remember seeing a brilliant white light and feeling
a sensation like I was being sucked into it. Then I heard those same words…”it’s not your time. go back” After many pints of blood, then the bleeding slowed and stopped. Afterwards the surgeon said to my wife ” He really scared us but he must have a guardian angel or something”
That’s all there was to it but I think of this experience a lot.
Thank you Jeannette and Gerri. Cardiologist Pim van Lommel has a book on these experiences called CONSCIOUSNESS BEYOND LIFE. He indicates that about 18% of the people that come back from a flatline event are conscious of an NDE.
Assuming you are correct, and Osama is sitting at the right hand of Allah in a place of honor, and extremist Islam is the one true faith…..I don’t see how Hell could be any worse, frankly.
When I look at the sheer crapitude of all the Islamist strongholds on Earth, I don’t see how I’d be missing out on much in the afterlife if I declined that “Heaven”.
Lili:
The Heaven of Islam is a male adolescent paradise: Lots of things to please the senses. Because of their abhorrence of critical thinking and philosophy theit faithful never developed certain concepts like the nunc stans–the part of reality where time is a constant present with no past of future, the time of God for Christians. In reality the Islamic heaven seems to me a little bit like Hell. First you have that unapproachable deity very prone to fits of violence and vengeance; then there are his favorites: the violent killers of those whom the deity for some reason refuses to kill himself. Not my cup of tea either. I would call that image something closer to the Christian Hell.
Another researcher makes the assertion that while most religions are compatible with the entity that exists in an NDE, some are not. He doesn’t say which one, but the take-away point of NDEs is love, compassion and kindness towards others. So if a religion is lacking in those aspects I suspect it’s not going to mesh too well with whatever greater consciousness is “out there”.
There are many things that trouble me about the Islam, but none more than the fact allah is a completely impersonal, unapproachable god and Muslims can somehow find comfort in that. That and the fact I guess their women get 72 buffed dudes upon entry. I’ve never been clear on that.
I grit my teeth when I hear the uninformed say the God of the Old Testament and allah are one and the same. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Muslims who’ve had near death experiences and have returned, in fact, often report being met by Jesus on the other side and return as devout Christ believers. It’s pretty common, and in fact, many Muslims are having Spiritual experiences of Jesus while not in death throes, but in dreams and waking life. Something’s going on that is pretty interesting in these times we live in.
I get your point but… either Jesus rose from the dead or he didn’t. There’s simply no wiggle room or nuance involved here. It’s “yes” He did or “no” He didn’t. Jesus was either a crazed liar or He was God, He never intended to leave us with any other options.
That “reply” was for sinz54. The mini-thread is long.
Alexander was not a believer. Yet he ‘got in’. How?
Nothing disgusts as much as the utter gall of humans believing they understand the Divine.
Alexander “got in”? No, he was given a glimpse of heaven. He did not die but came back to this earth. We have no idea what his eternal abode will be
Jeremiah 9:24, “…let him who boasts, boast in this: that he *UNDERSTANDS and KNOWS* Me, that I AM THE LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
G-d has made Himself available to all…if you don’t want to accept the invitation, fine; but don’t claim that ‘Truth’ begins and ends with your opinion.
There’s never going to be real proof of Heaven, for then there would be no need of faith. And without faith, it is impossible to please Him.
“I don’t really follow the whole Near Death Experience, is-there-or-isn’t-there-an-afterlife debate. I’ve come to believe there is more to life than life, but I don’t think about it much. Life itself seems a pretty urgent business and I want to pay attention to it before it’s gone.”
I come from a strong personal and family tradition that actively honors and encourages a belief in soul and an afterlife, and I think this is the best line ever said on the subject.
I am a soul having an in body experience. Therefore, Carpe Diem, baby.
You must read Teilhard de Chardin.
Thanks. I will.
Can’t help it tonite, but yes, thank you, did that 35 years ago. Thanks for reminding me. That should work and good advice to a youngster or oldster.
“I am a soul having an in body experience. Therefore, Carpe Diem, baby.”
Indeed! We are still and always left with the proverbial need to, “Chop Wood, Carry Water”!
My personal favorite in this field remains Kenneth Ring’s classic, “Heading Toward Omega, ” where he presents an analysis of his study of over a hundred cases of NDE. I find it impossible to consider the post-experience personality and behavioral changes common to the vast majority of survivors without concluding that something decidedly numinous occurred.
I was helped by Dana #3 above by the idea that Alexander had a lot to lose by publishing. I also found that the book convincing because it describes states I have experienced – as a much less intense level – in dreams and other experiences of the unconscious like Grof’s holotropic breathing. I agree with Alexander’s assessment that he went further and deeper into this extraordinary consciousness because he was so brain dead for so many days. One of the most striking things I recognized from my own experience was when Alexander says that when you focus on a topic in that world your knowledge of it spontaneously opens up and grows like a plant. (I sure wish that happened to when trying to understand calculus!!) But I have experienced that way of knowing in dreams and recognize his description. Certain individuals have had remarkable insights of this kind – even mathematical breakthroughs that just fell in place – I think that Happened to Poincare. In any case I think Alexander’s book is an excellent addition to literature because he doesn’t seem to be driven by an external agenda and has more to lose than gain by writing about it. I think this book confirms that these kinds of consciousness exist and that is particularly useful because it is unlikely that he experienced it in his brain which was simply not functioning. Since the end is inevitable and I’ve had my 3 score and 10, I find the book makes me a little less afraid that death ONLY means brain dead and that brain based consciousness is the only possible kind of consciousness we can posses. I’ve had some tastes and Eban Alexander has given me some solid confirmation. Very worthwhile for the genuinely interested.
A quantum physics major answered my question regarding “time without end,” in this way: eternity (spirit/unseen) starts, when “time” (physical matter/seen) stops.
I witnessed both of my elderly, atheist parents pass away. My atheist father had no physical pain to speak of during his last days of life, but moments prior to drawing his last breath, he wept.
Years later, some Christian cousins arrived at the hospital and led my atheist mother to accept Jesus the Christ, literally hours before her death. When Mom invited Him into her heart, she suddenly lit up with a bright smile, looking at something in the room no one else could see. (My friend’s Christian mother’s last words were, “Oh, it’s just beautiful!”)
New Covenant, Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I AM, there you may be also. If it were not true, I would have told you so.” (Exodus 3:14, “And G-d said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you.”
In His written word, G-d has offered an eternity to be spent with Him, in a place called, “heaven;” as well as a “new” earth. The choice whether to believe Him or not, is an individual one, and increasingly unpopular in a world gone mad.
Or in the last words of Steve Jobs- “Wow! Wow! Wow!”
“Before embarking, he (Jobs) looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life’s partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them. Steve’s final words were: OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.”
It is possible that Jobs (a non-Christian) was expressing delight at what he saw, “over their shoulders past them.”
Or dread.
If it were dread, wouldn’t he have said “OH NO?”
At any rate, he seemed to have seen something mighty impressive!
(And I’d be sad if he didn’t make the cut, after all, his products have brought quite a bit of happiness to me).
“If it were dread, wouldn’t he have said “OH NO?”
Being “doctor and a scientist” and all, have you ever stood, starring in dumbstruck awe and exclaimed under your breath, “Oh, wow…” simply because you were too overwhelmed to say anything else?
“At any rate, he seemed to have seen something mighty impressive!”
So what? I’ll bet ‘hell’ is pretty impressive. I never knew Steve Jobs and don’t know what he saw; we’ll never know, because he didn’t tell. So maybe he simply remembered having a huge fine for an overdue library book.
“And I’d be sad if he didn’t make the cut, his products have brought quite a bit of happiness to me.”
A question: Does it make any scientific sense that Jesus would have wasted His time beaten, bleeding, broken-hearted and abandoned, hanging on a cross, and then – “NEVERMIND!!!..Change of plan here! As it happens, that ‘perfect Lamb of G-d’ sacrifice thingy was a huge mistake! Everybody gets into heaven! Everybody!…really!…I just wish somebody would have clued Me before I went through all that bother of spending three days and three nights in hell just to satisfy the righteous demands of My heavenly Father G-d’s ideas of justice!”
And as for that dumb old Apostle Paul, honestly, Galatians 5:19-21, how rude! Just think, Paul was martyred for nothing!…do a few good deeds, have some good intentions; and never mind…”the works of the flesh…are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of G-d.”
I for one, am certainly glad to discover that G-d is so concerned about ‘happy products,’ that He will make null and void the New Covenant, just so nobody has to feel sad!
Whoa, why so angry? I’m just excited that there is some corroborating evidence to help those who are otherwise disinclined to think about spiritual things. I don’t think that Steve Job’s evident astonishment at what he was about to enter into trivializes Christ or Christianity at all. Certainly Eben Alexander didn’t feel that way about his NDE, he being a (formerly lapsed) Christian.
Job appears to have spent quite a bit of time prior to his death contemplating his life, its meaning and eternity. You don’t know what the state of his soul was at the moment he uttered his last words, nor do you get to decide if that was good enough to make the cut–
“When Peter saw him, he said to him: ‘Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
A careful reading of the Biblical text (John 21) you quote reveals that both Peter and John were already ‘saved;’ were in fact, trained disciples. The Lord had just reinstated Peter into good standing by a thrice repeated question, “Do you love Me?” (Peter denied 3x that he even knew Jesus prior to His crucifixion) Jesus followed those questions with, “Feed My sheep…” a clear call to ministry, NOT salvation.
Jesus then described how Peter would eventually die as a martyr, and Peter immediately wanted to know how John was to die, (in exile, on the Isle of Patmos after writing the Book of Revelations) and the Lord admonished Peter, “You follow Me!” as in, “That’s between him and Me, YOU tend to your OWN (calling)!”
Whether or not Jobs ‘made the cut,’ is a matter between him and from all accounts, Buddha. As a ‘doctor and scientist,’ you can claim whatever you want, just get the Biblical references straight, please.
Your habit of putting my profession in quotation marks does undermine your intentions, and thus your credibility. But whatever you may think of my interpretation, on this we do agree- Jesus was telling Peter to not bother himself about whether John was saved, but to tend to his own salvation. You would do well to follow that advice and leave Steve Jobs’ (or anyone else’s) judgment to a higher power.
As would we all.
I put your ‘profession’ inside marks because it is an (unproven) assertion, put forth (why?) to lend weight to your statements I think…Okay, I’ll play too. I’m rich and royal, owning a castle, a yacht, a computer and a Strong’s Bible concordance…So there.
Speaking of intentions and credibility, you got it wrong again. Jesus *did not* tell Peter not to bother himself about whether John was saved…he told him not to bother whether or not John would be martyred…for pete’s sake, and since you’re a ‘scientist,’ pick it up and read it. It’s not ‘judgement,’ try ‘discernment’ or ‘examination/investigation’ of statement(s) made or fact(s) as the record has proven to be true.
Not warm fuzzies because of ‘happy products’ to enjoy. Oh, I don’t know…who really talks/thinks like that, except some kid still in college?
Maybe it’s because I have kids in college that I (sometimes) talk that way, and the reason why Apple products make me happy is that is how I’m able to stay in touch with said kids. But, whatever. You’re angry with me for what I am, not what I say, which makes any discussion rather pointless.
And again. Such arrogance. What man can tell of eternity, who cannot see eternity?
Why is this so hard? The next world is just that, next. It is a natural part of existence and it comes to all.
There is no one there to punish you, you are welcomed, as you welcome babes among yourselves. What else could it be but joy when the infant’s eyes open, when that first happy laugh peals out?
“What man can tell of eternity, who cannot see eternity?”
Excuse me, that statement applies to you, too. It’s pretty arrogant to speak of that which you can’t possibly know. Jesus Christ saw eternity, from both sides. Without beginning, without end.
I came to believe what is written in His Word, and pass it on so that others can examine for themselves to see whether scripture holds up to scrutiny, and answers the questions in a person’s heart. He came to earth to invite, and to warn.
Don’t buy that? Fine…that’s your choice. Let others have theirs, based on something a lot more substantial than “Thus saith Azathoth! Knoweth All, Telleth All! Geteth It Right, Onceth In A While!”
But, thanks for sharing…
The trouble as I see it is how do we ever know if the writer is just making it all up to write and sell a book?
I imagine that when some of my friends get to Heaven, they will want scientific proof that they are actually there.
Interesting read, I bet. I read a personal interview about the neurosurgeon and found him completely believable. But I’m not sure what he saw is indeed heaven, but perhaps something the Good Lord has bestowed in us physically that we don’t yet understand to make the passing easier. Perhaps like shock. I also admit I could be wrong.
However, I will say this. I have an acquaintance who experienced a NDE. And the one thing I cannot dispute is that he has never been the same again. Whatever he experienced has profoundly changed his life – so much so that to know him before and after is to hardly recognize him.
As far as pets in heaven? I had a dog tragically killed two years right in front of my eyes, in front of my house. I had my back turned, he took off after a squirrel and was hit by a passing car, as he had made a run with me to the store. I’ve never felt such grief, at least in large part as I blamed myself. I had never lost a beloved pet that way, my only lasting thought holding his broken body in my arms as my college age daughter wept uncontrollably with her head buried in his side. We get much too much attached to our pets – they are almost like my children.
Even as a Christian and one who has made that claim for many years, I was troubled by the absence and the miserable fear and emptiness I would never, ever see my ‘Sammy’ again.
I prayed for comfort, but none came. I read scripture, searched for advice – no comfort. One night and alone in my thoughts with an empty house and no pet for the first time in my adult life, I saw an interview with of all people, Johnny Carson, interviewing Billy Graham as guest. It had to be 30 years old.
Johnny asked Dr. Graham would there be golf in heaven. Seemed a silly question. But then Billy Graham said something like this, “I believe heaven is to not only stand in the incredible joy of the presence of Jesus, but to stand with all those good things that brought us great joy in an incorruptible form.”
Now that may sound trite to the unbeliever – I understand. There is nothing particularly profound about the statement. But from that minute forward, it was like a huge burden had been lifted from my shoulders – with a confidence I would indeed be with not only with loved ones and like mind, but my furry friends forever.
I expect my Sammy to be first one to meet me.
And yes, that is how I think God works – each of us having something of value to offer to the other.
Prissy, my beloved little girl, is getting on in years. She’ll be thirteen this Spring. When she passes on it will break my heart but knowing I will meet her at the Rainbow bridge softens the oncoming blow. I’ve actually made plans to be buried (when THAT time comes) with her leash. It’s the damnedest thing but I’ve always felt she was my guardian angel. I don’t want to get maudlin but like a great host of people I do believe in Heaven and she would be the icing on that cake, We’re gonna have a blast!
This is very touching. I think it’s correct to presume that your love bond with Sammy is not gone, just different. Invite other loved ones who have already passed to seek Sammy out on your behalf — and keep on intending to re-unite at the time of your passing. Our sense of loss can be put to work in an ongoing prayerful posture that envisions and welcomes reunion.
Facinating subject. The issue of dogs not having a soul is one premise that according to a Mormon Bishop refering to his church belief – is that soul is the one difference between human and the lower spieces. In essence Dogs do not have a soul.That is just enough – amoung other things To meke me glad that I am not a Mormon and at the same time feel dissapointed of the Mormons that I have met who are going to be deprived of the great boost to the spirit of having a Dog as a companion as part of their family member… if they managed to go to what they call their “Celestial Kingdom” where only Mormons in “good” standing can enter.
I think you misunderstood Mormon theology. Joseph Smith taught that ALL animals have a spirit and will be resurrected just like humans. Please research the faith a little more before you pass judgement.
My problem with NDE is that, like so-called miracles – such as weeping statues of Mary or the face of Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich – it draws our attention away from Jesus Christ. And it’s when our attention is drawn away from Him that we become most susceptible to deception and temptation.
As for the issue of Heaven… I believe it exists. Because my Saviour said that it does. And I trust Him.
Animals are the child angels put under our feet as a sign not one human being is eternally lost and if my flesh fall dead in the forest the child angels have permission to devour my flesh as a sign there is something far greater released from my fallen flesh and God can cloth this something with flesh again even if the child angels devour my bones
This is faith talk and i do not need science to prove this
The chasm between human and child angel is they can transcend at will but we lost our child innocence so we need great help for this transcendence and when it is happening it may feel like heaven but wisdom show it is purgatory
“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
–Acts 2:17
As the screen name says, check it out yourself. I read the book for myself. I was a teacher for 25 years and met one of the kindest and peaceful mothers I’ve ever known. She told me of her NDE when she was a teenager. I was in my 20′s then and her story affected my life. I’ve kept up with the research throughout the years and was disappointed when so many scientists/doctors projected that NDE’s were just chemical reactions when the brain was shutting down. I read the book about the young boy going to “heaven” and was struck by it in the way that it was a young boy’s sense of heaven… he supposedly sat on Jesus’s lap. In the book all of you are talking about, you have a doctor that never believed in NDE’s, was totally brain dead and as was stated above had nothing to gain personally from writing about his experience. He just came to know that this was his mission at this time in his life. He reminds me of the apostle Thomas… he would only believe if he could have physical evidence himself. I believe God speaks to us in many ways, forms, and languages. to some God speaks through art, to others in the beauty of sports or even nature. Some need something even more concrete. When my dad died he was in the throes of alzheimers and was speaking and laughing with his dead brother and sister. His sister had just passed a few days before and he knew nothing about it. My mother died 3 weeks later and generally was a pretty negative and fearful woman much of her life. Her last few days she hardly spoke, but kept looking at the ceiling and at the foot of her bed. At one point she asked,”Are you still here?” When she died and she had endured a lot of physical pain, she had the most peaceful look I’ve ever seen.
I could say more, but my experiences tell me there is more to life than what we experience most of the time here on earth. Proof of Heaven reaffirmed those beliefs because I too have doubted at times. I do think that this book might allow skeptics to take another look at NDE’s and to prod all to check it out for themselves.Perhaps more research will result in more evidence of consciousness existing after death.
Checkitout..
”Are you still here?” When she died and she had endured a lot of physical pain, she had the most peaceful look I’ve ever seen.
These words of yours prompted my response…
Let me tell you about my grandad and what my father said happened at his death according to the nurses who were witnesses. Grandad was in a hospice type of place dying of prostate cancer. He wasn’t eating anymore..Towards the end the family had been called to the bedside several times. Its the end they were told but each time he rallied and everybody went home. It almost became a comical “Boy Cries wolf” type of thing because it happened several times. Then he went into a coma and was really out of it for a long while. On the morning he finally checked out the story goes that he woke up and asked for something to eat saying he had a long journey to take. He had a big smile on his face, was quite excited and he kept saying over and over that he had seen an angel several of them actually, and everything was going to be alright. One of the angels was in the room with them he said and can’t you see it. He kept going on and on about the angels. While the nurses were trying to figure what they could give by mouth to an old man who hadn’t eaten in weeks he laid back with a smile on his face and expired.
And then this at the same time- On the morning of grandad’s passing about 6am I heard a noise in the apartment that awoke me. At the same time I had to go for a piss. The bathroom in this very old place was long and narrow with a very small window high up the wall near the ceiling. A so small window that reminded me of a pantry window. It was summer. The window was open, it was screened but the screen had a very small tear in it that I was meaning to fix. In the bathroom laying on the floor was a dead sparrow and the tear in the screen was very large now. I was astonished. The window and the slit was a very small target.But that was the only way the bird could have gotten in. When I got back into bed I said to my wife who fancied herself a bit of a clairvoyant and was pretty prophetic sometimes “you’ll never believe what I found in the bathroom” and I told her. Immediately she turned to me and said in a voice that was so full of certainty and conviction that my heart jumped into my throat. ” Your Grandad is dead. He just died…” I stared at her for a few seconds and then the phone rang. It was my father, all choked up. “Gramps is dead.” he said. “He just died a few minutes ago. They just called me”
I had a new respect for her after that.
I think there’s way more to life and death and spirits and things than we think we know. The appearance of this article about the book is very, very timely in my life. The love of my life for 35 years lays upstairs slowly dying from a cancer that can’t be cured or slowed down. While she still has her mind, it is failing a bit slower than the more visible manifestations of the body,I will ask her to read the book in the hopes it gives her some courage. And the Lord only
knows that I need a big dose of courage too.
Do get the book. I believe it will help both of you a great deal. It seems that sometimes people don’t want to talk to those who are near to them- friends and advisors of all kinds. Especially regarding faith and beliefs, we are concerned others will think us weak, or silly, or lacking somehow. These are very, very important concerns to people and yet there is no good way for folks who are not deeply involved in a religious tradition to express what they’re thinking and receive help in return. Certainly the medical profession is of little use in this regard, although Eben Alexander found that there were quite a few patients who had NDE, but did not discuss it with anyone, for fear they wouldn’t be believed.
A great many people believe “there is more than we think we know.” It’s just so terribly difficult to discuss. That’s why books such as this are important= you will realize you’re not alone in your thoughts and experiences. Books don’t judge you. I personally have one set of friends who think spiritual matters are just flaky and another set who thinks I shouldn’t look for evidence, that faith alone should suffice. Well, we all have our doubts and we all need courage- you should get it where you can, even if it’s just from a book. God bless you and your wife.
May God grant you peace. I thought Lewis’ “A Grief Observed” and “The Problem of Pain” were helpful at a similar time.
Alexander’s experiences do not constitute proof of heaven but testimony that there might be more to life than birth, copulation, and death, in the poet’s words. They certainly do not disprove heaven.
What is crucially important about this is that it happened to a world class neurosurgeon richly equipped to scientifically debunk it, and he couldn’t (he tried for years). The hostility to nde’s among the mainstream is pretty robust, but there are plenty of physicians, neuroscientists, and other medical researchers who are interested in looking into this professionally but do not wish to commit career suicide. For every credentialed scientist who has one such soul shaking experience (and they are accumulating–scientists are human too) and goes public with the results, investigating the field becomes more respectable. They may end up categorically reducing the experience to naturalistic causes, but they may strengthen the case for a transcendental element in these fascinating events. In either case, we will learn a great deal about what it means to be human.
Best,
Richard
Part of the problem is that it’s clinicians who recognize the reality of NDEs and their consequences; but academicians who do the research. I recall watching a video a year or two ago where the academic neuroscientist was offering up all kinds of physiologic explanations to explain away NDEs but the clinical cardiologist was basically saying, “I think you just don’t get it.”
You snagged it and there’s the rub and it won’t go away or be addressed anytime soon until we get past the science vs religion vs what consciousness is discussion that generally doesn’t exist.
All one has to do to accept that there untold number of solar systems with untold number of planets and a space that has no limits.
I am in complete awe of what we are and why we are here.
Religion with its cathedrals,pomp. gold sewn vestments ,gold rings selling penances.going to confession
We live in a minor solar system on a minor planet
I have no idea what the reason is why we exist and we will only find out,maybe, after we die.
Andrew I always enjoy your articles but for the record life has a lot of urgency and emergencies until you hit 63 or 91 then you often start to wonder about other possibilities. I too read “Proof” and enjoyed it and also don’t read this sort of thing but found some comfort at the thought of riding on a butterflies wing with a cool young gal who likes me with no conditions, sort of like my daughters and sons and mostly my loving wife.
Careful, Andrew Klavin,
It looks like God is hunting you down!
Bingo! Francis Thompson was right on the money with “The Hound of Heaven.”
Here is the late leading cardiologist, Dr. Lloyd Rudy, telling about the astonishing, incomprehensible things he saw in the operating room. The man clearly has no agenda, he’s just relating what he saw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL1oDuvQR08
Of all the things Rudy mentions, the Post-it notes are the most interesting. The rest the patient could have gleaned from hearing others discuss his case- but who’d mention a bunch of little yellow notes? In the second case, you can see him trying to control his emotions when discussing the “presence”- and then he laughs. Even a senior surgeon can’t discuss his thoughts on the matter without feeling self-conscious. That shows what a long way we have to go before it’s even acceptable to do research on this topic without being labeled a kook.
Are NDE researchers like Jeffrey Long, Pim Van Lommel, Bruce Greyson, and others considered kooks? I hope not. In any case, Rudy’s testimony has a totally undeniable impact.
I read the book and the title of this article captured it EXACTLY.
“Proof of Heaven” offers almost NO proof. Instead it is a somewhat more graphic than usual Near Death Experience but nothing really stupendous or spectacular.
For the record: “Proof” is something like- I floated above my body and saw the bald spot on the top of his head- or I saw the weeks lost credit card on the top of the nurses shelf. You know, stuff that you could NOT have seen laying on your back during surgery. There are MANY documentations of “PROOF” in NDE’s. Many!
This author gives us himself as “proof” but his basic argument is: I am a rich neurosurgeon so it must be true. All those other NDES’s- all of those THOUSANDS of people who have experienced this life changing event where people change their whole personality for the rest of their lives after “meeting Jesus” (or whatever)following a NDE do not mean as much as my experience. I call bullcrap.
There are a number of extremely compelling documentations of NDE’s- including this one! But “Proof of Heaven” isn’t…Still.
Just before my grandma passed away she said ” I see you”, “yeah, I will take your hand.” and then she was gone. I have always beleived in God and Jesus and Heaven and Hell as she taught me. She seemed happy to go with whomever she was talking to. The doctor said she was not in her right mind and having fantasies. I know in my heart she was talking to her mother because I just know. And whatever you believe that brought me comfort as she was the one that raised me. I have never had an NDE but having not had one I cannot critisize or totally question someone who has.
I read it some months back — and while I have read more compelling accounts, Dr. Alexander’s professional standing really does enhance its credibility.
This all sounds very nice folks but if one would spend a little time in the Word of God, you will be enlightened about what happens when you die.
Many believers hold the belief that upon death those who who belong to Christ are immediaetly received up into glory, commonly called heaven or paradise, to appear before the Father. There they are alive and conscious and have a joyous existancew with Him and their loved ones. Such a belief however, is contrary to the teachings in the Word of God. For if a person immediately after expiring is taken to eterna; bliss, why is the return of Christ and/or the resurrection necessary?
If after death the Christian is already alive and with Him, why should Christ return to gather His Church? If death is the entrance to eternal happiness with the Lord, then death is not an enemy but a welcomed friend. If death brings us into the immediate presence of Christ, then the Scriptures are void and our believing vain. Death is not our friend. I Corinithians 15:26 states “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”. I also suggest that you read Psalms 6:5; Psalms 146:4; Ecclesiastes 9:5,6, 10, and then read very closely what God says in I Thessalonians 4:16, 17.
“Proof of Heaven” and other such writings is another way for the Adversary to have you disregard what God says. Kind of like he, the Adversary did with Adam and Eve when he told them, “Surely thou shalt not die” which was directly contray to what God said about “do not eat (heed) of the fruit (words) from the tree of knowledge” which was and is Satan.
As it is written, so shall it be. Don’t blame me, I didn’t write the Bible but I have studied it for the past 40 years. God bless.
It’s like you think you’re a Magisterium or something.
Thank you for your kind words. However, your compliment, though appreciated,
is hardly applicable to the subject at hand. I would that you study God’s Word rather than make judgements for which you have no qualifications. Further exchanges are not necessary.
Interesting points, and since this thread has pretty much run out, excuse the wordiness, there’ll be few readers. So, I’ll toss in my 2 cents. This isn’t a crucial issue, like salvation is; therefore I think that grace allows some room for opinion about how soon after death a Believer lands in Heaven, or Paradise, or a non-believer in Hell. (The Bible does not mention any such place as, ‘purgatory.’)
Luke 19:16-31 Jesus speaking of the ‘rich man and Lazarus,’ when the rich man died, he “lifted up his eyes in hell,” and shouted across ‘a great gulf’ to Father Abraham, with Lazarus (who was immediately) in Paradise. The thief on the cross heard Jesus say, Luke 23:43, And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, *today* you will be *with Me* in Paradise.”
Phillipians 1:21-23 “For to me to live is (in) Christ, and to die is (my) gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell, but I (Paul) am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better…”
(For if a person immediately after expiring is taken to eternal bliss, why is the return of Christ and/or the resurrection necessary?If after death the Christian is already alive and with Him, why should Christ return to gather His Church? If death is the entrance to eternal happiness with the Lord, then death is not an enemy but a welcomed friend. If death brings us into the immediate presence of Christ, then the Scriptures are void and our believing vain.)
For the believer in Christ, despite the grieving of loved ones and friends, death brings a saved soul to G-d. Earthly separation is temporary, 1Thessalonians 4:13-15 But we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who are (dead), so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have (died). For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have (died).
Isaiah 26:19, “Your dead men shall live, together with my dead body (Isaiah) shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”
The return of the Lord, coming in the clouds will resurrect those “dead in Christ,” to reunite their earthly ‘body’ (out of the grave) with their spirit. Those “who are alive and remain,” will be changed on earth from mortal to immortal, caught up (after the dead Saints) to meet Christ. This is the “Rapture,” or “catching away,” the Bridegroom has come for His Bride (the Church.) Isaiah 26:20, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation (tribulation in Revelation) be past.”
The “Second Coming” follows 7 years of earthly tribulation, (Daniel’s end times vision) for to wage war: Revelation 19:13-16, “He is clothed in a robe dipped ind blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of G-d the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Revelations 4 is the last chapter mentioning Christ’s Church, implying that it has been removed from the earth, leaving those ‘left behind’ to experience what is also referred “The Birth Pangs.”
Some of your references were of the of the author’s own initiative, such as when David or Solomon struggled with discouragement, ill-health, or defeat, i.e. “truly written.” The Book of Job, the oldest Book in scripture, records Job’s lamenting his predicament. The Bible records also what is termed, “written Truth,” (precepts spoken/recorded by the prophets writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.)
Hence the difference, not to bad to navigate for any serious student of The Word.
And, finally the NDE of Mr. Alexander may be of a demonic source. 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” II Corinthians 11:14, “and no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
The kind of messages with which people return after experiencing an NDE should be examined using the written Word of G-d. Alexander stating that, “being good gets a person into heaven,” is contrary to the Bible, John 14:6, Jesus said, “I AM the Way, The Truth, and The Life.”
Besides, what basis can we agree on to define “good?” Some religious believe they’re being ‘good,’ when they fly planeloads of innocent people into buildings…some believe they are being ‘good,’ when they worship cows, don’t eat meat, or don’t kill insects. Some believe it’s good to worship one’s ancestors, or offer a human sacrifice. Who gets to decide what’s ‘good?’
G-d does. Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgement.” However, if you believe that a period of time ensues before judgement takes place; okay…we’ll agree to disagree.
What A.J. Arberry said:
———————————————————
Once this light has shone into the heart, no darkness can ever overcome it. I believe that light to be a reality, because I have myself experienced it. I believe it also to be the Truth, and I think it not inappropriate to call it God. I am an academic scholar, but I have come to realize that pure reason is unqualified to penetrate the mystery of God’s light, and may, indeed, if too fondly indulged, interpose an impenetrable veil between the heart and God. The world in which we live is certainly full of shadows. I have had my full share of personal sorrows and anxieties, and I am as acutely aware as the next man of the appalling dangers threatening mankind. But because I have experienced the Divine Light, I need not wish for any higher grace. I have now for some years resumed my Christian worship, in which I find great comfort, being no longer troubled by the intellectual doubts generated by too great a concern for dogma. I know that Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Parsi—all sorts and conditions of men—have been, are and will always be irradiated by that Light “kindled by a Blessed Tree, an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West”—the universal tree of the Truth and Goodness of God. For God, being the One Universal, has an infinite solicitude and love of each particular, and suffers His Light to shine into every human heart open to receive it.
@saul, thank you for letting so many really hear the word of G_d. Hopefully some actually went back to their bible to research. I watched the Dr. interview for about 4 to 5 minutes and could tell the book was based on false premise. His statement followed what you said that if we were good we would get into heaven. So by our own measure we would make it into heaven. The one thing you explained in the end is very simple to understand but no one would want to admit. We do not get to decide what qualifies as to right or wrong, if we did we would always be right and every one else would be wrong. We only get the choice to decide to obey or not. And like the band Rush says, if you chose not to decide you still have made a choice. (Sorry, I just had to throw that in.)