While writing my paper this past week I casually was talking to my mother about the topic of soul and after life. She told me about a brain surgeon who woke up from coma and how he now believed in scientific evidence that there is consciousness after death.... here is some detail....
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Afterlife exists says top brain surgeon
Afterlife exists says top brain surgeon
"Dr Eben Alexander, a Harvard-educated neurosurgeon, fell into a coma for seven days in 2008 after contracting meningitis. During his illness Dr Alexander says that the part of his brain which controls human thought and emotion "shut down" and that he then experienced "something so profound that it gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death." In an essay for American magazine Newsweek, which he wrote to promote his book Proof of Heaven, Dr Alexander says he was met by a beautiful blue-eyed woman in a "place of clouds, big fluffy pink-white ones" and "shimmering beings."
Why does it make the news when some British brain dead doctor wakes up and says he saw heaven but when Jesus, in front of witnesses, died and rose again, in front of witnesses, the world yawns? Just think about that for a minute.
I am sad for the doctor. And he wrote a whole book called "Proof of Heaven" ??!! Jesus wrote a whole book - the bible - which is proof of heaven.
The man's medically induced, hospital-drug involved experience in no way proves heaven. He experienced something. It wasn't heaven. The man's brain was swelled up, neurologically destroyed for a period, and drugs were keeping him alive. Anything could be happening in his brain at that moment! His experience is proof of nothing.
If you notice all the people who say they have been brought to heaven, their visions do not line up with what the bible says. The doctor saw cotton-candy clouds, and women angels (not biblical) but NOT Jesus? If he is saved, the man would be with Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8a). If he was not saved, he would not be in heaven.
What did Ezekiel see? God (Ezek. 1:26)
What did Daniel see? God (Dan. 7:9)
What did Isaiah see? God ((Isa. 6:1)
What did Jacob see? God (Gen. 28:12, 13)
What did Stephen see? Jesus (Acts 7:55)
What did John see? God (Rev. 4:2)
What did Micaiah see? God. (2 Chron. 18:18)
What did Paul see? He wasn't allowed to say!
Not only do these trips to heaven not line up with the bible, they do not line up with each other. No one, like Colton Burpo or Don Piper or this doctor etc., saw the same things as each other. They each saw different things.
Now satan, who is a liar and the father if lies, wants to delude someone, wouldn't you think he could give an unsaved person a vision and delude them into thinking they saw heaven and are headed there? That they are all set and do not need Jesus for salvation? Which is more likely: Jesus giving tours of heaven which differ from each other, or satan, father of lies deluding people into thinking they are saved by giving them a false vision?
Here is a good 15-min video of a discernment minister named Justin Peters explaining why these 'visits to the afterlife' and visions of heaven are false.
"Dr Eben Alexander, a Harvard-educated neurosurgeon, fell into a coma for seven days in 2008 after contracting meningitis. During his illness Dr Alexander says that the part of his brain which controls human thought and emotion "shut down" and that he then experienced "something so profound that it gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death." In an essay for American magazine Newsweek, which he wrote to promote his book Proof of Heaven, Dr Alexander says he was met by a beautiful blue-eyed woman in a "place of clouds, big fluffy pink-white ones" and "shimmering beings."
Why does it make the news when some British brain dead doctor wakes up and says he saw heaven but when Jesus, in front of witnesses, died and rose again, in front of witnesses, the world yawns? Just think about that for a minute.
I am sad for the doctor. And he wrote a whole book called "Proof of Heaven" ??!! Jesus wrote a whole book - the bible - which is proof of heaven.
The man's medically induced, hospital-drug involved experience in no way proves heaven. He experienced something. It wasn't heaven. The man's brain was swelled up, neurologically destroyed for a period, and drugs were keeping him alive. Anything could be happening in his brain at that moment! His experience is proof of nothing.
If you notice all the people who say they have been brought to heaven, their visions do not line up with what the bible says. The doctor saw cotton-candy clouds, and women angels (not biblical) but NOT Jesus? If he is saved, the man would be with Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8a). If he was not saved, he would not be in heaven.
What did Ezekiel see? God (Ezek. 1:26)
What did Daniel see? God (Dan. 7:9)
What did Isaiah see? God ((Isa. 6:1)
What did Jacob see? God (Gen. 28:12, 13)
What did Stephen see? Jesus (Acts 7:55)
What did John see? God (Rev. 4:2)
What did Micaiah see? God. (2 Chron. 18:18)
What did Paul see? He wasn't allowed to say!
Not only do these trips to heaven not line up with the bible, they do not line up with each other. No one, like Colton Burpo or Don Piper or this doctor etc., saw the same things as each other. They each saw different things.
Now satan, who is a liar and the father if lies, wants to delude someone, wouldn't you think he could give an unsaved person a vision and delude them into thinking they saw heaven and are headed there? That they are all set and do not need Jesus for salvation? Which is more likely: Jesus giving tours of heaven which differ from each other, or satan, father of lies deluding people into thinking they are saved by giving them a false vision?
Here is a good 15-min video of a discernment minister named Justin Peters explaining why these 'visits to the afterlife' and visions of heaven are false.
What are your prospectives? I know myself personally got to experience the after effect of someone waking up after visiting "heaven" this past summer with my grandma. I posted in an early blog a youtube video that was made by my cousin a reporter.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvSuPrBEtP8
Lauren this is very interesting! There are many stories of people having a similar experience and waking up saying they saw Jesus or saw Heaven. There is one book called "Seven Minutes in Heaven" and it is about a person dying for seven minutes and coming back to life, but telling a story like this. I have not read it, but I hear it is a must read :)
ReplyDeleteThis was an extremely interesting post and I enjoyed it very much. It is interesting to see the different stories that people tell when they claim to be in heaven, but then re-awake. I personally believe that heaven is a place where we will be united with Christ. But then again I do not know what heaven is like and therefore believe that any opinion on the subject is not credible unless you are one these people who have died but came back to life. Even then these people have only seen a minute part of what heaven COULD be like. Again, we will never know. This is such a touchy subject because there are so many opinions on heaven, but in the end no one honestly knows what it is like. I go on faith and faith alone. Science can only go so far, and then faith takes over.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post. The fact that the person is a Neuro scientist gives it some credibility than the average Joe. But I also know someone personally that has had a similar eexperience. And the storys are similar in that they both were in a big open area with clouds or something similar. But because the stories aren't exactly the same and don't mach up with the bible this disproves that there is a heaven? Who's to say after death isn't a process along with death it's self. Example everyone dies a different way but at the end they all are at the same end state, deceased. After death people could take a different journey to heaven but will all end at the same place. The people who die and come back may not have completed the process/journey to heave but only scraped the surface. So can you really disprove heave on these basis?
ReplyDeleteI agree! I think that the afterlife is different for each person. We don't live and die the same way so why would we reach the afterlife along the same path? I think that the afterlife would be a personal experience and for the bible experience to show different accounts may support that rather than discredit the neurosurgeon's account.
DeleteI think everyone has the right to interpret their ideas about the afterlife and how they arrived at their conclusions. I think that the media often chooses what is considered noteworthy strictly for increased readership levels. For many people, Christ dying on the cross and what the Bible has to offer is"old news" and does not spark controversy therefore it is not addressed in the mainstream. Yet, with articles like this one from the doctor, it does create the opportunities for discussions about the afterlife and therefore hopefully raises people's awareness of their own beliefs or lack thereof. The trick is to initiate the conversation beyond the headline which I believe is a form of witnessing which, if you are a Christian, we are all called to do.
ReplyDeleteI found this post to be very intriguing. I agree with Mary Kay, I believe that everyone has their own opinions about after-life and what will happen.
ReplyDeleteAlong the lines of the neurosurgeon who claims to have seen Heaven, why is it a big deal that he "saw Heaven" but when Jesus died and rose again it just gets looked over? I still don't understand this. On top of that, the neurosurgeon can write a book called Proof of Heaven and get all kinds of media attention over something he thinks he saw, but when Jesus wrote The Bible which is actual proof of Heaven it isn't a big deal? I'm with you Lauren it doesn't make sense to me either, but I really enjoyed this post.
I would also like to share a personal experience with the whole "dying and being brought back to life" topic. In my opinion, I think that sometimes people fake seeing the light or whatever just for attention. My dad has had many surgeries in his lifetime and with three of his surgeries his heart has actually stopped and they had to bring him back to life and get it beating again on its own. I have asked my dad about his experiences and if he ever saw anything or felt anything weird and he said no. He said he didn't even know what was going on until he woke up and they told him what happened. He said that one time he woke up and his chest was hurting and he was in a little bit of pain and the doctor told him that it was probably because he was standing over top of my dad beating on his chest to try and get his heart to start again. My dad laughs it off now because it is done and over with, however, I don't think he has had a surgery since.
Chelsea- I agree with you. Some people just say they saw Heaven to get attention. Although I have never asked my parents or anyone in my family if they have experienced this, I believe that it does happen. I attend a Church where we believe, without a doubt, that there is an after-life and that it is with Jesus. In my opinion I feel like it is God's way of communincating with humans. Everyone does have their own opinion about the after-life, just like Mary Kay had said, but I do think some people say they have seen Heaven to just get involved in the media and to be famous.
ReplyDeleteRob and Jeramie--> You both bring up and interesting point about the idea of heaven and how there has been multiple interpretations of how you get there or what you see or how it feels. With that being said Is it comforting to hear these types of "heaven" stories? Does it make death less scary? I mean this all depends on your religious background also... I know after seeing and hearing what my grandma went through (as in waking up stating it's a miracle and then retelling the story)it made me a little less fearful of the idea of death.
ReplyDeleteChelsea--> You bring up a valid point about making it up for attention... I mean it sounds terrible but there are people out there who will do anything for the money...In relation to your dad... the nurse that took care of my grandma and who experienced the with me and my family my grandma waking up and just staring at the ceiling and saying its a miracle also had heart surgery where her heart was stopped she too wanted to experience going to heaven but did not... I remember she said to us that Grandma was one special lady she was chosen to receive such a wonderful gift that she could share with others to help people not be afraid to die... again this falls back on your religion but could it be a type of "Gift from God"?
This is a little off subject but I know a lady from my son's elementary school who always had the knack to contact the right person, or be in the right place at the right time when it came to helping out those in need. She is not well off and not worldly but when she feels something needs to be done she has the ability to get it done just by being a vessel of God. I always felt like she had a special connection with God - that he uses her in a special way - perhaps because of her unwavering faith. Maybe in this way, she also has a special "Gift from God". Maybe there are some among us that God singles out to experience a more divine perspective and those that have seen a slice of heaven may just be members of that special group. I know this lady is an inspiration to me!
DeleteLauren- I think it is comforting but at the same time I do not know if it was really heaven that they saw. My faith leads me to believe that they did see maybe a piece of heaven. However, I will say that if these people were have really meant to see heaven, wouldn't they have died and not woke up? This is something that will get answered when we die, at least in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteVery true... and the fact that some "see heaven" and others don't seems to be a mystery... Wont be able to know these answers until we die
DeleteThe reason people don't really believe in the Bible as much is because its hard to prove anything in the Bible and for the most part it is going purely on blind faith. That is a concept a lot of people have trouble with. When it comes to this doctor i also have trouble believing what he says. 1, he could very well just have made it up to try and gain attention and money which it has seemed to done both. 2,whose to say it wasn't a dream like event. i just can never be sold on people saying they see things or events take place that could easily be made up. I would rather have some form of physical proof. However it may have been more comforting to him to convince himself there is an after life because the topic of death can make a lot of people very uneasy and im sure being in a coma made him have deeper thought about death.
ReplyDeleteI think that in our physical world, it is very interesting for people to be arguing over something that we can't prove. Our lives are based off of facts and science and reason and physical aspects. When talking about the afterlife, no one person can tell you what happens because to die means that you lose this physical world. For many different religions there are Gods and it is through different beliefs that people construct their thoughts of life after death. There are many stories about people being saved because of medicine and science and granted the gift to live longer. I believe that this is an amazing advancement in our physical world. I do not believe however that these people that are "brought back from the dead" were actually dead. I think that our definition of death should be modified because if they are able to "live" again, they were never dead. I think that life after death can only be something we believe in, wether its because of our religion, faith or just thoughts in general. I do not think that any person can tell another person what it is like because no two people share exact thoughts and beliefs and no one can experience it and still tell the story in the physical world. Wether one believes in the Bible or some other religious book, is their own personal choice, but they must also not doubt or look down upon others that don't. Like Tim said, a big part of religion lies solely on ones faith.
ReplyDeleteLauren, you know that I've heard the story inside and out by multiple people of your family. I even saw the video before you even told me about it because of Corey. Both the video and the emotion of each member who has told me the story is very inspirational. I, too, agree with Rob on this. I believe your grandmother did experience heaven, but only a peice of it. And from what I've heard, this one peice was more than anyone could ever dream of. It lead me to believe that much more of what to look forward to after we die.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the original post. I don't think that there is any one set heaven and that it differs for each and every person. I don't think the devil lead these people off the beaten path. I think that if these people how have died and come back to life having experienced something out of body, and believe more in a higher power and the result of a good existence, who are we to say that for them, this is true. If it made them more faithful, I have no problem with them describing these experiences as heaven.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I disagree with this article. Though the doctor denies it, it seems like wishful thinking to me. It seems very stereotypical...but hey, who am I to say what heaven is or isn't like? My view of heaven doesn't match this guy's view, but I'm not going to say it wasn't real to him.
ReplyDeleteEven so, I don't believe those who 'kinda died' or had a near-death expereince really saw heaven; I believe only being dead, and not be able to return, will truly reveal heaven; otherwise, you are still trapped in the physical world and therefore influenced by physical experience. But I do think they may have experienced something; even if it wasn't really heaven, I agree that if it improved their faith or comforted them in the face of death, then it isn't a bad thing.
An incredibly interesting article! I have actually had a close friend whose grandmother had a very similar experience roughly 7 years ago. She was in rather bad health and had to go in for a surgery which she needed to be sedated for. Halfway through the surgery she had somehow managed to wake up. She then looked up at everyone and said aloud "Keep doing what you need to, God told me it wasn't time yet." Now, there is always room for debate here, but I have heard this from my friend's grandmother herself. As quiet a woman as she is, she was more than stern and completely serious about her experience, which I will never be able to forget.
ReplyDeleteWow that is so interesting! It's funny how certain things can happen to people and not to others. Again it's sort of like a gift if that makes sense... I'm sure she scared the crap out of the anesthesiologist when she woke up in the middle of surgery and said that!
DeleteI thought this was very cool and pretty interesting. I understand both arguments. I mean could it be possible for the drugs that kept him alive to have given him these lucid-like dreams of what he believed to be heaven. Also whose to say that that was the case and that he didn't actually experience some type of afterlife. Realistically we will never know for sure if what he saw was real or not Ii suppose we just have to experience it our selves.
ReplyDeleteUgg.. who wrote this stuff? The article just rails on the surgeron because his vaugue precieved image of heaven doesn't align with the aurthors vaugue precieved image of heaven. It's wierd when the aurthor offers bibical verses as evidence. The verses themselves are nowhere near detailed enough to be considered a definitive image, and the aurthor acts like each verse supports the other ones. It is well known that the preception of heaven varies throughout the bible with a huge difference between the Old and New testament.
ReplyDelete