Oct 30, 2023

A Movie that Talks About Something We All Must Face

A very unusual movie just came out that I feel every adult should see. Its about a subject – death – that is very unpopular, and practically never talked about in daily life; yet a reality we are will face: death. This is a movie about life “after” death, and that there is now strong evidence that “you” continue after death. That there is in fact an “after life”, a life after the life you have in this world.

People are so busy with the business of daily life that they really never stop and think about their mortality – that their life had a beginning, and will eventually have an end. That end might be very sudden, as with a sudden accident, or slow – as in suffering through a long illness and finally passing away in a hospital. But death is something that we all will face.

And so the obvious question arises when you think about this: does life continue after death? Or does the evidence support the notion that there is no life after death – that our life just stops with the cessation of brain and heart function, and we simply no longer “exist”. Is life after death wishful thinking, as a lot of atheists insist, or is there real evidence that life continues on after death, and that “you” is really not your brain, but that you have a brain. Are we all just “biological animals”, as some would have us believe? Or is the real “you” a soul, that you have a body, and that you are really a soul and “spirit”?

The Evidence Presented for Life After Death

The movie brings together stories from people who have had what is called an NDE (Near Death Experience). The had an accident or terrible illness, clinically died – stopped breathing, no heart beat, no brain waves – for a period of a few minutes to in some cases 30 or 40 minutes – and then were revived. During this time their brain was “dead” – there was no measurable brain activity- yet when these people were revived, they had memories of …

• What the doctors were doing in the operating room to try to revive them
• People in the room, items on the wall, what was being doing to try to revive them (things they could not have know unless they were conscious)
• Being swept into another world, a world of light, incredible beauty
• A place “not of this world”, where colors were more intense, smells were more amazing, where they said they felt more alive that ever

These Near Death Experiences have been reported from people all over the globe – across counties and continents, across cultures, across all age groups, and across all religious practices. Over 5,000 NDEs have been documented and cataloged. And the interesting thing is, although every one of these experiences is personal and unique, there are some common threads that you find when examining most of these NDEs. Typically people report…

• A sense that they have died
• An out of body experience – they typically rise above their body and look down at others in the room
• Going through a form of “tunnel”
• A sudden movement toward and immersion in a powerful white light, but not a hurtful light, and warm and beautiful light
• Meeting a being or beings of light who communicate with the person telepathetically
• Seeing loved ones that they have known, greeting them
• A sense of peace, well-being, and of being loved and accepted
• Being presented with a “life review” consisting of significant events in their life
• Approaching a border or decision point, where they are told they have more to do in their life, and they can’t stay; this is often accompanied by a desire not to return to their body
• Suddenly finding themselves back in their body

Are All NDE Experiences Pleasant?

No. The movie points out that some experiences – about 23% of those reported – were very dark, and unsettling to the person. The persons sharing these types of experiences had no belief in God, and were under the impression that there was no life after death, and that they would just “cease to exist”. But what they found was something totally different. They did continue conscious after death, they entered a dark place, and in many cases had a sense of falling into an abyss.

In some cases they called out to God in a moment of desperation, and a light suddenly shown above them; they stopped falling and were pulled up into the light.

Were Near Death Experiences Reported in the Past?

NDEs are not new. There is evidence that many in the near and ancient past have had these same NDEs. although for obvious reasons the documentation is sparse. Today we have publishing, books, the internet, and so there are tremendous resources available to capture and document these experiences from people all around the world.

However, there are some example of ancient NDEs. One obvious example is what the Apostle Paul wrote about in describing his NDE:

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were too sacred for words, things that man is not permitted to tell.” (2 Cor 12)

• Based on the context, its likely that this happened when Paul was stoned to death (he recounts this elsewhere)
• He says he was “caught up” into the “third heaven” (the third heaven is that which is above our outside the observable universe, it – the heavenly sphere).
• He mentions he was “caught up into Paradise” (another word for heaven)
• He heard things that were beyond our language to express

Is there Evidence for a Soul that May Continue After Death?

According to an article “Does the Soul Exist? Evidence Says ‘Yes'” in Psychology Today, by Robert Lanza, MD, published Dec 21, 2011, new scientific theory recognizes life’s spiritual dimension. Key points in his article:

• Traditionally, science has dismissed the soul as an object of human belief.
• While science has explained some of the functioning of the human brain, the reason for one’s subjective experience remains mysterious.
• Biocentrism and other scientific theories have started to challenge the old physico-chemical paradigm to ask: “Is there a soul?”

As Kant pointed out over 200 years ago, everything we experience — including all the colors, sensations, and objects we perceive — are nothing but representations in our mind. Space and time are simply the mind’s tools for putting it all together. Now, to the amusement of idealists, scientists are beginning dimly to recognize that those rules make existence itself possible. Indeed, the experiments above (See details in the article) suggest that objects only exist with real properties if they are observed. The results not only defy our classical intuition but suggest that a part of the mind — the soul — is immortal and exists outside of space and time. For more, see the article “Does the Soul Exist? Evidence Says ‘Yes'” in Psychology Today, by Robert Lanza, MD, published Dec 21, 2011.

Conclusions about the Movie Life After Death

I feel this is an important movie for adults to see, since they will not be able to switch the channel, or be diverted into something else, but be faced with considering some various important questions: is there life after death, or not? If the evidence points to life after death, what does that mean to me? What does that mean for the way I an living my life? Is there accountability for the actions I perform, or fail to perform, while I am living this life?

Sources:

Link to Angel Studios movie summary: https://www.angel.com/movies/after-death

Video with Dinesh D’Souza explaining the evidence for life after death: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u645agyAczc

Near Death Experience Research Foundation: https://www.nderf.org/

Wikipedia – Near Death Experiences: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience#Clinical_research_in_cardiac_arrest_patients

Article “Does the Soul Exist? Evidence Says ‘Yes'” in Psychology Today, by Robert Lanza, MD, published Dec 21, 2011

Book by Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, “You are Not Your Brain” – Presentation – https://youtu.be/qcrGlUHlu4M?si=c0Z3IL4dEoJHbmWX

Books on NDEs, or life after death:

“90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life” by Don Piper and Cecil Murphey is an inspiring account of Piper’s miraculous recovery from a fatal car crash.

“To Heaven and Back: A Doctor’s Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again: A True Story” by Mary C. Neal narrates the extraordinary near-death experience of Dr. Neal during a kayaking accident.

“My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life” by Howard Storm provides a unique near-death experience account. As a self-proclaimed atheist, Storm found himself in a terrifying encounter with evil beings after his near-death experience.

“Heaven, an Unexpected Journey: One Man’s Experience with Heaven, Angels, and the Afterlife” by Jim Woodford and Dr. Thom Gardner is a captivating account of Woodford’s afterlife experience. As an airline pilot and businessman, he experienced a profound existential emptiness despite his material success.

“Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife”, by Eben Alexander tells the extraordinary story of Dr. Alexander, a neurosurgeon whose own brain was attacked by a rare illness. During his seven-day coma, he journeyed beyond this world, encountering an angelic being and speaking with the Divine source of the universe.

“Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back”, by Todd Burpo, Lynn Vincent presents the amazing account of four-year-old Colton Burpo, who visits heaven during emergency surgery.