Neurobiologist's Near-Brain-Dead Experience Convinces Him of Heaven's Reality

Dr. Eben Alexander is a Harvard-trained neurobiologist with impeccable credentials as a scientist and researcher. And until he fell into a coma from which his colleagues thought he'd never return, he was also a religious skeptic. What happened to Alexander during that coma changed everything for him, however, turning him into a believer about heaven. In his recent book Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, Alexander tells what he experienced while in the coma and what conclusions he subsequently drew.
On November 10, 2008, Alexander woke up with a splitting headache that quickly devolved into seizures. He was rushed to the hospital where he worked, and his medical colleagues soon concluded that E. coli had attacked his brain in a very rare form of bacterial meningitis. He soon fell into a coma, and his colleagues gave him a near-zero chance of survival. They further said that even if he did survive, he'd be a brain-damaged shell of his former self.
"The part of my brain responsible for all higher neurological function went every bit as dark as the lower portion of New York City did during Hurricane Sandy," Alexander later wrote in a Newsweek article.
For seven days, Alexander remained comatose. Then while his doctors considered discontinuing treatment, he woke up. He went on to make a full recovery, something his colleagues said was an impossible medical miracle.
In his near-brain-dead state, Alexander found himself in a place of beauty, peace and unconditional love -- heaven. As he later explained, as a medical doctor, he was well aware of patients who'd had near-death experiences, but said that the real difference between their experiences and his own was that his brain was, "essentially, deader than theirs."
"Most near-death experiences (NDE)," wrote Alexander in Newsweek, "are the result of momentary cardiac arrest. The heart stops pumping blood to the brain, and the brain, deprived of oxygen, ceases being able to support consciousness." But that -- as Alexander said he'd have been the first to point out before his own experience -- doesn't mean the brain is truly dead. He went on to say that many doctors feel that the term "near-death experience" is "essentially a misnomer. Most people who had them were in bad shape, but they weren't really near death."
Alexander, however, was really near death. "My synapses -- the spaces between the neurons of the brain that support the electrochemical activity that makes the brain function -- were not simply compromised during my experience. They were stopped," he said. "Only isolated pockets of deep cortical neurons were still sputtering, but no broad networks capable of generating anything like what we call 'consciousness.'"
In other words, Alexander claims that all previous medical explanations for his experience could not apply in his case.
The doctors caring for Alexander have told him that according to all the brain tests they performed during his coma, "there was no way that any of the functions including vision, hearing, emotion, memory, language or logic could possibly have been intact," Alexander said. "That's why, just as I now no longer doubt the existence of the world of expanded consciousness that NDE subjects, mystics, meditators and countless other people have described for centuries, I also feel that my experience adds something new to those stories. It supplies a definitive new form of evidence that consciousness can exist beyond the body."
Eventually, Alexander wrote his book about all of this, Proof of Heaven, which quickly rose to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list for nonfiction after only four weeks of publication. It is his story not only of his medical miracle, but of his experience of heaven.
Alexander believes that his vision of heaven could not have happened within his physical brain. In his book, he covers the nine leading scientific explanations that he and numerous colleagues put forth after his coma to account for his afterlife vision -- and he scientifically dismisses each one. He remains convinced of the existence of heaven and of a loving, personal God. His conclusions are not completely in line with the Christian testimony, for he now also believes in the reality of psychic experiences, such as telepathic communication. But his dominant assertion remains: His experience while comatose with his brain shut down is the proof of heaven's existence.
"I am as deep a believer in science, and the truth-respecting values that created it, as I ever was," Alexander wrote in Newsweek. "As such, I want to affirm again -- not just to my fellow scientists but to everyone -- that there is a larger, more real world out there."
Alexander is not the only medical professional to have been persuaded about heaven through a personal experience. Dr. Mary Neal's book To Heaven and Back tells a similar account of a kayaking accident that left her -- for all biological purposes -- dead. This happened to her in 1999. Although she was not a believer at the time, the experience and subsequent events of her life have caused her to become a follower of Jesus.
More on this story can be found at these links:
The Science of Heaven. Newsweek
Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife
The Big Questions
1. What role do heaven and an afterlife play in the whole biblical account? What role do they play in Christianity?
2. What role do heaven and an afterlife play in your personal faith? Can a person actually be a Christian without believing in eternal life? Why or why not?
3. If you've had questions about the existence of heaven, are you any more convinced about its reality because of Alexander's experience? Why or why not?
4. How do Easter and the resurrection of Jesus impact your understanding of and belief in eternal life?
5. Does the hope of entering heaven serve as a motivation for living faithfully now? Would you serve Jesus even if there were no promise of eternal life? Why or why not?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Daniel 12:2
Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (For context, read 12:1-4.)
It often comes as a surprise to people who don't regularly read the Bible to learn that in the Old Testament, there are very few references to the resurrection of the dead. In fact, in addition to Daniel 12:2, quoted above, the only other clear attestations to it in the OT are Isaiah 25:6-10a and Isaiah 26:19. (There are a few other verses that can be interpreted as references to the resurrection of the dead, including Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6; Job 19:25-26; Psalm 73:24; Hosea 6:1-3.). However, the three clear references are quite late in the timeline of the OT and thus suggest that the resurrection of the dead to an eternal life was not part of the early formulations of Israel's faith.
Before these later developments in thought about afterlife, the OT does speak about death, of course, which was a reality of existence. But those who died were said to be "gathered to his [or her] people" (Genesis 49:33) or to descend into "Sheol" (Psalm 139:8), which was thought of as a repository where the dead went; it was marked by neither reward nor punishment. A "good death" in the earlier OT era was one where the person had lived in submission to God's rule and his or her normal life span had not been cut short (for example, Genesis 25:7-11).
The OT includes many other mentions of "heaven" or "the heavens" (for example, Genesis 1:1; 7:19), but in those cases, the term refers to one of the three cosmological divisions of the universe: the heavens, the earth and the waters under the earth (Exodus 20:4). In that usage, heaven/the heavens (sometimes called the "firmament") usually meant the visible sky, as in Genesis 1:8, but also occasionally meant the dwelling place of God, as in Psalm 11:4.
Questions: Why do you think the concept of eternal life beyond death for faithful human beings probably developed so slowly among people who were called to serve God? Does it surprise you that the Hebrew scriptures do not have many references to eternal life? What does this say about the nature of faithfulness with regard to God's people in ages past? What sort of discipleship would you practice if you did not believe in an afterlife?
Matthew 6:19-21
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (No additional context needed.)
By the time of Christ, the resurrection of the dead had become a common conviction among many Jews (see, for example, Mark 12:18-27). In the verses above, we see Jesus himself referring quite plainly to heaven. The fact that he doesn't explain what he meant by "heaven" suggests that he knew his hearers understood the term. The way Jesus uses "heaven" here also indicates that he considers it a future destination for those who have kept their priorities about "treasure" straight.
Questions: What will be valuable in heaven that isn't valuable here? Name as many things as you can. What do you imagine heavenly treasure is like? What do you treasure most in this life? How do you think you will experience these treasures in the next life? What are you most willing to give up in the next life?
John 14:2
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (For context, read 14:1-7.)
This is the clearest statement from Jesus about the next life that is recorded in the gospels. It has been interpreted in at least two ways:
1) When Jesus refers to "many dwelling places" in his Father's house, he is connecting to some common thought in his day that after death, people would be allotted a better or worse "location" in eternity depending on how virtuously they had lived their lives. But Jesus introduces a better understanding: After death, the place of Christians is with him -- with Christ himself. Thus he adds, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also" (v. 3).
2) The verse above is sometimes interpreted to mean that in the Father's house, one "dwelling place" is this life and another "dwelling place," which Jesus goes to prepare, is eternal life. Death, then, for the faithful, is stepping through the doorway from one dwelling place into the next.
Questions: Which of these two interpretations best explains Jesus' statement for you? Why?
2 Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (For context, read 4:16--5:10.)
Here the apostle Paul makes a firm statement about the resurrected body and its eternal home.
Questions: Why do you think Paul uses "tent" to describe our earthly bodies and "house ... eternal in the heavens" to describe our heavenly body? Do you view heaven as a "fixed" existence, where nothing changes? Does the idea of a new "building" suggest to you that there might be change in heaven, growth and movement?
Hebrews 11:16
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them. (For context, read 11:1-16.)
The "they" who "desire a better country ... a heavenly one" includes many Old Testament people, including Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah. Interestingly, these people all lived in the era before there was any developed understanding of heaven and eternal life. But here in the New Testament, the author of Hebrews includes these faithful people from that earlier era in the promise of eternal life and says they have a place in the heavenly city God has prepared for them. In other words, the mere fact that these people lived before the concept of eternal life had been established didn't exclude them from heaven. Rather, their faith in God includes them in eternity.
Questions: Is our faith directed toward the future or the present? Explain your answer. We often refer to someone who has died as having gone on to a better place. Do you think of heaven as "more of the same," like your present existence, but richer? How would heaven, in your opinion, be better than the present world? What would be changed?
For Further Discussion
1. Comment on Hebrews 11:1 as it relates to eternal life: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (NIV).
2. What have you sacrificed, economically, physically, or otherwise, in order to be faithful? Was this at least in part because of your belief in heaven?
3. How many ideas about heaven that are not biblically supported can you find in the following story?
    A rich man died and went up to the pearly gates for admission into heaven. When he got there, he asked St. Peter if he could have a special dispensation to go back to earth just long enough to gather some of his wealth and bring it into heaven with him. St. Peter said that this was a very unusual request, because nobody considered wealth of much use in heaven. But the man pleaded with Peter to check with the Higher Authority to see if permission could possibly be obtained. So Peter did, and to his surprise, word came back from God that the man would be allowed to return to earth just long enough to pack one suitcase full of whatever of his wealth he could fit into it.
    So the man was returned to earth for this brief errand. When he got there, he considered all the forms of his wealth. His cash would be no good in heaven, since everything there was free. His stocks and bonds were no good there because the companies they were invested in didn't operate in heaven. His property was too big to fit into a suitcase, as was his collection of rare paintings. Finally, he decided to bring some of his gold bullion, because gold holds its value so well. So he got a really big suitcase, and loaded it with gold bars from his safe.
    Then he returned to heaven lugging the suitcase. When he got to the pearly gates, St. Peter said, "Now, before you go in, I've got to check your suitcase to see that you aren't bringing anything other than wealth." "No problem," said the man, and he put the suitcase on St. Peter's desk. Peter opened it and a surprised look flashed on his face. In fact, Peter was dumbfounded. Finally, he said to the man, "You brought pavement?"
4. Respond to this, from a TWW team member's sermon:
    The Apostles' Creed states "I believe in ... the resurrection of the body." Most of us are so immersed in the business of living this life that we don't think too often about this matter of the resurrection of the body, and even when we do, we are apt to have a notion that after death our body decays and our soul sort of floats up to God and lives on. This concept is sometimes called "the immortality of the soul," and frankly, that is not what Christianity teaches. This mistaken idea has it that we can be separated into two parts -- a physical part that is mortal and dies, and a spiritual part that is immortal and cannot die. As long as one trusts God and follows Christ, there is perhaps no great harm in picturing things that way, but it does miss some important affirmations of Christianity about the sovereignty of God.
    Actually Christianity does not teach "immortality" (though we sometimes use that word as a kind of shorthand for "resurrection"); Christianity teaches resurrection, and it goes like this: When a person dies, his or her whole being dies -- body, mind, soul, spirit. But then, for those, as Jesus put it to the Sadducees, "who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection" (Luke 20:35), God, who gave them life in the first place, gives it to them again. We all go to the grave completely expired, every part of us 100 percent kaput. But then, in God's own time, he raises the faithful, not resuscitating the old body, but giving the person a new resurrected body.
    Resurrection is significantly different from immortality. To suggest that the soul is immortal puts it on a par with God. If our souls cannot die, then why do we need God? We'd have the ability to prevent our own extinction.
    As opposed to this idea of immortality, resurrection says that God comes to the faithful dead with a new gift of life and recreates us -- not just the soul part of us but all parts of us. The Apostles' Creed insists that Christians believe in the resurrection of the body, for in biblical thought, we are not just spiritual beings trapped inside a prison of flesh. Rather, the body is part and parcel of who we are, and resurrection tells us that after death, the faithful in Christ will function in eternity as full beings, distinct entities.
Responding to the News
This is a good time to reflect about what heaven and resurrection mean to you.

Closing Prayer
 
O Lord, thank you that Christ has gone to prepare a place for us in your house. Help us so to live that when the time comes, eternal life is the next step for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.