Life After Death: The Evidence

'Life After Death - The Evidence' is a scholarly exploration of the issue of what occurs to human beings after they die. Written by Dinesh D'Souza, this book is an incredibly important one that should be read by all. The author has accomplished the seemingly impossible; he establishes the probability of life after death without using the Bible or other likely avenues of argument. He has penned a work that uses the favorite tools of atheists and scientists to make his case. Although I am a Christian and believe in life after death, I thought that his task in this work was rather formidable without using inspired sources. I was wrong. He presents his case on the terms of naturalists and scores a knockout. For those unfamiliar with Mr. D'Souza, he is a top notch intellectual who routinely debates leading atheists such as Christopher Hitchens on their turf, using reason, attacking their strongest arguments, and comes out on top. He also does this in a respectful manner that reflects very well on him. In short, he is not only brilliant, he is a class act. This volume explores various topics including near death experiences, out of body encounters, and much more. He schools his readers with an abundance of philosophical and scientific evidences. This wide ranging study discusses such things as string theory, 'M theory', dark matter, dark energy, the anthropic principle, mind versus brain, the contradiction between evolution and morality, the noumenal and phenomenal worlds, and substantial things that are clearly separate from physical laws. The incredible importance of this subject matter has been famously argued in Pascal's Wager as well as by others. The essence of it is that if the unbeliever is correct, there is no harm to anyone in the future, but if believers are right, we (believers) will do very well while they will suffer. It is something that skeptics would do well to ponder. Mr. D'Souza accurately calls the issue of life after death is 'the greatest of all human questions'. It would be absolute folly for anyone to ignore it. There is simply too much - eternity - riding on the answer. This provides many incredible perspectives on this subject. It is truly one of the rare books that has the potential to be life changing. I highly recommend this to everyone, regardless of his/her current position on this issue.

Rational, ambitious but often using non-theistic presuppositions, Dinesh D'Souza's new apologetic book, Life After Death: The Evidence, is reasonable but lacks the precision of an judicious philosopher. It's a solid book, but it's a little too bold for its own good. The author marshals prodigious inductive, theological, and a posteriori evidence that the soul survives death, but remains outside the analytical philosophical arena. Nonetheless D'Souza offers a cumulative case for life after death loading down the reader with scientific, medical, testimonial, and theological proof. D'Souza discusses: - verses in the book of Job that appear to advocate soul sleep or eternal extinction - Freud's work in "The Future of an Illusion" - Schopenhauer's intermixture of atheism and Eastern religious concepts - NDE that reveal that there is more going on during a death experience than mere brain activity His case is persuasive to all who have rational pre-commitments for concrete fact and hard evidence, but for those who desire a more robust philosophical treatise on the subject will be a bit disappointed. His case may not rest on certainty (that's what I prefer in my apologetic approach), but it is compelling. All believers and open nonbelievers will relish the case this best-selling author has made. "A brilliant investigation of the fascinating and crucial issue of what happens when we die" (Rick Warren). "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). It's a marvelous and enjoyable read as the reader is given an enormous amount of evidence that the end of one's physical life is not the extinguishing of the person's existence. The Necessary Existence of God: The Proof of Christianity Through Presuppositional Apologetics

Like an extended conversation with a generous and likable friend, this is a book to treasure, and read more than once. I applaud D'Sousa's strategy of not using the often irrational, emotional and highly personal accounts of people who testify to NDEs. Nor does he engage in the circular arguments of the devout who use scripture to prove their points. There are many fine books that do both of these. Life After Death stands apart from them by marching smartly into the teeth of the strongest arguments atheists can muster for a materialistic worldview. The author kindly takes them on, point by point, to show their arguments as superficial and inadequate to answer the larger questions posed by astrophysics, philosophy, sociology and psychology. He does not play the triumphalist who loudly proclaims victory over his foes, rather with humor and kindness gently leads the reader into the deeper waters of his arguments and makes his points one-by-one, piling up strong, if not overwhelming, evidence to support his thesis. This is an ideal read for a layperson who is smart and curious but not expert in the various disciplines D'Souza explores. I recommend it highly.

Polemic, irenic, elenchtic; all three styles of proof presentation are found in this book. Mr. D'Souza is at his best, inducing the reader to mull over the evidence for life after death. Beginning with NDE claims, moving on to developments in physics that recognize possibilities beyond the limits of physical laws, observing a natural teleology evident in biology, exposing reductive materialism as counterfactual, identifying the naïveté of an empirical realism, offering the notion of "cosmic justice" as a basis for morality, that human choice is aspirational when clothed by conscience, and concluding that the products of science and philosophy posit beneficent design, the author reveals that the evidence is at least "clear and convincing" for life after death. Then, and most offending for some, it is evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that moves one to the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard of proof. Despite the tenor of the reviews of this book, from virulent attack to accepting praise, the reader is only asked to think about the viability of the various models that currently occupy the field. And, that is certainly what the author has accomplished; he has advanced the discussion. He has done so thoughtfully and honestly and on a level that enables most readers to understand his argument. Mr. D'Souza set out to offer a rational hope for immortality. In the process, he reveals that it is irrational to assume that ideas of eternality are somehow logically illicit and unscientific. Ironically, as demonstrated by this book, such an assumption is, in itself, intellectually unsophisticated and ultimately dishonest. Even a Sarte recognized that denial of immortality should lead to despair. All readers can agree on one fact - we shall all face death. One can despair, one can ignore, one can examine the claims of immortality, or one can deny without examination. One can act or be acted upon. In this context, examining the claims for immortality constitutes the act; being acted upon is . . .

In all his previous books, Dinesh D'Souza has typically challenged long-held assumptions in order to find, or get closer, to the truth. "Life After Death: The Evidence," however, examines a question most of us ask ourselves and one which all of us should be asking: what comes after we "die"? And by using this method, he helps us question how we may get closer to the truth about life and mortality, which leads logically to the question of immortality. Atheists frothing at the mouth to belittle a book based on faith in God and immortality (hey Boston College - why not release the debate tape between Alan Wolfe and D'Souza if Wolfe is as bright as he claims?) rushed in typical fashion to write simple-minded reviews blasting this book for doing what D'Souza does best: tackle tough questions that atheists cannot answer. But D'Souza confuses the nonbelievers in his new book by providing evidence for life after death by employing the scientific method - the same logic atheists claim eliminates any possibility of an afterlife. What do we "know"? We are "born," we hopefully live a fruitful life, and we "die." What happened before we were "born"? What happens after we "die"? D'Souza is one of the best analysts of qualitative and quantitative data and a first-rate researcher and author, and "Life After Death" is a gift to all of us. If we value our lives and those of others, there are no other issues more important than the one D'Souza brings to life in his new book. As usual, is it clearly written and logical. Buy this book and re-think your life. Then re-think your afterlife. This book belongs on everyone's bookshelf.