Life after death: the evidence

286 Pages·2009·1.59 MB·English

by  Dinesh D'Souza

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LIFE
AFTER
DEATH
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LIFE
AFTER
DEATH
THE EVIDENCE
DINESH D’SOUZA
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Copyright © 2009by Dinesh D’Souza
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans-
mitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now
known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher,
except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with
a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
D’Souza, Dinesh, 1961-
Life after death : the evidence / Dinesh D’Souza.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59698-099-0 (alk. paper)
1. Future life—Christianity. 2. Immortality. 3. Near-death experiences.
I. Title.
BT921.3.D76 2009
236’.2—dc22
2009038050
Published in the United States by
Regnery Publishing, Inc.
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Washington, DC 20001
www.regnery.com
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Books are available in quantity for promotional or premium use. Write to
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Distributed to the trade by:
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For Pete Marsh
Visionary, Mentor, and Friend
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CONTENTS
Foreword by Rick Warren.................................................ix
Chapter One
Let’s Stop Pretending:
The Big Question, Considered in a New Way.....................1
Chapter Two
Vendors of Unbelief:
Atheist False Advertising..................................................19
Chapter Three
A Universal Longing:
Two Types of Immortality................................................35
Chapter Four
View from the Edge:
Exploring Near-Death Experiences...................................53
Chapter Five
The Physics of Immortality:
Multiple Universes and Unseen Realms............................73
Chapter Six
Undeniable Teleology:
The Plot of Evolution.......................................................91
Chapter Seven
The Spiritual Brain:
Finding the Soul within the Body....................................107
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Chapter Eight
The Immaterial Self:
How Consciousness Can Survive Death..........................127
Chapter Nine
Out of This World:
Philosophy Discovers the Afterlife..................................145
Chapter Ten
The Impartial Spectator:
Eternity and Cosmic Justice............................................165
Chapter Eleven
Good for Society:
The Transcendent Roots of Secular Values......................185
Chapter Twelve
Good for You:
The Practical Benefits of Belief........................................201
Chapter Thirteen
Life Everlasting:
Eternity Right Now........................................................219
Acknowledgments..........................................................237
Notes..............................................................................239
Index..............................................................................259
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FOREWORD
BY RICK WARREN
W
ho hasn’t wondered, “What happens after death?”
It would be both unreasonable and foolish to live
your entire life never considering and being unpre-
pared for an event that we all know is inevitable. The mortality
rate on earth is 100 percent.
This book by my friend Dinesh D’Souza is a brilliant investi-
gation of the fascinating and crucial issue of what happens when
we die. It is an inquiry conducted on the basis of scholarship and
reason, and it provides a convincing answer that is explosive in
its impact.
ix
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x LIFE AFTER DEATH
It has often been stated that we are not ready to live until we
are prepared to die. The truths in this book are not meant simply
to prepare you for eternity; they are foundations on which you
can build a meaningful life of purpose.
In The Purpose Driven Life, I pointed out that the Bible teaches
that our time on earth is essentially preparation for eternity. We
were made to last forever, and this life is like a warm-up act, a
dress rehearsal, for the real show in eternity. Once we fully grasp
this, it makes all the difference in the world, affecting our choices,
values, relationships, goals, and how we use our time and
resources. We reorder our priorities and start emphasizing the
enduring, important things over temporary things that ultimately
won’t matter.
So where can we learn the truth about the afterlife? We have
two choices—speculation or revelation. Throughout history
philosophers have conjectured about it, but even our brightest
minds are just guessing. The better alternative is to discover what
God has revealed in Holy Scripture. Of course, today we’ve seen
the rise of an atheistic secularism that denies all revelation. But the
objections of the so-called “new atheists” are not really new at all,
and they have been soundly discredited by scientists, philosophers,
mathematicians, and theologians for centuries. Unfortunately,
most people don’t read the classic apologetics, so they become
quite gullible in believing that the atheists’ arguments are new and
irrefutable.
That’s why this book is so important. It clearly and boldly
exposes the fallacies that are often accepted today without ques-
tion. The implications of this cultural gullibility are huge. If this
life is all there is, there is no basis for any meaning, hope, purpose,
or significance to life. Everything in your life would simply be a
random change of fate at best, or an accident at worst. Your life,
and your death, would not matter at all. The logical end of such