“Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Near Death Experience and Journey into the Afterlife” by Eben Alexander, M.D.

PROOF OF HEAVEN was a selection by my book club. Dr. Alexander, the author, is a neurosurgeon from North Carolina who inexplicably contracted an extremely rare form of bacterial meningitis that literally eats the brain, beginning with the neo-cortex. The disease completely shut down Dr. Alexander’s neo-cortex and sent him into a near brain-dead seven-day coma.He made a full recovery, a miraculous one, according to medical practitioners and Alexander himself.

Alexander describes his experiences in his Near Death period as unbelievably gorgeous, incredibly comforting, saturated with love, and illumined by understanding of all life mysteries. He says he was compelled to write his story, and that, though he was, before his NDE, a “Chreaster”, a Christian who goes to church on only Christmas and Easter, his NDE convinced him of the almighty truth and forgiveness of a loving God.

It was clear that the author is not a “writer” and that he got someone to help him, someone who led him to end each chapter with a cliffhanger that, unfortunately, seemed forced and overdone. One exception is when Alexander describes what he saw and heard during his NED, struggling in what seems like an authentic way to describe the visual and auditory mind-blowing trip he took before returning to this what he calls the “worm’s eye view” of Earth. I “bought” his descriptions and reflections, and, with my scant knowledge of neurophysiology, bought his argument that his experience was miraculous. With all the faults in the book, I thought Alexander succeeded in his mission to share the good news that our afterlife is magnificent and not something to fear. 

After letting Alexander’s story roll around in my head and heart for awhile, I read a portion of the multitude of commentaries and analyses about PROOF OF HEAVEN. I won’t go into what I found, in case you’d rather, as I did, read and digest the book before checking out the responses to it. For me, it was worth watching my own reactions as I “sat” with Alexander’s claims and then with the claims of his critics. When book club met, I learned that many of the members shared my experience of being jolted in one way by the book and then, in another way, by the critiques and rebuttals. It made us think and it made us feel.

Though PROOF OF HEAVEN was a bit of a roller coaster for me, I’m glad I read it. It was an adventure.

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