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Life After
Death
By Kim Savage
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| AFTERLIFE STORIES
(Eph 3:17-19) |
  At some point in our lives, we will all be faced with the issue of death. This much we can all agree on; that eventually everyone will die. Is there a life after death? If so, do Heaven and Hell really exist? I believe that the answer to these questions is unequivocally yes! My hope is that, after reading some of the evidence presented, that you too will believe. It is my desire that you derive comfort and strength from the information that I have gathered. In 1907, Duncan MacDougall, M.D. conducted an experiment that would be published in the medical journal American Medicine as well as the New York Times. The doctor postulated the soul was material and therefore had mass, hence a measurable drop in the weight of the deceased would be noted at the moment this essence parted ways with the physical remains. Dr. MacDougall constructed a special bed in his office "arranged on a light framework built upon very delicately balanced platform beam scales" sensitive to two-tenths of an ounce. He placed six patients in the end stages of terminal illnesses (four from tuberculosis, one from diabetes, and one from unspecified causes) in these beds; observed them before, during, and after the process of death; and measured any corresponding changes in weight. He then attempted to eliminate as many physiological explanations for the observed results as he could conceive: My first subject was a man dying of tuberculosis. It seemed to me best to select a patient dying with a disease that produces great exhaustion, the death occurring with little or no muscular movement, because in such a case the beam could be kept more perfectly at balance and any loss occurring readily noted. The patient was under observation for three hours and forty minutes before death, lying on a bed arranged on a light framework built upon very delicately balanced platform beam scales. The patient's comfort was looked after in every way, although he was practically moribund when placed upon the bed. He lost weight slowly at the rate of one ounce per hour due to evaporation of moisture in respiration and evaporation of sweat. During all three hours and forty minutes I kept the beam end slightly above balance near the upper limiting bar in order to make the test more decisive if it should come. At the end of three hours and forty minutes he expired and suddenly coincident with death the beam end dropped with an audible stroke hitting against the lower limiting bar and remaining there with no rebound. The loss was ascertained to be three-fourths of an ounce. This loss of weight could not be due to evaporation of respiratory moisture and sweat, because that had already been determined to go on, in his case, at the rate of one sixtieth of an ounce per minute, whereas this loss was sudden and large, three-fourths of an ounce in a few seconds. The bowels did not move; if they had moved the weight would still have remained upon the bed except for a slow loss by the evaporation of moisture depending, of course, upon the fluidity of the feces. The bladder evacuated one or two drams of urine. This remained upon the bed and could only have influenced the weight by slow gradual evaporation and therefore in no way could account for the sudden loss. There remained but one more channel of loss to explore, the expiration of all but the residual air in the lungs. Getting upon the bed myself, my colleague put the beam at actual balance. Inspiration and expiration of air as forcibly as possible by me had no effect upon the beam. My colleague got upon the bed and I placed the beam at balance. Forcible inspiration and expiration of air on his part had no effect. In this case we certainly have an inexplicable loss of weight of three-fourths of an ounce. Is it the soul substance? How other shall we explain it? My second patient was a man moribund from tuberculosis. He was on the bed about four hours and fifteen minutes under observation before death. The first four hours he lost weight at the rate of three-fourths of an ounce per hour. He had much slower respiration than the first case, which accounted for the difference in loss of weight from evaporation of perspiration and respiratory moisture. The last fifteen minutes he had ceased to breathe but his facial muscles still moved convulsively, and then, coinciding with the last movement of the facial muscles, the beam dropped. The weight lost was found to be half an ounce. Then my colleague auscultated the heart and and found it stopped. I tried again and the loss was one ounce and a half and fifty grains. In the eighteen minutes that lapsed between the time he ceased breathing until we were certain of death, there was a weight loss of one and a half ounces and fifty grains compared with a loss of three ounces during a period of four hours, during which time the ordinary channels of loss were at work. No bowel movement took place. The bladder moved but the urine remained upon the bed and could not have evaporated enough through the thick bed clothing to have influenced the result. The beam at the end of eighteen minutes of doubt was placed again with the end in slight contact with the upper bar and watched for forty minutes but no further loss took place. My scales were sensitive to two-tenths of an ounce. If placed at balance one-tenth of an ounce would lift the beam up close to the upper limiting bar, another one-tenth ounce would bring it up and keep it in direct contact, then if the two-tenths were removed the beam would drop to the lower bar and then slowly oscillate till balance was reached again. This patient was of a totally different temperament from the first, his death was very gradual, so that we had great doubts from the ordinary evidence to say just what moment he died. My third case, a man dying of tuberculosis, showed a weight of half and ounce lost, coincident with death, and an additional loss of one ounce a few minutes later. In the fourth case, a woman dying of diabetic coma, unfortunately our scales were not finely adjusted and there was a good deal of interference by people opposed to our work, and although at death the beam sunk so that it required from three-eighths to one-half ounce to bring it back to the point preceding death, yet I regard this test as of no value. My fifth case, a man dying of tuberculosis, showed a distinct drop in the beam requiring about three-eighths of an ounce which could not be accounted for. This occurred exactly simultaneously with death but peculiarly on bringing the beam up again with weights and later removing them, the beam did not sink back to stay for fully fifteen minutes. It was impossible to account for the three-eighths of an ounce drop, it was so sudden and distinct, the beam hitting the lower bar with as great a noise as in the first case. Our scales in the case were very sensitively balanced. My sixth and last case was not a fair test. The patient died almost within five minutes after being placed upon the bed and died while I was adjusting the beam. In my communication to Dr. Hodgson I note that I have said there was no loss of weight. It should have been added that there was no loss of weight that we were justified in recording. My notes taken at the time of experiment show a loss of one and one-half ounces but in addition it should have been said the experiment was so hurried, jarring of the scales had not wholly ceased and the apparent weight loss, one and one-half ounces, might have been due to accidental shifting of the sliding weight on that beam. This could not have been true of the other tests; no one of them was done hurriedly. My sixth case I regard as one of no value from this cause. The same experiments were carried out on fifteen dogs, surrounded by every precaution to obtain accuracy and the results were uniformly negative, no loss of weight at death. If, as this study implies, there is a human soul, spirit (or "something") that departs when we die, where does it go? Most of us ponder this question when someone very close to us dies. Our hearts ache with the loss of a loved one and we find comfort in the idea that we will one day see them again in Heaven. Is there really a Heaven? If so, do people that are "good" go there? Who qualifies as a good person? Could there be a Hell for "bad" people? In Christianity, the bible has much to say about Heaven and Hell. It speaks of a loving God and Savior, a God who sent His only son to die for our redemption (to gain possession of by paying a ransom or a price). His purpose was to reconcile man to God. The bible says that "…there is none righteous (or good), not one". The New Testament (new contract), which is the account and words of Jesus Christ, speaks of death and the afterlife. Jesus speaks more about Hell than Heaven. Would a loving, merciful God really send someone to Hell? If, by the bible's account, no one is "good", who would be able to make the "Heaven Team"? The word "Gospel" means Good News. If Jesus speaks more about Hell, where is the good news? Jesus proceeds to tell us throughout the gospels that, with man, this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. In short, the only requirement to get into Heaven, therefore spending eternal life with God, is in the acceptance of Christ and the great exchange that took place when He died for our sins on the cross. This must mean that, (on the flip side), the rejection of Christ is what sends us to Hell. It is almost too simple. Perhaps that is why people who are known as great intellectuals stumble over this plan for redemption. (Romans 10:8-13) In 1989, the following account was printed in Norway's largest and most respected newspaper, Ammenusastia. This report was confirmed by Row Randalen, special counselor to the Minister of Justice in Norway. This incident took place in Siberia (Russia), which is still a very atheistic country. "Scientist are afraid they have opened the gates of hell. Seismologists who have been drilling a nine-mile hole through the crust [of the earth] heard screams coming from the world's deepest hole. "The second surprise was the extreme heat that was noticed in the depths of the earth. 'Our calculations indicate temperatures of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit,' points out Doctor Azzakov, (one of the seismologist involved in the study). 'This is about ten times higher than what was anticipated. It almost seems that a fiery inferno is raging in the center of the earth.' "The recent discovery was made when they attempted to listen to the movements at different layers of the crust of the earth by highly sensitive microphones lowered through the drill gorge. "There was a faint, high sound that we thought was caused by our equipment,' explains Doctor Azzakov. 'But after some tuning, we perceived that it really came from the center of the earth. And we could hardly believe our ears. Voices! What we heard was evidently a human voice that was screaming out in pain. Although one voice was distinguishably separate, we could hear the screaming of thousands - maybe millions of tortured souls in the background.' Hopefully what we have found down there will stay down there,' adds Doctor Azzakov." (Trinity Broadcast Network Reprint) The Soviets tried to cover this incident up. The seismologist (some of whom were Norwegian) involved in this shocking discovery ran in terror from the site and refused to return. The next day (after the discovery) a spokesman from the ministry of Religious Affairs in Russia called in the foreign crew members and outrightly offered them bribes not to reveal their findings to anyone. Those who were Norwegian were sent out of the country two days later. The chief seismologist on this expedition, Barn J. Nummedahl (a Norwegian) was interviewed by the Norwegian newspaper. He still fears for his life and knows that, if he were to return to Russia, he would receive a minimum of 15 years for breaking silence and leaking information to the press. It is interesting to note that there still seems to be a cover up of sorts about this incident. Depending on where you get your research from, it is either dismissed as an urban legend or verified by solid sources. I personally believe this to be biblically based, solid information worth considering. http://www.av1611.org/hell.html What recent evidence do we have that would support the notion of heaven? I am aware of many first hand accounts of heaven, but one of the most credible would have to be Dr. Richard Ebby's account. Dr. Richard Ebby, who was a well-respected Californian obstetrician and gynecologist, was declared dead after falling from a second floor balcony. In his book, "Caught Up Into Paradise", he gives the following [paraphrased] account. "Absent from the body; present with the Lord." In the twinkling of an eye Jesus took me out of this world. One moment with a flesh-restricted mind, the next with a heaven-released mind whose speed of function was that of light. My initial gasp ("Dick, you're dead") was as quickly followed by an overwhelming sense of peace - peace that passes all understanding - peace so complete that I instantly knew it was the promised gift of the Spirit from our Lord. I had no memory about my life on earth at this time. I was enjoying a heavenly "body"; I was totally me. Aside from the absence of pain and the total presence of peace (neither of which I had known on earth), I looked like me, felt like me, reacted like me. I was me. Being a physician, my first instinct was to inspect my body, and I instantly admired it! It was mine alright. Dr. Ebby later talks about what heaven looked like.
I stood overwhelmed with the sights of Paradise. All this time (since there was no sun, there was actually no time reference) I had been aware of the most beautiful, melodious, angelic background music that the ear of man can perceive. It originated from no one point - neither from the sky nor ground. Just as was true of the light, the music emerged apparently from everything and every place. I was not prepared for the sweetest revelation of all; the all-pervading aroma of heaven. A perfume so exotic, so refreshing, so superior, that it was fit only for a king. (202-204) Dr. Ebby also speaks of the colors in heaven. He says the colors were like none we have on earth. They are brilliant and perfect. He also encounters Jesus, who explains many things to him. When, because of the prayers of many, he was returned to his earthly body he describes how the feeling of pain and sudden awareness of his surroundings hit him. He was to recover quickly, to the amazement of the physicians treating him and the priest that gave him the "last rites." Medical technology has grown in leaps and bounds. In many cases, people are brought back from the grips of death. As technology advances, we hear more and more about people's experiences in the afterlife. Consideration must be given to the fact that, those who claim to have died and gone to heaven or hell, all relate amazingly similar accounts; and their lives dramatically reflect a change after their death experiences. Medical Research Life After Death One thing is for certain. We will all die. No one gets out of here alive. As we get older, we realize that life really is short. If, as the evidence supports there is life after death, then we must seek to understand all we can about it, because...eternity is a long, long time.
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