Neurosurgeon: I've Been to Heaven

Dr. Eben Alexander held a scientific worldview until, he says, he went to heaven. As a nominal Christian—and a neurosurgeon with Harvard credentials—Alexander admits he had envied "those who wanted to believe that there was a God somewhere out there who loved us unconditionally," he writes at the Daily Beast. Then he contracted meningitis and slipped into a 7-day coma that shut down "the human part of my brain, the neocortex." Incredibly, Alexander visited a realm of clouds, higher beings, and a God-like wind that told him he was "loved and cherished, dearly, forever."

Now Alexander is encountering different beings—colleagues who give him "looks of polite disbelief" when he tells his story. In church, however, he "saw everything with fresh eyes," feeling again the universal love of his journey in the stained-glass windows, bass notes of the organ, and a painting of Jesus. And he is calling on scientists to paint "a new picture of reality" as an "evolving, multi-dimensional" universe with an all-knowing God. Click for the full article and its fiery comments section—or read this criticism of Alexander's science by Sam Harris. (More neuroscientist stories.)