RTTAIMYLOMI Why would you want it?

Is there any non-Christian evidence for life after death? Near-death experiences Evidence of a spirit world (mediums) Evidence of reincarnation Christians do not accept these as reasons for believing in life after death, or as good descriptions of what life after death is like. See what you think.

Non-Religious Reasons for believing in life after death To describe some examples of the paranormal To be able to describe the evidence for beliefs in after death experiences, mediums and reincarnation To evaluate the evidence for the paranormal The Paranormal: Unexplained events or experiences which are thought to have non-material (ie spiritual) causes eg. Ghosts

When someone is very close to death, has an out of body experience – but then is brought back to life What experiences/ feelings do people report? Are they similar to each other? Could there be another explanation? A. Near Death Experience Video from fileVideo from file (use video from half way through)

B. Reincarnation: Children “remember” their parents, recognise them, the places they used to live, how they died. They may “know” information they have not yet learnt in their present life eg another language, how to write, identical handwriting to the “previous” child ( T.Singh, born 1996 reincarnation of a child that died in 1992) Hindus Buddhists Sikhs Souls are reborn into another body, not necessarily human (depends on how you have lived the last life)

Evidence against Reincarnation How could you disprove any of the reincarnation claims? Only in 10% of reincarnation stories had there been no contact between the child and the family they are supposed to have come from at the time of investigation. Out of this 10%, in the majority of cases, (70%) the evidence was seriously flawed in some respect. So only 3% of accounts are valid. This makes such accounts “ anecdotal” only (ie untrustworthy) and doesn’t prove that reincarnation is true. Explain the belief in reincarnation. Do you find the accounts of reincarnation persuasive? Explain.

C. Mediums: Communication with the Spirit World Mediums are often accused of : – asking questions that are so general, that the person will find something to match it to. – researching their clients beforehand/ using clues – “fishing around” in their questioning until they get a positive response and working on that. Q. Were you convinced by Gordon Smith? Explain.

Name 3 non-religious reasons for life after death. Which one do you find most convincing? Why?