The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of

       The Ontario Arts Council for its publishing program.

      We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which

      last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.

      We acknowledge the Government of Ontario through the

       Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative.

      We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada

       through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.

      1 2 3 4 5 15 14 13 12 11

      Printed and bound in Canada

       Text printed on a 100% PCW recycled stock

      To all those dear ones

       whom we have “loved long

       since and lost awhile”

       Contents

PART I—THE SECULAR EVIDENCE

Introduction

1 Strange Encounters

2 The Near-Death Experience

3 The Spirit Mediums

       4 Reincarnation

       5 Dreams of Death and Dying

       6 New Light from Science

       PART 2—THE TESTIMONY OF RELIGION

      7 Christianity:

       8 Hell, Purgatory and End Times

      9 Other World Faiths and Three Christian Sects:

       10 Personal Reflections and Conclusions

       Notes

       Selected Bibliography

PART 1

       THE SECULAR EVIDENCE

INTRODUCTION

       An Urgent Question

      WHEN IN THE SPRING of 2004 The Pagan Christ was launched onto the Canadian scene and quickly became a major controversial bestseller, what initially captured most of the headlines was the way the book cast doubt on the actual existence of a historical Jesus. However, those who read the book soon realized that this was not its main message. Their overwhelmingly positive response was to its real message—the reality of the spiritual presence of the Divine spark (for Christians, the Inner Christ) within us all. Still, because my whole approach to and understanding of my own faith has publicly evolved into something to me and to many thousands of others so much more intellectually and spiritually satisfying than what it was when I was first ordained, or even since Life After Death was first published in 1991, I am repeatedly asked today whether I still believe in a future life. Do I today believe in a life beyond the grave, one that transcends this present sphere of being, one that offers a lively hope for oneself and for loved ones—everyone, in fact, on the “other side”? Answering that insistent and ultimate query with a resounding, reasoned “yes” is the major reason for this new fully revised and much enriched version of the original work. With that said, we can begin the story.

       The Fountain of Youth

      In 1513 when the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon made landfall at what is today St. Augustine, Florida, North America’s oldest city, he believed he had discovered the spring of eternal life. Thousands of visitors visit the site annually and sip from this slightly sulphuric-tasting would-be elixir. However, like everybody else on this planet, all those who have ever drunk from that source