64. Near-Death Experience Research, Dr. Peter Fenwick (Podcast)

[Interesting Ian]

Originally Posted by David Bailey

Another type of near death phenomenon is that some people with dementia are said to become sane just before they die. Again, it would be interesting to read evidence of this - these things are hard to GOOGLE.

David

I mentioned this in one of my essays. Here are the references I put down:

[8] See for example Osis, K., (1961). Deathbed observations by Physicians and Nurses. New York: Parapsychology Foundation (p24); Osis, K., & Haraldsson, E. (1997). At the Hour of Death (3rd ed.). Norwalk, CT: Hastings House (p133). (Original work published 1977); Grosso, M. (2004). Experiencing the Next World Now. New York: Paraview (p42-43).

[Mark]

If any of you live in the UK and would lie to hear Dr Fenwick speak soon, he will be doing a talk entitled 'understanding dying' at the Multifaith Centre at the university of Derby on 22nd April 6:30 - 9pm

Regards

Mark

[anonymous]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for posting the transcript of the interview with Dr Fenwick.

Just one comment....


From the interview:
http://www.skeptiko.com/blog/?p=85

The book I’m talking about is The Spiritual Brain and we’ve just had an interview with Denyse O’Leary, who is one of the co-authors of that, is a Catholic and is very upfront about her beliefs and her acceptance of that doctrine.
....
Alex: It’s funny because one of the things that I talked about with Denyse O’Leary is again, back to the Dalai Lama and he’s famously said that he is in favor of science to test and prove all Buddhist doctrine. To the extent that science finds Buddhist doctrines incorrect then Buddhist doctrines need to change.

I kind of challenged her and said, “Isn’t this the position that Christians should take, the position of truth that we want the truth no matter where it leads?” I just can’t help but wonder why that position hasn’t been more popular because it seems like it would really change everything. If across the United States and Europe every pulpit had someone saying, “We just want the truth. Wherever that is, we’re all about the truth.” Again, that seems so obvious and we know that’s not going to happen.

I'm not familiar with O'Leary interview, but the Catholic church has a similar attitude towards science as the Dalai Lama. The Catholic church does not deny any scientific findings.


http://www.boston.com/news/science/a...reat_to_faith/

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Science made such rapid progress in the 20th century that people may sometimes be confused about how the Christian faith can still be compatible with it, Pope Benedict said on Friday.

But science and religion are not opposed to each other and Christians should not be afraid to try to understand how they compliment each other in explaining the mystery of life on Earth, he told the Vatican's doctrinal department.
...
"The Church joyfully accepts the real conquests of human knowledge and recognizes that spreading the Gospel also means really taking charge of the prospects and the challenges that modern knowledge unlocks," he said.

The dialogue between religion and science would actually help the faithful see "the logic of faith in God," said the Pope, speaking to members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

He headed this Vatican department for nearly 25 years until his election last April.

Scientific discoveries sometimes came so rapidly "that it becomes very complicated to recognize how they are compatible with the truth revealed by God about man and the world," said the German-born Pontiff, 78.

The Church, however, should not fear the challenge of reconciling faith and reason because God was "in fact, the Lord of all creation and all history."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26274906/

Though it is virtually unknown among laypeople, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences is an independent and remarkably influential body within the Holy See. Over the years its membership roster has read like a who’s who of 20th-century scientists (including Max Planck, Niels Bohr, and Erwin Schrödinger, to name a few), and it currently boasts more than 80 international academicians, many of them Nobel laureates and not all of them Catholic — including the playfully irreligious physicist Stephen Hawking.
...
Today the academy’s mandate involves promoting the progress of mathematical, physical, and natural sciences and participating in the study of related epistemological questions and issues. The academy convenes plenary sessions in which its members offer presentations addressing a certain theme. Held every two years, the meetings highlight the most recent advances in the sciences. The next session is slated for October.

If you look at how the Catholic church tries to reconcile science and the religion, for example, creation as described in genesis, you will find that they contort the interpretation of the bible in order to not conflict with what is known about science. They adapt their religion to conform with science.

[alextsakiris]

Originally Posted by anonymous

Hi Alex,

Thanks for posting the transcript of the interview with Dr Fenwick.

Just one comment....
I'm not familiar with O'Leary interview, but the Catholic church has a similar attitude towards science as the Dalai Lama. The Catholic church does not deny any scientific findings.

Welcome... please check out the O'Leary interview:
http://skeptiko.com/index.php?id=73

and then let me know where I'm off target.