Pointers to Eternity

Dewi Rees, a medical doctor, considers evidence for belief in life after death. First he presents the opinions of retired Anglican bishops on the Resurrection and their experiences of the presence of Jesus. The second approach provides accounts of other recent meetings with Jesus. Thirdly, he reviews recent research on people's experiences of their dead spouses.

Review :
Dr Dewi Rees, a retired General Practitioner, academic and Medical Director of St Marys Hospice in Birmingham, has produced a thoughtful, well researched book which tackles the challenging subject of the afterlife, or eternity. He has a long experience of listening to, and helping, people who are facing the end of their lives and his previous publications include Mortality of Bereavement (British Medical Journal 1967), The Hallucinations of Widowhood (ibid. 1971), The Distress of Dying, (ibid. 1972), and Death and Bereavement: The psychological, religious and cultural interfaces (Whurr Publishers, London 2001). He approaches the subject from a Christian perspective but considers beliefs from other religions. It is written in four sections which can be read in sequence or, as the author points out, in any order, as each section is an entity in itself. Section 1: Beginnings starts with Dr Reess Personal Foreword in which he recounts his background and family history, his religious upbringing as a Welsh Baptist and his experience of bereavement as a family member and as a family doctor. Chapter 2, Jesus Crucified, and Chapter 3, Resurrection, consider the Biblical evidence of the crucifixion and Jesus resurrection from death, thus establishing that there is life after death. Section 2: Bishops. Dr Rees undertook a research project on the evidence of people who claimed to have seen, or experienced in some way, a visitation by someone who had died. In Chapter 4 he describes how he planned the research. His first approach was to members of the Coventry diocese where there was a poor response, the second to members of the Coventry Cursillo which resulted in a good response and the third was to retired bishops with an 81.7% response. Chapter 5 gives an account of the bishops replies. Section 3: The Visions gives narrative accounts of individual experiences. In Chapter 6, Meeting Jesus, there are several accounts in which people describe how they have met Jesus, as a vision, or as a feeling, or as a person. Chapter 7, Deathbed Experiences, deals with, among other issues, the well known out of body experience in a near death scenario. Chapter 8, China and Healing, looks at the topic of spiritual healing particularly with reference to Dr Ken McAlls work in China and incidents which influenced him there. Chapter 9 looks at Other Cultures and recounts the experience of four people from different ethnic groups, who claimed to have met Jesus - none of whom were Christians. Section 4 deals with The Widowed. Chapter 10 Widows Tales, incorporates a previous study, The Llanidloes Study of Widowhood. There are personal accounts of hallucinations and significant dreams within a wide range of different experiences. Chapter 11 tries to assess whether the experiences are comparable and in the last Chapter, 12, Dr Rees considers Intimations of Immortality in which he looks back at the evidences he has gathered and discusses the implications. There are appendices setting out the methodology of the research, a set of References and a Bibliography. The prospect of an afterlife is a subject which must exercise the thoughts of any fair minded person, particularly those in the later years of life. Dr Rees, with his wealth of experience in dealing with people facing death has produced a sympathetic, reflective exposition on this very complex issue. Beryl Thomas It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.