Audiobook Sample
Listen to the sample to experience the story.
Please wait while we verify your browser...
- Title: What’s after Life?: Evidence From The New York Times Bestselling Book Imagine Heaven
- Author: John Burke
- Narrator: William Sarris
- Length: 01:41:08
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 21/01/2020
- Publisher: Christianaudio.com
- Genre: Religion & Spirituality, Christianity
- ISBN13: 9.78E+12
As I settled into my favorite armchair with a cup of oolong tea, the same one I used to drink during my late-night research sessions at Harvard’s Widener Library, I pressed play on John Burke’s “What’s after Life?” with both scholarly curiosity and personal yearning. This audiobook, derived from the New York Times bestseller “Imagine Heaven”, promised to bridge the gap between empirical evidence and spiritual wonder – a dichotomy that has fascinated me since my comparative literature studies of medieval Christian mysticism and Zen Buddhist death poems.
The opening statistics immediately engaged my academic mind – 1 in 25 people experiencing near-death phenomena according to Gallup. Burke’s methodical compilation of over 1,000 cross-cultural accounts reminded me of my graduate work analyzing folk narratives across Asian and Western traditions. The universality of certain motifs – the welcoming by deceased loved ones, the life review, the overwhelming sense of love – echoes what I’ve observed in Tibetan “Bardo Thodol” texts and Dante’s “Divine Comedy” alike.
William Sarris’s narration proves masterful in handling this delicate material. His voice carries the warmth of a fireside storyteller when recounting personal experiences, then shifts seamlessly to the precise diction of a clinical researcher when presenting medical evidence. Particularly moving was his reading of the pediatric near-death accounts – his subtle vocal tremble conveyed profound empathy without veering into sentimentality. The audio production deserves special praise for maintaining perfect clarity during the more complex theological discussions, something I’ve found lacking in many spirituality audiobooks.
Burke’s structural approach fascinated me as a literary scholar. He organizes the afterlife evidence much like a postmodern novel – fragmented yet cohesive, with individual testimonies forming a mosaic of the divine. This reminded me of teaching Murakami’s “Kafka on the Shore”, where students initially struggled with the nonlinear narrative until they perceived the underlying patterns. Similarly, Burke helps listeners discern the profound patterns beneath seemingly disparate near-death experiences.
The book’s greatest strength lies in its balanced perspective. As someone who has advised students through bereavement (I recall particularly a seminar where we read Julian of Norwich alongside modern grief memoirs), I appreciate how Burke validates both emotional comfort and intellectual rigor. His analysis of verifiable details from near-death experiences – medical knowledge acquired while clinically dead, accurate descriptions of events occurring far from the body – provides concrete footholds for skeptical minds.
However, as with any work in this genre, limitations exist. The Christian framework, while handled inclusively, occasionally flattens the rich diversity of global afterlife conceptions I’ve studied. I found myself wishing for more engagement with non-Western perspectives beyond brief mentions. Also, the abridged nature means some fascinating material from “Imagine Heaven” likely didn’t make the transition to audio.
Comparing this to similar works, Burke’s approach stands between the clinical detachment of Raymond Moody’s “Life After Life” and the devotional tone of Colton Burpo’s “Heaven is for Real”. For listeners seeking a middle path – rigorous yet reverent – this audiobook delivers beautifully. The duration (just over 4 hours) makes it ideal for contemplative listening, perhaps during a quiet evening or a thoughtful walk.
Having now listened twice – once for pure experience, once for analytical note-taking – I can confidently say this audiobook succeeds both as spiritual comfort and intellectual stimulation. It’s rekindled my academic interest in thanatology while also bringing personal solace as I remember my late mentor, whose own near-death experience he rarely discussed but which clearly shaped his compassionate worldview.
In scholarly solidarity and shared wonder,
Prof. Emily Chen
