A Neurosurgeon’s Proof of an Immortal Soul | Dr. Michael Egnor
Thu 7:26 pm +00:00, 1 Jan 2026 4“Neuroscientists who stand up and say ‘we have souls’ are few and far between,” says pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor.
“But when you look carefully at the neuroscience—the best neuroscience over the past century—it clearly points to the existence of the soul and to the existence of aspects of our mind that don’t come from the brain.”
Egnor himself started off as a materialist and atheist. But 40 years and more than 7,000 brain surgeries later, he concluded that reason and free will do not reside in the brain. In this episode, he reveals what he’s found.
“Neuroscience is just fundamentally wrong in a lot of ways … because of the materialist bias in neuroscience. We can’t get away from this machine analogy, [but] we’re not machines, and we don’t work like machines work. And there’s overwhelming evidence in neuroscience for the existence of a soul,” he says.
Dr. Egnor is a professor of neurosurgery and pediatrics at Stony Brook University, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, and the co-author of the book “The Immortal Mind: A Neurosurgeon’s Case for the Existence of the Soul.”
Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
An excellent presentation by Dr Egnor, calm, quietly spoken and confident in his assertions
“Reason and freewill are not material powers of the brain”
[This is exactly why AI will NEVER duplicate the ability of a human soul. Because the soul isn’t in the brain, it’s somewhere else, it’s not a material machine]
The desire brainwave occurs BEFORE your awareness of the thought, a pre-conscious spark
The brain doesn’t think, people think using the brain
I don’t think we need proof from a neurosurgeon of an immortal soul as there is a mass of information of its existence from many sources.
However, if people prefer a neurosurgeon to make pronouncements, Dr Eben Alexander did this several years ago and wrote a best-selling book about it.
“Dr Eben Alexander did this several years ago and wrote a best-selling book about it.
I beg to differ.
The Bible is widely recognized as the world’s best-selling book of all time, with estimates of 5 to 7 billion copies sold globally since its standardization approximately 1,500 years ago.
This status is supported by Guinness World Records, which identifies the Bible as the top-selling book, with sales figures consistently outpacing other works, including religious texts like the Quran and non-religious bestsellers such as the Harry Potter series.
Scripture teaches that God is Spirit and joins with the spirit of man after being baptised in water. The need for the reunification of the Spirit of God to that of man came by the transgression of Adam and Eve in Eden. The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 6:17 that “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him,” such as was the state of Adan and Eve before transgressing, emphasizing a profound spiritual union between them and God.
This union is not merely symbolic but a real, intimate oneness that occurs through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The human spirit, which is the part of man that enables fellowship with God, is reawakened and renewed when a person is regenerated, as the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within it.
This divine indwelling is described as the Spirit of God uniting with the believer’s spirit, forming a single, mingled spirit.
This union is foundational to the believer’s identity and spiritual life, as it enables the believer to know they are a child of God, with the Spirit bearing witness with their spirit.
The union is so intimate that it transforms the believer’s nature, allowing them to live by the life of Christ within them.
Therefore, if one cares to read and study their Bible and particularly the New Testament they will read that the Spirit of God is truth, that Jesus Christ after being baptised received the Spirit of God and preached truth.
A bit puzzled, because I didn’t say it was the best-selling book of all time. There are hundreds of thousands of books out there that make best-seller lists and Dr Alexander’s book is just one.
I have no idea about the bible, because it isn’t on my list of preferred reading, but, although your comment is a statement of your beliefs, it doesn’t mean that most of the world shares them.