With a Subtitle: A Christian review of Michael Egnor’s case for the soul, free will, and the mind

A brief Excerpt: In The Immortal Mind, Michael Egnor and Denyse O’Leary argue that neuroscience, near-death experiences, and philosophy point beyond materialism to the reality of the soul, free will, and human consciousness.

The Author is: Debra Hodges

Does the Mind Arise Entirely From the Brain?

Introduction

Most neuroscientists support the idea that the mind arises from brain activity. They believe the mind is what the brain does, much like digestion is what the stomach does. However, this view doesn’t answer the bigger question of where consciousness comes from. [1] Is the mind entirely dependent on the brain or not? What about the soul? Is there any scientific evidence that it exists?

Neuroscience and Evidence for the Soul

Background

Dr. Michael Egnor, professor of neurosurgery at Stony Brook University School of Medicine in New York, and science writer Denyse O’Leary discuss these profound questions in their excellent book, The Immortal Mind. [2] They argue that research in neuroscience, near-death experiences, and philosophy reveals that the mind demonstrates qualities that transcend physical explanations.

Split-Brain Cases, NDEs, and Consciousness

Split Brain, EEGs, Conjoined Twins, and NDE Experiments

In the late 1980s, Dr. Egnor had to perform a corpus callosotomy procedure(splitting the brain in half) on a young man suffering from severe seizures. He was wondering if his patient would have two centers of consciousness after the procedure. What he discovered after the surgery was that his patient was free from seizures and still a single, unified person, normal in every respect. [3]

The Penfield experiments (1930s-50s) were conducted by neurosurgeon Dr. Wilder Penfield. He mapped many areas of the brain by stimulating sections of patients’ brains under local anesthesia and recording their responses to questions about what they saw, felt, or remembered. He was unable to stimulate the patient’s brain to produce abstract thought, such as reasoning and free will, and finally admitted in 1975 that the brain had not fully explained the mind. [4]

In Chapter 4 of The Immortal Mind, Dr. Egnor shared the story of the Hogan twins, Krista and Tatiana, born in 2006 in British Columbia, Canada. They were conjoined twins who shared extensive brain tissue, yet researchers found that despite sharing many sensations and motor control, they did not share abstract reasoning, showing that each twin retained her own mind and personhood. [5]

Dr. Egnor examined near-death experiences (NDEs) in Chapter 5 of his book. His research identified four consistent features of NDEs that have no materialist explanations. These features reported by his patients include clear, organized thinking, verifiable observations, encounters with deceased people, and life-changing transformations following the experience. They provide powerful evidence that consciousness exists independently of the body and is best explained by the soul’s continuity beyond death. [6]

Dr. Egnor also noted Michael Sabom’s research (author of Light & Death) into NDEs. In these experiments, Sabom documented patients making conscious choices during NDEs, such as moving toward a light or deciding when to return to life. His research supports the idea that free will is not entirely bound to material processes, since the ability to choose was evident even when the brain was clinically inactive. [7]

Free Will, Abstract Thought, and the Human Soul

The Immortal Soul and Free Will

In Chapters 7 and 8 of his book, Dr. Egnor discussed the reality of the soul and free will. He explained that everything mortal about a human being disintegrates after death, but everything immaterial about the person, such as their choices, continues on. Their choices are a unity, just like justice, mercy, and love are a unity. He made the point that the soul has no location apart from the body, since only through the body’s behavior can aspects of the soul be known. [8]

He also illustrated how free will denial is self-refuting by nature. He said that the laws of physics that govern the arrangement of Scrabble pieces as they fall to the floor have no intrinsic “truth value”. Therefore, if our thoughts are based entirely on the laws of physics, then our thinking has no “truth value” either. [9]

Dr. Egnor provided evidence from neuroscience and physics to support the existence of free will, citing the work of Aspect, Clauser, and Zeilinger (2022 Nobel Prize winners), who showed that nature is governed by probabilities rather than certainties. [10]

In chapter 9, Dr. Egnor wrote extensively on different models of the mind, including behaviorism, identity theory, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. He also discussed the limitations of the materialist’s view of consciousness, concluding that, rather than thinking itself, consciousness is the ability to think.

Chapter 10 was extremely interesting, providing evidence that the mind has no history. Dr. Egnor argued that the phenomenon of abstract thinking in human beings could not have evolved through natural selection. He pointed out that there is no DNA for abstract thinking, and what is missing from animal minds is abstract thinking. He also said that no evidence of earlier animal minds has been discovered. [11]

The Philosophical and Theological Implications

Philosophical Implications of an Immortal Soul

I’ve rarely read a book that left such a strong impression on me. I found myself marking page after page because of the depth and insight it offered into the human experience. What is remarkable is how logical Dr. Egnor’s conclusions seem after surveying all the evidence. I now see why abstract reasoning and free will don’t arise from the brain itself in the same way that movement, memory, and emotions do.

In the latter part of the book, Dr. Egnor examined Aristotle’s understanding of reality in terms of substances and form, and his approach to philosophy in relation to three types of souls (vegetative, sensitive, and rational). He brought up Thomas Aquinas’ approach to philosophy in relation to Christianity and the reality of the human spirit. Dr. Egnor said that human beings are actually hybrids, consisting of spirit and matter, connecting the spiritual and material worlds. [12]

Next, Dr. Egnor explored the relationship between human survival and belief in God, offering logical and scientific reasons to believe in a mind behind the universe. He went over five ways to know that God exists, including arguments for design and morality.

Why The Immortal Mind Matters in an Age of AI

I really loved Chapter 13, “Does AI Really Change Everything? Anything? His analysis of how AI really works comforted me immensely and eased my fears. He showed that computers lack creativity or common sense because everything they do boils down to processing 1s and 0s.

In his conclusion, Dr. Egnor discussed the truths that matter most (the chapter’s title). In it, he reiterated the fact that since we have souls, and since our souls are spiritual, they are destined for eternity, and this is the most important thing about us. He said our souls were made in the image of God, so we have the responsibility to treat every person with dignity, regardless of whether they are still in the womb, are handicapped, elderly, or of a different race or religion.

Conclusion

In The Immortal Mind, Dr. Egnor and Denyse O’Leary provide scientific evidence for the fact that human beings are both body and soul. We see in this book that the immaterial nature of the mind, the persistence of consciousness beyond brain function, and the moral and rational capacities of humanity all testify to the divine image within us. This knowledge reminds us that we are only capable of knowing truth, beauty, and love because we were created by an infinite, personal, immaterial God.

References

1. Parshall, A. (2026, January 20). Where does consciousness come from? Two neuroscience theories go head-to-head. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/where-does-consciousness-come-from-two-neuroscience-theories-go-head-to-head/
2. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025. See also: “Michael Egnor: Science Offers Evidence of an Immaterial Mind,” Mind Matters, May 31, 2025. https://mindmatters.ai/2025/05/michael-egnor-science-offers-evidence-of-an-immaterial-mind/
3. Egnor, M. (2025, June 2). Brain split, not mind. Science and Culture Today. https://scienceandculture.com/2025/06/new-book-the-immortal-mind-out-today-the-brain-can-be-split-but-not-the-mind/
4. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025 (pp. 28–31). The Brain Can Be Split, but Not the Mind
5. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025 (pp. 75–83). When Two Minds Mush Share Body Parts.
6. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025 (pp. 93–101). The Human Mind Beyond Death. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1052005/m2/1/high_res_d/vol1-no1-44.pdf
7. Sabom, M. B. (1982). Light & Death: One Doctor’s Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experience. New York: William Morrow & Company.
8. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025 (pp. 124–125). Immortality of the Soul Is a Reasonable Belief.
9. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025 (pp. 139–140). Free Will Is a Real and Intrinsic Part of the Soul.
10. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025 (p 141). Free Will Is a Real and Intrinsic Part of the Soul.
11. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025 (pp. 168–180). Free Will Is a Real and Intrinsic Part of the Soul.
12. Egnor, Michael, and Denyse O’Leary. The Immortal Mind. Worthy Publishing, 2025 (pp. 188–190). What Does It All Mean? Neuroscience Meets Philosophy.