Life, death and God

When Steve Iacoboni's father died, a priest came to their home. He blessed the Catholic family and there was funeral.

"There was no existential dilemma. Dad was in heaven, we would see him later, move on with life," Iacoboni said.

When his mom died 20 years later, that viewpoint had changed.

"We all figured there was no heaven and the body would decompose in its coffin and that's all you could hope for," he said.

And for more than a decade, that is what Steve Iacoboni lived by. That is what he believed. There was no God. There was no heaven. He was, as he says, an intellectual elite. He knew better than most.

Then again, maybe he didn't.

An oncologist, he worked with patients dying of cancer. They wanted comfort, and they wanted it from their doctor. He found that patients often preferred their cancer doctor over their clerics.

"I was thrust into this position of trying to give advice to the dying, and I was an atheist," he said. "So I was obviously conflicted. I am right there in that nexus of this dilemma."

What to do, he wondered. He knew whatever his beliefs were, he had to be able to offer a few words of solace to people who were facing death.

"They wanted me to offer emotional and spiritual comfort and so I had to find a way to do that," he said.

He had thousands of patients over his 30-year oncologist career who lived and died under his care. It was from those people he learned this:

"I believe they were messengers sent to teach me there was more to life than I was willing to accept as an intellectual and scientist."

So he listened.

He studied.

He learned.

And he decided God exists.

He even wrote a book about it.

He's willing to debate anyone on the issue.

"The science of atheism is a sham. Yet the scientific community is relentless in their perpetration of that mythology," he said.

Growing up

Steve Iacoboni was born in Southern California. Growing up, he attended Catholic church on Sundays with his parents. He learned to pray, to recite the Rosary, to go to Confession, to genuflect.

"I was a very devout Catholic until I went to college," he said.

There, he was told time and again, God did not exist. And some pretty smart people could prove it.

"What happened in our culture, starting around 1970, the scientific community had major breakthroughs in the life science that allowed them to advance the belief and the position on a scientific basis that God did not exist," he said.

"The prevailing wisdom in science is that God doesn't exist," he said.

And many Americans listened.

After all, life was good. There was plenty of food and water and shelter and clothing. Wars and plagues and famines were far from the United States. There were games and movies and plays for entertainment. Who needed God?

Iacoboni believed that, too, for more than a decade. What changed his mind?

His patients.

"I grew into a doctor humbled by the generosity and passionate spirit of my patients, enlightened by those who allowed me to understand 'life with cancer' and 'death with cancer' in entirely new ways," he wrote.

His change was an evolution over years.

"Part of the reason it took so long is because I'm so stubborn," he said, smiling.

Cancer patients

The cancer ward, Iacoboni said, is where people have months, sometimes years, to think about life, death, and what's next.

Some were scared to die.

Others were not.

"If you're dying of cancer it doesn't matter how much money you have, it doesn't matter that there's an Internet, it doesn't matter how many books you've read," he said. "You're dying of cancer. And all you want is faith. You want to believe in something else. You want to believe that when you die, you're going to die and go to heaven."

But belief in God is faltering. There doesn't seem to be a price for that while alive. With death knocking, though, fears arise. Some wonder. Is God there?

"This is the first time ever in human condition that people have faced death not feeling comfortable about what was coming next," he said.

"In this modern world, patients don't want to let go because they don't know anymore whether they're going to turn into worm food," he said.

Not so for those who belief in God.

In North Idaho, the poorest of the poor were among his patients. They revealed to him the purity of their faith, Iacoboni said, and it opened his eyes.

"If you have faith, you can face cancer and its outcomes, good or bad, completely free, free of worry," he said.

Iacoboni, who co-directs the Kennewick General Hospital Hematology-Oncology program, was the medical director at the Kootenai Cancer Center in Coeur d'Alene from 2001 to 2010.

"I can tell you in my day-to-day practice, when my patients find out I'm a believer, it's hugely important to them."

Intelligent design

Iacoboni's book, "The Undying Soul: A Cancer Doctor's Discovery," outlines his journey from atheist to believer.

He does not profess to be a biblical scholar or a theologian.

"I'm a doctor and I'm a scientist," he said. "I leave the theology to theologians."

He considers himself an intelligent design theorist and believes in evolution.

"Intelligent design theorists understand evolution. They understand that the world is 5 billion years old. We also understand the complexity of life requires a designing influence."

He said something "quite miraculous apparently had to happen to create the first cell."

"The science supporting intelligent design is actually extremely solid," he said.

"The science that tries to find a way that it happened by chance is shamelessly oversimplified."

Iacoboni does not attend a church today, and says he doesn't promote any particular sect or denomination.

He does say people are "mystical, spiritual creatures."

"We can't escape our spiritual origins. Because sooner or later you're going to get cancer, and you're going to talk to me or some other oncologist and what are you going to do? Get out your iPod?"

He wants to make this much clear: "The prevailing narrative that science has disproved is God is wrong."

He said that in his years as an oncologist, he has yet to see what could be considered a patient's miraculous recovery. He hasn't had someone about to die instead rise and walk.

Iacoboni doesn't need that to happen.

"The miracle is not about defeating death," he said. "The miracle is in accepting death with grace and knowing you are going to heaven."

Iacoboni to give book presentation

• Dr. Stephen Iacoboni will give a presentation on his book, “The Undying Soul,”from 6-8:30 p.m. March 9 at The Coeur d’Alene Resort convention center. He will be reading from the book and expanding on its stories and themes. There will be time for questions. The program is free and the public is welcome. Signed copies of the book will be available for $19.95. Information: oncojaco@gmail.com