Do you believe in the afterlife?

[Trailblazer]

With all due respect, if these people wrote a book, they did not die, decompose and then come back to life a week later.

The books were written by living people who communicated with the spirits in the other world.

I’m not the least bit interested in reading an entire book about a personal experience about a miracle that can never be proven.

That's fine, but Private Dowding is less than 100 pages long and it is a fun read. You could read it with the idea that it is sci fi.

If you have to take a persons “word for it” don’t trust it. This is a logical fallacy called the “argument from authority” that often leads to people believing things that are just not true.

The first principle of my religion is independent investigation of truth, which means we should never take anyone's word for anything we believe.

“The first principle Baha’u’llah urged was the independent investigation of truth. “Each individual,” He said, “is following the faith of his ancestors who themselves are lost in the maze of tradition. Reality is steeped in dogmas and doctrines. If each investigate for himself, he will find that Reality is one; does not admit of multiplicity; is not divisible. All will find the same foundation and all will be at peace.” – Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West, Volume 3, p. 5.

I love logic so I know all the logical fallacies, especially the argument from ignorance, so I never claim to know what I believe is true,, since I cannot prove it is true, but that also means nonbelievers cannot claim to know what I believe is false.

Argument from ignorance asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false or proposition is false because it has not yet been proven true. This represents a type of false dichotomy in that it excludes a third option, which is that there may have been an insufficient investigation, and therefore there is insufficient information to prove the proposition be either true or false. Nor does it allow the admission that the choices may in fact not be two (true or false), but may be as many as four,

1. true
2. false
3. unknown between true or false
4. being unknowable (among the first three).[1]

Argument from ignorance - Wikipedia

In fact, I’ve read that the experience people claim to have during an NDE is almost always an experience based on their preferred religious expectations, rather than a universal experience that everyone has. Beyond the white light, Hindus see Hindu things, Christians see christian things, Muslims see muslim things. Not the least bit surprising or remarkable.

Logically speaking, since it is the same person it makes sense that they would experience what they believe.
Why would they have a universal experience unless everyone believed in the same religion?
Sadly, those believers who believe their religion is the "only way" will probably stay suck in that mode of thinking after they die and for all of eternity, unless God has mercy on their soul. That is why it is important not to die with false beliefs.

 

[PearlSeeker]

I don't know yet if there is afterlife and what it is. I just hope and believe there is.

Reincarnation seems the most plausible explanation to mee. If the purpose of life is evolution of souls then every incarnation has some lessons, opportunities for experiences... In this context the judgement would be a review of life to figure out what has been learned and where is still work to do and then incarnate in appropriate circumstances.

 

[Trailblazer]

I don't know yet if there is afterlife and what it is. I just hope and believe there is.

Reincarnation seems the most plausible explanation to mee. If the purpose of life is evolution of souls then every incarnation has some lessons, opportunities for experiences... In this context the judgement would be a review of life to figure out what has been learned and where is still work to do and then incarnate in appropriate circumstances.

I am absolutely certain there is an afterlife in the spiritual world (what some call heaven) but I don't know what that will be like, except that it won't be physical.

I do not believe in reincarnation, but I believe that the soul will continue to progress in the spiritual world for all of eternity. However, it can only progress from where it started off when we die, so we will be whatever we were we crossed over to the spiritual realm and move forward from there. It is possible that some souls might stay stuck in the same state they are in when they die, I don't really know, as that is above my pay grade!

I believe that the soul will take on a new form when we cross over to the spiritual realm made up of heavenly elements that exist in that realm. Beyond that, the knowledge of the afterlife is with God alone.

 

[Muffled]

I believe after the body dies the spirit is still aware of its existence.

I believe God judges after a person dies but I do not believe I should assume what that judgment is. I believe some never contact God after death but God judges without them knowing it.

 

[Muffled]

Absolutely! I believe that all souls/spirits go to the afterlife after death. I believe the afterlife is a neutral place for us to rest and reunite with loved ones after a long, hard life. I also believe that there are halls you can gain access to through deeds in life. These halls aren't good or bad either. Valhalla is the most well known. Some people say these are separate afterlives, but I'm inclined to see them as almost like offshoots of the main one (otherwise families would be divided up, and we wouldn't be able to reunite).

I believe it is highly unlikely that one would meet up with dead relatives in the afterlife.

 

[Muffled]

I believe life continues. Does my life continue? I don't know. The 'Whose wife is she?' discussion in the bible implies we don't understand the 'afterlife'.

I believe you missed the fact that Jesus is talking about our eternal life: Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven

 

[WalterTrull]

I believe you missed the fact that Jesus is talking about our eternal life: Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. I sure don't fully understand the concept of 'angels in heaven'. I kinda don't think anyone does.

 

[Trailblazer]

I believe it is highly unlikely that one would meet up with dead relatives in the afterlife.

I believe that we will.

 

[The_Fisher_King]

I believe that we will.

All dead relatives? What about those who have failed to believe in God or to recognise a Manifestation of God? Or those who have committed many heinous sins?

 

[Trailblazer]

All dead relatives? What about those who have failed to believe in God or to recognise a Manifestation of God? Or those who have committed many heinous sins?

I do not know whether we will see all of our dead relatives. All I know is what Abdu'l-Baha said. As I recall he said something more specific about our relatives but I cannot seem to find that right now. I'll let you know if I find it later.

“As to the question whether the souls will recognize each other in the spiritual world: This (fact) is certain; for the Kingdom is the world of vision (i.e., things are visible in it), where all the concealed realities will become disclosed. How much more the well-known souls will become manifest. The mysteries of which man is heedless in this earthly world, those will he discover in the heavenly world, and there will he be informed of the secret of truth; how much more will he recognize or discover persons with whom he hath been associated. Undoubtedly, the holy souls who find a pure eye and are favored with insight will, in the kingdom of lights, be acquainted with all mysteries, and will seek the bounty of witnessing the reality of every great soul. Even they will manifestly behold the Beauty of God in that world. Likewise will they find all the friends of God, both those of the former and recent times, present in the heavenly assemblage.” Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas, p. 205