Is there an afterlife?

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Yes. Why would God create us, without having in mind an eternal utopia in his direct presence? We long for this. Why would we be endowed with such a magnificent gift as consciousness and the desire to enjoy beauty, love, truth, God, and etc, merely to have it disintegrate into the void after a short lifetime?

Very hard to understand why God would want us "in eternal utopia in his direct presence" and not just arrange for that. Any explanation for why there needs to be, for us, though not for his angels (or even the fallen angels), this intermediate step? Why we have to take on this "caterpillar" stage before we can metamorphose into what God wanted all along?

 

[Katzpur]

I think that life after death is (apart from being oxymoronic) as plausible as life before birth, or before conception, if you are a Catholic.

A Mormon would say, "Life after death is every bit as plausible as life before birth. Both are realities."

 

[viole]

A Mormon would say, "Life after death is every bit as plausible as life before birth. Both are realities."

OK, I was not aware of this. I am not a big expert of the LSD church, unfortunately.

So, do you remember where you were before being born? I mean, long before being born.

I can't.

Ciao

- viole

 

[Katzpur]

OK, I was not aware of this. I am not a big expert of the LSD church, unfortunately.

So, do you remember where you were before being born? I mean, long before being born.

I can't.

I don't even remember the first two or three years of my life, much less being born. So it doesn't surprise me at all that I wouldn't remember anything before that.

 

[viole]

I don't even remember the first two or three years of my life, much less being born. So it doesn't surprise me at all that I wouldn't remember anything before that.

So, it could be that in the afterlife you do not remember anything of the previous life either, right?

Ciao

- viole

 

[Katzpur]

A lot of people think there cognizance goes with them,
they seem to think they will be aware, after they're dead !

That's what believe. I believe that each of us has an immortal life-giving spirit residing within our physical body. That spirit doesn't have to reside within a body, though, and it leaves the body at death. It remains fully self-aware and is as "alive" as it ever was.

 

[Katzpur]

So, it could be that in the afterlife you do not remember anything of the previous life either, right?

I haven't been there yet, but I am of the opinion that we will remember this life because we learned some very important lessons here.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Very hard to understand why God would want us "in eternal utopia in his direct presence" and not just arrange for that. Any explanation for why there needs to be, for us, though not for his angels (or even the fallen angels), this intermediate step? Why we have to take on this "caterpillar" stage before we can metamorphose into what God wanted all along?

In Scripture we find Adam was Not in God's direct presence although God did communicate with Adam.
There was No intermediate step ( No stepping stone ) for Adam nor for Angels.
Adam was Not taught that the younger you die, the longer a person would live else ware such as heaven.
Being cut down in the prime of life is Not " God wanted anyone home". Home is Earth for righteous people.
Disobedient angels will be destroyed forever, and so will wicked people as per Psalms 92:7.
Adam was Not created to be in any "caterpillar" stage, but to have 'everlasting life' on Earth forever.
Because Adam broke God's law, then Adam passed down to us what he acquired which is sickness and death.
Satan challenges all of us at Job 2:4-5 to 'touch our flesh' (loose physical health ) and we would not serve God.
God did Not side step, or 'sweep under the carpet' that accusation.
Both Job and Jesus under adverse conditions proved Satan a liar and so can we.
Since we can Not resurrect oneself or another we need someone who can resurrect us. Jesus can and will.
Jesus was Not subject to the ' bondage of sin ' so he could resurrect us - Hebrews 2:15; Revelation 1:18.
So, Jesus has victory over 'enemy death' for us as per 1 Corinthians 15:26

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I don’t think that means all people in all times, because according to the Bible, some have been righteous. But maybe there is also problem also with the word righteous. It may have two meanings.
And at least there are levels of it, because:
For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Mat. 5:20

Because we can't stop sinning we are Not righteous, but because of Jesus' ransom price paid for us, then like the figurative people of Matthew 25:37 we can be counted as righteous.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Maybe it can be seen as death bodies rising. I believe and understand it means they were not dead anymore.

You are Not alone in thinking Matthew 27:52 is about ' Not dead any more '
I wonder how that teaching can mean that, because according to Scripture, No one went to heaven before Jesus.
The day Jesus' died he went to the grave according to Acts of the Apostles 2:27.
In other words, Jesus was Not resurrected the day he died.
So, those dead bodies (corpses) were exposed (rose up) Not resurrected.
I find that is the case as found at Acts of the Apostles 24:15 because the ' future tense ' is used in that verse.
It says that there ' is going to be ' a resurrection (Not was), and as Jesus taught at John 5:28 ' the hour is coming '.
That figurative coming ' hour ' takes place during Jesus' coming millennium-long day of governing over Earth.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I think that life after death is (apart from being oxymoronic) as plausible as life before birth, or before conception, if you are a Catholic.
- viole

I find since Adam had No ' before birth ' life, then why would Adam have a ' after death ' life.
There was No post-mortem penalty given for Adam and for No one else.
According to Genesis 3:19 Adam simply ' returned ' (went back) to where he started from.
Adam simply returned to the dust of the ground. A person can Not return to a place he never was before.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

As a practicioner of norse shamanism, I have gone beyond death and visited my own former lives. This is evidence enough for me that there are more lives to come.

Nice. Norse Shamanism is very fascinating to me. I would appreciate it if you could give me more info about it, like how to practice it, if you want.

 

[Milton Platt]

Just wanted to say thank you for the feedback yesterday on my video about religion.

My question for you guys is, do you believe there is life after death? If yes, tell me why. And if no, tell me why as well but explain to me on how you deal with knowing there is just this life and no other.

There is no sound scientific evidence for such a thing. I see no reason to believe it is true until it is shown to be true.

 

[arcanum]

No, there isn't.

Life is biochemistry, in humans very complex biochemistry, but nothing else. When the numerous biological systems that make a life possible have irreversibly failed, life ceases, hence brain function ceases, hence the sense of self, and memories, and personality, and identity, the works.

How do I deal with that? When I had cancer, I found I could consider my own extinction with equanimity; regret, indeed, but nothing of panic. I was under general anesthetic on several occasions there, and that will do as a simple analogy for oblivion.

I'm not a believer, but I notice Paul, John and 1 John think the natural end is extinction eg Romans 6:9, John 3:16, no different to my view ─ but now they can offer believer's paradise instead. Mark (perhaps metaphorically) and Revelation think the alternatives are the lake-of-fire sort of thing (torture unbelievers for eternity) or paradise.

As Ecclesiastes 3 puts it,

19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.​

The old testament writers, for the most part, didn't even have a concept of an afterlife, that much is true. The Jews didn't even have such a concept of an afterlife until after the Babylonian captivity, wherein they got such ideas from. Some of these returning Jews, upon returning to Israel evidently had these ideas tucked into their new ideology, including the dead sea scrolls community and the early christian movement. I welcome any changes to this, but prior to the book of Daniel, I think you'll be hard pressed to find a real concrete belief in the afterlife in the OT.

 

[blü 2]

prior to the book of Daniel, I think you'll be hard pressed to find a real concrete belief in the afterlife in the OT.

Well, there are several resurrections in the Tanakh, but the ghost of Samuel, summoned up for Saul by the Endor lady, is the only spirit-exception I can think of early. Whereas eg Job 14:10-12, Psalm 146:3-4, Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 and 9:4-5 all say death is the end.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

That's what believe. I believe that each of us has an immortal life-giving spirit residing within our physical body. That spirit doesn't have to reside within a body, though, and it leaves the body at death. It remains fully self-aware and is as "alive" as it ever was.

When we consider all the aspects of our mind that are clearly rooted in the physical, such as the parts that can be altered - sometimes dramatically - by physical things like injury, medications or hormone levels, what’s left to reside in a “self-aware spirit?” Could what’s left truly be called “us?”

(Edit: this question isn’t just for @Katzpur - it’s for anyone who believes in a self-aware spirit or soul that survives our deaths)

 

[1213]

Because we can't stop sinning we are Not righteous, but because of Jesus' ransom price paid for us, then like the figurative people of Matthew 25:37 we can be counted as righteous.

I have understood sin is basically that person rejects God or lives without God. When one really knows God, I don’t think he wants to reject Him and so sin.

 

[1213]

...Acts of the Apostles 24:15 because the ' future tense ' is used in that verse. ...

I don’t see any reason why they would be exclusive. In my opinion they both are possible.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

I believe in one, but the beauty of it is that if I'm wrong, I won't be around to care.

 

[Katzpur]

When we consider all the aspects of our mind that are clearly rooted in the physical, such as the parts that can be altered - sometimes dramatically - by physical things like injury, medications or hormone levels, what’s left to reside in a “self-aware spirit?” Could what’s left truly be called “us?”

(Edit: this question isn’t just for @Katzpur - it’s for anyone who believes in a self-aware spirit or soul that survives our deaths)

I don't know how to answer this, since I think that the essence of our being is not influences by the physical (at least not to the degree you believe it is). I think our self-awareness itself is pretty huge, and if nothing else were left, as you say, we'd be keenly aware of that. I think that our ability to feel love or to appreciate beauty are things that are a part of our spiritual essence and will always continue to exist. I know you don't see it that way, and I'm not going to try to convince you. But absolutely nothing is going to change how I personally feel about that. I could be wrong about everything else I believe, but my existence as a self-aware spirit is something that's never going to change.