Why... HOW... do you believe in an afterlife?

Question

Believers, please don't give the same old answer--put some THOUGHT behind your answer. If you say that you believe in an afterlife because "the Bible says so," or "because that's what I was taught," how can we take you seriously? That'd just mean you're gullible & believe anything you're told, & didn't come to the conclusion rationally and independently. No, I want believers who've THOUGHT about the issue & have a working mind to tell why they've come to the conclusion that there is an afterlife.

It's a shame that religious people can't see religion from an anthropological/sociological standpoint. Belief in an afterlife can easily be explained... life, for most of mankind for most of history, has been miserable, full of struggle and hardship. The idea of an afterlife was developed by various faiths to ensure the masses had 'something to look forward to' after a life of toil... but that's all it was, a pretend IDEA used to pacify the masses and keep them down, & stop them revolting!

Answer 1

Wishful thinking combined with a fear of death and missing those that have passed.

Answer 2

I do not believe in any of the monotheistic constructs that are present in this world yet I do accept the idea of life after death. Two reasons.

1) Newton's First Law of Thermodynamics.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be transformed from one form to another. The total energy is constant within any system.

Given this law, what happens to the energy that animates your body post mortem? One moment you are an energetic being and the next a lifeless corpse. Where did the animating energy go, given the total energy within this system is constant? What is the trans-formative effect?

2) Reincarnation.

This cannot be proven scientifically but there is a vast amount of anecdotal evidence supporting the distinct possibility that reincarnation is not only plausible but fact.

My personal anecdotal evidence concerns a dire insect phobia with which I was once afflicted. Having tried conventional treatment which included psychiatry and behavioral modification, to no avail, my next and last chance of ridding myself of this debilitating problem was past life regression. I discovered through this therapeutic method that I had two separate lifetimes which generated this fear. During the sessions, I was able to describe in near clinical detail the types of insects that were in effect torturing me.

Given that in this lifetime I did everything possible to avoid insects which would include learning anything about them - the fact that I was able to describe in intricate detail the life cycle and physical attributes of a bo weevil, having never come across such an insect living in Canada, attests to the fact that at one point in time I must have had personal experience of this insect. There were many more but I use the bo weevil as a good example given my present location.

As Shakespeare once said, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Answer 3

It is interesting to note that you restrict answers to anything except the Bible which many people believe to be God's word. If you cannot understand what God states about death then you are simply left with an opinion.

Can anyone afford to allow something with such potentially eternal consequences to rest upon fickle human reasoning alone ?

This means you are looking for an answer solely based upon human reasoning which in itself is very limited. Human comprehension is incomplete and imperfect.

By making the mistake of exalting human reasoning above the word of God, you cannot arrive at the correct conclusion about death or even life for that matter.

Contrary to popular belief, human reasoning is not the final authority on every subject nor is it omniscient.

Perhaps like so many who have attempted to read or understand the Bible, you might have forgotten to pray. Go back and try again but ask God to help you have the correct interpretation of His word. In addition, you may want to be humble in your approach to reading the Bible. The motives for reading affect the understanding.

Wrong motives for reading the Bible = wrong understanding or misunderstanding of the Bible

Right motives for reading the Bible = right understanding of the Bible

Oh !. by the way, just so you cannot say you were never told....

Here is the well THOUGHT OUT answer of a believer from the Bible perspective about what happens one second after death if you can handle it. (It is not hellfire or heaven like many think)

http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Your-Next-Experience-Immediately-After-Death:-What-Really-Happens-After-You-Die-&id=338240

God bless. Hope to see you in the kingdom of heaven someday.

Show N Tell

Answer 4

Dear Rissa, I am convinced there is an afterlife for one reason, Jesus Christ suffered and died and arose again on the third day.
Think about this, what would it take to convince us there is life after death? The answer is clear, someone would have to die a real death (not Just a NDE) and be revied to life, this would have to be a proven death and final death. But has this ever happened? Yes, when Jesus Christ rose from the grave. His death was real; very cruel and harshe Roman guards made sure He was dead before they took Him down from the cross. And His resurrection was also real. Hundreds saw Him during the next forty days. Paul, writing over 25 years said "he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living" (1 Corinthians 15:6). This is no coincidence, Christ came for a Purpose.

Sin is transgression of the Law (ten Commandments), every time you have lied, stolen, lusted, blashpemed and used Gods name improperly, or coveted, you have sinned against a Holy God, a God whom is infinately Holy. The Punishment for sin is death and Hell. the goodnews is that Christ died for your sins, you broke the Law and Jesus paid your fine when he died on the cross. If you will repent (turn from sin) and trust in Jesus, he will forgive you and grant you the gift of eternal life. The way you can Know this is true is by following the comand to repent. God has promised to reveal himself to all who will trust in him. I knw this si true because I have already repented and trusted in Jesus, and Now I have his forgiveness and gift of everlasting life. I didnt get this idea by being brainwashed, I simply repented and trusted Jesus, and trusted his promise to forgive and grant eternal life and change my unrepentant heart, into a useful vessel for his purpose. He followed up on His end of the Bargain, Im glad to Know, that when the Obituaries report my death, I will be in heaven with my father.
God Bless
Apostle

Answer 5

I'm not a religious person per-se. I do have a christian background, but no longer adhere to the short-sighted and often closed-minded teachings of the bible. (personal opinion, sorry) I do however believe in an afterlife, Mainly because it provides me with comfort. I choose to believe in an afterlife because I hate to think that the people I've lost along the way are simply "gone". I rationalize it by thinking in terms of energy. Energy can not be destroyed, it simply changes forms. Everything is made of energy. So I like to think that the energy that made up people I've cared for has simply changed forms, and with that, maybe after my engergy changes forms, I'll be able to reeunite with them in some way.

Answer 6

I believe in an after life or just the continuation of existence after the body dies due to my own philosophical train of thought and reading-- has nothing to do with hierarchical religion (although a lot of it is derived from reading about zen via Dr. Allen Watts, etc):

Science admits that it hasn't a clue how the phenomenon of awareness occurs. It can explain how sight works, by which they mean the process by which an image(patterned light) enters the eye and gets translated into brain waves. But we don't see brain waves, we see images. Regardless, this describes a process of physical transition. This does not explain how 'we' actually 'experience' imagery (only how the brain processes the data). The way zen explains this is that you can see the eye through which sight sees but not sight itself; what does hearing sound like? Nothing about the brain actually explains the phenomenon of consciousness; only of how the brain processes "data", just like a computer.

The reason this is so, and the reason science by its very nature will never be able to study awareness directly is that it has no qualities. No appearance, no sound, no flavour or shape. In a sense, it doesn't exist; but we know that it exists because we infact experience. I experience therefore I am. In otherwords awareness is not nothing but is no thing. Rather, it is that which experiences things. It is an entirely different kind of phenomenon than the physical universe.

To make this brief, things like the body die -- that is a property of the physical, tangiable universe ( of things); but it does not follow that awareness, which isn't a thing (no qualities) ceases to exist.

I don't believe in heaven simply because I assume I'd be boared after the first thousand years or so (okay, after 15 days).

Just as I have 5? senses that are all the same thing (awareness) that becomes different senses because of the frameworks it experiences through (ear, eye, etc), so I am willing to accept that what I call I is potentially not seperate from your awareness accept that it is experiencing through two different frameworks -- my brain and your brain. Eventually, there is just an infinite awareness that you could call God except for the implication of various attributes various religions assign to God -- including the description of him as a "presence" ( a thing). Here again, zen thinks of people as God playing hide and go seek from himself.

Recap:
1) awareness is not a physical property to begin with (it has no qualities) and science admits that it hasn't a clue how it happens. They ASSUME its produced by the brain but zero evidence to support that assumption .... it is an entirely different phenomenon than matter or energy.
2) Death (decay) is a physical phenomenon. There is no justification to assume that it behaves as physical phenomenon since it isn't one.
Take it from there.

Even if this doesn't prove a continuous existence it provocatively suggests that the automatic processes that science has clearly demonstrated (gravity, evolution, etc) is probably not the sum total of existence.

Answer 7

~~~Rissa ,,,, Assuming you are not an Existentialist,,,, Using Buddhist and Hindu concepts, The "Afterlife" is merely another dimension or realm where 'Spirit' resides. We, as Souls, are One,,, when we seperate into individuals we earn the right to go to Earth School and Incarnate as Human Beings so that we may nurture our Soul's Growth, experiencing Individuality and Accountablility for our Freewill. Sometimes it takes many, many lifetimes for The Soul to develope into An Enlightened Being, thus jumping off the Wheel of Karma, we don't have to come back to this rock,,, and we 'graduate' to other places, in this Universe,,, or another.

Answer 8

Come on sweetheart, after dealing with human toss off for nine decades there has to be more to it than this. Please don't let an old man die without the hope of a fkn afterlife/nirvanna....Jeez Christ on a bike, remind me to visit you when you have your first labour and I'll tell the midwife I'm your pa, and under no circumstances by your request should you be given any pain relief.

Answer 9

Personally, I have seen things that defy scientific explanation and are only expained by a belief in the supernatural and spirtual realms. You want to dismiss the "Bible says so" agrument, but many events in my life are ONLY explained by the Bible. Miracles occur all the time through prayer, but if we close our eyes to them, we fail to see the truth.
Based on that, I have come to the conclusion that the Bible is correct and tells us how to live and what to expect after we die.
I would ask you to not be so quick to dismiss the amazing things that are around us.

Answer 10

Well nobody has to believe afterlife... If you think there is a afterlife.. believe all you want... I personally don't believe after life.. I think it's made up by religious people so they have everyone under control by making them believe that they will be rewarded in the end if they are nice. I haven't see a gost or any spiritual thing yet... so I can't believe everything everybody says.. .....

Science also proves ghosts are made up illusions in peoples heads... they believe them so much that their brain causes a hillucunation which they illusion and think that it's real.....

If you are more confy believing after life go ahead.. but if it doesn't make any sense to you .and can't be proven.. why believe?

Answer 11

(Salaam)...hi dear

WHY ... HOW ... do you believe in and afterlife ??

Good question Rissa

First of all we are all in this world for some reason and we will die for some reason. (just let us ask ourselves why are we born and then die all of us) ??

I will hope that you and others who are trying to find out the truth and the right path and will like to know more about this life and afterlife to go to this websites and am sure that you will find your answers. (good luck)

http://www.english.islamway.com/bindex.php?section=invitation
specially listen to THE PURPOSE OF LIFE (wonderful tape)

http://www.islamtomorrow.com

Read this wonderful story form this lady by name INGRID MATT SON) at this website:

http://www.whyislam.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1662&PN=1

And read this wonderful story too.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/zaid_shakir/2007/01/my_conversion_was_my_most_form.html

WE HAVE STILL A LOT TO LEARN IN OUR LIFE AND KEEP SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH
AND MAY ALLAH (SWT) SHOW YOU AND OTHERS THE RIGHT PATH BEFORE IS TOO LATE (AMEEN)

Wish you all the best.

(Wasalam)

Muslimah.