Life after Death?

[removeduser_426582376423734]

In a Christian perspective, life after death is paramount in their life on Earth. A famous line in the Bible lays out the foundation for this: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:20 - "Christ was raised from death so that all others will be so." But, what do others believe?

Dualism - Rene Descartes
A famous vew is the "dualist's view". This is that, if we live after death, the soul must live without the body. Therefore, we must be a soul and body fused into one. Every human is a union of these two - body and soul, or "soma" and "psyche". Only death can separate this union. This was taught, earlier, by Plato, through the character of Socrates.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:44 - "Humans are sown a body, raised a spirit."

We, therefore, lose the limits of age, and appearance. For example, Jesus was not recognized after his death and resurrection. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, who mistook him for a farmer, and two of his disciples, who chatted to him of himself. This proves that Jesus' soul - or "psyche" - was splir from his body - or "soma" - and reincarnated in another body.

Heaven, Hell, Purgatory and Gehinnon
Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in a Heaven. This is where -

• God lives
• God is worshipped
• The righteous earn their reward

Hell, thus, is the opposite. It is a place -

• Isolated from God
• A place of punishment

Many do not discern between the two. However, some may say that being isolated from God is a punishment in itself. I will not judge this.

Purgatory, a Catholic ideal, is a place -

• Between Hell and Heaven
• Where people are cleansed of their sins

And the Jews have their own Heaven, isolated from Christianity, called Gehinnon. This place, however, is where the bad are cleansed of their sins, in the same place that the good are in the presence of God.

Reincarnation
Finally, the idea of reincarnation states that we are reborn when we die. As Jesus was resurrected in another form, so are we. Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists all believe in this concept (although some do believe in an eternal Heaven - Nirvana). Hindus primarily believe in Transmigration, for as everyone dies, everyone is reborn. At any point when conception occurs, a person will die. Thus, according to their karma, they will go into the fertilized ovum as its soul.

What do you think? Is there a heaven? Or hell?

[Sitarus Originalus PM-30+]

i only concentrate my energy to what i have now and what i can do in this life,... i dont give a damn about afterlife if i still have this life to spend =))
about heaven and hell - we have it all on earth... women can he both sometimes =) (just for a record - you didnt hear that from me)

[darthtator]

From my personal observations, I believe in a form of rebirth similar to reincarnation (Buddhists believe in rebirth, Hindus in reincarnation). I don't think that it's all over after this life, hence I don't live my life as if time was limited. The most important thing is believing in what you think is right and what makes you happy, and I've done that.

[orange slice]

Well i believe when you die you go to where ever you believed in, like if you believed in God, and Heaven, then you would go to heaven, if you where Atheist then...well i dont know where you would go...no where?

[Gaius Baltar]

Most religous tests were written by followers of a particular sect decades or even centuries after the death of the central figure of their religion. As such, word for word translations of their texts are misleading and ultimately futile.

1. We live in heaven. This is it. We have the ability to make this world into anything that we desire. Good or bad.

2. It is man himself that creates heaven or hell. He must live with and within his own creation.

3. There is a mental pathway to "enlightenment". We must find it within ourselves. Only then will you find inner peace, and spirituality.

4. When you leave your physical being you move onto a higher plane of existance, and continue your search for "enlightenment".

:original:

[apostate]

does anybody recall how nice he was out there before he was born?

well wether u like it or not, thats how "life after death" will be

cheers!

[Zenith Darksea]

Well, as an Orthodox, I do of course believe in the Kingdom of Heaven. However, I do not hold the Protestant or the Catholic view (our theology is often under-represented, alas). Orthodoxy is to a great extent a mystery religion, and so what happens immediately on our death we cannot really say. But what we can say is this:

1. On dying, a person's soul goes to 'Hades'. This is rather like the old Jewish 'Sheol' in concept. It's not really purgatory, but it's not Heaven or Hell.
2. There will come a day when the Lord judges our souls. Those who are saved (this is a point at which we clash with Protestants in particular, as we reject Calvinistic predestination) will be resurrected and inhabit a redeemed world, but
3. Those who are not saved will end up in Hell. Now, the official Orthodox teaching is that Hell is actually a place that we have created for ourselves - by rejecting God's grace in life (and in Hades? We can't say), we experience God's love for us as a burning sensation, the so-called 'river of fire'.

The principle concept to grasp however is that we don't know exactly what will happen. We don't know whether or not we shall be 'saved' (unlike an Evangelical who recently told be, "I think that we know that we have already been saved" - this is, in my opinion, incredibly irresponsible); all we can say is what my own Bishop Kallistos said: "I hope that I am being saved."

One advantage in Orthodoxy of course is that it never underwent a Renaissance (such a Renaissance was never required in the East, as standards of lay learning had always far surpassed that of the West), and so we feel that it preserves the original Apostolic faith on 'life after death' quite well, unlike for example Calvinism and its concept of predestination (though what else would you expect from a lawyer who thought that he could be a theologian?) or Catholicism with its rather recent doctrine of Purgatory.

[Ahiga]

Personally I think reincarantion is the more likely of the religious concepts of an afterlife than life or death. I find it slightly more realistic that the soul of someone might reinvest itself in a fertilized egg than they would go to some unseen plane and continue to exist in immortality, in pleasure or pain depending upon their mortal life. However, it's impossible to remember the past life and I do not think karma has anything to do with it.

Part of that stems from the idea that reincarnation happens regardless of religious belief, whereas we are told in the major monotheistic faiths, that you will be punished for not accepting their god (which seems a trait of control and vanity, rather than of spirituality) but rewarded with a better life if you do (And these often reflected on the aspirations of the people - heaven for the arabs was like an oasis, natural for a people of the desert. Heaven for the peasants of europe was also a pleasing sight to their otherwise drab lifestyle). Naturally, the attributes of reincarnation attached in Hinduism were also methods of controlling the population, which is why I don't buy the concept of karma. Buddhism's is debateable...though I love zoroastrism and Islam, Buddhism is the religion I'd probably be best in taking, but I do not know if their idea of reincarnation applies to my thinking. I just see it as abstract and random as having your conciense be put in your current self intead of someone else.

[Sam]

I remember reading Darth Wong's thread "The Absurdity of Life After Death", it was very interesting. If I recall correctly, he argued that since physical trauma can damage or even erase someone's memories, that all our memories and thus our individuality is indivisibly attached to our brain.

There's more to it than that, so here's the thread.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=38806

That pretty much sums up my thoughts on life after death.

[Keresztes]

I believe in heaven, and in hell, and in some place that might be similar to purgatory. I also believe that your religion has little to do with where you end up. I know some steadfast christians who I'm sure will end up in hell. I also know some atheists who I'm sure I'll meet in heaven (or purgatory, I'm not really sure where I'm going, though I hope it isn't hell).

In the end, I think that living in the spirit of god, and not adhereing to the letter of the book, is what saves people. Or I could be wrong. Whatever.

[Zenith Darksea]

Well, on the point of reincarnation, I must say that it has one massive flaw. If everyone is just being recycled, then why do we have an ever-increasing population?

[Zuwxiv]

Well, on the point of reincarnation, I must say that it has one massive flaw. If everyone is just being recycled, then why do we have an ever-increasing population?

Human population. Some people who believe in reincarnation believe that we may come back as other animals - perhaps ants, or mosquitoes, or other living creatures.

Logically, there is no difference between a living human and a dead human. They have the same organs, the same everything. Logically, there then must be a difference between life and death - something else besides the physical.

Personally, I think that there is a heaven. I'm a Christian, but I think that Jews and Muslims, and anyone who has led a kind and caring life achieves salvation.

[Turnus]

Logically, there is no difference between a living human and a dead human. They have the same organs, the same everything. Logically, there then must be a difference between life and death - something else besides the physical.

Um...the difference is that the dead have some form of damage to their body that stops it from functioning, and they are therefore physically different to the living.

But my thoughts on life after death: I have no doubt in my mind that there is no such thing, but it is certainly a good way of deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are personally immortal (as instead, our immortality of sorts lies in the genes that we are eager to pass on, which is, of course, the driving force behind our very existence).

[mongoose]

Logically, there is no difference between a living human and a dead human. They have the same organs, the same everything. Logically, there then must be a difference between life and death - something else besides the physical.

Dead humans are physically different from living ones, you don't need to be a doctor to know that...

[Britisocialist]

But if God forgives then should anyone go to hell?

[removeduser_426582376423734]

God loves the sinner, hates the sin. In my opinion, God loves us whether we sin or not, but if we sin, then it doesn't change the fact that we've sinned.

[Roma Victa!]

But if God forgives then should anyone go to hell?

You have to accept his forgiveness. Love Him and accept what He has done through the Son and you are forgiven. I don't see what all the hoopla is all about. Christianity really isn't that hard.

[Zenith Darksea]

But if God forgives then should anyone go to hell?

See my post above on the Orthodox Christian perspective.

[Anachronist]

i dont know i believe that we just return to dust like every other animal that has come and gone.
hey i might be wrong.

[Zenith Darksea]

Christianity really isn't that hard.

You might be surprised at times. Is it predestined (incidentally, it isn't)? Or do we have free will?

Why was it that a Protestant recently told me that he wasn't comfortable being in an Orthodox Church?

Some people really make it quite hard for themselves.