Published by Is there really life after death? As a Christian, my gut response for years was simply: Of course there is, the Christians go to Heaven and the unsaved go to Hell. Of course, this was the belief taught to me during my early years of childhood, so only later did I really consider its implication. Was a simple matter of thought and confession really enough to warrant an eternal paradise? Was an oversight of this thought and confession somehow serious enough to warrant eternal punishment in a horrible everlasting Hell? Even leaving those questions behind, one has to wonder how such a feat would be accomplished as the body disintegrates back into the earth (for those that aren’t cremated). Maybe the soul was a separate entity. But if so, couldn’t it float from body to body?
Needless to say, this was quite a series of considerations. And being that as a child raised in an Evangelical home, I was always taught that Jesus came to save us from our sins by dying on a cross to grant us eternal life. Was this paradise in heaven really what was meant? Could the concept of Jesus’ resurrection, along with the concept of eternal life, be a much grander and more mysterious process? After all, Jesus, in Christian opinion, was linked to God in a way never seen before. His teachings of love, compassion, and unity were noble and transcendent. No matter race, religion, creed, sexual orientation, et al, everyone was invited to partake of this “Kingdom of God” of which Jesus so boldly spoke. Rather than a kingdom in the sky, a concept that, when seriously considered, sound a bit ancient, this kingdom was one we could join right now.
As my faith progressed, I came to realize that whether or not life continued in a literal, physical way after death, this really did not matter. Jesus’ transcendent love, the focus of his teachings to his followers, continued on with or without a literal Heaven. And the idea of God simply burning the masses for a mistake in thought became more and more at odds with my view as a Christian of a God of love.
While I wouldn’t defiantly stomp my foot and proclaim that an afterlife doesn’t exist, it seems improbable and more of an answer to a human need than a spiritual one. Human minds can’t seem to properly cope with the concept of non-existence, so our ancestors had to find a way to deal with this confusing situation. In ancient religions, humans were thought to have gone on a journey after death, reaching paradise after a successful completion of this quest. As time progressed, the implications of the human final destination became focused on the here and now. Our actions on Earth decided our stay. Rather than a journey, the afterlife was reward or retribution, a stay of paradise and everlasting mercy, or a Hell of eternal damnation and torture.
In the end, this coping mechanism seems of less use to us in our age of modern thought and scientific progression, hence the dwindling number of those who believe in such a concept. If there is an afterlife, I look forward to seeing it. But for now, I will continue following what I believe to be the teachings of Jesus; content to follow because of love, not fear of eternal Hell.
