Is there life after death?

[TheGirlNextDoor]

Is there "life" after death - or is dead, dead.

Elaborate if you'd like.

 

[digsbe]

I am a Christian, so I do believe there is life after death.

 

[soccerboy22]

I don't think so, but if there is a life after death Satan, Hades, whoever rules hell will be moving over because I will be taking charge of that place.

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

I am a Christian, so I do believe there is life after death.

Can you define what kind of life that would be? Reincarnation, an 'afterlife' in another world (sorry for poor wording), or just another realm of being?

Not trying to be disrespectful - I am just curious.

 

[digsbe]

Can you define what kind of life that would be? Reincarnation, an 'afterlife' in another world (sorry for poor wording), or just another realm of being?

Not trying to be disrespectful - I am just curious.

No disrespect taken

My belief in the afterlife is what I believe the Bible describes it as. I believe in a heaven and hell and in a new incarnated earth. I believe in heaven we will have glorified bodies as the Bible says (not mindless spirits). I believe we will have relationships with others, be with God, have jobs, and live a perfect eternal life. I don't believe in the typical chubby angels and mindless spirits floating on clouds image.

 

[soccerboy22]

No disrespect taken

My belief in the afterlife is what I believe the Bible describes it as. I believe in a heaven and hell and in a new incarnated earth. I believe in heaven we will have glorified bodies as the Bible says (not mindless spirits). I believe we will have relationships with others, be with God, have jobs, and live a perfect eternal life. I don't believe in the typical chubby angels and mindless spirits floating on clouds image.

When you say Christian are you Baptist or Catholic or whatever else there is, because if I remember my Catholic schooling only Catholics believe in Purgatory.

 

[digsbe]

When you say Christian are you Baptist or Catholic or whatever else there is, because if I remember my Catholic schooling only Catholics believe in Purgatory.

I was raised Baptist, but I am neither. I personally define myself as a non-denomination Christian. I read the Bible and form my own beliefs, not necessarily adopting a denominational doctrine. And I don't believe in Purgatory

 

[WilliamJB]

No, I don't believe in life after death, for two reasons.

1. I have never seen any compelling evidence for it, and I therefore see no reason to believe there to be any kind of afterlife. Much like the existence of god, the burden of proof rests with the people making the positive assertion. Until I'm shown compelling evidence for an afterlife, I don't believe in one, for the same reason I don't believe in unicorns.

2. A life after death presupposes a soul. There is, however, decently compelling evidence against the existence of a soul. A soul would be, by definition, immaterial. But at the same time, it would have to be capable of interacting with the material world, otherwise, it would have no mechanism by which it could influence the behavior of its host body. This is a logical contradiction, though, since an immaterial substance by definition cannot interact with the material world. In addition, if we define a soul as the essence of what makes a person who they are, the seat of their reason, personality, etc., then a soul is nothing more than the collection of neurons firing in a specific pattern in one's brain. This can be proven by studying people who have suffered brain injuries. In many cases, their entire personality changes, making them for all intents and purposes, a different person.

 

[Patria Antiqua]

Outlook doubtful.

 

[soccerboy22]

I was raised Baptist, but I am neither. I personally define myself as a non-denomination Christian. I read the Bible and form my own beliefs, not necessarily adopting a denominational doctrine. And I don't believe in Purgatory

That is how I was before I lost my faith too. I never could really buy into the dogma of any particular Christian sect.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

I believe in innumerable heavens and hells, the realms of the many gods, and that persons may be assigned to one of those heavens and hells when they die according to their faith, their piety, and their moral conduct. I also believe that a person's soul can be reborn in the line of their descendants, and that life, afterlife, and rebirth are all part of a cycle to strengthen our souls over lifetimes in preparation for Ragnarok, when only the spirits of the survivors will live to repopulate the new world that is created in the aftermath of the end of this one.

 

[digsbe]

That is how I was before I lost my faith too. I never could really buy into the dogma of any particular Christian sect.

I lost my faith for a few years and later decided on the beliefs I have now. I don't agree with any denomination really. I do attend a non-denominational church, and I don't like claiming that my theology is infallible and 100% correct. I do believe I am right in my Christian theology, but I don't rule out other interpretations and will allow myself to be corrected.

 

[peepnklown]

William basically said what I would have said (post#8).

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

I lost my faith for a few years and later decided on the beliefs I have now. I don't agree with any denomination really. I do attend a non-denominational church, and I don't like claiming that my theology is infallible and 100% correct. I do believe I am right in my Christian theology, but I don't rule out other interpretations and will allow myself to be corrected.

You know, I don't agree with your faith on much, but even if he wasn't the son of your god or actually god himself, your Christ deserves the worship he's received. Reading the accounts of the men who followed him, he was one of history's truly great souls.

 

[spud_meister]

I believe in the Great Circle Of Life, when I die I'll become a piece of grass, then an antelope, then a lion called Mufasa.

 

[Hatuey]

2. A life after death presupposes a soul. There is, however, decently compelling evidence against the existence of a soul. A soul would be, by definition, immaterial. But at the same time, it would have to be capable of interacting with the material world, otherwise, it would have no mechanism by which it could influence the behavior of its host body. This is a logical contradiction, though, since an immaterial substance by definition cannot interact with the material world. In addition, if we define a soul as the essence of what makes a person who they are, the seat of their reason, personality, etc., then a soul is nothing more than the collection of neurons firing in a specific pattern in one's brain. This can be proven by studying people who have suffered brain injuries. In many cases, their entire personality changes, making them for all intents and purposes, a different person.

Interesting. I don't disagree with your first point but what exactly do you consider gravity to be? Material or immaterial? Is it a substance at all? Does it have atoms? What is gravity? What about electromagnetism? Strong force? Weak force? I am on your side as much as anybody but I do seek some sort of explanation to whether you consider gravity to be material or immaterial.

 

[winston53660]

I believe in the Great Circle Of Life, when I die I'll become a piece of grass, then an antelope, then a lion called Mufasa.

Holy **** I believe pretty much the same thing. I was trying to post it but the board said the ISP had to do a patch.

I have congestive heart failure and a heart transplant is in my future. It is freaky that some one has to die for me to get a heart. And it concerns me deeply. But it is the circle of life. When I get a heart mine will studied adding to the circle. And when I die I can further add to the circle. And I want nothing to go to waste even if it means vultures pick my bones. My greatest fear is being pumped full of chemicals and buried.

 

[Camlon]

No, I don't believe in life after death, for two reasons.

1. I have never seen any compelling evidence for it, and I therefore see no reason to believe there to be any kind of afterlife. Much like the existence of god, the burden of proof rests with the people making the positive assertion. Until I'm shown compelling evidence for an afterlife, I don't believe in one, for the same reason I don't believe in unicorns.

You haven't seen any evidence for the opposite either, have you? To believe that there is no life after death is just as spiritual as believing there is a life after death.

If you are going to take the scientific approach, you need to say 'I don't know"

2. A life after death presupposes a soul. There is, however, decently compelling evidence against the existence of a soul. A soul would be, by definition, immaterial. But at the same time, it would have to be capable of interacting with the material world, otherwise, it would have no mechanism by which it could influence the behavior of its host body. This is a logical contradiction, though, since an immaterial substance by definition cannot interact with the material world.

Why can't an immartial substance interact with the material world? Actually, I don't think souls are any different from any other substances/forces around in the world. They are all part of the world and interacting with each other. But if the soul doesn't exist, I have trouble explaining why we get the feeling of living in only one body. How do you explain that?

In addition, if we define a soul as the essence of what makes a person who they are, the seat of their reason, personality, etc., then a soul is nothing more than the collection of neurons firing in a specific pattern in one's brain. This can be proven by studying people who have suffered brain injuries. In many cases, their entire personality changes, making them for all intents and purposes, a different person.

No wonder. The soul only controls the brain. It isn't the brain and if the brain changes, then the person is also going to change. For instance, if you are tired you are going to behave quite differently than if you are on drugs or if you are not tired. That's because the brain is behaving differently.

And to answer the question, yes I think there is an after life. My reasoning is that it has happened before. I have already argued why a soul exist. Then the process of creation of life is quite extraordinary. And if it has happened before, why couldn't it happen again?

 

[Orion]

Is there "life" after death - or is dead, dead.

There is something after death, but it does not resemble the life you live now. When you die, your ego dies. Whatever is left moves on.

 

[WilliamJB]

Interesting. I don't disagree with your first point but what exactly do you consider gravity to be? Material or immaterial? Is it a substance at all? Does it have atoms? What is gravity? What about electromagnetism? Strong force? Weak force? I am on your side as much as anybody but I do seek some sort of explanation to whether you consider gravity to be material or immaterial.

Electromagnetism is carried by photons, which can in fact be seen (actually, everything we see is photons). The weak force is carried by W and Z bosons, which can also be directly observed, as can gluons, the carriers of the strong force.

Gravity is admittedly slightly more problematic, but I have two points related to that:

1. There are several theories that suggest the existence of gravitons, that is, hypothetical gravity-force carrying particles, which make sense based on all of the math, but have yet to be directly observed. The Higgs Boson may also play an important role in explaining exactly how gravity interacts with the material world.

2. Even if we don't fully understand the mechanism behind gravitational interactions, we can observe how it acts on all matter, and it acts on all matter exactly the same way. Einstein's general theory of relativity also offers a pretty good explanation which doesn't require any particular interaction between objects, but is rather a consequence of the curvature of space-time. This is not even in the same ballpark as a "soul."

 

[WilliamJB]

You haven't seen any evidence for the opposite either, have you? To believe that there is no life after death is just as spiritual as believing there is a life after death.

If you are going to take the scientific approach, you need to say 'I don't know"

You seem to have missed the second part of my first argument. Of course I can't disprove that a soul exists. I also can't disprove that an invisible teapot orbits the sun between Mars and the Earth, but until you give me a compelling reason to suppose that one does, I'm going to continue believing that there is no invisible teapot.

On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being absolute certainty that there is a god, and 7 being absolute certainty that there is no god, even Richard Dawkins claims a 6. Why? Because he's a scientist, and unlike religious folks, any good scientist will never say anything is absolutely true or absolutely untrue. We live in the realm of probabilities. And to me, the probability that there is no soul is pretty high. Not 100%. But pretty high.

Why can't an immartial substance interact with the material world? Actually, I don't think souls are any different from any other substances/forces around in the world. They are all part of the world and interacting with each other. But if the soul doesn't exist, I have trouble explaining why we get the feeling of living in only one body. How do you explain that?

If souls are material (i.e. made up of matter), then why can't we observe them? Everything that is material can be observed, either directly, or indirectly via their interaction with things that are directly observable.

As for your perception of living in only one body, I'm not really sure where you're going with that.

No wonder. The soul only controls the brain. It isn't the brain and if the brain changes, then the person is also going to change. For instance, if you are tired you are going to behave quite differently than if you are on drugs or if you are not tired. That's because the brain is behaving differently.

And to answer the question, yes I think there is an after life. My reasoning is that it has happened before. I have already argued why a soul exist. Then the process of creation of life is quite extraordinary. And if it has happened before, why couldn't it happen again?

Right, but once you sleep, you stop being tired and return to your natural state, or once you come down from whatever drug you're on, you return to your baseline state. If you've suffered a brain injury, you are permanently changed. Your personality, your relationship to the outside world, is different. Permanently. You are literally a different person.

 

[samsmart]

Is there "life" after death - or is dead, dead.

Elaborate if you'd like.

I voted "Uncertain." There's no evidence one way or the other. Until there is, I don't think about it too much. There's too many things in the life to focus on instead of death.

 

[Camlon]

You seem to have missed the second part of my first argument. Of course I can't disprove that a soul exists. I also can't disprove that an invisible teapot orbits the sun between Mars and the Earth, but until you give me a compelling reason to suppose that one does, I'm going to continue believing that there is no invisible teapot.

On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being absolute certainty that there is a god, and 7 being absolute certainty that there is no god, even Richard Dawkins claims a 6. Why? Because he's a scientist, and unlike religious folks, any good scientist will never say anything is absolutely true or absolutely untrue. We live in the realm of probabilities. And to me, the probability that there is no soul is pretty high. Not 100%. But pretty high.

I don't think it's a very fair comparison, because we have nothing to suggest that there is an invisible teapot out there. We do have something to suggest that there is souls, the feeling of existence.

Actually we can compare this to inteligent life on other planets. Does the fact that we have no evidence for inteligent life on other planets mean that there is no life on other planets. Of course not! Does it show that it is unlikely that there is no inteligent life on other planets. Absolutly not. To say something like that, you need evidence. You don't have any evidence to say that there is no afterlife and if you believe there is no afterlife without evidence, then you are just as spiritual as I am.

If souls are material (i.e. made up of matter), then why can't we observe them? Everything that is material can be observed, either directly, or indirectly via their interaction with things that are directly observable.

As for your perception of living in only one body, I'm not really sure where you're going with that.

Who gave you the idea that we can observe everything in the universe? I'm sure there are tons of material out there we haven't discovered and some of them may be impossible to discover.

You don't need to know where I'm going with it. Just answer the question, if my beliefs are so unlikely then you should be able to answer. So what gives us the perception of living in only one body. How can you explain that feeling scientifically.

Right, but once you sleep, you stop being tired and return to your natural state, or once you come down from whatever drug you're on, you return to your baseline state. If you've suffered a brain injury, you are permanently changed. Your personality, your relationship to the outside world, is different. Permanently. You are literally a different person.

Doesn't matter if a state is permanent or temporary. I'm just saying that if you change the brain, then people are going to act different. It's not an argument against souls, because souls only influence the brain. They don't control it.

 

[Apocalypse]

There is no life after death, there is only more death.

 

[spud_meister]

There is no life after death, there is only more death.

Or more life, if your glass is half full.