If an afterlife exists

[Pulchra]

I really hope and pray that you would ask God to reveal Himself to you, before you dismiss Him as a myth.
There's just too much at stake here, the truth exists and nothing can change it. At least 50 million believers have been executed for the sake of the truth. All they had to do, was deny Christ and they could have waked away from the fiery stake.
Christians put Christ's honor above everything else, including their own lives. So everyone who knows Christ, lives to serve and worship Him alone. Everything and everyone else pales into insignificance.
Christ created everything that exists, so He already owns everyone. He said we will know Him as our savior or our judge.
I hope you give it some serious thought, because He said that He will cast everyone who doesn't know Him as their savior into hell.

Well, I`m a very sensitive and logical perhaps and I haven`t seen a single sign of higher being anywhere, for me it`s just people saying there is one

 

[Dan1988]

It's the highest miracle because it resolves the deepest problem plaguing mankind.

How do you know that? Our scriptures suggests many thousands in the Buddha's time did achieve complete resolution. I also know for myself that my ongoing practice of His Path continues to bring me closer to the resolution.

Buddhists distinguish between pain and suffering. Yes, we must all undergo pains in life, but suffering is optional.

The claim that suffering is optional, can't be true because everyone suffers in this sin cursed world. Suffering is the result of sin, and since we all sin we will all continue to suffer without exception.
If we ever find a single person on earth, who manages to avoid suffering I'll become a Buddhist immediately.

 

[Dan1988]

Well, I`m a very sensitive and logical perhaps and I haven`t seen a single sign of higher being anywhere, for me it`s just people saying there is one

In Romans 1:20 God said that He has revealed Himself to everyone, so they are all without excuse. Nobody will be able to say, I didn't see any evidence because God has given us 100% proof by creating everything we see.
It's impossible to deny the fact that God has created everything that exists, even the most ignorant Atheists admit that creation is too complex to have come about by chance.
The only reason anyone denies the existence of God, is because they love their sin so much that desperately hang on to the hope that they can plead ignorance when they stand before God to be judged.
God describes these people as "fools", because there's no escape for them. He will cast all of them into hell.

 

[ananda]

The claim that suffering is optional, can't be true because everyone suffers in this sin cursed world. Suffering is the result of sin, and since we all sin we will all continue to suffer without exception.
If we ever find a single person on earth, who manages to avoid suffering I'll become a Buddhist immediately.

How do you know that "everyone" suffers? Do you possess omniscience to know that it is so?

 

[Pulchra]

The claim that suffering is optional, can't be true because everyone suffers in this sin cursed world. Suffering is the result of sin, and since we all sin we will all continue to suffer without exception.
If we ever find a single person on earth, who manages to avoid suffering I'll become a Buddhist immediately.

eheh

 

[Pulchra]

In Romans 1:20 God said that He has revealed Himself to everyone, so they are all without excuse. Nobody will be able to say, I didn't see any evidence because God has given us 100% proof by creating everything we see.
It's impossible to deny the fact that God has created everything that exists, even the most ignorant Atheists admit that creation is too complex to have come about by chance.
The only reason anyone denies the existence of God, is because they love their sin so much that desperately hang on to the hope that they can plead ignorance when they stand before God to be judged.
God describes these people as "fools", because there's no escape for them. He will cast all of them into hell.

But, if he really have revealed himself to me, why would I deny it? Personally, I think believers are lying a little because if they really thought a being with superpowers existed, they would be in shock and walk around completely different than they do today

 

[Dan1988]

How do you know that "everyone" suffers? Do you possess omniscience to know that it is so?

I know this to be a fact, because the One who created all things said that the whole of His creation groans and travails in pain.
The bible is God's Holy Word and He said in Romans 8:22 that everyone, including animals must suffer until He comes to judge the world.
So every living thing will suffer until Christ returns to take His people to heaven and cast all unbelievers into hell.

 

[ananda]

I know this to be a fact, because the One who created all things said that the whole of His creation groans and travails in pain.
The bible is God's Holy Word and He said in Romans 8:22 that everyone, including animals must suffer until He comes to judge the world.
So every living thing will suffer until Christ returns to take His people to heaven and cast all unbelievers into hell.

As I see it: that isn't knowledge of a fact ... that is faith in hearsay, rather.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

What do others think?

What is written? The truth , the answer, is written.

In the unlikely event of there being an afterlife what will it be like?

Perfect. As written.

Would we be the same people we are here on earth or totally different?

Not even close to "the same". (and few make it) as written.

If a person has a disability or illness will they continue to suffer from it?

No suffering in heaven in the life to come. None, not even a tear , no sorrow at all. And of course, as written, no sinners and no sin. No unbelievers. Not even a hint of doubt , unbelief, or rebellion .....
As written.

 

[Dan1988]

But, if he really have revealed himself to me, why would I deny it? Personally, I think believers are lying a little because if they really thought a being with superpowers existed, they would be in shock and walk around completely different than they do today

The only reason anyone denies the existence of God, is because they hold on to this futile hope that ignorance may excuse them from eternity in hell.
Believers are all in awe, not shock. I'm not sure what outward appearance you expect us to exhibit, unbelievers don't have any idea of how overjoyed and happy we are.
We don't care about this world or anything in it, all of it's riches are dung to us. Our home is in heaven, so there's nothing here to excite us.

 

[durangodawood]

The only reason anyone denies the existence of God, is because....

I dont believe you have the God-like insight into every persons mind that you claim to have.

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

In Romans 1:20 God said that He has revealed Himself to everyone, so they are all without excuse. Nobody will be able to say, I didn't see any evidence because God has given us 100% proof by creating everything we see.

If it is 100% proof as you say then we would have no choice but to believe it. We don't choose our beliefs, we are convinced by the evidence or not. Many like myself are not convinced that nature "proves" a god. There are many naturalistic explanations and the rest is "I don't know". Where are your justification for believing the Bible is true?

It's impossible to deny the fact that God has created everything that exists, even the most ignorant Atheists admit that creation is too complex to have come about by chance.

This is untrue because many do not believe. So it is possible to deny god created everything. There are many unanswered questions as to why or how there is something. You are claiming that a god created everything without any evidence t support that claim.

The only reason anyone denies the existence of God, is because they love their sin so much that desperately hang on to the hope that they can plead ignorance when they stand before God to be judged.
God describes these people as "fools", because there's no escape for them. He will cast all of them into hell.

Which sin/sins do you think I want to do? It seems to me that belief in a god does not stop people from sinning, there are countless examples of that.

In the end I know that you are wrong because I know why I don't believe and it has nothing to do with wanting to sin. You cannot possible know unless you ask. When you say things like this you are telling atheists that they are lying about the reasons they actually don't believe and you are also undermining your position because the atheist knows you are wrong. Just provide the evidence for gods existence and you don't have to worry about our "wanting to sin".

 

[Dan1988]

If it is 100% proof as you say then we would have no choice but to believe it. We don't choose our beliefs, we are convinced by the evidence or not. Many like myself are not convinced that nature "proves" a god. There are many naturalistic explanations and the rest is "I don't know". Where are your justification for believing the Bible is true?

This is untrue because many do not believe. So it is possible to deny god created everything. There are many unanswered questions as to why or how there is something. You are claiming that a god created everything without any evidence t support that claim.

Which sin/sins do you think I want to do? It seems to me that belief in a god does not stop people from sinning, there are countless examples of that.

In the end I know that you are wrong because I know why I don't believe and it has nothing to do with wanting to sin. You cannot possible know unless you ask. When you say things like this you are telling atheists that they are lying about the reasons they actually don't believe and you are also undermining your position because the atheist knows you are wrong. Just provide the evidence for gods existence and you don't have to worry about our "wanting to sin".

I should have mentioned that God said, the truth is foolishness to the damned. Nobody can believe in God, unless He reveals Himself to them and opens their spiritual eyes.
God said that, only His elect can believe. The rest of humanity is damned, this may sound unfair to the natural unconverted man. But if we consider the fact that nobody deserves to be saved, then it shows that God is love because He chose to save billions of undeserving sinners.
The Bible tells us there's no way to be saved from hell, if God doesn't save us. If God leaves a person in their sin and doesn't give them the gift of faith, then there's no hope for that person.
Every single Word in the Bible is 100% true. If anyone ever finds a single error or lie or contradiction in it, then every Christian will abandon their faith immediately.
God is sovereign over every single atom in the universe, He ordains everything that happens and nothing can happen if He doesn't allow it. So Christians praise Him, no matter what happens. We know that nothing happens by chance.

 

[Bob Crowley]

In the unlikely event of there being an afterlife what will it be like? Would we be the same people we are here on earth or totally different? If someone passes into the afterlife as a child, will they stay as such, not growing into an adult? If a person has a disability or illness will they continue to suffer from it?

What do others think?

I've mentioned this ad infinitum, but the night my own father died, he appeared in my room. That was on the 11th January 1979, and I still remember most of our conversation word for word over 40 years later. It stared with "someone" shaking me on the back, I rolled over in bed, and to my shock he started to materialise near the door. It went on from there.

No doubt you won't believe me, but I don't care. I know what I saw.

In his case it was not a happy outcome. After the conversation had ended, he gave this absolutely terrifying scream and then just disappeared. It was obvious something was coming for him and that was what horrified him so much.

There's an afterlife and there's a judgement. Rest assured.

When I was talking to my father, I could either focus on him, or see through him. I suppose you might say he was "ghostly". I had a long chipboard bookcase and the middle shelf sagged (buying too many books has long been a bad habit of mine). I can still remember being able to focus on the bookcase right behind him if I wanted to.

However I can't tell you much about the long-term afterlife. For those condemned to Hell, I think they become quite hideous, creeping crawling horrors we would not hope to meet in our worst nightmares, to quote CS Lewis (more or less). Something scared the hell out of my father, although I couldn't see it. During the whole episode I was not allowed to see anything but him, although I was able to see his various reactions to whatever he could see.

I believe in Purgatory, but I'm not sure how much of a "body" the residents have. They may start in purely spiritual, "ghostly" form and gradually take on more and more of a manifest appearance as they draw nearer to heaven and their ultimate goal, the beatific vision. For an imaginative take on this transition, read CS Lewis's "The Great Divorce".

For those who make it to heaven, if they're going to have "bodies" then it is obvious they're going to be independent of our earth bound bodies, which have rotted in the grave, disintegrated in the sea, gone up in smoke in a crematorium, vaporised in a nuclear explosion, blown to bits in a war etc.

Our bodies will probably share some features we had in our earthly sojourn, to the point we'd be recognisable to those we knew should they happen to join us, but the reality is we don't know what our transcendent bodies will be like. What does come through in every vision of saints who have "seen" heaven is an overwhelming light. None of them seem to have gone into any great detail about the appearance of the glorified saints, but they all mention incredible beauty.

Heaven as Described by the Saints

Another Carmelite mystic, St. Mary of Jesus Crucified, 1846-1878, experienced a vision of heaven after she died from several knife wounds. “I saw the Blessed Virgin, the angels and the saints who welcomed me with great kindness,” she says, “I even saw my parents in the middle of them. I contemplated the radiant throne of the Holy Trinity, and Our Lord Jesus Christ in his humanity. There was no sun, no lamps, and yet everything shone with an indescribable light.”

Er ... I presume she had a near death experience and somehow recovered from the knife wounds. She could obviously recognise her parents, who had predeceased her, and been sent to greet her.

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

I should have mentioned that God said, the truth is foolishness to the damned. Nobody can believe in God, unless He reveals Himself to them and opens their spiritual eyes.
God said that, only His elect can believe. The rest of humanity is damned, this may sound unfair to the natural unconverted man. But if we consider the fact that nobody deserves to be saved, then it shows that God is love because He chose to save billions of undeserving sinners.
The Bible tells us there's no way to be saved from hell, if God doesn't save us. If God leaves a person in their sin and doesn't give them the gift of faith, then there's no hope for that person.
Every single Word in the Bible is 100% true. If anyone ever finds a single error or lie or contradiction in it, then every Christian will abandon their faith immediately.
God is sovereign over every single atom in the universe, He ordains everything that happens and nothing can happen if He doesn't allow it. So Christians praise Him, no matter what happens. We know that nothing happens by chance.

Here is the moral problem Christianity has. It says that I am a sinner before birth and that my flesh is sinful. I have no choice but to be a sinner and therefore damned. So no god is not loving if he condemns some to hell without the person having a say in it. The christian god allows you to be born as a sinner and then condemns you for being a sinner. That is immoral.

 

[Pulchra]

The only reason anyone denies the existence of God, is because they hold on to this futile hope that ignorance may excuse them from eternity in hell.
Believers are all in awe, not shock. I'm not sure what outward appearance you expect us to exhibit, unbelievers don't have any idea of how overjoyed and happy we are.
We don't care about this world or anything in it, all of it's riches are dung to us. Our home is in heaven, so there's nothing here to excite us.

But, if you`re wrong, are you really just walking around and brainwashing others into believing something that could them from being honest with themselves and live a more happy life that way?

 

[durangodawood]

....God said that, only His elect can believe. The rest of humanity is damned, this may sound unfair to the natural unconverted man. But if we consider the fact that nobody deserves to be saved, then it shows that God is love because He chose to save billions of undeserving sinners.....

That should sound unfair to everybody.

To create a being for whom the known outcome is unspeakable suffering... thats monstrous. No two ways around it.

 

[Dan1988]

Here is the moral problem Christianity has. It says that I am a sinner before birth and that my flesh is sinful. I have no choice but to be a sinner and therefore damned. So no god is not loving if he condemns some to hell without the person having a say in it. The christian god allows you to be born as a sinner and then condemns you for being a sinner. That is immoral.

There's no moral problem in Christianity, since God is perfectly Holy. He's not the author of sin, so nobody can accuse Him of having any part in man's sin.
Humans are all descendants of our parents Adam and Eve, we all inherited their fallen sinful nature so we sin because we are sinners. We're naturally bent towards evil, so we all seek to fulfill our wicked desires.
Nobody is interested doing good, until God regenerates them and they receive the Holy Spirit.
We're all born loving evil and hating God, because He's good. So God has to punish evil, otherwise He wouldn't be a righteous and just God.
God didn't create us to sin, we rebelled against Him and chose to sin so we can't blame anyone for our actions.
God is pure love, He has no pleasure in punishing the wicked. He's going to destroy this world again, last time was with a flood and this time it will be with fire.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I have a question. If evolution is true, even Theistic Evolution believed by many Christians, then why did Jesus die on the cross?

 

[Speedwell]

I have a question. If evolution is true, even Theistic Evolution believed by many Christians, then why did Jesus die on the cross?

For the same reason he would have died on the cross if evolution is not true. Didn't they teach you that in Sunday School?