Why there is belief in an afterlife

When I die I will have no more need for my consciousness and so you can have it if you want to
I will be spending the rest of time sleeping the never ending sleep of eternity so sweet dreams

I guess we’ll see, won’t we? :evilfun: :wink: Not a moments Peace for you…I’ll make certain. :astonished: :laughing:

You have asked me this before. You seem to be very concerned about what I think about what you believe but you can believe whatever you want to
It makes no difference to me. All I am saying is I do not believe what you do and am giving you reasons why that is. So can you please stop asking me

But the reasons you give are not supported by any scientific evidence and that is what you say your reasons are based on.

My reasons are based upon lack of evidence to support what you think is true when it clearly can not be demonstrated
And yet again you do appear to be overly concerned with what I think about what you believe which you should not be

You have no contradictory evidence to support your beliefs either which is what you cannot admit to.

One cannot find evidence to support a negative position only a positive one
Unless evidence can be found the negative position remains the default one

How do you have the positive position is what I keep trying to get you to address?

“What are man’s truths ultimately? Merely his irrefutable errors.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science

I do not think that this man is taking the positive position or the negative position. The only position that I see he is taking is the one where he cannot know and that he doesn’t even care about. He is taking the more skeptical/agnostic position.

Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
Nietzsche.

Any positive position I hold to be true will be supported by evidence
Any negative position I hold to be true will be supported by lack of evidence for the positive position

For example astral projection : no evidence for it so I take the negative position as the default position

You think this is wrong because you claim to have astrally projected and also because you want it to be true
Unfortunately neither of these constitute evidence so I still maintain the negative position as the default one

You have also suggested that consciousness after brain death is evidence of it surviving after brain function ceases
But I suggest that science does not yet have an explanation for this and that one has to be patient until it finds one

Your positions are undermined by specifically wanting something to be true regardless of what evidence says or even if there is any
Whereas I am much more interested in having positions based upon evidence or no evidence rather than simply what I want to true

I gave you the anecdotal evidence based on medical case studies of establishing typical statistical references of near death experiences, but your liberal mind (a mind detached from reality) refuses to accept that as any form of evidence.

Do you not remember me saying that in science there is no such thing as anecdotal evidence
Do you not remember me saying personal testimony that cannot be verified is not evidence

If Wiki lies, tell me. If not stop with your denial of the reality that is before your eyes in the above quote.

That definition is a bit loose especially the second part so it needs tightening up

Evidence for astral projection most definitely does not exist because it is purely anecdotal
Evidence for consciousness surviving brain death does exist but the reason is not yet known

The studies tie surviving death and what happened during together. Remember the brain’s are not supposed to be functioning after a certain amount of time but they do and the people have similar stories of what went on in their minds, which is more than just your brain.

I would like to learn more about this as I think it is a very fascinating subject indeed
But in the meantime I shall still use the definition of mind as a function of the brain
I know you will disagree but as we no longer agree on any thing it is no real surprise

Spiritualism is the belief that the spirits of the dead have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living. The afterlife, or the “spirit world”, is seen by spiritualists, not as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to evolve.

After some research I am of the opinion that what you are speaking about, is the practice of Spiritual Formation, which is a system of practices that were originally invented by Ignatius Loyola the founder of the Jesuits.

One key element of spiritual formation is called “contemplative spirituality.” Other related terms include “contemplative prayer,” or “centering prayer.” These are all names for essentially the same thing. This is nothing more than a mixture of what New Age pagan practitioners of meditation and Roman Catholic monks have taught for centuries.

Here is what Thomas Keating, a Roman Catholic monk, has this to say about contemplative prayer, otherwise known as centering prayer:

Spiritual disciplines, both East and West, are based on the hy- pothesis that there is something that we can do to enter upon the journey to divine union once we have been touched by the realization that such a state exists. Centering prayer is a disci- pline designed to reduce obstacles… choose a sacred word [to repeat]… Twenty to thirty minutes is the minimum amount of time necessary for most people to establish interior silence.12

In other words, you repeat religious or Biblical words (it doesn’t really matter which ones) in order to “center” your thoughts until you feel like you have unity with God.

Jesus specifically mentioned repetition as vain and useless. He said “but when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matthew 6:7).

Contemplative prayer is mystical from its core, so it is fruitless from my point of view to persuade you otherwise.

With regard to your questions above. Read the Scriptures the answers are all there. :wink:

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
Matthew 7:13

SM,
It’s rather annoying that you beckon emphatically to have your questions answered but you do not return the courteousness, are you sure that you are not an American liberal leftist? Well if you ever decide to become a forthright Christian, let me know, where questions and their answers are exchanged rather than one-directional.

I answered your questions.

It is all there in the Scriptures.

I believe that you need to check everything out for yourself. Don’t just believe what someone else tells you. If it is something from the Bible go look it up for yourself.