Why there is belief in an afterlife

[Fixed Cross]

Because it facilitates courageous behaviour, the disregarding of survival as a primary value for the sake of standard based action, which is evolutionarily favourable for conquest and procreation. Belief in afterlife is a mark of fitness, even though it is a function of debility as well.

[pilgrim-seeker_tom]

When did the notion of an afterlife first enter human consciousness?

Ancient Egypt? Certainly predates the initiation of the belief in Judaism.

If true ... it seems inevitable that we would eventually figure out where 'home' is. ???

[Erik_]

You are thinking too much in terms of Darwinian evolution. Yes, evolution is probably true, but that does not mean everything about us, our beliefs, who we are, etc, is based in survival mechanisms. Yes, conviction in an after-life certainly makes one more brave, but that does not mean it's something just made up to alleviate fear. God is real and so is the after-life. Check out near death experience testimonies. A dying, malfunctioning brain would not produce such life changing experiences - one would expect random, incoherent hallucinations with a brain not at full capacity. But these NDE experiences are not hallucinations - they are real experiences of God and the after-life. Also, the gospel of Jesus Christ is proof for the reality of life after death. The universe is not meaningless. There is a cosmic purpose for it. You are meant to know God through Jesus. For those who existed before Jesus, his ways are eternal and written in everyone's heart. You are meant to manifest the light of Christ to other people. Come check out my thread on True Christianity. Jesus bless you all.

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

We were born without knowing why, we will die without knowing where, and we may again be born without knowing why.

[WendyDarling]

Erik,
The soul's the seat of consciousness and your long term memory so it's not up to the human brain to reveal Heaven. Also, you don't need to die (even temporarily) for your soul to "see" what more there is to living. The problem with soul travel is that it is difficult to maintain when you are still linked to a human body.

[Fixed Cross]

You are thinking too much in terms of Darwinian evolution. Yes, evolution is probably true, but that does not mean everything about us, our beliefs, who we are, etc, is based in survival mechanisms.

Hey Erik you didnt understand my statement.
I said that survival is not the bottom line, but standard based action is.

Old Jesus isnt necessary anymore with that knowledge.

[Fixed Cross]

When did the notion of an afterlife first enter human consciousness?

Ancient Egypt? Certainly predates the initiation of the belief in Judaism.

If true ... it seems inevitable that we would eventually figure out where 'home' is. ???

Judaism has no belief in an afterlife. It only has Sheol, the pit of death. But only a tribe as rugged as the Jews can live without wishful thinking and still evolve.

[Erik_]

You are thinking too much in terms of Darwinian evolution. Yes, evolution is probably true, but that does not mean everything about us, our beliefs, who we are, etc, is based in survival mechanisms.

Hey Erik you didnt understand my statement.
I said that survival is not the bottom line, but standard based action is.

Old Jesus isnt necessary anymore with that knowledge.

You stated that it's evolutionarily favorable, that it assists in procreation. Procreation is still linked to survival, from a Darwinian perpsective; while the courageous person may die in battle, his genes will continue on, or survive, through his off-spring. The person is still trying to keep a part of himself alive through procreation, from a Darwinian standpoint. But the bottom line is that you believe that the after-life is just something made up to make people more courageous - something tied into evolutionary theory.

This, however, is not the case. It's not just something imagined - it is real.

There is no "old Jesus who isn't necessary anymore". You should not say such things; it is blasphemous.

Jesus is eternal and will always be necessary. People through out the ages have tried to silence him and misrepresent him, but he still stands at the forefront, shining brighter than anyone. He is the Truth.

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

Can you prove Jesus is real please? I am a scientist, I need to see it for myself.

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

*

[WendyDarling]

You are thinking too much in terms of Darwinian evolution. Yes, evolution is probably true, but that does not mean everything about us, our beliefs, who we are, etc, is based in survival mechanisms.

Hey Erik you didnt understand my statement.
I said that survival is not the bottom line, but standard based action is.

Old Jesus isnt necessary anymore with that knowledge.

You stated that it's evolutionarily favorable, that it assists in procreation. Procreation is still linked to survival, from a Darwinian perpsective; while the courageous person may die in battle, his genes will continue on, or survive, through his off-spring. The person is still trying to keep a part of himself alive through procreation, from a Darwinian standpoint. But the bottom line is that you believe that the after-life is just something made up to make people more courageous - something tied into evolutionary theory.

This, however, is not the case. It's not just something imagined - it is real.

There is no "old Jesus who isn't necessary anymore". You should not say such things; it is blasphemous.

Jesus is eternal and will always be necessary. People through out the ages have tried to silence him and misrepresent him, but he still stands at the forefront, shining brighter than anyone. He is the Truth.

If Jesus is the Truth, what is God?

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

If Jesus is the Truth, what is God?

A horrifying fairy tale meant to scare children into obedience to societal norms.

[Erik_]

Can you prove Jesus is real please? I am a scientist, I need to see it for myself.

You are assuming, mistakingly, that the only way we can arrive at truth is through science, while such things as philosophy, intuition, and mystical experience are other such ways. Scientists often tend to be imbalanced in the sense of being overly left-brain centric. This leads to them being biased and hostile towards intuitive, artistic, mystical experience.

While God and Christ can be discovered through science, or empiricism, they are more interested in being known through spiritual means. When you seek from your heart and cleanse yourself of all arrogance, you will discover God and the Truth of Jesus, under the the awe-inspiring starry night sky. God does not want to be found in a box; he wants to be found in the heart. Jesus bless you, Trixie.

[WendyDarling]

Erik,
I have a beef with Christianity giving 99% of the glory to Christ who was nothing but the son of God, not by any stretch of the imagination God who creates all, even your very next breath. Jesus was simply a favored helper of God and it miffs me that God gets the last billing when the purpose of Jesus was to reveal God's other side. Jesus is favored by God but not God.

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

Erik,
I have a beef with Christianity giving 99% of the glory to Christ who was nothing but the son of God, not by any stretch of the imagination God who creates all, even your very next breath. Jesus was simply a favored helper of God and it miffs me that God gets the last billing when the purpose of Jesus was to reveal God's other side.

If the Bible is real, God is the guy who created hell, cursed every being into damnation and slaughtered his own son to correct his own mistakes.

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

Can you prove Jesus is real please? I am a scientist, I need to see it for myself.

You are assuming, mistakingly, that the only way we can arrive at truth is through science, while such things as philosophy, intuition, and mystical experience are other such ways. Scientists often tend to be imbalanced in the sense of being overly left-brain centric. This leads to them being biased and hostile towards intuitive, artistic, mystical experience.

While God and Christ can be discovered through science, or empiricism, they are more interested in being known through spiritual means. When you seek from your heart and cleanse yourself of all arrogance, you will discover God and the Truth of Jesus, under the the awe-inspiring starry night sky. God does not want to be found in a box; he wants to be found in the heart. Jesus bless you, Trixie.

Truth is what is. There are many ways to arrive at truth. What do you define as "science", exactly?

One way to find the Truth is to commit suicide. Once you are dead you will know for sure whether God, the bible and Jesus is real. This is a very scientific kind of experiment, however it doesn't benefit the scientific community, since there's no way to record the experiment and you would perhaps just be perpetuating your own ignorance, if you die and forget your past life anyway.

[WendyDarling]

God allows man's animal nature to raise it's ugly head (mankind murdered his own son), but God desires a soul to reach beyond his animal form, to a higher form, which was modeled by Jesus in the human animal form.

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

God allows man's animal nature to raise it's ugly head (mankind murdered his own son), but God desires a soul to reach beyond his animal form, to a higher form, which was modeled by Jesus in the human animal form.

I am the closest thing to Jesus of the 2017 age, and you all spit on me anyway.

[Erik_]

Wendy, Jesus is worthy of glory and honor. He is the ultimate manifestation of God. He endured extreme suffering, so that we would be reconciled to God. He had tremendous, infinite love within his heart for you, as he was on the cross. You should not have a problem at all with glorifying him and loving him. He is the exact image of the living God. You are to honour him as you would the Father. He is not some mere middle man, nor helper. He is the King of Kings and he is worthy of all honor, praise, and love. Every knee will bow and tongue confess that he is Lord.

Trixie, Christianity is NOT something invented to scare people into obedience. It's NOT about fear - it is about love.

You have stated that you have spoken with unclean spirits before. Why do you doubt?

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

Wendy, Jesus is worthy of glory and honor. He is the ultimate manifestation of God. He endured extreme suffering, so that we would be reconciled to God. He had tremendous, infinite love within his heart for you, as he was on the cross. You should not have a problem at all with glorifying him and loving him. He is the exact image of the living God. You are to honour him as you would the Father. He is not some mere middle man, nor helper. He is the King of Kings and he is worthy of all honor, praise, and love. Every knee will bow and tongue confess that he is Lord.

Trixie, Christianity is NOT something invented to scare people into obedience. It's NOT about fear - it is about love.

You have stated that you have spoken with unclean spirits before. Why do you doubt?

If the Devil is real that doesn't mean the bible is true. The Bible could have been invented to slander entities.

If Christianity is about love then why do they glorify the parts of the old testament where Jews go around slaughtering everybody?

Also, why do you believe this sadomasochistic fetish religion about some dude slaughtering himself on a cross, enforcing chastity and washing dude's feet? Don't answer, that's a rhetorical question.

[WendyDarling]

Wendy, Jesus is worthy of glory and honor. He is the ultimate manifestation of God. He endured extreme suffering, so that we would be reconciled to God. He had tremendous, infinite love within his heart for you, as he was on the cross. You should not have a problem at all with glorifying him and loving him. He is the exact image of the living God. You are to honour him as you would the Father. He is not some mere middle man, nor helper. He is the King of Kings and he is worthy of all honor, praise, and love. Every knee will bow and tongue confess that he is Lord.

Trixie, Christianity is NOT something invented to scare people into obedience. It's NOT about fear - it is about love.

You have stated that you have spoken with unclean spirits before. Why do you doubt?

God is the ultimate manifestation of God. We all endure extreme suffering, that's life and death, it ain't pretty. Jesus obeyed God while in his human form, but he was less human than other souls, less bedazzled by human life. Jesus started out as an angel, not a soul made for a human such as our souls were. I doubt that many souls found here on Earth started out as angels, so Jesus had advantages, less vulnerable, to the affects of evil than man's soul in an animal body.

[WendyDarling]

What's more, God spoke frankly to Jesus in other words the relationship between God and Jesus continued, there was no separation of Jesus from God when his soul transitioned to Earth and I imagine that Jesus remembered Heaven, his part of eternity with God, before being born in a human form. Human souls have a tougher journey than the souls of angelic beings, for one, human souls have no recall of time spent anywhere other than on the Earth plane of existence even if multiple lifetimes have transpired. Also, human souls retain only a spark of divinity in them to be nurtured while living, so it's very troublesome for humans to establish a knowing of God, to establish an unwavering trust.

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

O wise one, can you explain to me if there are multiple souls, ie. souls birthing like some mad experiment, never to be crossed over or united with other information paths, other journeys, ie. no compassion for the enemy because no incarnation threats...ie. a big birthing of a cruel universe kind of deal? Or are we all just one large and ignorant soul?

Do you know what I'm talking about?

[WendyDarling]

Jesus was and is God's helper. Jesus is of God, as are we all, but he is not God.

[Erik_]

Trixie, Christianity is NOT sadomasochistic or anything like that. Christianity is about very beautiful love and devotion. When people kissed the hands or feet of Jesus, it was done out of endearing reverence, NOT out of sexual desire.

You should NOT make such blasphemous statements about Christianity.

I reject some things in the bible, like the accounts of slaughter. These things are NOT of Christ, nor God. The bible does contain the Truth of God in it and many things inspired by God, but people need to remember that the bible was written by men. Men are not perfect they can make mistakes. This, however, does NOT mean that the bible is unreliable. Just because there are some errors in it, that does NOT mean we should do away with it. It does contain the Truth of God in it and we should continue to read it and learn from it.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And no man goes unto the Father but by him. He is the only way to God.

Seek to know him. There is nothing more beautiful than knowing God through Jesus.