You are not going to live forever. That old book you worship isn't going to save you. Words scribbled on papyrus 2000 years ago will not inoculate you from death.Let's start with some basic facts: We are biological organisms. We are made out of flesh and bone, and we depend on the operation of certain cellular, chemical processes in order to continue functioning and experiencing the world around us. Once these processes stop, we die. When we die, there is no longer any electrical activity going on within the structure of our brains, and it is then no longer possible for us to experience anything. What had been our personalities, our memories, our hopes and fears all cease to exist. From this point on, the walls of our cells break down, and eventually our bodies decompose into their constitute elements through biological/chemical processes. This is a fate we share with every other living thing on the planet.
Of course you believe in something called a "soul" which you think transcends death. I will examine the term in a moment.
So where did the idea of eternal life come from originally? It is reasonable to suppose that when ancient people saw dead relatives and friends in dreams and visions, they thought that the deceased were still alive in some form. Ancient people had no real understanding of the source of their dreams and visions, and an afterlife would account for why they still saw the deceased.
Of course the idea of an afterlife is very appealing to most people since most people do not want to die. Indeed, one of the strongest forces in biology is the will to survive. Since humans can conceptualize death, it is not surprising that they would conceptualize an escape from death.
The idea of an afterlife can be developed to address other psychological needs as well:
"...when [it's] obvious to people that the world is unfair, that what 'goes around' doesn't always 'come around,' the concept of justice being served in an afterlife is wonderfully soothing. If, say, someone was killed and the murderer goes free, believing that the murderer will end up in hell might be the only way the victim's family [members] can put their rage behind them and live a happy life. I remember realizing [that] 'Even if hell didn't exist, people would invent the concept.'"http://www.users.bigpond.com/pmurray/exchristian/Stories/0197.html
While many people fervently believe in an afterlife, there is no good evidence for an afterlife. Nor is there any reasonable, fact-based explanation for it.
None.
So here is where the apologetics come in. You claim that human beings possess "souls" that somehow represent consciousness and personality. You declare that these "souls" can exist separately from our bodies. You assert that these "souls" somehow leave our bodies at death and go somewhere else, employing some inexplicable means of locomotion. This is all nonsense, of course. This is wild speculation about things that you do not know and that you cannot know. Have you ever tried to figure out what a "soul" actually is? I have asked numerous Christians to explain the term, and they can't do it, because they don't know what it is actually supposed to be. No one does. The simple fact of the matter is that there is no evidence for a mind/brain duality, or a "ghost in the machine."
As a Christian apologist, you really have to ask yourself some questions. You have to ask yourself, "Am I being manipulated? Is it at all possible that the reason I argue so passionately about the ineffable and the unknowable, about things that I cannot possibly know, is that I am simply trying to convince myself that I will inherit eternal bliss-and that I will escape eternal torture in hell? Is it possible that all my orgiastic expressions of religious fervor derive from the primal will to survive, something far more ancient than any holy book? Is it possible that my religion's founders cynically co-opted this primal will to survive and the universal fear of pain in order to gain converts-and thus increase their wealth and power? Is it also possible that these leaders were deluded?"
While you are pondering all these questions, take a moment to read the words of some early Church Fathers, and think about what their words indicate about their honesty:
- "To the Jews I became as a Jew, to win the Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law-though not being myself under the law-that I might win those under the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel..." Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:20-23
- "Hermas, an early church father, wrote: 'O Lord, I never spoke a true word in my life, I have always affirmed a lie as truth to all men, and no man contradicted me; instead, they all gave credit to my works.' Visions of Hermas, vol. 2, c.3."
- "Gregory of Nazanzius, a 4th century church father and bishop of Caesarea, wrote to St. Jerome: 'A little jargon is all that is necessary to impose on the people. The less they comprehend, the more they admire.' Quoted by C. Volney, The Ruins, p. 177 (1872)."
- "Augustine of Hippo, the greatest figure in Christian antiquity, wrote: 'It is lawful, then, to him that discusses, disputes and preaches of things eternal, or to him that narrates of things temporal pertaining to religion or piety, to conceal at fitting times whatever seems fit to be concealed.' Augustine, On Lying, c. 19"
I'll repeat myself: You are not going to live forever. Just think about it. You have no memories of your existence prior to the development of your brain because you did not exist prior to the formation of your brain. And you will not exist after it is gone. Look at your body-that is you. You are not something else. You cannot escape what you are or overcome biology. You think otherwise, of course, but you cannot explain how life after death would be possible. The reason why you cannot explain it and the reason why you will never be able to explain it is simply because it is not possible. The afterlife is a fiction.
Your life is undeniably real. It will not last forever, but that is why it is so very precious. Don't waste it on a delusion.
Good luck.
http://www.scorbett.ca/writings/religion/atheism.shtml"Atheism consequence #1 - you are mortal This is really the hardest consequence of atheism for newcomers to deal with. Since the first flicker of consciousness graced the mind of humankind, people have feared death. Pretty much every early civilization invented some way to deal with this fear. Some believed that when you die, you would be reincarnated as some other life form. Others believed you would haunt the Earth as an immaterial, disembodied spectre. Others believed in some form of judgement, where you would enter eternal bliss or eternal punishment depending on your actions during life. All these beliefs share one thing in common - immortality. It's a beautiful concept, there is no more need to fear death, since death really no longer exists. Even in those religions that have a concept of 'hell', you still live forever. Granted, you are in pain and agony for all eternity, but you are still alive."
"With atheism, this comfortable lie is ripped away, and you are faced with the harsh, inexorable truth - you will die one day. This death will not be a transition between your current life and your next life, it will be the end of everything that is you. It's a scary thought, but after reflecting on it for a while, you will realize something - atheists value and respect life more than religious types, such as Christians. Why? The Christian believes that his death is a beginning, not an end. The atheist recognizes death for what it is - oblivion. We only have a brief time on this planet, we must cherish it while we have it."
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