What do we know about the Afterlife
Beliefs about the afterlife vary significantly among different religions, cultures, and philosophies. The most common belief involves the idea that some aspect of an individual never dies but lives on in some other form in some other place. This part of man is usually referred to as the ‘soul’. How does this belief play out across different cultures?- Christianity, Islam, and Judaism believe individuals are sent to either heaven or hell based on how they lived their lives on earth. Heaven is often depicted as a place of eternal happiness while Hell is portrayed as a place of eternal torment.
- Certain Eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, teach the concept of reincarnation, where the soul is reborn into a new body after death. The cycle of rebirth continues until the soul achieves enlightenment or moksha (Hinduism) or nirvana (Buddhism). This is a state of freedom from the endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
- Atheists believe that there is no afterlife and that consciousness ceases to exist after death. To the atheist, there is no accountability to some divine being for life’s actions, so death is simply the end of existence.
- Various indigenous and pagan traditions imagine an afterlife consisting of different realms where spirits reside. These realms may be accessed via certain rituals or guided journeys.
- You need access to facts across all time – past, present, and future.
- You need to be present as a first-hand witness to all the events, facts, and circumstances – past, present, and future.
- You need to come to the same conclusions every time – past, present, and future.
- So, what happens when a person dies?
- What is the ‘spirit’ that returns to God?
- Is a Soul Immortal?
- What does the Bible teach about the state of the dead?
- The Bible teaches us that death is like a deep, unconscious sleep during which the dead rest in their graves until resurrected by the voice of God. To them, it is just like a moment in time. At the resurrection, Christ will give them back the breath of life taken when they died. It is important to note that there is a resurrection for both the righteous and the wicked.
- In the grave (it makes no difference if cremated), they rest unconscious of anything happening on this earth. (This is good news because they are spared from being aware of the sorrows and tragedies befalling their loved ones. Heaven, for the redeemed, is a place of joy and eternal happiness, not a place of mourning over what is happening on this earth).
- The dead do not have any conscious thought and cannot communicate with the living. This is important to know because Satan will deceive many into thinking that they are in touch with a dead loved one when in fact they are communicating with either Satan himself or one of his demons.