Christian mistakes about life after death

Christian mistakes

This is the final script in a series of 6 podcasts on what is in store for us if we survive death. So far I have explored accounts of death survival, inner character, the concept of selfishness, and reasons for permanence of unhappiness in those who are basically selfish. I now provide a summary of … Continue reading Christian mistakes about life after death

Afterlife – Could you believe deep down?

afterlife

If you don’t believe in a human soul or in an afterlife, how would you respond if I asked you to sign a contract to sell your soul to me for £2? Many people these days are sceptical of the notion that consciousness can survive the death of the brain. Modern science points out that … Continue reading Afterlife – Could you believe deep down?

Happy marriage — How can this happen?

happy marriage

A Jane Austin novel seems to end at the altar as if the wedding were all that is necessary for a happy marriage for all time. Yet these days a lot of marriages seem to finish up on the scrap heap and you might have a sneaky feeling that perhaps a well-known film star was … Continue reading Happy marriage — How can this happen?

Evidence of life after death – Is there any?

evidence of life after death

We have all heard about so-called communications purportedly from a spirit world through mediums. However, less well known are those where no medium is involved. These have been called ‘after death communications’ (ADCs) and might  be seen as evidence of life after death. An ADC is defined as a spiritual experience that occurs when someone … Continue reading Evidence of life after death – Is there any?

Will we meet in heaven – my partner and I?

meet in heaven

Poets sometimes voice a feeling that even death cannot break the bonds of love.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, — I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! And, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

(Sonnets from the Portugese XLIII by Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

But does love really transcend bodily death and do we ever meet our loved ones
again?

Children who die – What happens to them?

children who die

Judging by the popularity of the American fantasy television series Ghost Whisperer, many people, even if they haven’t made a jump of faith, would like to believe in death survival for everyone including children who die . Some people are willing to talk privately about having felt a presence, heard a voice, or seen a ghost … Continue reading Children who die – What happens to them?

Punishment of hell – Can this be real?

punishment of hell

If doing bad things is caused by environmental circumstances rather than individual moral choice, then surely an eternal punishment after death would be unjust? And if you balk at the idea of evil then you may dismiss the idea of hell.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson – A review

Gilead

This novel is one of President Obama’s favourite books. It is widely acclaimed as a book of meditative calm and spiritual intensity. Despite its success with a secular audience it unusually has a lot of openly religious content. Revd. John Ames is a Congregational minister and the chief character and narrator. He had experienced great sorrow for a long time in his life after the death of his wife and daughter. Many years later when 69 years of age however he meets and marries his second wife, Lila, who is much younger than him. The book has a quiet gentle almost mystical feeling of peaceful old age – a letting go of the things of life. John remembers grief but never without comfort, loneliness but never without peace.

Life after death – What’s it like?

life after death

In the post Is there an afterlife? I pointed to a similarity between Swedenborg’s reports of his mystical experiences of life after death and numerous accounts of the near death experience. There are also striking similarities between what various modern psychic mediums have said concerning a realm of spirits with Swedenborg’s writings. These similarities are … Continue reading Life after death – What’s it like?

Afterlife – Is there one?

afterlife

A young man was skating on the local reservoir and fell through the ice. As he approached hypothermia, he could hardly move. He went down in silence his lifeless arms floating above his head. He then stopped feeling afraid of death and of there being no afterlife and actually started to feel warm. Feeling at … Continue reading Afterlife – Is there one?