Let's Get DEEP: What Happens After DEATH?

Hi Ana. Regarding judges 1:19, The passage does not indicate God couldn't defeat the chariots; instead, despite God being with Judah they(the people) did not defeat the chariots because of their lack of faith(this is further explained later in the book of judges).

For those who are wondering earnestly what happens when you die, the Bible does provide answers to this question and more. Others here have quoted passages. John 3:16 is a popular passage; it is still my favorite. If you pray earnestly and read, God will help you understand. Even if you’re not sure what you believe, you can pray and ask! If you reach out to a local pastor, most would be happy to answer questions.

popgrowth wrote:

Interest concept. How do you explain population growth? There are many more souls than people and the number of souls choosing to participate has just increased over time???

This is a great question because the number of people living right now is about the same as all the humans that have ever lived in the past. Obviously, there needs to be millions on new souls every year.

There are some theories. One is that the Universal Consciousness (or whatever you prefer to call it) has the ability to create an infinite number of new souls. It sounds farfetched, but no more than some of the tenants of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc.

STEVE THE ADDICT^^^^^^ wrote:

Sham 69 wrote:

I think this too. You reincarnate as your offspring. If you don't have offspring, you go to heaven or hell.

Makes no sense. When it comes to this topic, not much does.

It's possible. When you wake up in the morning, can you even be sure you're the same person who went to sleep the previous night? Sure, you seem to remember it that way, but that could be a delusion.

So maybe when your parents die, they possess you like demons while you sleep, and you wake up with your memories and habits intact, except it's not you, it's them! The real you has been destroyed and they live out the rest of your life in your body.

And then when your body dies, off they go to possess YOUR offspring! Generation after generation, these demons are living like parasites in humans, damning them to oblivion when their parents die! Who are they?

fisky wrote: It sounds farfetched, but no more than some of the tenants of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc.

Yeah, we could have a competition to see who can invent the least plausible answers to life and deaths great mysteries. The most ridiculous answer wins.

Bythebay12 wrote:

Each human has an immortal soul that is attached to their physical body.

I have no doubt that you believe that sincerely.

Again: People don't get to *choose* their beliefs or nonbeliefs. So as long as they don't use force, or the threat of force, to impose their beliefs on others--and, in particular, don't try to enlist the physical or economic force of government to do so--I think it's all good.

fisky wrote:

. . . the number of people living right now is about the same as all the humans that have ever lived in the past.

No, that's egregiously incorrect. Though it has to be an estimate--after all, people will differ on when they think H. sapiens sapiens came to be--most of the educated estimates say that very approximately 100 billion humans have lived.

And what's the current human population of Earth--eight billion, maybe?

fisky wrote:

. . . some of the tenants of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc.

BTW, pretty sure the word you're aftef there is tenets. Tenants are something else.

Let’s all be honest... no living person knows for sure... someday all of us will have our answer

Ha. People responding to you like your name is Ana

An Atheist

An(a) theist

Atheism is a sadly existential experience.

It provides no divine reason to behave.

Hmmm.

Ana Theist wrote:

Bythebay12 wrote:

Each human has an immortal soul that is attached to their physical body.

I have no doubt that you believe that sincerely.

Again: People don't get to *choose* their beliefs or nonbeliefs.

That's a very narrow view. Most people I know are free to believe or not believe whatever they want.

Stoppit Smith wrote:

Ha. People responding to you like your name is Ana

An Atheist

An(a) theist

Atheism is a sadly existential experience.

It provides no divine reason to behave.

Hmmm.

3 things

1, Nobody on this thread missed the word play on the name.

2, Who needs a belief in divinity?

3, And if they do, why?

you gotta run the 4xinfinity and youre every leg.

sorry mean't infinityx400. basically hell.

I identify as a prong horned antelope that sits down to pee.

I'm so glad you asked.

A divinity, no matter who it is or in what form, provides a careful combination of guidance, proverbs, beatitudes, etc relative to the believers.

It provides a purpose, a savior, a means by which to live properly.

This is why athletes, addicts, the depraved feel so different when they come to know their deity.

They knew what their purpose was and that they had meaning.

They shared a brethren of love with their congregation or fellowship.

When you don't have a deity, who walks with you when you're scared?

Who brought you or a loved one through lymphosarcoma, or a stroke or heart attack.

Without the belief in something more, you lose out on spirit and spirituality.

There's no Heaven for us or even Rainbow Bridge for pets.

We have nobody to thank for keeping us safe on a run.

We have nobody to uplift us when everyone has walked away.

Without a deity, it's Crane and Poe existentialism where life is a bleak struggle and it's just you.

But without a deity, how will you ever know that you transcended the struggle?

Amen.

michiganrunner55 wrote:

Let’s all be honest... no living person knows for sure... someday all of us will have our answer

Funny thing is that your claim is as presumptuous as those who claim they know.

You presume we will get an answer? People who are done for don't have cognitive abilities to gather answers.

Once you're dead, you get a message saying "you've been banned from life indefinitely. Email rojo@letsrun.com if you have any questions about your ban."

Sympathy for the Devil. wrote:

Ana Theist wrote:

Again: People don't get to *choose* their beliefs or nonbeliefs.

That's a very narrow view. Most people I know are free to believe or not believe whatever they want.

Free to believe, yes; free to *choose* their beliefs, no.

Think about it for half a minute. What human has the ability to say, "Hey, you know what, today Imma start sincerely believing X" or "Imma stop believing Y"? That's not how human minds work.

If a proposition meets your standards for believability, you won't *choose* to believe it; it will *compel* your belief. Similarly, to the extent it doesn't meet those standards, you *cannot* sincerely believe it (though you might be able to choose to talk and act as though you did).

Either way, there's no real choice involved. And it appears that people's standards for believability are mostly or wholly unconscious, and also not susceptible to choice. Given that, as long as people don't try to *impose* their belief/nonbelief on others, I'm fine with it.