The bible tells us several times that Jesus is the Lord of life.
This is from the New Jerusalem Bible.
Luke 7:11. It happened that soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people.
12. Now when he was near the gate of the town there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople was with her.
13. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her and said to her, "Don't cry."
14. Then he went up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, "Young man, I tell you: get up."
15. And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
16. Everyone was filled with awe and glorified God saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us; God has visited his people."
17. And this view of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.
2 questions...
1. Do you hope for or believe in a life after this one?
2. Can you see why there are so many people who believe in a person who has the power over death?
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)

I am certainly not an expert on religion but I don't think you can be a Christian unless you believe in eternal life. In my opinion, if there were no death, religion wouldn't exist. I think but do not know that all religions have some beliefs in afterlife.

John 3:16 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Footnotes:

John 3:16 Or his only begotten Son

smearcase
Thanks for your opinion.
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)

Dear Fred

No. I do not hope for that. Not that I am afraid for such an afterlife at all.
But I do not see any need for a life after this one and only life.

Only our present life is for sure : we exist, though only for a short period.
We should concentrate on that one and only life, and make the best out of it.
Whoever likes to BELIEVE in an afterlife : fine with me.
As long as that is not done at the expense of that one and only life you have now.
And not at the expense of many others who share this life with you.

Unfortunately that is for many theists precisely the situation : they seem to devalue their one and only life against a claim of a life after this one : a claim, not a surety.

If you truly believe that a God put us on this world, the first directive would be to live this life to the fullest.

:rolleyes:

Have a nice day, dear Fred!!

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arcura

The bible tells us several times that Jesus is the Lord of life.
This is from the New Jerusalem Bible.
Luke 7:11. It happened that soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people.
12. Now when he was near the gate of the town there was a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople was with her.
13. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her and said to her, "Don't cry."
14. Then he went up and touched the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, "Young man, I tell you: get up."
15. And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
16. Everyone was filled with awe and glorified God saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us; God has visited his people."
17. And this view of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.
2 questions......
1. Do you hope for or believe in a life after this one?
2. Can you see why there are so many people who believe in a person who has the power over death?
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)

---

1 - I believe!
2 - Yes, I for one, though I believe in an eternal life with God, am scared of dying.
What person would not want to live [ this life ] longer?

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Originally Posted by inthebox

What person would not want to live [ this life ] longer?

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That is just the problem with the "afterlife" (if that exists) : it will NOT be the same to this life.
You will NOT have a body, as that remains on earth.
So all you can have is a soul...

But any format of afterlife is based on religious claims : there is no guarantee there is any!!
All one can do is BELIEVE in it...

To live this (only) life longer, it is most important to live this life to the fullest.
To put all your actions and care towards a better living, to greater health, to keep your body healthy by keeping your weight under control. Just one look at today's overweight western youths indicates that there is a huge problem with that general health.

If one can not meet up with the demands of healthy life on earth, what makes one think that one can meet up with the demands of the claimed afterlife??

:rolleyes:

.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arcura

1. Do you hope for or believe in a life after this one?

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If I do wake up in an after-life, I'll be pleasantly surprised. If not, I won't be disappointed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arcura

2. Can you see why there are so many people who believe in a person who has the power over death?

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Well, duh! They want something more than oblivion as a reward for bearing the burden of this life, and they'll believe whatever they have to believe to get a promise of it.

I know there is an afterlife.

Death is eternal peace; some what to believe that their consciousness will live forever.

When I have asked them in the past what eternal consciousness would be like, no one will answer me, Fred.

What will eternal consciousness be like?

Death is eternal peace; some what to believe that their consciousness will live forever.

When I have asked them in the past what eternal consciousness would be like, no one will answer me, Fred.

What will eternal consciousness be like?

It is not for me... I don't Believe in eternal consciousness. In fact, that sounds like hell to me!

Yes, I believe in life after death. In fact, I have volunteered to be in charge of all the cats and kittens.

That is awesome...

Choux,
I believe that eternal consciousness l will be as the bible tells us.
That is a life with the glory of God no tears, no sadness, no illness or handicaps, all pleasant and joy.
Being a tired, sick old man who lived through a war or two in a world filled with some successes, some joy but lots of misery and disappointments I look forward to that.
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)

I hope, want to believe.

The thought that I'll never see my parents again after I die is too much to bear. I want to believe in heaven, I want to believe that I'll be reunited with my loved ones.

Now, if I'm wrong, I guess it doesn't really matter, if there's nothing after death, then there's no hope either.

For now, as long as I'm alive, I'll hope, to do otherwise would be torture.

Atenweg,
I hope as you do.
But think of this. We all are part of this universe; In reality we are made of star stuff made from the stars that make the stuff (elements) of the universe.
Also we are part energy that may dissipate but will remain.
When our star (sun) grows old in a few million years it will grow huge absorbing this planet and others we will be star stuff again and when the sun then blows off its star stuff into space it becomes the dust that new stars and planets are made of.
If nothing else we all will be a part of this ever growing universe for trillions of years.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arcura

Atenweg,
I hope as you do.
But think of this. We all are part of this universe; In reality we are made of star stuff made from the stars that make the stuff (elements) of the universe.
Also we are part energy that may dissipate but will remain.
When our star (sun) grows old in a few million years it will grow huge absorbing this planet and others we will be star stuff again and when the sun then blows off its star stuff into space it becomes the dust that new stars and planets are made of.
If nothing else we all will be a part of this ever growing universe for trillions of years.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

---

I'm hoping for something a little more exciting and personal than that.

Wondergirl,
So am I.
But if there is no hereafter as I believe that there is that is what remains of our remains; a part of this glorious, immense universe.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

I just want to paint a picture for you. If you've ever had this you relate very well if not try your best to understand the concept.

I have had these multiple times. Lucid dreams. It is when you are in a dream and you suddenly realize you are dreaming. Think about it. Your consciousness is in a world not in the physical. You are literally somewhere else. How would you explain this? Nobody can. You're you, moving and interacting with things that are not "real" as we are taught. So dwell on that. You exist somewhere not in the physical world in these dreams. Can this be related to life after death? I believe so.

Dear Fred,

I have to repeat my previous entry here, as some intolerant person has deleted my reply to you.

You asked : Do you hope for or believe in a life after this one?

My answer to that is :

No, I do NOT hope for any format of afterlife (not that I am afraid for "afterlife", but I see no reason for it to exist).

No, I do NOT believe in a life after this one.

One has to live NOW and plan one's life to live to the fullest. IF a God entity exists, I can not "see" that such entity would expect from any human being not to live to the fullest here on earth, instead of focusing completely on some claimed but unproved "afterlife".

Believe whatever you prefer to believe. Accept the Bible whatever way you prefer. For me it is just a compendium of stories written by people about a non-proved-to-exist God entity and a group of dessert people living between 3500 BC and 200 AD in the Middle East.

Have a nice day, Fred !

:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

I hope, want to believe. The thought that I'll never see my parents again after I die is too much to bear....

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That goes for all of us, I assume. The idea to rejoin all those loved ones who over the years fell away is gratifying. But common sense tells me that this is not possible.

At the same time the realisation of that impossibility may assist many to live their own lifes to the fullest, and show their interest and gratitude towards their parents and other loved-ones now, before they pass away.

To prevent that creepy feeling after some loved-one falls away (the feeling of "if I had done this in time", or "if I had visited him/her last week", or "if I had phoned two weeks ago", etc.), you should do NOW what should/can be done. The "hereafter" is no replacement for what you failed to do now.

And note dear Andrea : I do not mean YOU personally. I mean all of us.

:)

.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by germain

I just want to paint a picture for you..... You exist somewhere not in the physical world in these dreams. Can this be related to life after death? I believe so.

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Dreams are nothing more than the brain clearing, removing, and storing earlier memories elsewhere, though this is done totally ad randum. That is also the reason why so much of our dreams seems to be so familiar for us, as they only contain fragments of our own thoughts and observations. This make dreams helpful in treating mental disorders.

Note that when you dream you are still 100% there, in your own physical world.

As to life-after-death : all we can be sure of is that we live NOW. Any future/after life is based on speculation and religious claims, and NOT on factual Objective Supported Evidence (OSE).

:rolleyes:

.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Credendovidis

Dreams are nothing more than the brain clearing, removing, and storing earlier memories elsewhere, though this is done totally ad randum.

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Do you BELIEVE that this is true about everyone else's dreams, as well as your own? Please provide your Objective Supported Evidence for this BELIEF.

Dear Cred - Boy are YOU going to be surprised one day when you wake up and find yourself dead and still alive in the afterlife.

I know for a fact that we live on after this life. In fact we usually have been here sometimes many, many times before.

When I was 25 and had an extremely serious accident I had one of those out of body experiences. (I should have died but didn't have enough sense to stay dead). Anyway, I was there with Jesus (of all people) and a lot of other people. I was told that I had to go back and finish up my life. I was not very happy about that idea as I knew where I was and wanted to stay there. Then I was taken back to my body. I was extremely furious when I did get back into my body as I knew that I had many more years to endure here before I could go back to heaven, paradise, or whatever it is called.

I truly believe as I was there. Before this incident I was an agnostic. Show me. Well I sure was "showed" all right.

You can doubt me on this, but as I told Cred, boy are you going to be very surprised when you leave this earthly plane (or die physically) as your soul or spirit never dies.

[QUOTE=Credendovidis;1284994]Dreams are nothing more than the brain clearing, removing, and storing earlier memories elsewhere, though this is done totally ad randum. That is also the reason why so much of our dreams seems to be so familiar for us, as they only contain fragments of our own thoughts and observations. This make dreams helpful in treating mental disorders.

Note that when you dream you are still 100% there, in your own physical world.

--
I completely agree with you. But I was talking about lucid dreaming. Regular dreams cannot even be compared whatsoever to a lucid dream. In a lucid dream.. you are actually you alive in a dream acting how you want to act you literally "wake up" in a dream. How would you explain this transfer of consciousness? It is not a normal random dream. You yourself are in it now so it can't be compared to random thoughts of the day. There are even more weird things out there. Just like out of body experiences or near death experiences. Have you ever heard of Astral projection? I was holding this back in my last post because this I know is hard to believe unless it has happened to you. It has happened to me a few times. It is deliberately including an out of body experience. I can tell you it is one of the most profound things to have happen to you for it lets you let go of your fear of death. Anyone who has had these knows there's something more to this life. Quantum mechanics, particle split theory so many weird stuff out there that is so crazy its like as if it is from a movie but in real life. So the theory of life after death doesn't sound as crazy to believe.

germain,
It has been said that dreams are merely symbolic of something in your life or of something you hope for.
Interesting is the observation that if you know you are dreaming you can change the dream.
But if you can not change it then what you are experiencing is a vision.
Visions can not be changed. They are meant to teach, inform, or warn of something.
When you are dreaming try to change it as an exeriement to see if it is a dream or a vision.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ordinaryguy

Do you BELIEVE that this is true about everyone else's dreams, as well as your own? Please provide your Objective Supported Evidence for this BELIEF.

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You must be so ordinary that you have never heard of people like Freud, and their research into dreams. Science is very clear about what dreams are. What still is under research is why people dream so differently in frequency and/or intensity.

No, I do not BELIEVE in facts. I accept them as correct if properly supported.

:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

Dear Cred - Boy are YOU going to be surprised one day when you wake up and find yourself dead and still alive in the afterlife.

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That is what you BELIEVE. But you can not support that in any objective way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

I know for a fact that we live on after this life. In fact we usually have been here sometimes many, many times before.

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No you do not KNOW that : you BELIEVE that !

:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Credendovidis

You must be so ordinary that you have never heard of people like Freud, and their research into dreams.

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You must be so condescending that you don't know that Freud's theories on dreams have been largely discredited by rigorous empirical research.

Domhoff: Beyond Freud and Jung

Quote:

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Freud's claims about the nature of dreams rest for the most part on his method of free association, in which the dreamer produces uncritical, unreflective trains of thought to each aspect of the dream. Freud assumed that these free associations reveal the "latent" wishes on which dreams are based. The discovery of latent content through free association then leads to the inference that the cognitive processes called the dream-work transform these latent wishes into the "manifest" dream content.

Because other methods have not been able to show support for Freud's theory, any remaining credibility it may have depends upon the validity of this method. However, there is no evidence that the method has any specific scientific usefulness even though it seems to be helpful in bringing people to talk about themselves, their emotional memories, and their current concerns. As Fisher and Greenberg (1977, pg. 66) note in their first assessment of Freud's work on dreams, "there is not a shred of empirical or reliable evidence that they provide a unique 'true' solution concerning what is contained in the dream." In addition, a large-scale attempt by Foulkes (1978) to make use of free associations to understand dreams collected in the laboratory setting ended with the conclusion that the method is "inherently arbitrary" (Foulkes, 1996)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Credendovidis

Science is very clear about what dreams are.

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Here's what YOU say dreams are: "Dreams are nothing more than the brain clearing, removing, and storing earlier memories elsewhere, though this is done totally ad randum." But you haven't provided any evidence that "Science" supports your belief about what dreams are. It certainly isn't what Freud believed they were. He thought they were "wish fulfillment", but then, he was wrong.

If you all believe what science has to say about these things than listen to this.. Science has theorys on other dimensions. They have not proved them but they are trying now. If you want to see for yourself look up Large Hadron Collider.. I've been following up with it for a long time now. Even science has theorys that other dimensions exist so much so that they are building this giant machine to prove or disprove of these other dimensions. You can relate these other dimensions to life after death for if they exist it clearly proves there's something more to this life. Basically the machine will shoot two photon beams at the speed of light, they will circle the giant machine and will crash against each other smashing the atoms so hard they will break into the smallest of pieces. Now there is a theory on black hole being created by this. If indeed a black hole is created (mind you even black holes are theorys up to date) it will suck in some pieces of the atom and they will "vanish into thin air" proving they went into another dimension. So when they do launch this project look for a big clue to life after death there.

germain,
I do believe that science is in the process of proving much that has been called spirituality.
However, such goes by different names.
As time goes on I believe more and more scientists will become believers than thos that ares o today.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

arcura,
You're definitely right on that. I can't wait to see what's in store for the human race. Some big stuff is coming up reaaaaal soon :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by germain

Some big stuff is coming up reaaaaal soon :)

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Can you be more specific?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by germain

.... I can't wait to see whats in store for the human race. Some big stuff is coming up reaaaaal soon :)

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Yeah. More and more Americans of 800+ pounds. Fortunately they are unable to reprocreate... :)

Germain : if you BELIEVE that something will happen soon, why don't you dare to tell us all about that ?

:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Credendovidis

Yeah. More and more Americans of 800+ pounds.

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Huh?

And you're doing the eye-rolling thing again.

Wondergirl : may be that is "in store" (see post # 31). Specially the BIG STUFF!!

Sorry :rolleyes: six :rolleyes: is :rolleyes: the :rolleyes: max. :rolleyes: here :rolleyes:!!

.

ordinaryguy.
Yes I would like it if germain would be more specific.
Fred

I too would like to know what germain is talking about, or was it just a blanket statement, not based on fact?

I don't know what part of the "Large Hadron Collider" you guys didn't pick up! This is the most extraordianry scientific achievement EVER. It will be launched very soon. If you guys are really that curious look it up for yourselves. I told you what is coming up. If you are sincerely interested do some research. They are recreating what happens milliseconds after the "big bang". Do you realize how much theorys will be proved and disproved by this expirement? Other dimensions, string theorys, quantum mechanics, smallest components of atoms.. so much knowledge about the universe will be finally explored thanks to this machine. Worm holes, black holes, all the sci-fi stuff time travel. Read. If you are sincerely intersted and not asking me just to make me seem foolish or force an answer out of me.. read about it. Just research "Large Hadron Collider" and let your mind flow on the information.

I'm sorry if I dissapointed any of you by not telling you aliens were coming or the dead were rising or Jesus is on his way. By big stuff I meant understanding of the universe, how it operates, do we have a say in all this? Just imagine they find out there is other dimensions. It would be like the race to the moon again yet who can make it into another dimension first. Time travel falls along worm holes, worm holes fall along black holes, black holes will be put to the test soon! That tickles my fancy :)

Germain, thank you for clarifying. Yes, most of us have heard of Cerns "little" experiment, but you didn't say that in your original statement, and we are not mind readers. No need to get irritable. ;)