Originally posted by rwingett
I didn't exist prior to my physical body. I will cease to exist after its demise. I don't sit around wishing I had existed for all eternity before I was born and I see no reason to wish for eternal existence after I'm presumably gone.
Why is it that Christians are always fixated on what happens after death? The eternity of time before your birth didn't inconvenience you in the slightest, why is the after life part so terrifying to you?
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I didn't exist prior to my physical body. I will cease to exist after its demise. I don't sit around wishing I had existed for all eternity before I was born and I see no reason to wish for eternal existence after I'm presumably gone.
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I understand your position. And it does make some sense. But something also puzzles me.
Doesn't it make sense to listen to someone who seems more of a practical authority on the matter ? We have this person Jesus Christ. Reports are that He raised a few people from the dead. Reports are that He Himself raised from the dead. He went through something more horrible then we can imagine with a confidence that it would not destroy Him and that He would be back in victory.
When this man speaks on the subject matter of human life and death, time and eternity, etc. don't you think something of His credentials demands that we should
listen ? I mean at least we should listen.
If you ask me what it is like to be a world's champion chess player I couldn't tell you. But if Gary Kasporov were here, it would behoove you to listen to him. He knows something about it whereas I do not.
This one who said
"I am the resurrection and the life" I think, given His exprience, His integrity, His selfless, totally selfless commitment, His level of purity, His lazer like insight into the motives of the human heart, and His demonstration of His own breaking the bonds of the grave, on the subject matter, should be considered for consultation.
There seems that no one else possesses the credentials to speak on that matter with more authority then Jesus. Do you think in meditating on mortality or resurrection and eternity, we can afford to ignore what
Christ had to say ?