The
truth about life after death is out there, but not in our
stars or ourselves. Our revealed future is far greater
than the stuff of dreams. by Les McCullough
The late Carl Sagan, astronomer and
author, used to wonder why smart people would believe in
God. True, he spent most of the last decade of his life
saying he wanted to discover whether God exists, but up
until he died earlier this year he never believed in God
or that he would ever again see his wife of 20 years.
Is
there life after death? Is there an answer that makes
sense?
As he saw his death approaching, Sagan himself said:
"I would love to believe that when I die I will live
again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of
me will continue. But, much as I want to believe that,
and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions
that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest
that it is more than wishful thinking" ("In the
Valley of the Shadow," Parade, March 10,
1996).
Many other people have also decided that this life is
all there is and they try to make the most of it. If Carl
Sagan and these others are right, then the rest of us,
particularly those who believe the Bible's explanation,
have been seriously deluded.
Skepticism about an afterlife, or of that afterlife
being one of happiness forever, has long existed even
among Christians. In the first century of the Christian
era, the apostle Paul encountered this mind-set in
Corinth. Apparently the Christians God had called in this
cosmopolitan city carried some of the philosophical
baggage of their times along with them. Some questioned
even the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
