Who believes that there is a life hereafter?

If so, where is it?

Is entrance dependent upon meritorious conduct on Earth?

Who believes that they are going to make it?

Who believes that I am going to make it?

Will I still be able to ask penetrating questions in this Galaxy?

Should I set up an email address now or later?

---

Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 07 Sep 2004 23:03 PDT

Oh, dear ...

Not EVERYONE commented but happily all the enlightened ones did.

Thank you all so much.

At last, I know where I am going ...

(I think.)

All the Best

Bryan

PS Doesn't Archae0pteryx know some big words? Epistemic hunger ... Wow!

Who believes that there is a life hereafter? Me

If so, where is it? In Heaven. In God's Kingdom

Is entrance dependent upon meritorious conduct on Earth? No

Who believes that they are going to make it? Me

Who believes that I am going to make it? Hmm... It depends. If you
have accepted in your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior
then you will make it for sure.

Will I still be able to ask penetrating questions in this Galaxy? Of
course and most probably all your questions will be answered.

Should I set up an email address now or later? No need. This is God's
kingdom we're talking about here Bryan! Email? So... earth like.

If there is, which I think there is, I'm not going to get there. I've
just done it again (i.e. added a comment to a question that ended up
being the answer so the person asking has expired the question. It was
a $20 one too.)

I'm really sorry to the researchers who could have earned some good
dollars. I keep wincing every time I think of it.

cheers
stressedmum

ps: will Daisy be going with you? I like to think I'm going to meet up
with my darling doggies and moggies in the afterlife.

Bryan, the more I learn of geology and cosmology, the more I research
the history of humankind, and the older I get and experience losing
one?s family and friends through death, the more I believe that upon
death, that?s it, there is no more. Enjoy it while you can and keep
asking these damned difficult questions!
answerfinder-ga

If there is a life hereafter then it is highly unlikely that 'me'
would be the same person as 'me as a human'

We are a product of our genetics, experience and environment.
I can definitively claim that I am not the same person that I was when
I was eight years old.

http://bible.gospelcom.net/

I'm with easterangel and daytrader.

I usually comment on algorithms and/or fluids questions... but what
the heck, why not... here it goes.

Who believes that there is a life hereafter?  Not me.
If so, where is it? If it did exist then it would be impossible for me
to answer this, based on no known scientific observations.
Is entrance dependent upon meritorious conduct on Earth?  If it did
exist, I hope not.
Who believes that they are going to make it?  If i believed there was,
I wouldn't be going - I am just a evil person.
Who believes that I am going to make it? I don't believe your going to
make it because I don't believe in it.
Will I still be able to ask penetrating questions in this Galaxy?  I
hope so, you have greatly enertained me while I'm suppose to be
conducting research outside the bounds of ethics and law.
Should I set up an email address now or later?  Now, tomorrow might not come! 

The question that should have been asked was, can people who are in
heaven read google answers?

Disclaimer: These are just my thoughts, if you don't agree thats cool!
 Just don't flame me, I am a weak and impressionable grad. student.

Best,
Steve.

My philosophy is according to the following....It could be that "you
are you".  Right now you are operating the body you have.  Perhaps in
the past you operated other bodies.  Perhaps you are a spiritual being
and could operate without a body.  Here's a philosophical write up on
this topic:
          http://www.ronthephilosopher.org/page62.htm
and while we are at it:
          http://www.scientology.org/p_jpg/wis/wiseng/wis1-3/wis3_4.htm

I guess I could say I don't believe in a hereafter where you go to
stay in some euphoric state.  I believe in a future beyond death and
it can be good or not.  Meritorius behavior is ethical behavior and
that is definitely an issue.

I'm interested to see how many comments you get!!!!!

Ok, I'll bite too. 

1) Who believes that there is a life hereafter? 
   Me

2) If so, where is it? 
   In another plane or dimension of existence, one beyond our current
understanding, though somewhat comprehendable according to some
current explanations of 'string theory.'

3) Is entrance dependent upon meritorious conduct on Earth? 
   No. 

4) Who believes that they are going to make it? 
   Me.

5) Who believes that I am going to make it? 
   I don't know you, so I have no idea. Too little time/space for a
huge theological discussion here, but -- as a Christian I do believe
that Jesus Christ is "the way" by which all will enter 'heaven,' as he
said.  Nevertheless, I am not in accord with the Fundamentalist
prescription of "accepting Jesus as your Savior," which is rather
simplistic and places the onus of salvation on the doctrinal stance of
the individual, rather than on the Almighty, which is where it
properly belongs.  I do believe that faith, however, is required, so
imo all those who trust in God may make their way to heaven, though
they may ultimately be surprised at the identity of the 'doorway'
through which they must pass. For myself, I fully expect to find
Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and pantheists among the company of heaven,
with all those who have placed their faith in God, whatever the nature
of their perhaps faulty understanding of truth, as I'm sure many will
be surprised to see me there.

6) Will I still be able to ask penetrating questions in this Galaxy? 
   I have no idea if the dimension of heaven is located in this galaxy
or another or none at all, but I'm sure you will be able to ask
penetrating questions wherever it might be, though they may be moot at
that point! After all, we are told that "now I know in part; but then
shall I know even as also I am known."

7) Should I set up an email address now or later? 
   As you like.   :-)

Who believes that there is a life hereafter?
Me too. Jesus clearly indicated that there's life beyond this life
when He said to the repentant thief, "Truly I say to you, today you
shall be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43)." Are we to contest what
Jesus said?

If so, where is it?
Heaven, God's Kingdom, Paradise -- you name it. For me it is another
level of consciousness in another plane of existence.

Is entrance dependent upon meritorious conduct on Earth?
No. Only God can tell. What may seem to be meritorious conduct to us
may not be meritorious to Him at all. Our judgement is limited by what
our physical senses can perceive while God can knows everything about
us including our intentions.

Who believes that they are going to make it?
I can, God willing.

Who believes that I am going to make it?
You can, God willing.

Will I still be able to ask penetrating questions in this Galaxy?
Not only in this Galaxy but you can also ask from any of the Galaxies
listed here http://www.fact-index.com/l/li/list_of_galaxies.html :p

Should I set up an email address now or later?
Sup2U ;-)

Here are my views on Bryan's very interesting question:

I firmly believe that there is some "type" of life in the hereafter.
However, I don't think it is like the life as we the living know it.

I am a believer in two theories. The first being reincarnation. I have
read lots of books on this subject and there appear to be many
documented instances that are just too darn *right on the mark* to not
take seriously. Whether one comes back as a human being, a dog or an
ant is up to the Higher One. Well thats my 2 cents on that.

The second belief I have is that our souls continue to "live" for all
time. Its just our bodies that have died.

Its funny, mankind has explored oodles of information and inventions,
and yet, no one ever has ever truly understood what actually happens
in death.

I guess each and everyone of us will finally know at our own demises............

Mabe there will be a GA in the afterlife??? :) I hope so!!!

Steph53

Not I.  Positively and emphatically not I.

Life and the world did not make sense to me until I gave up that
appealing but ultimately resistible fantasy more than thirty years
ago.  Any system that crumbles when you ask probing questions is not a
rock on which I want to rest my foot.  It's going to wobble and dump
me, probably in very cold water.  As far as I am concerned, a closed,
circular belief system whose authority rests on its own tenets (e.g.,
"We know the Bible is true because it says so in the Bible") is going
to fall apart when I look closely.  I know people will claim both
experience and inner knowledge as their proof, but all I can say is
that it persuades me that *they* believe.  It doesn't do anything for
me any more than the aspirin I take is going to relieve your headache.
 Subjective experience is not transferable.

I practice Zen, which is a spiritual practice as well as a philosophy.
 You don't have to be a true believer to do it.  My toughest questions
are answered, typically without an answer, but that is all right.  A
spoonful of honest not-knowing is worth a truckload of dogmatic
certainty.

So the rest of the items are moot except that epistemic hunger like
yours, Bryan, is sure to endure.  (I just learned that term from
reading a book by Daniel Dennett.  Isn't it wonderful?  Essentially it
just means curiosity.)  Questioning creates a permanent ripple in the
universe that will continue to pulsate in concentric waves.  For all
we know, questions like yours and mine are the reason we are here at
all--or think we are.  Why, reasoning from that hypothesis, GA's high
concentration of questions could be the central prop of existence!

Archae0pteryx

Who believes that there is a life hereafter?

Not me--the age and scope of the universe is too vast, and our time
and place in it is too tiny.

Awarding yourself an afterlife is like putting yourself at the center
of Creation, which the Church also did in spite of Copernicus, Bruno
and Galileo.

Just as man once thought he was the center of the universe, he likes
to think that his life does not end.  Those that believe in "heaven"
do so based on faith.  Heaven was invented to influence man's life on
earth.  If you can't provide man with something here on earth to
influence his actions (and even if you could the novelty of it would
wear off or not motivate everyone)then make up something that grabs
his mind - life in the hereafter.  It's everything you want it to be. 
Today, the promise of 74 virgins in heaven motivates the Islamic
terrorist!
Don't get me wrong - most religions, serve a useful purpose.  Their
messages of love, acceptance and forgiveness are good ones.  They turn
the savage into a civilized human.

I'm a practicing Shin Buddhist.  Without trying to explain what it has
taken years to learn, we think about life after death about as often
as we think about God or gods - - virtually not at all.

Do I personally believe in life after death?

Not a whit.

And I'm quite comfortable with that.

I was "dead" forever till I was born.  I will be dead again forever
when I'm done here.  It didn't inconvenience that much the first time,
so I'm not worried about it the second time around.

Digs

I want to be freeze-dried and turned into a floor lamp when I'm gone.

Hi Bryan, I just had to have a go at this one. And what a wonderful
bunch of ideas, and all our own. But I have to ask. Who makes the
rules? Answer...God. How does he let us know what those rules are? My
own personal answer is the Bible. What is the Bibles answer to what
happens after death? First Thessalonians 4;13.."Moreover brothers, we
do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who are SLEEPING in
death; that you may not sorrow just as the rest also do, WHO HAVE NO
HOPE". God warned the first man Adam that disobedience was sin and
would lead to death [Genesis 2;17] Revelation 21;4 promises an end to
the process of having to die. It is not yet here. Jesus was SENT here
by God to teach us about a COMING new system, the Kingdom, ON THIS
EARTH, where people will obey God. These days they do not. The simple
requirement to access this Kindom is 1. to love God, 2, to love your
neighbour, and 3. to obey God`s commandments[Ecclesiastes 12;13].
Jesus resurrected dead people when He was on the earth [Lazarus and
the son, un-named,of the widow of Nain]to show that God did possess
the power to do this. First Timothy 2;4 states that God wants all
sorts of men to be saved. That includes every person who has ever died
since Adam, and especially those who never heard of God or Jesus. For
example, African and South American tribesmen and Eskimos. The
preaching/teaching of Jesus never got to them. But where did they get
their own form of religion, whatever that form took?. They carried it
with them when they departed Babel [ the tower of] after God confused
the languages [Genesis 11;1-9]. Does anyone ,after dying, go to
heaven?, Yes. But only 144,000 [Revelation 7;4,  14;1,4 and 20;4.]
What of all the other billions who have died?. They will be
resurrected to a new life back on the earth, after it is cleansed of
the influence of Satan, who himself will be rendered impotent in the
abyss [Rev.20;1-3]. There is nothing in the bible of every person
going to heaven. We just remain in God`s memory until the promised
resurrection.

http://www.caseforacreator.com

best book i've read on apologetics.

also:

http://www.impactapologetics.com/catalog/details.asp?ItemID=B38&CategoryID=4