Would you believe in God if there was no promise of an afterlife?

[PetraG]

Would you believe in God if there was no afterlife?

What difference does it make if a creature is immortal or not when it comes to recognizing whether or not it has a Creator?

Or do you only mean “would you serve your Maker and want to be what you were created to be out of love and gratitude if you didn’t have to fear Hell if you didn’t?”

If there is no promise of an eternal relationship with God, then our being here is a bit pointless. If you was expendable in any relationship you would hardly see the point of them.

What about the present relationship? I mean, if you think you’re just dead when you’re dead, then every relationship you have is expendable and pretty much pointless. Your whole life is reduced to a web of quid pro quos. Why would I want that, even if I were 100% mortal?

Secondly, i don’t believe that God is existentially indifferent to us. I am merely explaining how i would relate to him if he was.

Your original question had to do with whether or not there is an afterlife. It had nothing to do with indifference on God’s part. I don’t believe that God is indifferent to those parts of Creation that are destined to pass away:
“Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds! Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your life-span? If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest? Notice how the flowers grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass in the field that grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?” Lk 12: 24-28

We really ought to see God’s creation as God sees it, which is to say to care both for those who are immortal and yet also to care for and respect that which is passing and yet intended by God to glorify him in the present.

 

[Autumn-Smoke]

Would you believe in God if there was no afterlife?

I would because when I was younger I asked Jesus to come into my life. He did, and my life was totally changed. He filled me with his joy and love and he gives me encouragement when I need it. He has never left me. He is a reality in my life which I cannot deny, and even if there is no afterlife, I am grateful to him in this life for all he has done for me.

 

[IWantGod]

What difference does it make if a creature is immortal or not when it comes to recognizing whether or not it has a Creator?

I matters to me. I’m a person and i want nothing to do with an indifferent God that has judged me as existentially expendable and does not fulfil the nature i have been given.

What about the present relationship?

I don’t worship my parents or my friends. I care for them and love them because they actively share a connection of love with me. A God that does not want to share an eternal relationship with me has judged me as expendable; what is my value to such a God? Am i just an animal that passes away. If so, then like the animals i couldn’t care less about God because God is not my natural end

Your original question had to do with whether or not there is an afterlife. It had nothing to do with indifference on God’s part. I don’t believe that God is indifferent to those parts of Creation that are destined to pass away:

Your talking about the Christian God. I am not. Secondly i am a person that can only be fulfilled by God, not an animal that is fulfilled merely by nature alone.

We really ought to see God’s creation as God sees it

If you are talking about a God that would allow a person to cease to exist, then i don’t really care about what that God see’s. He is not my God.

 

[PetraG]

I matters to me. I’m a person and i want nothing to do with an indifferent God that has judged me as existentially expendable and does not fulfil the nature i have been given…i am a person that can only be fulfilled by God, not an animal that is fulfilled merely by nature alone.

Well, that’s because you have been given an immortal nature. If you hadn’t, then the chances are you wouldn’t feel that way.

I think you’re imagining that God has done something that God hasn’t done, and then getting all angry about it. I’m imagining being a sparrow, not a person, and that’s why I’m OK with the thought experiment.

 

[IWantGod]

You’re imagining that God has done something that God hasn’t done

And you’re behaving as if i am not responding to a hypothetical question. In reality God loves me and extends to me that which is proper to my nature as a person. If there were no after life he would not be loving me according to my nature and therefore on some level would be indifferent to me as a person. And my response to that is appropriate.

 

[BT3241]

No why would you?

 

[PetraG]

And you’re behaving as if i am not responding to a hypothetical question. In reality God loves me and extends to me that which is proper to my nature as a person. If there were no after life he would not be loving me according to my nature and therefore on some level would be indifferent to me as a person. And my response to that is appropriate.

Why are you asking the rest of us what we would do if we didn’t have immortal souls? You have me totally confused.

When asked “Would you believe in God if there was no afterlife?” you imagine being a human being without an immortal soul, which is contrary to what God made human beings to be. I imagined being a sparrow. If I were a sparrow, why wouldn’t I believe God exists, if it were revealed to me? I don’t see any reason I wouldn’t. The revelation wouldn’t be contrary to the reality I was living, in that case.

 

[IWantGod]

Why are you asking the rest of us what we would do if we didn’t have immortal souls?

I didn’t ask. This isn’t my thread.

 

[Walk-worthy]

Would you believe in God if there was no afterlife?

That sounds like a question an atheist would ask! But I’m not passing judgment here! Just thinking out loud!
Would you believe in gravity if we were not held by the laws of physics?
The apostle Thomas comes to mind when he was willing to discount that Christ rose from the dead!
And now you know the rest of the story!

WW

 

[IWantGod]

you imagine being a human being

Correct. And since there was no rule saying that i couldn’t imagine my self as a human being or that i should imagine myself as a sparrow i will end this discussion because it’s a pointless debate.

 

[PetraG]

I didn’t ask. This isn’t my thread.

Sorry!! Two royal blue avatars; I got confused!!

Correct. And since there was no rule saying that i couldn’t imagine my self as a human being or that i should imagine myself as a sparrow i will end this discussion because it’s a pointless debate.

I only meant that it puts God in a bind to imagine you are made one way (the way you are made) and then at the same time to imagine that God made it impossible for you to realize the end you were made for. Do you see what I’m getting at? Your refusal to serve a deity who would do that to you makes sense, but I saw the hypothetical as implying that if God didn’t make me for eternal life then my perspective would also change. As you imply, we’d be in an impossible double bind if we had somehow been made to tend toward an end that we were prevented from ever achieving by our very nature.

 

[BT3241]

Its a stupid question because the afterlife is what Christianity is about - what does Jesus promise believe in me and you shall have eternal life. He doesn’t promise anything else - I don’t believe in the wish well Jesus he never promised material wealth , spouses , money or anything else - he promises eternal life.

 

[nicholasG]

I disagree with you that “Its a stupid question” but I do agree with the rest of your statement.

Jesus promise believe in me and you shall have eternal life

I knew he said this but couldn’t find in the Bible.

 

[nicholasG]

I just want to add that I don’t believe in name calling or being disrespectful. People have legitimate questions.

 

[BT3241]

Stop freaking over it - wow - to me it was a stupid question because it what the faith is all about I wasn’t calling you stupid . I assumed you are a Catholic and knew what the faith is about.

 

[new-kirishitan]

If there’s no afterlife and you believe in God, you don’t lose anything except a little bit of time and money.
If there IS afterlife and you don’t believe in God, then you are SCREWED for ETERNITY.

Therefore, I choose to believe in God, especially experiencing a supernatural encounter myself.

 

[nicholasG]

Stop freaking over it - wow - to me it was a stupid question because it what the faith is all about I wasn’t calling you stupid . I assumed you are a Catholic and knew what the faith is about.

I do believe in God. I asked that question of myself and my beliefs and had difficulty answering it because I read a book many years ago that postulated that man is selfish by nature and never does selfless deeds. One example was:
If a mother gives her life for her child she does so because the guilt would be such that she would rather die than live with that guilt. Ergo her reward was death. This is why I asked the question. I was looking for some insight.

 

[nicholasG]

f there’s no afterlife and you believe in God, you don’t lose anything except a little bit of time and money.
If there IS afterlife and you don’t believe in God, then you are SCREWED for ETERNITY.

So by your statement above you’re saying that are afraid not to believe in God. You say you had supernatural encounters so that may explain it. I would think that anyone who experienced this would feel the same way.