- Why is a post-mortem existence desirable?
- What evidence?
NDEs with common features – convincing for those who’ve had them but there are other explanations
Parapsychology – mediums, biblical prohibitions; dealing with occult carried death penalty
BUT principles of credulity and testimony
- Hick the ‘best cases… are impressive and puzzling.’
- What kind of life? Depends on how we view the relationship between mind and body?
Heaven hell and purgatory? A living part of faith
BUT what kind of God would condemn us to hell?
Also no agreement between religions or even branches of one religion
- The soul – necessity of?
If immortal soul no need for God to do anything! Means a non-interventionist God
Biblical idea of resurrection of body ‘the dead will be raised imperishable.’ 1 Cor 15. The soma pneumatikon – a spiritual body rather than a flesh and blood one. Means an interventionist God
BUT all sorts of problems like we see the body decay
Hick’s replica theory means if we can conceive of these scenarios then we can conceive of bodily resurrection – but is a replica really the person?
- Eschatological verification
- Is it meaningful? Can it be verified? Ayer – no assertions about after life are meaningful. BUT Christians would say that Jesus guarantees it; however Flew believed life and death mutually exclusive and would say that it is not meaningful to talk about what kind of life after death when the concept itself is meaningless.