...to believe in an 'afterlife'?

Hello all,

Just thinking out loud and wondered what others may think, or if others think along the same lines...

I don't believe in God, per se. That is, I don't believe in God as a 'Supreme Being' - an 'all-encompassing eye' if you like. I can't explain why exactly, I just know I find it hard to believe there is a 'divine omnipresence' that/who watches over us all, and that/who created us in 'His' image. (Not making sense, eh? - probably not!!)

However, I do believe that we all have a 'spirit'; that we possess an energy that continues on long after the physical body dies. I also believe (hope? to maybe lessen the 'dread' of physical death?) that this energy moves on to another place, an 'afterlife', where we can be with those we loved and laughed with, again.

Basically my question is: Do I have to believe in one of the above to believe in the other? Can they be seperated or are they as one? Or am I just a mad, rambling contradictory fool who is totally confused (probably !!)

Feel free to put me in my place!!!

Cheers, Robbie.

P.S. Apologies if anyone is offended by my remarks

You can believe what you want

You don't have to believe in a God to believe in an afterlife. Many Buddhists do not believe in God at all, and they firmly believe in reincarnation, an afterlife of sorts, and the transference of your energy (or soul, if you will) from one state of being into another state of being.

That said, my personal opinion is that there is a God, and an after life. But I do not think belief in God is a pre-requisite for an afterlife.

Of course, this is just my opinion.

Regards, PA

I believe that God is simply everything. I believe that God isn't separate from us, and in a way is us. It's more of a force, as opposed to a dictator.

A simple anwer to a simple question...........believe in what you want...IMO you dont have to believe its not as if God is going to be hurt if you dont

if you believe in the afterlife but don't believe in God then i guess that answers your question. no you don't need to believe in your idea of what God might or might not be in order to believe in an afterlife. but what's an afterlife for? hmmm

No you dont need to believe in God in order to believe in an afterlife. Many people are deists who are spiritual but dont have one God or are part of an organized religion. Hope this helps. :-)

I believe in a afterlife, but not in god.
I believe there is something or someone behind it all, but it's not GOD imo, at least not the "stereotype".

Tell that to the millions of christians that believe in hell fire and brimstone if you don't believe in God. Tell that to the ones that burned people alive because they thought they were 'witches'.

In the Christian bible it says 'Suffer a witch not to live'

It all also says that God will punish those that do not believe in him and his ways.

Hmm I wonder....I wonder if the Devil is pretending to be God. Wouldn't that be the biggest lie ever? The greatest deception ever? Wake up people.

Hurt? Yeah the bible says he'd be hurt and fuming mad.

The bible was written by 'men' who were capable of lying and being decieved. Don't put your trust in stories.

Im not going to get into this, but I gotta say that I really disagree with you there Silverrain Queen.

Dear as someone else said; you can believe whatever you want. I think you would be limiting yourself if you felt you had to believe a group of things just because of one thing.
You learn, you experience and than you take what resonates with you and from within you.

I don't subscribe to one set of beliefs either and I'm quite happy and always growing. Have faith in your heart and always be willing to learn and grow and further your spirit.

believe what resonates for you.

I do not agree with the advice many are giving you here. It just does not make sense! They are basically saying believe what you want to, if you believe it its fine. I disagree, there is a thing as truth, and this is what we should want to believe not the tings we create ourselves.
If u were standing on top of a building asking a question like "do i need to believe in falling to believe that gravity will work, because im thinking of jumping" the advise ur getting is "no, just believe what you want", but the fact is there is a truth, and it is this,- whether or not u believe in falling gravity will take effect and you will fall!
So wheter or not you believe in God is irrelevant if you dont believe in him you will still meet him in the end to be judged.

IMO There is an afterlife whether u believe in God or not, its just more plesant if u do!

If you check out some good (not devoted to Christian bashing) atheists' sites you will find that many of them believe in an afterlife.

Really tags.
That kind of speech makes God sound as appealing as the Third Reich in my opinion.
What was there about the old testement as compared to the new that you did not seem to get about people do not come to know and love God out of fear?

In case you missed my point I was not attempting to 'Christianise' anyone here, I have not spoke about Jesus the gospels etc etc, just stating that whether or not you believe in God,-if he exists it makes no difference! simple logic! The advice previuosly being posted, namely,- 'believe what you want' just did not make any logical sense to me.

I say seek after the truth and believe it, not just the next hairbrained philosophy that comes your way. Sorry if it sounds harse but it sure sounds sainner.

Where? Is there a particular part? Or is it the whole post?

To disagree is your option, but What I say is fact and truth.

Considering both god and an after life are faith based philosophies, no. When what one knows is manifest fact, i.e. reality, is certainly enough to keep one occupied if they need believe in anything. Plus, it's tangiable!

I find that shocking. If you may, please give me a site?

Perhaps this link will assist your search. Atheism Agnostic Web Ring Link

Why do get upset if someone differs in opinion than you(especially this subject-based on faith)? If you're confident in your beliefs then you should have no reason to get flustered about someone elses. Have peace that you know what's best for yourself and have peace that others know what's best for themselves.

tags - can you prove there is an afterlife?

You may believe as you please.

I beleive in Ghosts and Spirits myself... so I must agree w/ you.

Also, I beleive that some spirit... may it be God, Bhudda, Ben Affleck , or My own name for him "Tsok" because he is unknown... but we can just go calling it X, so I made it up... is influencing us all. He has seen our actions... even before they were made.

They aren't connected, at least not in your train of thought as to what an after life is.

SuperRobbie:

Unequivocally, I believe in God & it often surprises me when come across aetheist (non-believers) that don't believe in His existence.

Let me ask you a question though....how did we come to be? Unlike most creatures that inhabit the Earth, who gave us the ability to rationalize? determine what's right from wrong? give us dominion over every living thing that walks the Earth, etc.?

Please...don't give me that crap that we derived from some geothermal vent deep in the Pacific!

Evolution gave us the ability to rationalize as its an advanced form of instinct.

Leaders of the country determine right from wrong as without laws they would have no power. Also we aren't the only animals to have rules, eg in certain species only the Alpha male and female can mate, any young not born to them are killed. This is in effect an unwriten law and as with us some people break these laws.

We don't have dominion over all living things, we just think we do. For example rats outnumber us and quickly become immune to poisons. Another example are things like Ebola that constantly evolve ways to become immune to vaccines and could quite easily wipe out millions of people.

I could give you a ton of other examples of how we are a product of nature but I'd be here all week.

You can believe whatever you want. But one question that im curious about. If there is an afterlife what would you do? Wouldnt you run out of stuff to do and out of room eventualy with everyone going to it?