Do You Believe in Afterlife?

I hope that when I die, I either come back as a manatee, or get to spend the rest of forever as a spirit!! Preferably the latter, but manatee's are cool too ;)

No, I don't believe in an afterlife. I think it is a construct of man afraid of their own mortality, and unable to explain things that are yet to be explained. Atheism can be very comforting too. There is nothing more to worry about as nothing more exists.

No. And I have no interest in existing forever, in any form. That sounds like a sentence. Anyone ever read "Tuck Everlasting"?

I believe in Heaven and Hell. I have no idea what those places are like. I can't even begin to conceive of it. I do think Heaven is a place of perfection. I just don't know what perfection means, or looks like! I don't think we are just done. I truly believe if we were just done, humans would never have a yearning for belief, deity, and absolute truth. There would be no desire in us, to ever search for something more. Whatever the afterlife means to people, I think the belief in it is very comforting. It allows us to believe our life has more purpose, and that there is a place better then this world.

Energy never dies. Reuse, renew, recycle.

No, I don't believe there is some God who decides whether our spirit belongs in heaven or hell. Does this friend of yours also believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? If not, why not? The concepts are exactly the same. Ask her to explain the differences to you. I would love to hear the response and would thrilled if you could add it to your "what happened". I am not trying to "prove her wrong" in doing so, I just really like to hear others' views on this. (And a view other than "My mom died and I just *know* she is in heaven", which goes to my reasoning I state below....)

God and an afterlife is something people make up and grab on to for comfort. It helps them deal with death and other bad things. It helps them cope daily. They don't have answers, so the create them. It is a very comforting thing. But, it is not real. It never will be, no matter how much one tries to convince themselves or others that it is. I can honestly say I wish God did exist, and I have had moments where I question it. But, logic always brings me back to reality. If you really research the history of Christianity, I think you will be surprised at what you find.

I saw a sign on a church once. It said something like "Don't believe in God? Better hope you're right!" So I guess one could err on the side of caution and believe just in case. Sounds silly, right?

When you die, you die. Try to make your life here the best you can, it really is all you have. That is not a bad thing. Many aetheists actually take comfort and find peace in that concept. Death really is not so scary once you think about it.

Best wishes.

* just an addition - I was raised Lutheran, was constantly told things about what I needed to do in order to not go to hell, constantly scared and worried if I was "good enough" for heaven, etc. I converted to Catholocism at age 18. I do miss the church, but I just cannot bring myself to believe all they sell. Again, visit the history of organized religion, particularly Christianity. The results will astound you.

I also want to make clear that I, such as yourself, respect other people's choices and rarely get into debates, as most of my friends and family are God worshiping Christians. Some of the Christian people I have met along the way are the best people I have ever known!

I do wish you the best in your journey.

Yes. As a Christian I am secure in my identity in Christ. While I don't want to die anytime soon as I enjoy my life and family...I am know that there will be no tears in heaven. God's love is enormous and unconditional. He sacrificed his only son so that we all can enjoy salvation. At death all of our all my questions will be answered..

Even where Jimmy Hoffa is buried :)

I believe that when you die, you die. There is no life after death.

I believe in a literal heaven and a literal hell. I believe in one creator that goes by many names. I believe he has 3 persona's, himself, his son, and his holy spirit. I believe he literally came to earth and died for our sins so that each and every one of us can decide for ourselves who we will spend eternity with. I believe there are many mysteries and that God reveals them to us here and there. But I believe most doctrinal differences are not that important as the main question in life and that depends on belief. If we do believe "this is it", we will find out that it definitely is not and no choice is the same as making a choice not to spend eternity in heaven.

Questioning is very good. Walk outside on a beautiful day and look up. Ask for the Lord himself to reveal himself to you. It won't happen in a big awesome moment more than likely. He's a gentlemen. But it'll happen over time. He draws us all towards himself. Some people just are too busy and too neglectful of their spirit man to see or hear him.

I know theres a hell. I believe there is probably a purgatory. I'm not entirely sure THIS life isn't actually purgatory. It's Heaven where i wander off the marked path. The whole pearly gates, younger body, forever thing, as Rosebud said, seems like a life sentence to me. Mind numbing and monotonous. I feel it is more of a reuniting with God. I think it's a cease to pain and suffering because you lose your Earthly form. That's why I think we are in purgatory now. We have been seperated from the creator and await our judgement where we will either be reunited with him or sent away for good. In my mind, we all begin as spirit and end up as spirit. It's not a perfect Pleasantville type place where gas never gets over 75c a gallon, it's more of our soul/energy/essence being reunited with it's source. The Heaven that makes the most sense to me is to be in the presence of, and maybe even returned to be part of, Gods everlasting light. I might be mashing a few religions beliefs together, but that's how I see it.

I believe that at the time of the judgment (after the tribulation and the battle of Armageddon) each person dead will be raised to be judged and will then have everlasting life in heaven, or in hell.

The Bible does state that all things will be made new, and it does talk about having a new and perfect body (does that mean younger? Not necessarily.) and that there will be NO MORE tears and suffering, and that God will cause you to forget your pain (i.e. trials on earth.) The Bible also says that there will be no marriage, no preference in heaven, so although you will be in heaven with your family, you'll be there with everyone else, as well, and each person will be loving family and children of God.

Oh, and since I just read the answer after mine...the Bible also gives a very clear description of heaven, in the book of Revelation. It's a beautiful place...precious jewels, streets of PURE gold (not this yellow gold that we think is gold...pure gold, without imperfection, is see through), rivers like glass, lions laying with lambs...it's really a very detailed description. Check it out! :)

Your friend must be a Mormon. This is the way they look at it.
I have been to the other side countless times since a serious childhood illness brought me there and I was sent back. So to all of you who believe in hell it does not exist. It was made up by the Zoroastrians, brought into Christianity when the religion went east through Persia and Uzbekistan before the third century.
There is only the afterlife, and the judge of your life is you. Your Advisors help you to examine your life. We live countless lifetimes until we have perfected our character in every form possible.
We do not get everything in every life time. Normally we are assigned five tasks for our Mission here on earth. The task of our incarnations change each time. We can do something perfectly and then we don't get it back. One portion of the Mission is assigned to us each and every time. That is Love.
There are 4 Realms of existence. We are in the Physical or Material Realm. But, every night when we dream we go to The Realm of Creation where all of Spirit Dwells. The other Realms are Formation where everything is both changing and forming and the Realm of The Source where God dwells and Archangles.
From life time to life time we reunite with friends and family we have belonged to in the past to do a Mission together or just to support one another. We also come together with all of these friends on the other side whether or not they have reincarnated.

No I don't believe in an afterlife. I believe when you are dead you are dead. So do your best to be a good person here and now, because that's all we get.

I really don't know. I sense that I came out of unknowing darkness when I was conceived, and may very well return to that same painless, fearless place when I die, and I'm fine with that.

And I've also had some experiences in life that strongly suggest that "I" am not this body I am living in, that "I" am something more mysterious and sublime. If this "I" continues on beyond my body's death, that will be fascinating, and I look forward to my birth into whatever comes next.

I don't believe in the "heaven" that is described by many religious people, it's just too simplistic and physical. I believe Biblical descriptions are meant to be symbolic, not literal. I've traveled through all that religious belief since early childhood, and now see it from a much different perspective. I think heaven is a story humanity has told since the beginning of time to help us deal with our fear of dying. I'm confident that I have lived as good, honest, and worthwhile life as I've been able, so I have no fear of a loving God (and I do know a loving God in my own life) sending me to hell.

I do believe in an afterlife. I have a baby and my dad up there, I have to believe!
I am not sure that I believe in Hell. I am really up in the air about that one. I believe that God is love, and if He is love, why would he allow us to be separated from him forever? I do believe that once we die, we either go straight to Heaven, or God allows us to hang around here for awhile until we get our stuff all worked out. I guess I believe that our souls stay in a type of purgatory here on earth until we can get our issues worked out, and then we can enter Heaven in peace. I do believe Heaven is peaceful and joyful and that we will be with God and our loved ones forever once we get there. I can't wait to finally hold my baby girl and look in her eyes!

Yes, and thank you for respecting everyone's beliefs. For Christians is isn't an AFTERLIFE, it is ETERNAL LIFE. As for the other questions about pain, looks, family etc., the Bible has all the answers and it also on line these days, so you can ask a question and "click".

I think most Christians don't have all the answers, at least I don't and I'm still seeking. I can tell you what I have more then some of my good friends and family and that is peace and faith. As we all know in some circumstances with all that's going on in our country and the world, peace is sometimes hard to come by.

Blessings....

I also believe we come back and learn new and different lessons or keep trying to learn lessons we are having a difficult time with too! I however, do not believe in hell the same as most do.

I periodically think that I'm just playing a video game, will take my helmet off in a few years and try AGAIN for the James Bond life I meant to do this time around...

Honestly, though, I have no idea.

I've died several times (clinically dead, brought back, kerrrzap. whee. fun times, fun times. And, btw, ALWAYS with a sudden and overwheming need to pee. What IS it with dying anyway? Worse than drinking a pot of coffee). I only ever saw a 'fade to black'.

The ego in me would like to choose my own life/ worlds/ adventures.

The mother in me doesn't ever want to be reborn (and forget my son?!?! Talk about something to run screaming from)

The voyer in me thinks ghostdom might be interesting for awhile, but dead boring after a bit. SURE can walk through walls, but one can't spend the gold in vaults, and even the Lourve after hours would pale at some point.

The hedonist in me is fond of muslim paradise

My sense of family rather like Valhalla (and lo do I see my mother and my father and my sisters and my brothers... the line of my people, stretching back to the beginning... they bid me take my place amongst them)

I have a difficult time believing in hell... since the scribes mangled ancient greek so badly, I'm far more inclined towards the jewish notion. Though tartarus is plain, it's reserved for angels and titans, of which I am not high enough to be considered for tenentship.

Eh. Blame it all on a Shinto upbringing. Shintoism rather notoriously does not comment on what, if any, kind of afterlife. BUT nirvana scares me. So I can't exactly do the typical born shinto, die buddhist thing.

I believe that we all determine what our afterlife will be. If someone is a Christian, and believes she will go to heaven, she will. If someone is an atheist and believes that nothing happens after she dies, then nothing will happen. (very sad for the atheists) Whatever we believe will happen, will happen. Therefore, when someone asks me (mostly my children) who is right (ie., which religion) I say, "they all are".

I believe in an afterlife...I believe in reincarnation. I do not believe in a heaven or hell. If I did, then this *world* would definelty be hell :)
I believe that Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It simply changes forms. All that exists at the present has always existed.
When we die....our spirit goes to...somewhere...some call it heaven or hell, some call it summerland....But I believe it comes back in another body, another life, and another time to continue the betterment of the mind and soul and to continue to learn and grow. Have you ever done a past life regression? One of my friends didn't believe in afterlifes- until she herself did a past life regression and now some things are much clearer to her. ....I tried once but had too much of a cold to get into a deep meditation....I will try again sometime know. I really want to know who I was before :)

I don't believe in an eternal destination for your soul like heaven or hell. I believe in reincarnation.
But if we're just done, and our bodies just become part of the dirt to feed other life forms, and our spirit/energy/soul just dissipates, I'm okay with that idea too.

I believe there is something after this. I think saying this is it, then nothing, is selling ourselves short. We are too complex and have too much energy to just fade away. I believe in eternal life, will it be a conscious life, such as this? I don't know. I don't think there is a way to know except through faith. We cant put our own parameters on it (such as family, younger body, etc.). What it is, so shall it be. I can accept not knowing the exact details.

Well, this is a question of a lifetime, isn't it? It is hard to defend the bible to people who do not believe in what the bible says. For this reason I have gravitated to the study of apologetics. I do believe in eternal life....logic is not going to solve our human questions.....for His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, so when I get hung up on what makes complete sense, I am reminded of this. The amazing thing is people have a natural gravitation towards things of the spirit. I would suggest you keep looking for yourself. Lee Strobel has some great resources, Ravi Zacharias is awesome---these are ex-atheist and ex-hindus that have found the evidence to believe in Christ and an eternal life (not just an afterlife). Highly intelligent men, who share detailed explanations. Many have said they research religious stuff, but so do I and as much as I question, the more I research, the more I am confirmed that Christ is the real deal.

Yes! My mom passed 8 yrs ago (she was my best friend) I firmly believe she has given me many "signs". If we'd slow down in this hectic world I think other people would take notice to their "signs" from passed loved ones as well. I especially love it when she visits me in dreams/so full of color! It doesn't happen often. There has been that perfect old time song played on the radio just when you needed it, have witnessed my babies giggling/looking at something in the air that they can see that I sure can't (again. hasn't happened often),she loved butterflies. have many instances with them. Also have some pics with "orbs" at family gatherings. Was driving in a scary snowstorm/praying and FELT her presence beside me. (that was one of my favorites) Believe! That's all it takes! : ) Have a blessed day! And thanks for the post so I could comment on my mom. She was beautiful.

I do believe that we will live after we die, and depending on our choices that we make on earth we will live in various degrees of heaven. some will be married with families, some will be single. some will be punished and allowed to repent, very few are wicked enough to deserve hell.