Afterlife Concepts

          At almost every Funeral I’ve attended, the most common condolence expressed is, “He/she is now in a better place.” I have often wondered what this expression is meant to convey. Does it express relief that the departed is now immune to whatever pain and suffering this life has to offer? Or, does the expression imply that the spirit of the departed has gone to a heavenly reward?

     The following text expresses a time when the departed will enter into a heavenly realm:

By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.… 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

     Life after death is a concept that has evolved from legends, myths and folk lore, through oral traditions of many cultures. Early humans had no concept of a heaven described by today’s Western Religions. One early concept of life after death consisted of the spirit of a departed tribal member entering into an animal that reflected the departed’s personality in life. The bravest human spirits would enter the fiercest animals such as lions, bears, bulls, eagles, etc., whereas lesser human spirits would join less threatening animals such as small mammals, birds, butterflies, etc. The occupation of human spirits in animals would last only as long as the animal lived. When the animal occupied by a human spirit died, the human spirit was released to become trees, stars, rains, storms, or any of the many natural environmental objects and conditions that humans revered.

     The Jewish culture, from which Christianity has originated, had no canonical tradition of a reward based afterlife. The incentive to live a righteous life was motivated by the desire to remain obedient to the God they honored and worshiped in return for his protection. Altar sacrifices were practiced for a wide range of purposes, such as gifts to God as a blessing, or atonement for the transgression of disobedience. The type of sacrifice to be offered was specified for each purpose ranging from grains of wheat, baked goods, animal entrails, birds, or flock animals (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.)

     Christians developed their concept of an afterlife during the 1^st century CE, and was based on legends surrounding the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, alleged to be the Son of God. When the “Jesus Followers” broke away from their Jewish roots, they made a transition from making sacrifices on an altar in “THE” Temple for atonement of transgressions, to the sacrifice of a human, Jesus, on a cross to atone for the “sin” of being human which was allegedly inherited from Adam. The incentive for believing this story was the philosophy of a reward in an afterlife. With the “Belief Key” you would enter an idyllic paradise in an afterlife, without this “Key” your spirit would be banished to the punishment of an eternal Hades.

     The theories of an afterlife and its description have taken many forms over the centuries, from no concept of an afterlife, to the concept of an eternal place where only Christians may enter, with streets paved with gold where residents live in mansions sized by the measure of the departed’s obedience and devotion during their life on earth. The Islamic description of an afterlife reward is similar. The difference being, only Muslim Believers may enter a paradise that is an eternal garden of physical pleasures and spiritual delights.  Suffering will be absent and bodily desires will be satisfied.  All wishes will be met.  Palaces, servants, riches, streams of wine, milk and honey, pleasant fragrances, soothing voices, pure partners for intimacy; a person will never get bored or have enough!

     These philosophies provoke a question concerning animal’s knowledge or thoughts about an afterlife. Do Chimpanzees, Wolves, Elephants, Whales, domestic pets, etc. have any concept of an afterlife? Or do they live in the moment by instinct and opportunity? There doesn’t seem to be an overwhelming evidence that animals have a concept of an afterlife, although some pet burials might indicate otherwise.

     According to the history of mankind, the earliest break with our animal ancestors branch of the evolutionary tree occurred approximately 8 million years ago. There is further evidence of bi-pedal Hominid existence and tool making as recent as 2.8 million years ago. Assuming animals do not have a concept of an afterlife, it would be appropriate to surmise that our earliest Human ancestors had no concept of an afterlife either. These concepts seemed to develop as early humans began to develop an increase in social interaction and coalesced into the seeds of early cultures.

     As man’s knowledge of his world increased, he began to overcome his primal fears of “natural events”, i.e.; earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis, lighting storms, etc. by reasoning these super-natural events were somehow being controlled by invisible forces which were given names such as, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, Fire, Volcano, etc. Gods that could be useful or destructive to humans, who lived in elevated realms in the sky, on top of mountains, or deep in the sea or earth.

     A proscribed behavior became a standard as humans attempted to appease the Gods which often threatened human existence. If humans behaved in ways proscribed by Medicine Men, Witch Doctors, or Shaman, it was supposed to please the Gods. If any proscribed behavior was violated, the Gods became displeased and punished the humans with some natural event. When this happened, the guilty party(s) had to ferreted out and made to pay for their transgression, sometimes with their life, or the life of someone else if the guilty party was not identified.

          Today, our knowledge of the universe and its properties present us with a new set of concepts of how eternity is defined. This is based on the common building material throughout the cosmos – Atoms. The entire universe is made up of approximately 118 types of atoms. These atoms behave and are controlled by a common set of physical laws. All atoms were produced in the Big Bang or in subsequent explosions of mega giant-stars. Consequently, these atoms have existed for billions of years. Every galaxy, solar system, and planet is made up of atoms that are billions of years old. The characteristics of atoms never change and are as near to an eternal state by any definition or concept can describe.

      Atoms that compose inorganic compounds such as rocks, granite, crystals, sand, minerals, etc., if not disturbed, are locked into place until the planet is destroyed. Atoms which compose all organic compounds of biology, flora and fauna, are locked in only as long as the biological component lives. At its death, the atoms are eventually released by deterioration and decay, back into the environment to become free atoms again and available to be recaptured and used as building material to form another biological life form of flora or fauna. The atoms used to compose your body have previously been used to compose some part of an insect, a tree, another human being, a flower, an animal, and will continue to be used to compose other biological life forms after your demise. The recycling of atoms will continue until the end of time.

     Another example of physical recycling of atoms in multi-use situations is a very familiar process because of today’s knowledge of the universal cycle of atoms. Billions of years ago, ancient ferns and palm like plants soaked up millions of gallons of water (H2O) through their roots, and absorbed tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) through their leaves to use the atoms of these two molecules to construct plant material. Today we harvest these long dead plants in the form of “fossil fuel” and burn it to release and use their long stored energy. In the process of burning, hydrogen and carbon atoms are released back into the atmosphere in their original form as water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2, while contributing to the depletion of today’s oxygen (O2). Unfortunately, the increase of these two compounds in today’s environment is contributing to the detrimental side of the environmental equation, one to our global warming, and the second to increases in ocean levels.

     We now know that all biological forms use the same types of atoms (approximately 8 to 12 kinds) as building material for both flora and fauna. The chromosomes which contain the DNA blueprints to form both plants and animals are nearly identical. The reproduction of all species requires two chromosomes to initiate a new organism. A supply of atoms to construct the determined life form is supplied in the nourishment consumed, and in the air we breathe. At the end of life, the organism deteriorates and the atoms are released into the environment to become available for another cycle of life. Our lives exist as long as we can maintain a viable organism to use the available supply of building materials. When the supply of raw material is diminished, or the blueprints (DNA) is corrupted by time, life ceases to exist.

     All life forms exist as an interim entity whose sole purpose is to procreate or support the species progressing, evolving, and adapting. We are nothing more than a wave of life traveling through time. We are made of eternal material which we acquired and will release again. All things come to an end, galaxies, stars, solar systems, planets and biological life forms. Their properties (atoms) will be released back into the cosmos to be recycled into new galaxies, stars, solar systems, planets, and biological life forms.

     The story of a man who was commanded by a deity to build a boat in order to save all species of animals from an impending flood 7000 years ago;  the story of a man and a deity who decided to begin a new and “favored” race of people 6000 years ago; the 3000 year old story of a man and a deity who liberated the favored race of people who had been enslaved for 400 years; the 2000 year old story of a deity who sired a son with a human virgin to become a human sacrifice for an afterlife of a heaven where only Christians may go; the story of a man who became a prophet and father of the Islamic culture and a story of an afterlife where only “Muslim believers” may go;  these are all stories created by mankind to define and promote a culture, not a deity.

     The concept of an afterlife that is described in human terms as a heaven or a hell, is the result of fears and superstitions of humans. All forms of flora and fauna have embraced life to its fullest and resist death by an innate will to live. Until recently, humans believed that: stars were lanterns that were turned on at night by the Gods; Gods used natural disasters to punish the disobedience of man; the world was flat and floating on the back of a giant turtle; the world was the center of the universe; we were the only life form in the universe. Now, we know what we are made of and how the Universe works. The only thing about us that is eternal are the atoms, dust from ancient dying stars, of which we are made. And our death contributes to recycling the supply of atomic material available to continue the wave of life rolling through time.

     The personality or character of each human can be defined as their “spirit,” and continues to exist after our demise only in the minds and memories of everyone who knew us, good, bad, or indifferent. The “spirit of our lives” continues to exist only as long as everyone who knew us, lives. The tradition of placing a headstone over a grave is an act to perpetuate the remembrance of a “spirit” of the departed, when all who knew them have passed away. The desire to be remembered is almost as strong as the will-to-live. Biographies and Memoirs are other ways in which humans attempt to perpetuate their memory and “spirit.” As long as a person can be remembered, even by strangers, there is a feeling that their “spirit” will continue to exist.

o

A Fork In the Road

     My religious upbringing was based on the one and only, Christian Bible. My Southern Baptist, and later my Methodist experiences, were similar by the use of the same Bible as the basic handbook and curriculum guide. As my community exposure and horizons expanded, I was to learn that many of the Faiths around me also used the same book, but with differing results. Thus began the origin of my quest.

     Eventually, questions regarding conflicting information and supernatural events contained in the Bible, moved me to my own study of who, how and when these stories were written, collected and compiled to produce a book the entire Christian world is based upon.

     During the period of history when the Bible was supposed to have been written, most of the population in the world was illiterate. Many of Jesus’ Apostles and Disciples probably could not read or write well enough to record information and stories attributed to them. Scribes were an honorable and a much needed profession in performing tasks of reading and writing for 95 percent of the population in all of the cultures living around the Mediterranean, and beyond.

     Old Testament stories existed in an oral tradition for hundreds of years before they were ever recorded by people who were literate enough to do so.  Most of the Old Testament, the Torah, as we know it today, was not written by Moses, but by Jewish Captives after the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonian invasion.

     The New Testament books and stories were not written until 50 to 100 years after Jesus died, and, for the most part, not written by the people whose names were used as their titles.  Almost all of these stories were written by unknown persons who were not first-hand witnesses to events recorded. Paul, one of the most prolific writers of New Testament literature, did not witness any of Jesus’ life.  Luke collected all of his material for the two books credited to his authorship, through the oral tradition. He too, was not a witness to the Life and times of Jesus. This alone should raise enough questions
concerning the traditional orthodoxy and practice of placing all of your religious eggs in one basket.

     The second condition that existed which raises questions concerning the legitimacy of information contained in the Single Christian Handbook, is the method and when it was compiled.

     The United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Constitution (1787) upon which this country was founded were written before we became a new country. Since then we have expanded from a young country located along the Atlantic seaboard with a population of approximately 2.3 million, to a current population of 319 million which has spread across the continent.

     At the time of Jesus’ death, there were very few devoted followers or disciples forming what has been described as “churches” (a secular Greek term Paul used to describe groups of Christ Followers).  Before this period in history there were no religious “churches,” there were only grand edifices with towering granite pillars, Monoliths, Temples, Tabernacles, etc., erected to a myriad of Gods.  Three hundred years later, a longer period than the United States has even existed, there were numerous underground groups of Christ Followers gathering in homes, stables, caves, throughout the Roman Empire.  Each group possessed their own oral stories and scraps of letters and documents from questionable sources, which contained information that was presumed to be about the legendary Jesus.

     Not all of these “churches” were religious, many were groups of zealots believing that Jesus had been encouraging a secret revolutionary movement that was always seething just beneath the social surface, a reincarnated King David to overthrow the occupying Roman Empire to restore Israel to its former glory.  Many of the people who lined roadside when Jesus road into Jerusalem on a donkey were zealots hoping for a sign that would lead them in the overthrow of the Roman occupation of Israel. Consequently, there was a great deal of friction and quarreling between these many groups, not only over the intentions of the man Jesus, but over the authenticity of the letters and documents each group possessed.  Paul, in his numerous letters to the gentile groups he had establish, continually warned of interfering and meddling “groups” Jews and other sects who would attempt to change the instructions and practices he had taught them.

     Many of the Christ-Follower groups were involved in physical confrontations not only with each other, but with the occupying Roman Legions, which made the reigning emperor nervous that these conflicts could easily get out of hand and result in another uprising.  All other religious or secular groups tolerated by the Roman Empire were controlled by central governing bodies, (i.e., for the Jews there was the Sanhedrin) who was held responsible for keeping the peace among its members or culture. These trouble making and bourgeoning Christian sects had no controlling hierarchy which was answerable to the Empire for taking responsibility for the friction breaking out between the growing number of “churches.”

     During most of this 300-year period, Christians had been on the “okay-to-persecute-list” by the Roman Empire which kept most of the Christ Followers activities underground, except for occasions when physical conflicts erupted.  Constantine made an attempt to bring peace to the scene by co-enacting the Edict of Toleration in 311CE, in the hope that this would reduce the friction between the religious and zealot groups of Christians and bring them out into the open. Obviously, this did not have the effect he had hoped for.

     Fourteen years later, in 325CE, Constantine ordered representatives of each of the Christ Followers groups to meet in an ecumenical Council in Nicaea for the purpose of organizing a common leadership and governing body, and to reconcile all of the letters and documents being used by the 300+ “churches” as their authority and literature. The result of this mandated meeting was to establish a quasi-political/religious headquarters of the Christ-Followers, not in Jerusalem or Israel, but in Rome.  That was like establishing the headquarters of an organization dedicated to the perpetual memory of Dr. Martin Luther King and locating it in Canada.  How much sense would that make?

     After spending several years filtering through and editing all of the many letters and documents used by each of the 300+ “churches” in attendance at the Council of Nicaea, they settled on 27 documents which were canonized as the authentic history for all of Christ Following groups.  All of this was constructed 300 years after the death of a legend, by people who had for the past 300 years, been arguing and conflicted about the truth of a history that existed only in fragments. There were to be several more succeeding Council get-togethers for the purpose of “fine tuning” the story of who Jesus was. Questions were discussed and decided upon subjects such as: “Was Jesus human or divine?”; “Are any of the Miracles reported over the past hundreds of years real?”; “Was Mary a Virgin after Jesus’ birth?”; “Were the brothers and sisters of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary, or were they half-siblings from Joseph’s first marriage?” “The selection of dates for celebrating events.” Etc.

After the Council of Nicaea, Constantine had a central agency responsible for the control and behavior of the Christ-followers. And, with them out in the open instead of underground, they would be easier to monitor and control.

     The United States has existed a mere 240 years and was founded on distinctive documents and letters from the very beginning. Yet, we still experience a diversity of opinion concerning the intention and translation of these documents.  The Council convened in Nicaea in 325CE by the Roman Emperor, 300 years after events that purportedly was the reason for their existence, had no first hand witnesses to testify. All they had were exaggerated oral stories and pieces of letters and documents from questionable sources, fragments from which to compile a common guiding edict, 300 years after the fact, which was then arbitrarily declared inerrant.

     Two forces have controlled mankind since we became a life form, Chiefs, and Shaman. One became a decision maker and ruler by popularity or brute force for purposes of dispute arbitration, hunting and defense.  The other became a mystic and sorcerer founded upon human ignorance and superstitions by creating stories about supernatural forces responsible for natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, destructive storms, etc.  Rules, Laws and Gods have increased in number with clan size, populations, and generations.

     Supernatural explanations of events were an easy sell thousands of years ago. With today’s expansion of our knowledge bank concerning our past, present, and future of the galaxy we share with the universe, supernatural explanations don’t carry the same weight they once did. We have come to a century when supernatural hypothesis of ancient manifestos that teach its adherents to accept them unquestionably is colliding with hard facts and reality.

     A reality that everything in the universe is interconnected having a beginning and an end, Galaxies, Solar systems, Stars, Planets, flora and fauna, Y2K, the 2012 Mayan Calendar, etc. The only things that even come close to an eternal existence are the building blocks of which we and all things are made, atoms. Atoms are born in the crucible fires of stars and composed of an eternal triad which never expires or dies.

     The clearest graphic I can imagine of a Creating Power of the Universe is the Periodic Table of Elements, natural laws that have influenced and shaped every aspect of the evolutionary course of events throughout the cosmos. Our existence is not based on a supernatural events or fairy tales, it is based on definable and measureable facts discovered as our growing knowledge bank increases.

     At this point in my life, I have transcended the orthodoxy of the biblical stories of my youth. I accept these in the same literary vein as folk tales, myths and legends as in all other cultures. I recognize the purpose and corporate promotion of today’s congregations and religions as a stabilizing traditional function of social interaction for the common good of communities in which they exist. I do not accept the concept of original sin, or a necessity for a spiritual atonement. Neither do I accept the concept of an existence beyond this life. I do recognize the extremes of human behavior to be either beneficial or destructive, supportive or dividing.

     The quest has not ended, nor will it ever. We have not solved the ultimate equation, but have begun to view propositions with clearer eyes and objective minds. The curiosity of human nature will continually propel mankind in an adventure where no one has gone before, to explore that which lies beyond our current knowledge or reach. Religion, like art, is subjective in the eye of the beholder and exempt from facts or reality. The clarity of truth is continually emerging by the enlightenment of discovery and knowledge.

     Any hope we may have for ourselves and our future is to live each day as if it will be our last, as one day, it will be. When that day arrives, the atoms of our bodies will begin a process of release whereby they become free to join other atoms in the formation of molecules for continuing biological life on this planet. This force of truth will continue forever.

o