Zone1 Is Eternal Life a Necessary Ingredient?

[ding]

Buddhists have an interesting concept about Afterlife. You continue in a death-rebirth cycle until you gain enlightenment or Nirvana. Once you achieve that, you are "released" from the cycle of death and rebirth and exist as pure consciousness.

What’s their explanation for the origin of our material existence?

 

[MarathonMike]

That would be nice if it were true.

You don't know that. All religion is Faith Based not Fact Based. Buddhism is just as valid as Christianity.

 

[presonorek]

I have long been uncomfortable with the promise of eternal life in return for obeying earthly religious rules. This seems to be more of a carrot-and-stick control concept than a philosophical consideration of how you should live your life. Is avoiding the wrath of judgement our primary purpose?

The essence of life is feeling eternal.

I know some people will say there are two things certain in life, death and taxes.

I disagree. There is one certainty in life and that is death. It is the only concept in life that we don’t have to struggle with yet we do. We cannot accept the thought of dying without decades of effort. That says there is something weird about life. For us to breath, eat, drink, sleep, and all of that then we must feel eternal in the moment.

Psychologically the concept of eternal life WILL appeal to humans for marketing purposes. The concept has mass appeal. If you package it with other ideas that you want to impose on a populace then you have a high chance of success.

We feel eternal. The essence of life is feeling eternal.

 

[ding]

The essence of life is feeling eternal.

I know some people will say there are two things certain in life, death and taxes.

I disagree. There is one certainty in life and that is death. It is the only concept in life that we don’t have to struggle with yet we do. We cannot accept the thought of dying without decades of effort. That says there is something weird about life. For us to breath, eat, drink, sleep, and all of that then we must feel eternal in the moment.

Psychologically the concept of eternal life WILL appeal to humans for marketing purposes. The concept has mass appeal. If you package it with other ideas that you want to impose on a populace then you have a high chance of success.

We feel eternal. The essence of life is feeling eternal.

I think you focus way too much on the destination and not enough on the journey. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is now. That’s not some oblique reference to heaven. That’s a command to live in the present.

 

[Lisa558]

I have long been uncomfortable with the promise of eternal life in return for obeying earthly religious rules. This seems to be more of a carrot-and-stick control concept than a philosophical consideration of how you should live your life. Is avoiding the wrath of judgement our primary purpose?

In the Jewish religion, the idea of an afterlife is not prominent, and many Jews do not believe in life after death. My parents were/are two of them.

When I was about 10, I asked my father why we should be good if there’s no reward for it after death, and I remember clearly his answer: Because that’s what Gd wants us to be.

 

[ding]

In the Jewish religion, the idea of an afterlife is not prominent, and many Jews do not believe in life after death. My parents were/are two of them.

When I was about 10, I asked my father why we should be good if there’s no reward for it after death, and I remember clearly his answer: Because that’s what Gd wants us to be.

Doing good is its own reward. With that being said, I don’t believe God destroys what he creates. God doesn’t want us to love him for what he can do for us. God wants us to love him for who he is. In that regard we are no different.

 

[Lisa558]

Doing good is its own reward. With that being said, I don’t believe God destroys what he creates. God doesn’t want us to love him for what he can do for us. God wants us to love him for who he is. In that regard we are no different.

Gd also created ants and flounder and raccoons. You think all the ones that lived and died over the last millions of years are still in existence?

 

[ding]

Gd also created ants and flounder and raccoons. You think all the ones that lived and died over the last millions of years are still in existence?

Maybe, just not in a material existence. I believe everything is information.

 

[ding]

Gd also created ants and flounder and raccoons. You think all the ones that lived and died over the last millions of years are still in existence?

Was that really the only thing you took away from my post?

Do you want to be loved for what you can do for others or do you want to be loved for who you are?

 

[Lisa558]

Was that really the only thing you took away from my post?

Do you want to be loved for what you can do for others or do you want to be loved for who you are?

Not sure how you got that out of what I said.

I said my parents taught me that being a good person was reward enough. Why do you think being a good person is defined by what you can do for others? It also includes being kind and compassionate.

 

[BreezeWood]

more as - eternity will always be an option the same for sinners when their sentence is completed so not necessarily a choice.

 

[ShahdagMountains]

Was that really the only thing you took away from my post?

Do you want to be loved for what you can do for others or do you want to be loved for who you are?

I look at this way. Wanting to love, and the recipient valuing it.

 

[ding]

Not sure how you got that out of what I said.

I said my parents taught me that being a good person was reward enough.

I got that because you commented on something that wasn’t as important as what you didn’t comment on.

And you didn’t say your father told you being a good person is reward enough. You said he said, “Because that’s what Gd wants us to be.”

 

[Lisa558]

I got that because you commented on something that wasn’t as important as what you didn’t comment on.

And you didn’t say your father told you being a good person is reward enough. You said he said, “Because that’s what Gd wants us to be.”

That’s the message behind what my father said, and I understood it.

 

[Meriweather]

In the Jewish religion, the idea of an afterlife is not prominent, and many Jews do not believe in life after death. My parents were/are two of them.

When I was about 10, I asked my father why we should be good if there’s no reward for it after death, and I remember clearly his answer: Because that’s what Gd wants us to be.

Doesn't Judaism teach God's Law is not about getting us into the next life, it is about getting us through this life. I believe that. Believing that, the next question is, "What comes after?" I am convinced there is life after death, but I am also convinced that God's Law, guidance is about helping us through our present life.

 

[ding]

Why do you think being a good person is defined by what you can do for others? It also includes being kind and compassionate.

I never said anything about being a good person. You were the one who transposed doing good is its own reward into being a good person.

I said, God - like us - doesn’t want to be loved for what we can do for others. God - like us - wants to be loved for who we are.

So I didn't say being a good person is defined by what we can do for others. I am only stating that we don’t want to be loved for what we do for others. You are reading too much into it.

 

[BothWings]

Of course it is.

 

[Lisa558]

Doesn't Judaism teach God's Law is not about getting us into the next life, it is about getting us through this life. I believe that. Believing that, the next question is, "What comes after?" I am convinced there is life after death, but I am also convinced that God's Law, guidance is about helping us through our present life.

I never learned it that way. In my family, and my Synogogue, the focus was solely on how Gd wanted us to ACT. Never in my 10+ years of Sunday School was an after-life ever even mentioned.

That said, concepts of the “soul” and an afterlife are more prominent in Orthodox shuls and classes.

 

[ding]

In the Jewish religion, the idea of an afterlife is not prominent, and many Jews do not believe in life after death. My parents were/are two of them.

When I was about 10, I asked my father why we should be good if there’s no reward for it after death, and I remember clearly his answer: Because that’s what Gd wants us to be.

Judaism’s concept of resurrection is the physical revival of the dead during the Messianic Age, a future time of perfect peace and prosperity. Orthodox Jews uphold this as a core tenet of faith, while other Jewish movements have different interpretations, with Reform Judaism largely rejecting it and Conservative Judaism viewing it allegorically. This belief involves the reunion of the soul with a resurrected, transformed body, often linked to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and the ingathering of the Jewish people.

Core Beliefs

• Physical Resurrection:The core of the belief is that the dead will be physically brought back to life.
• Messianic Age:This resurrection is a central event of the future Messianic Age, a time of universal peace and justice ushered in by the coming of the Messiah.
• Soul and Body Reunion:The soul, which is believed to return to God at death, will be reunited with its resurrected body.
• Glorified Body:The resurrected body is often understood to be transformed, or glorified, to become fit for eternal habitation.
• Praise in Prayer:The belief is incorporated into the daily liturgy of traditional Jewish prayer, with a blessing for God as the "Resurrector of the dead".

Differing Interpretations

• Orthodox Judaism:Acknowledges the literal, bodily resurrection of the dead as a fundamental principle of faith.
• Conservative Judaism:Includes the resurrection in its liturgy but tends to interpret it allegorically or metaphorically, sometimes translating the blessing as "who gives eternal life" instead of explicitly referencing resurrection.
• Reform Judaism:Rejects the belief entirely, removing references to it from its liturgy in favor of a belief in the immortal soul.

Historical and Scriptural Basis

• Biblical References:The concept is supported by passages in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), particularly in Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12, and Ezekiel 37.
• Maimonides:The medieval philosopher Maimonides included belief in the resurrection of the dead as one of the 13 Principles of Jewish Faith.
• Mishnah:The Mishnah states that those who do not believe in resurrection have no share in the world to come, underscoring its importance in traditional thought.

 

[Lisa558]

Judaism’s concept of resurrection is the physical revival of the dead during the Messianic Age, a future time of perfect peace and prosperity. Orthodox Jews uphold this as a core tenet of faith, while other Jewish movements have different interpretations, with Reform Judaism largely rejecting it and Conservative Judaism viewing it allegorically. This belief involves the reunion of the soul with a resurrected, transformed body, often linked to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and the ingathering of the Jewish people.

Core Beliefs

• Physical Resurrection:The core of the belief is that the dead will be physically brought back to life.
• Messianic Age:This resurrection is a central event of the future Messianic Age, a time of universal peace and justice ushered in by the coming of the Messiah.
• Soul and Body Reunion:The soul, which is believed to return to God at death, will be reunited with its resurrected body.
• Glorified Body:The resurrected body is often understood to be transformed, or glorified, to become fit for eternal habitation.
• Praise in Prayer:The belief is incorporated into the daily liturgy of traditional Jewish prayer, with a blessing for God as the "Resurrector of the dead".

Differing Interpretations

• Orthodox Judaism:Acknowledges the literal, bodily resurrection of the dead as a fundamental principle of faith.
• Conservative Judaism:Includes the resurrection in its liturgy but tends to interpret it allegorically or metaphorically, sometimes translating the blessing as "who gives eternal life" instead of explicitly referencing resurrection.
• Reform Judaism:Rejects the belief entirely, removing references to it from its liturgy in favor of a belief in the immortal soul.

Historical and Scriptural Basis

• Biblical References:The concept is supported by passages in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), particularly in Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12, and Ezekiel 37.
• Maimonides:The medieval philosopher Maimonides included belief in the resurrection of the dead as one of the 13 Principles of Jewish Faith.
• Mishnah:The Mishnah states that those who do not believe in resurrection have no share in the world to come, underscoring its importance in traditional thought.

Yes, this is true.

As I mentioned above (before reading your post), the concepts surrounding an after-life are prominent in Orthodox circles. Not so in Conservative and Reform circles, which of course is where more than 80% of Jews fall.