‘Afterlife after death?’
Hello,
This evening the final meeting of Thinking Allowed for the year will take place. This is a discussion group attended mainly by students but sometimes by staff which explores issues in faith and society. For the first semester we explored faith and the environment particularly in the light of the climate crisis. This semester we have discussed questions in Christian faith, requested by those who take part, such as How can God seem to be vengeful and reconciling? and Morality and the Bible – how should we read or resist it? Tonight, the topic, perhaps appropriately for the final meeting of the year, is Afterlife after death?
By coincidence, the Guardian on Saturday had an intriguing article by Yuval Noah Harari called And death shall have no dominion, exploring attitudes to death brought to the surface by the coronavirus pandemic. The full article is here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/20/yuval-noah-harari-will-coronavirus-change-our-attitudes-to-death-quite-the-opposite
He writes:
The modern world has been shaped by the belief that humans can outsmart and defeat death. That was a revolutionary new attitude. For most of history, humans meekly submitted to death. Up to the late modern age, most religions and ideologies saw death not only as our inevitable fate, but as the main source of meaning in life. The most important events of human existence happened after you exhaled your last breath. Only then did you come to learn the true secrets of life. Only then did you gain eternal salvation, or suffer everlasting damnation. In a world without death – and therefore without heaven, hell or reincarnation – religions such as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism would have made no sense. For most of history the best human minds were busy giving meaning to death, not trying to defeat it….
Then came the scientific revolution. For scientists, death isn’t a divine decree – it is merely a technical problem. Humans die not because God said so, but because of some technical glitch….
And science believes that every technical problem has a technical solution. We don’t need to wait for Christ’s second coming in order to overcome death. A couple of scientists in a lab can do it…
True, at present we cannot solve all technical problems. But we are working on them. The best human minds no longer spend their time trying to give meaning to death. Instead, they are busy extending life.
Harari’s purpose is to affirm the worth of the scientific endeavour but to reclaim a space for thought to “shoulder the burden of dealing with our individual mortality and transience.” One might question some of his generalisations, but the thrust of his approach has a certain logic.
The students and others who gather remarkably this evening to discuss Afterlife after death? are not unscientific people who do not believe in the findings of biology, chemistry and medicine. But they are students who want to do what Harari recommends – using our time to grapple with the riddle of existence. And part of that grappling is worrying about the span of creaturely life, its purpose and meaning. Faiths have developed partly in response to the mystery of death, and approaches have emerged which, in some cases, offer hope for life beyond death. Christians, for example, hope that the loving relationship which God has with his people (and indeed with all creation) is too strong and deep to be overcome by death. With Easter Day just three weeks past, Christians find the ground of that hope in God’s raising Jesus to new life.
I am looking forward to hearing people think aloud this evening about these questions: Do you believe in life beyond death? Does that belief affect your life now? If so, how? Why do you think people imagine heaven to be boring? Dare we hope that all will be saved? Do we really expect a new heavens and a new earth? If any student or member of staff reading this email or blog would like to join the conversation this evening at 7 pm (BST), just let me know.
Then, at 9 pm (BST), we hold our service of Compline, which will be led by Fiona Barnard, our Honorary International Students Chaplain. Here is the invitation:
Donald MacEwan is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Compline Online
Time: Apr 30, 2020 09:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/98251071193?pwd=WnlQcWZpMGFWTk9IV1ZhZk5KV3I3QT09
Meeting ID: 982 5107 1193
Password: 8dsfE6
Finally, students, enjoy your sleep tonight, and I hope there are not too many regrets at not staying up tonight, having a drink or two, heading down to the East Sands, lighting a fire, then running into the freezing North Sea at first light. Next year on the East Sands!
Yours,
Donald.