The problem with the afterlife is that the only people who truly know what happens after this life can’t tell us because they are no longer here. Although we can all have our own beliefs about what happens when we transcend, it is just conjecture at best. These are beliefs that are pretty strong for some, that might or might not get it right.
Life is Predestined
Some believe that life is predestined, meaning that no matter what we do in this life, it ends the same. Almost the opposite of free will, if your choices are all made beforehand, then what is the incentive to do the right thing, or really to do anything at all? For those who think our lives are prewritten, it probably takes a lot of the angst over making decisions away. After all, you are just following a plan.
Satan is Ruled By the Devil
Although most people think that the Bible says that the Devil rules Hell, that is actually not the case. Hell is a place where souls who do wrong on Earth are supposed to end up. According to the Bible, however, Satan is not the ruler of the domain. The people who rule in hell are demons. They are responsible for holding order or lack thereof, not Satan himself. He likely has better things to attend to than being a prison ward.
Birds are Not Reincarnated Souls
For those grieving and missing loved ones, thinking that loved ones are checking in via bird form can be very comforting. Birds being our loved ones come back for a visit is actually not supported in the Bible. Reincarnation is the act of a soul coming back to life in another form or body isn’t a part of what Christians believe. Although the Bible does talk about resurrection, it does not think that people take on another mortal form in the afterlife.
Everyone Gets Their Version of Heaven
It would be nice to think that your version of heaven is doing exactly what you desire. That, however, is not how everyone sees things. Heaven is supposed to be a community of good people who earned their way to a good place. It is a place for peace, but not a personal playground that someone gets to pick and choose.
Purgatory is a Middle Ground
The show “Lost” was all about the notion of purgatory. Many believe that there is a middle ground where you are not quite good enough for heaven, but you haven’t been bad enough to go below. It is a middle ground where you reconcile whatever lessons you have to before you can enter the pearly gates.
You Can Only Go to One of Two Places
Most people who think of an afterlife think there are really only two options: heaven or hell. Throughout the Bible and other religions, however, there are many other places where someone can end up. Other destinations like Hades or Sheol, which are really shallow graves for dead people, are also mentioned. So there just might be more options.
When You’re Good You Go to Heaven
The general consensus is that good people go to heaven and bad people do not. That, however, is not how the Bible lays things out. You can’t get to heaven by merely being good. The thing that opens the pearly gates is your faith and belief in God. So, for those who believe in doing good and miss the faith part, who knows?
Ghosts are Souls Who are Stuck On Earth
Ghosts are supposed to be apparitions who have things on Earth left unsettled and really stick around because they are “stuck” here. Whether that is the case or not, why some people get stuck or how they can get unstuck could leave people lying awake at night.
Animals Don’t Go to the Afterlife
The Bible does not clearly address whether animals are allowed to go to heaven or not. Although there are hints about it, there really is no clear teaching. Anyone who has ever owned and loved a pet, however, can confidently feel that if we go somewhere, our pets go with us.
Everyone Who Goes to Heaven Becomes An Angel
Angels are those that God has chosen because they have a higher moral standard. People who go to heaven, however, don't get to angel status according to the Bible. Angels are described as people who become “messengers.” There is nothing in the Bible to suggest that human souls convert to angels; they are created by God himself.
The Afterlife is a Static State of Euphoria or Torture
Most people who think about heaven or hell think that either you go somewhere where it is all peaches and roses, or you end up being tortured for the rest of eternity. Heaven isn’t described as a place where all your dreams come true, but rather a place where there is no more disease or pain. Hell, on the other hand, is not about torment; it is just an altered sense of this world.
You Look the Same in the Afterlife
Most of us just assume that when we pass into the afterlife, we will look exactly as we do on Earth, only perhaps glow more, but that is not what the Bible teaches. Although not clearly outlined, your afterlife form is supposed to be more like a glow of your soul than a defined shape of your physical body.
Time Remains the Same
Mostly because it would be hard to imagine time being any different than linear, most people just assume that time remains quantifiable and linear in the afterlife as it does here. But if there is an eternity, then why would we care about what time it is or where we need to be? In unending time, there is no reason to be in a hurry.
The Afterlife is an Actual “Place”
The afterlife, to most, represents a new “Earth-type” place where we carry on in a physical form as we do here. It is difficult to imagine any other type of “space,” but that is the problem with notions of an afterlife, in general. How can you possibly know what you can’t know? If it is different than the world we know, then the possibilities are unimaginable and hard to comprehend.
Only Humans are Judged
When someone leaves a job, there is usually an exit interview. Sometimes, judgment by the pearly gates can feel that way. When you leave this world and enter the new one, it feels like things need to be summed up, and your evaluation is what places you in the next world.
Near Death Explains the Afterlife
Many believe in near-death experiences and the story of what people who have clinically died tell us it looks like. Things like bright lights and tunnels are all the same things described by many who have a death experience. The problem is clinically dead and back to life does not necessarily mean that they were actually dead. Not to discount what they describe, but there are probably physical things that happen to everyone when the body shuts down that don’t make them part of the divine.
Children Pass for Free
Although you would assume that children have not been able to make any decisions in life that would preclude them from entering into a form of heaven in the afterlife, the Bible does not give them a free pass. Only those who have been baptized into God’s church can go to heaven. That is a hard thing for those who aren’t a part of the faithful to accept and believe in.
The Answers are Found in Some Religion
People who are faithful to one religion or another typically just believe what is written in the Bible or religious tenements, but that is just a historical record of beliefs. There is no way to verify whether religious doctrines about the afterlife are real or not for the same reason. The people writing them are human, and it is a human recount with people who are still alive. Whether the divine is talking through them or now, it is still a source of contention.
Most people have an idea of what they believe the afterlife looks like or, at minimum, what does or does not happen. Any talk about what happens after we leave this Earth, however, is conjecture. The only people who know are where they are supposed to be, and they can’t tell us what they see, where they are, or where we will end up. Unfortunately, we will just have to wait and see.
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