
Is there life after death? | Proving the existence of an afterlife given that God is magnificent.
Is there life after death? Let’s go through 5 steps to show that it does and is expected given the glory and magnificence of God.
Step 1 : The Creator of this universe must be glorious.
Looking at mountains 🗻, stars, and galaxies, we see nothing but breathtaking glory and magnificence.
Waterfalls, oceans, and lightnings 🌩 – among other things – further highlight the glory and splendor present in this universe.
Even majestic beings like planets 🌍 and stars follow rules and regulations set by science, thereby pointing to the glory and majesty of The Creator of science and all other beings: nothing transgresses the boundaries set by God.
All this could only be the work of a Most Glorious and Majestic Creator.
That is, since this universe is magnificent and majestic, it only makes sense to say its Creator is Majestic and Glorious.
Step 2: It is expected that a Glorious Creator will display His glory and majesty.
If God is glorious and Magnificent, He will – in His own most glorious way – display that glory and majesty.
Indeed, God has placed this feeling to some extent even in humans. They desire to manifest and display their talents and skills. A painter 🖌, for instance, likes to display her masterpiece just as a cook likes to present his delightful dishes. Similarly an author wants his books 📚 to be read and a researcher likes to present her work 📃.
Nobody would assume a painter would want to hide her paintings or an author would hide his books so nobody would read them.
Unless there is evidence that proves otherwise, it is expected by default that one would desire to display their talents, skills, and praiseworthy aspects of themselves.
However, a human being’s qualities and skills are only illusionary: in the sense that they are not the true owners of those skills or praiseworthy aspects of themselves. Indeed, we are all creatures of God.
He created us out of nothing. Without His help and will, we would not even be capable of lifting a finger or even taking a breath, let alone painting a masterpiece or coming up with a new recipe or discovery 🧪. Even though it seems as though we are writing a book or painting a picture, it is actually our Creator helping us through every step.
In short, even though we are not the true owners of our skills, and qualities we possess are only illusionary, we still enjoy manifesting and displaying them. So what about our Creator Who is The True Owner of majesty and glory? Unless there is evidence that proves otherwise, we must assume by default that He will display His majesty and glory.
Step 3: Displaying glory calls for observers
An author ✍ would like readers to read his books.
A painter would like observers to look at her paintings.
A cook 👩🍳 would like others to taste and try his new recipes.
And a researcher would like others to see her new discoveries.
That is, displaying skills and qualities naturally calls for observers.
Similarly – in His own most glorious way – God created conscious and intelligent creatures (i.e. humans). He also made them capable of observing and appreciating His magnificent creation.
Step 4: Since no suitable observers exist in this world, it follows that there must be another world.
Though humans 🧑 are given the capability of being observers to the magnficence of God, they cannot properly carry out this role without an afterlife.
Indeed, given that a human will only live for a number of years, how is it possible to observe the universe and truly and fully appreciate the magnificence of its Creator when you see your loved ones dying one by one and know that you too will die one day, never to experience the pleasures of life again? A fleeting pleasure brings more pain than pleasure caused by its disappearance.
Even though we may look at the universe and see how Magnificent and Glorious our Creator is, the thought that we will die one day and never experience this joy again; the thought that we, along with our loved ones, will become nothing after death, will prevent us from truly and fully appreciating the glory of God.
Why would God bring us into existence and allow us to experience the pleasures of life, only to give us a “death sentence” at the end? How can we truly appreciate
That is…if there is no afterlife, it will follow that there are no suitable observers of this universe who can fully and truly appreciate the glory of God.
Step 5: The other world must be eternal.
If there is an afterlife, it must be eternal. Otherwise, we would go back to step 5 ⬆. But, in addition to that, there is another reason to expect the eternity of an afterlife…
Nobody would expect a talented author to end his career after writing a single book 📖 when he’s capable of writing more. Similarly, we wouldn’t expect a skillful painter to stop painting, when she is perfectly capable of doing so.
Now, of course, it is possible for an author to stop writing or a painter to quit painting 🖼. But, unless there is some other reason involved, we wouldn’t automatically assume that they would quit. That is, the default position would be to assume they would continue displaying their skills so long as they are alive and capable of doing so.
How then can we expect God, Who is the True Owner of glory and majesty and Who exists eternally, to stop displaying His magnficence after some point ⏲ by making the afterlife temporary? If it is expected from human beings to continue displaying their skills as long as they’re well, then how can we assume the opposite for our Creator (Who is Eternal and always capable of easily doing anything He desires)? The default position must be to assume the eternity of the afterlife, unless there is evidence otherwise.
References

