5 QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH-PALM SUNDAY (1 OF 2)
by Scott Maze
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
This content is part of a series.
5 Questions about Life After Death (1 of 2)
Series: Fools?
Scott Maze
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
Easter is a time when people turn their attention to Jesus Christ and His resurrection. For millions of people, Jesus’' resurrection offers the hope of life after death. But this year, Easter is unique because it falls on April 1, sharing the date with April Fool’'s Day. It’'s rare that these two observances fall on the same day, as it hasn’'t happened since 1956. Yet, many will think the two holidays celebrate the same thing: fools.
People have always thought Christians were fools for believing in dead bodies rising again. History tells us the ancient Romans felt the Christian belief in the resurrection was foolish. The Roman authorities would leave the bodies of Christian martyrs exposed to the elements for six full days, lying above the ground for all to see. Afterwards, they burned the bodies reducing them to ash. They swept the ash into the nearby Rhone River where one Roman said, “''Now, let’'s see if they rise again and if their God can help them.”'' Karl Marx famously said that religion is the opiate of the masses. According to Marx, rulers used the promise of a happy future in eternity to oppress the masses from rising in a revolt.
Are we fools to think there’'s life after death?
Stephen Hawking thought so. The former professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge was known for his brilliance and for having Lou Gehrig’'s disease, or ALS. Bound to a wheelchair &and dependent on a computerized voice system for communication, his lectures were widely attended. Hawking mused on the possibility of the afterlife just three years before his death: “''I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”''
For many, you simply go out of existence after your death. You feel nothing and you know ...
Series: Fools?
Scott Maze
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
Easter is a time when people turn their attention to Jesus Christ and His resurrection. For millions of people, Jesus’' resurrection offers the hope of life after death. But this year, Easter is unique because it falls on April 1, sharing the date with April Fool’'s Day. It’'s rare that these two observances fall on the same day, as it hasn’'t happened since 1956. Yet, many will think the two holidays celebrate the same thing: fools.
People have always thought Christians were fools for believing in dead bodies rising again. History tells us the ancient Romans felt the Christian belief in the resurrection was foolish. The Roman authorities would leave the bodies of Christian martyrs exposed to the elements for six full days, lying above the ground for all to see. Afterwards, they burned the bodies reducing them to ash. They swept the ash into the nearby Rhone River where one Roman said, “''Now, let’'s see if they rise again and if their God can help them.”'' Karl Marx famously said that religion is the opiate of the masses. According to Marx, rulers used the promise of a happy future in eternity to oppress the masses from rising in a revolt.
Are we fools to think there’'s life after death?
Stephen Hawking thought so. The former professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge was known for his brilliance and for having Lou Gehrig’'s disease, or ALS. Bound to a wheelchair &and dependent on a computerized voice system for communication, his lectures were widely attended. Hawking mused on the possibility of the afterlife just three years before his death: “''I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”''
For many, you simply go out of existence after your death. You feel nothing and you know ...
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