Death and Immortality

Abstract

The thought that consciousness fades into oblivion with death is, to many, inconceivable. The hope and desire for immortality is based not only on a fear of death and an inner desire for fulfilment, but on the revelation of God and the human response to it. Much of religion testifies to experiences of God as loving and personal. It is upon the truth of these claims that the hope of immortality becomes reasonable. Consciousness is empirically dependent on the body, dying with it. Nevertheless, it is logically feasible that consciousness can be ‘recreated’ and ‘rehoused’ by God in a ‘spiritual body’. As long as there are mental links between the different modes of being, even though there is a definite break, it is still possible to speak of the ‘same person’. Immortality becomes dependent upon an act of God, rather than being an innate property of humankind. Paradoxically, while death robs life of ultimate meaning, it also imparts meaning.