Seeker196

Let us suppose that in the future, science discovers some method or combination of methods to greatly extend the useful and enjoyable period of our lives. A sort of artificial body or something.

NOTE: the point of this would not be true, eternal 'immortality', but merely a very long existence, one where we could do and think all we wanted until we achieved 'fullness' and jumped into the void.

I society would adjust, birth control, long periods of hibernation or 'fake death' for when you get tired of existence, and the fact that after a thousand years the 'you' that was will be completely different person. 'You' after a thousand years are not really 'you' anymore and don't exist....but this is a much less scary death than our present abrupt one.

THE QUESTION:
What would happen to Christianity? Would Christians take a 'principled' stand against life virtual or practical 'immortality' on the grounds that it seperates them from God?

What would Christianities traditional 'carrot' of eternal life with JC and the 'stick' of the Big Smoke mean in a society where individuals gradually 'die' or completely change through experience and new memory over millenia, a society where there is no fear of 'natural' death?

Amos

What you describe here already exists and all science must do is uncover it. Our new body that lives in this Thousand Year Reign is our renewed body that forms after our mind has been renewed.

The thousand year you describe is wherein we are eternal, and eternal does not mean a "very long time" but just a period of time without the conscious passing of time. Our soul is wherein time as such is not known and so if we take up residence in our soul it can be said that we are eternal. In other words, we are temporal in our blank slate and eternal in our soul.

Immortality is when fullness has filled the void through understanding who we really are in this Thousand Year Reign that exists in our own soul.

The above is what Christianity is all about in which believers become united with God and actually will welcome the second death because life has been lived to the fullest.

[ October 20, 2002: Message edited by: Amos ]</p>

Seeker196

huh?

braces_for_impact

He said you have a soul and when you "die" you become unconcious until judgement day.

1)Prove anyone has a soul.

2)Prove it lives beyond death.

3)Prove this correlation between a soul and your christian doctrine.

Regards,

Ron

Tom Sawyer

If humanity discovered immortality and the theists didn't want anything to do with it, then eventually all the ones who don't want to sign on will die off and their kids will realize what a sh*tty deal their parents are offering and go for immortality. Keep that up for a few generations and natural selection will get rid of all the theists.

Then you'd have immortality and no theists. Really the best of both worlds.

Amos

As it stands today I would suggest that our need for fertility clinics proves otherwise.

Amos

1)Our soul is our subconscious mind.

2)If our ego dies we become resident of our soul and life goes on.

3)Jesus was the ego of Joseph and when Jesus was crucified the Christ identity was set free under the name of Bar-Abbas.

Amos

Immortality has nothing to do with longevity. Immortality is when we take charge of our soul identity wherein we are immortal.

Seeker196

"Immortality is when we take charge of our soul identity wherein we are immortal."

I must confess, this isn't the first thing that leaps to mind when I think of 'immortality'.

Which isn't what I was on about anyway, since I believe true 'eternal' style immortality is impossible, our memories, experiences, and environment form everything about our 'selves'.

Therefore, you can only believe in true, unchanging immortality if you believe in the Christian soul.

Amos

"Eternal" style immortality exist only in our soul because it is only in our soul that we are eternal and no eternity exist outside of our soul.

Unchanging immortality is a new to me but I suppose that may be related to your idea of the Christian soul which could be any one of 20,000 different ideas.