Is there a universal reality beyond the grave, or is it an individual
reality that depends on our belief?
I
used an analogy to ask this of a young man named Jordan, who has formulated his
own theories about the afterlife involving reincarnation: “Suppose a man was standing in the middle of
a highway with a truck bearing down upon him.
If he covers his eyes and says he doesn’t believe in trucks, will that
truck still run him over?”
Does our belief or disbelief in ideas about the afterlife,
such as heaven, hell, reincarnation or nonexistence, change the reality of what
actually happens? Some people would say
that it does, but this, too, is a subjective belief.
The more important question, I think, is “Where do you get your
information?” Jordan told me he first
thought of his ideas about reincarnation after talking with his cousin who had adopted
this belief after going off to college.
Both of them had grown up with Christian backgrounds based on the Bible,
but had abandoned this source of information in favor of their own ideas.
Our information source should vary according to the
questions being asked. In a world that
benefits greatly from science and technology, it is tempting to assume that all
questions can be answered from a scientific or research-based approach. But those who insist on this view are making
a truth claim they can’t defend by their own standard.
Christianity insists early on that we are not to invent
beliefs about God, but that God reveals Himself to us. In Exodus 32 we read: “Then the Lord said to
Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have
become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them
and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed
down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel,
who brought you up out of Egypt.’
The Bible warns us repeatedly not to make idols, but is that
not what we do when we formulate our own ideas about God, whether it is based
on comfort, convenience, wishful thinking, the avoidance of accountability and
judgment, or simply an insistence on creative license?
The Bible exists for a reason. It is a written record of God’s revelation of
Himself and our relationship to Him throughout history. It is meant to be our primary information
source, one we don’t abandon or graduate from in order to move on to something
more attractive. It takes study,
meditation, and hard work to comprehend, yet it contains truths that a child
can understand. It is not meant to be
studied in isolation, as we gain insights from other Christians throughout
history and alive today.
God uses it to speak to each of us individually, “For the
word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:12)
Yet it also contains universal truths, both for our everyday
life here on earth, and our eternal reality beyond the grave.
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