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Could you be happy and enjoy this life if you knew that this present life is all there is with no promise of any reward or punishment after death? Why or why not?
(For sake of argument, let's say God by his Spirit would still be guiding you through this present life in how to live -- this is not a "what if there were no God" gotcha question).
If I knew, absolutely knew, that this life is all there is, all I could do is to make the most of it. Procreation would be of the highest order on my list of things to do so I could ensure at least some legacy for the future. Chocolate ice cream would be next on my agenda.
Could you be happy and enjoy this life if you knew that this present life is all there is with no promise of any reward or punishment after death? Why or why not?
(For sake of argument, let's say God by his Spirit would still be guiding you through this present life in how to live -- this is not a "what if there were no God" gotcha question).
I don't know that this life isn't all there is. The same things make me happy and let me enjoy life, either way.
I don't know that this life isn't all there is. The same things make me happy and let me enjoy life, either way.
Just noticed your thread title ... I don't consider myself "heaven bound", so maybe I shouldn't have answered the question. I consider myself at the mercy of God, and I assume God is good and God is love, so I don't worry about where I would end up in a life after this one.
No I could never be happy living on this world with no reward .....Like the fall of Man polluted this world and there is nothing here without God grace , just a hopeless existence which people who committed suicide found as their search for answers came up short ........ So do you think my answer is selfish , well the question is a selfish question to the Lord God , as He sacrificed His life to save people from this hopeless earth and many people reject the sacrifice He gave .....
Scripture deals in several places with the attitude/mindset of those who face death with no hope beyond this life: "grief" seems to be the common theme. Most of us have likewise, witnessed or been close to those facing death WITH and WITHOUT Christ. It's an entirely different attitude! ... Christians come together to celebrate the life and the HOPE of future life of fellow believers who have died; ... non-Christians typically face death with fear, anger, anxiety. (Having conducted many funerals, I can assure you that there is very little 'hope' in a crowd of non-believers ... What can one say, except, "They lived a good life and we'll miss them?"
Yet, every living being knows in their heart that this life is NOT all there is! (Try to imagine your own death as other than a 'spectator!' -- Your mind is in absolute rebellion against the notion.) -- It is this HOPE (and actually certain knowledge) in the heart, mind and life of a believer, that distinguishes their life from the lives of those with no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 - [ Believers Who Have Died ] Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
Christians are not afraid of death! On the contrary, we look forward to it in joyful expectation ... just as we look forward to a life of 'hope' in this world (As Paul said, "for me to die is gain, but, to live is Christ!").
My response to your question is found in the lives of those around me, who are living without 'hope', both now and forever! It doesn't matter what they 'own', how 'famous' they may be .. or whatever they have accomplished. It is never enough!
(By the way, 'heaven' is not a 'reward' ---that's just a fanciful notion of a world that believes 'doing good stuff' is enough. But, nobody can 'earn', deserves or merits' heaven, because it is a gift of God's amazing grace!)
Thanks to everyone for sharing their perspective. I asked because I often wonder if people would act and live differently if they did not fear death. It seems to me that atheists are just as happy as a lot of believers, in fact some of them seem even happier.
For me personally, the idea that this life is all there is sounds depressing because there is so much suffering in the world and in the whole creation that I'd find it to be a real downer to believe it's all for nothing. And so, my faith sustains me and gives me hope for every person in the world as well.
I believe everyone is suffering some level of loneliness because in this world we perceive ourselves as being separated from each other. This happens both because of our carnal minds and our physical bodies which gives us a "sense" of being alone and separate. But the truth, as I see it, is that we are all connected in Christ - and that perception of being separated from others is only an illusion.
“All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” John Donne
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I consider myself at the mercy of God, and I assume God is good and God is love, so I don't worry about where I would end up in a life after this one.
