Wayne, I like what you said about uncertainty. The way I see it, the less we know about a proposition, the more staunchly we tend to defend it. It happens in science too much. But it happens in religion, even more. In the end, we can know with some certainty what we feel at the moment. And with a great deal of reasoning we can be pretty sure of the proposition "I think I think; therefore I think I am." Further afield, we actually know very little. So I tend to think that the truth of a religious proposition lies not in some essence of fact, but in how we would feel about living in a group, a society, a world that embraces the same proposition. For example "all people are equal before the law." When religious ideas and practices help us to be more kind, reflective, and open to other people, I think they can help us feel better about our place in society. And they can help us be part of a happier society. It is my opinion, however, that a great deal of theolog...
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Subsequent generations of people will reuse some of the same atoms that are in our bodies. But they will not be us. If people possess some quality that endures beyond this physical sphere, then existence in that sphere must necessarily be profoundly different, experience in that sphere must be profoundly different, and our notions of attachment are likely to be profoundly different. So the suggestion that our attachments here will translate directly to that sphere seem naive, at best. One might as well ask, will I want anchovies on my pizza and will I still be addicted to coffee?
Well, scripture is clear that they aren't married in the next life, but more than that I don't think we can say definitively. It appears that people continue to be recognizable as themselves. They do many things, mostly praising God, but other things as well.
Thanks - I also remember reading "A Severe Mercy," by Sheldon Vanauken [and I believe Lewis may have written a preface or an endorsement of that book?]...In it the author claims his deceased wife was present in his life for awhile, in spirit, after she died...