One of the more basic, but often hidden facts of life is that humans need hope. People in POW camps or gulags will often just lay down and die if they feel they have nothing good waiting for them on the outside, whereas those who desire to see their family again usually display incredible resilience to their horrifying situations. So what do people hope for beyond this life?
Atheism gives it’s adherents no hope, claiming once we die, we simply go into the ground. As such, everything we do in this life is utterly meaningless.
Some religions believe in reincarnation; being born as someone different in the future. This is based primarily on people recalling their former lives, often with several people claiming to be the same famous historical figure (e.g. Julius Caesar or Napolean).
Eastern philosophy takes the sting out of death by claiming we will become one with the universe. Yet if we are not ourselves after death, then we lose our relationships and connections. Love ends at death.
Most religions claim some sort of afterlife in paradise or punishment. The difference with Christianity is, it is based on the historically proven fact that Jesus came back from the dead. In fact, if one can disprove one of four simple facts about Jesus’ resurrection, Christianity falls over. These facts are (i) Jesus was buried in the highly identifiable tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, (ii) That tomb was empty on Easter Sunday, (iii) many people witnessed the risen Jesus, and (iv) many went to an early grave proclaiming Jesus was risen.
These 4 historical facts are why no one has been able to discredit Christianity so far. Do you want to give it a try? What this means is, Christianity gives us the greatest hope for the future; a physical resurrection into an impenetrable body, fit for eternal paradise with God and others. Even if you don’t believe in this hope, surely you’re ready to at least check if it’s true?
