What happens when you die? I was taught from a young age that if you put your faith in Jesus, then you will go to heaven when you die. In heaven you will spend eternity with God and sing his praises forever. This raised an immediate question… If I don’t really like singing hymns now, wouldn’t doing that forever would be kind of boring? It almost felt like a punishment to me, but wise counsel informed me that when I was in heaven I would want to do nothing more than praise God. In heaven there would be no more death, tears, sorrow, crying or pain. If that was not a good enough answer, then a colourful description of hell with its fire and brimstone and eternal torment should make heaven look like a good option.
How is it that there could be people I love and care for that will be sent to eternal torment, and I will be in heaven feeling no sorrow or pain? Will I have forgotten about them or will I just not care? I am not sure which is worse but the bigger question is would that person in heaven still actually be me? I mean what does it mean to be me anyhow?
Well I was raised to believe that we have a mortal body and an eternal soul, and when the body dies the soul will go on to judgement and ultimately, heaven or hell. In this view it is really the soul that would be considered me, and I just happen to inhabit this body. But to help consider if this idea sits…
