As to evidence, I guess it comes down to what you accept as evidence. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence for near death experience, etc. I don't personally put a lot of stock in them, but they are there.Jamiet99uk wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:41 pmWhat reason do you have for believing there is an "afterlife"? I have never encountered any evidence for the existence of such a place.Crazy Anglican wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 12:22 amI thought I answered this.
Largely the Christian stance is to say. “We all will die, yes, but on the testimony of Jesus Christ we have the promise of eternal life”. Now there is a huge discussion to be had about why that testimony is or isn’t trustworthy. Since we are talking about [the coherency of the] Christian worldview though and not the reliability of Christ as a saviour; then the only relevant question should be “Is this consistent within the framework of Christianity?”. Your request was for a coherent answer (I read that as internally consistent with little direct evidence to the contrary, but if your definition is different please let me know). So yeah, God promises an afterlife that can be pretty groovy, but that’s not the whole picture.
Historical evidence:
Could Christ have known what he was talking about in promising eternal life?
Yes, because of His resurrection.
Why do I believe the resurrection took place?
Many eyewitness testimonies to it from people who had little to gain and much to lose by speaking up. No reliable testimony from the time that refutes it. Letters from all the way up to the emperor (Trajan) basically say "If they refute Christianity, let them off" and still people who would know they were lying went to death unnecessarily. Remember these were people who believed in an afterlife and their God did not take kindly to blasphemy. They left their homes, jobs, and even families to spread a lie that would not benefit them in any material way and would actually hurt them in this life and the next? I don't see this as likely with not a single one of them recanting even decades later. As far as cold case files go, this one seems pretty good.
You want me to tell you the meaning of life? Wow, you don't mess around when you ask sidebar questions do you? My initial response is that on a global level I don't know.Jamiet99uk wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:41 pm
If an eternal afterlife of joy awaits us, what is the purpose of the temporary, difficult, painful material world we currently inhabit? Is it merely a game created by God to test us?
I will say that I don't share your view of this world being entirely difficult and painful. I truly believe that an omniscient and omnipotent being could do a whole lot worse than this world. That is if it were evil and malicious. Read any dystopian fiction novel and you generally have an idea of how things could go, and those are human made miseries.
Also, for me and most of the Christians I have spoken with, the “God's testing me” idea doesn't ring true. Yes, life sends us good and bad. In my view, God is no proctor standing passively by writing on a clipboard (which would be neutral not evil, so props on moving the God needle in the right direction). Still it is implicit in the Christian worldview that God sends aid as well. Again, according to Scripture, He calls us to love and serve one another. Whatever your reason for doing good in the world, I applaud you. This is my reason I do not think anyone can really say that it is incoherent.