“Do You Believe in Life After Death?”

The New York Times recently ran an interesting article on scientists who have been studying reincarnation. The narrative illustrates the difficulty of investigating paranormal possibilities through “normal” means, a kind of “category mistake” akin to asking the weight of a circle or the color of the number “7.” (For more on their fascinating study, please see Dr. Ryan Denison’s recent article, “More life vs the afterlife: What the growing interest in reincarnation says about our culture.”)

The part of the New York Times article that caught my eye was the headline: “Do You Believe in Life After Death? These Scientists Study It.” The question implies that our beliefs regarding life after death in some way change its reality.

This is not so.

Whether or not I believe the King of England exists does not affect his existence. Nor do my personal beliefs regarding tomorrow’s sunrise change its reality. But our postmodern world, so convinced that all truth claims are personal, somehow misses the contradictory fact that to deny absolute truth is to make an absolute truth claim. Our “feelings = facts” culture equally mistakes the first for the second.

Here’s another example of this phenomenon at work: Lake Superior State University has published its “2025 Banished Words List.” They include:

• Cringe
• Game Changer
• Era
• Dropped
• IYKYK (If You Know, You Know)
• Sorry Not Sorry
• Skibidi
• 100%
• Utilize
• Period.

The university offers explanations for each word as to why we should stop using it. They range from the logical: “Nothing is a game changer if everything is a game changer,” to the subjective: “Why complicate things [by using “utilize”] when “use” works just fine?”

Once again, however, their feelings are not facts. They can “banish” these words, but they cannot make anyone else follow suit.

How Josh McDowell and Lew Wallace came to faith

However, there’s a practical reason I’m taking you down this rather esoteric trail: Our opinions can become our reality if we mistake the first for the second.

The person who believes that a word has been “banished” and acts in kind makes this supposition into a reality. More to my point: The person who rejects the gospel because they don’t believe hell exists will therefore experience hell.

And this is just the outcome Satan seeks.

He knows that if nonbelievers objectively examine the evidence for the Christian faith, they are likely to be persuaded by it. The great apologist Josh McDowell and Lew Wallace, the author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, are examples. He also knows that if skeptics genuinely examine the possibility of spending eternity in hell, they are more likely to avoid this fate by turning to Jesus.

But if the devil can convince someone who doesn’t believe in life after death that their opinion is their reality, he can avoid all of the above. He can leave them secure in their intentional ignorance until it’s too late.

If your neighbor had cancer

While I hope nonbelievers read this article and are persuaded to consider their eternal destinies, I’m actually writing for Christians who know that there is life after death and who are grateful that heaven is their forever home. My purpose is therefore to counter a second satanic strategy with regard to our theme: tempting us to ignore the reality of hell for those who do not make Christ their Lord.

If you knew your neighbor had cancer and would die without the chemotherapy that cured your malignancy, would you share your story with them? If you knew that a friend or family member was driving on a road that will plunge them off a cliff to their death, would you warn them?

Who do you know who does not know Jesus? Are you praying for them by name? Are you asking the Spirit to convict them of their sins and need for salvation? Are you seeking to be the answer to your prayer by sharing your story and your faith with compassion and humble grace?

There are no atheists or agnostics in hell. By this I mean, no one in hell denies or doubts the existence of God and the consequences of rejecting salvation in Christ. But by then, of course, it will be too late.

Jesus said of himself,

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).

Tomorrow is promised to no one. Eternity in heaven or in hell is promised to everyone.

How can you help people choose heaven today?