early a century ago atheist Bertrand Russell challenged modern people to face the realization that they are totally alone in a vast, unfeeling universe and to build their future "on the firm foundations of unyielding despair."* More and more men and women seem to be following his lead.

If once some people were so preoccupied with heaven that they retreated from society, vast numbers today live as though this life is all they have. And a condescending attitude is growing toward those who believe in an afterlife.

Here is why I believe, and strongly believe, in an afterlife.

1. Intimations of immortality. Although I am surrounded by the temporary, I dream of eternity. Enveloped in change and decay, I envisage the fadeless. Nothing in my experience is perfect, least of all myself; but I can imagine the perfect and long for it.

These impressions-for that is all they are-fail the test of cold, scientific analysis and verification. Yet to deny them, it seems to me, would be to set aside not only a part of my life but perhaps the noblest and finest part, the part that points me beyond myself to another and higher plane of existence.

So I am godlike-not God, but made in His likeness, as the Scripture states (Gen. 1:26). That divine image, although marred and well-nigh obliterated by sin, still sparks within me. The wise man said it right: God has set eternity in my heart (Eccl. 3:11). I was made to live, and to live forever.

2. Justice and inequality. All around me I see the weak beaten down and driven from justice. In every land those with wealth fare better in the courts; corruption abounds.

"Life isn't fair" has become a cliché. From a global perspective the inequalities of this life are colossal: while one part of humanity indulges in obscene greed and gluttony, fattening and then paying to unfatten itself, the far larger part struggles to find a crust each new day.

Life isn't fair. Life isn't just. But my heart cries out that it should be fair, it should be just. That the weak should have their day in court, and the poor their loaf of bread.

The Bible tells me about God-God who burns with zeal on behalf of the weak and the poor, who will be their defender, who will set matters right in His time when He intervenes as the judge.

3. Meaning. Without an afterlife, this existence would be a journey without a goal, a love that dies unconsummated.

In every field of human endeavor people seek to put the pieces together, ever in pursuit of the answer to the "Why?" Is it not strange that so many thinkers have abandoned the quest of the ultimate "WHY," the "because" of this life's enigma?

We see in part, we understand in part. But then, says Paul, we shall see and know face to face (1 Cor. 13:9-12).

4. Jesus. The three arguments above come from within myself, but this one is rooted in history; and it is the supreme evidence.

Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead! He was crucified on a Roman cross, His death attested by the soldiers who supervised the execution. His corpse was placed in Joseph of Arimathea's new rock-cut tomb, a large stone rolled across the entrance, and a guard placed to prevent any monkey business.

But the body disappeared. Sunday morning the stone had been rolled back, the soldiers had fled, and the tomb was empty.

Second, a new religion sprang forth. The dispirited band who saw Jesus die became heralds of hope, salvation, and new life. They proclaimed that Jesus was alive and that He could be known personally through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

I believe in an afterlife because Jesus, who rose from the dead, promises it to me. "I am the resurrection and the life," He says. "He who believes in me will live, even though he dies" (John 11:25, NIV).

*Quoted in H. J. Paton, The Modern Predicament (New York: Macmillan, 1955), p. 108.

_________________________
William G. Johnsson is editor of the Adventist Review.