THE UTTER NEED FOR THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE AFTERLIFE

Playwright Harold Pinter had put his finger on the spirit of this age:

·       “There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.”

This reflects the thinking of postmodernism, which denies truth claims. As a result, there is no truth or family worth dying for. According to many, there is no truth, or else, truth cannot be known. Consequently, postmodernism has condemned us to live in a foggy world lacking any certainty or clarity beyond what we are feeling, and lacking anything for which to stand.  

French sociologist, philosopher, and cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard argued in favor of the non-existence of any valid truth claims:

·       “Postmodernity is said to be a culture of fragmentary sensations, eclectic nostalgia, disposable simulacra, and promiscuous superficiality, in which the traditionally valued qualities of depth, coherence, meaning, originality, and authenticity are evacuated or dissolved amid the random swirl of empty signals.”

Postmodernism has taken captive the thinking of our culture. As a result, truth is merely a matter of what is “true for you.” It’s what you find in your own heart. Consequently, no one can tell you what is right for you, since you have your own “truth.”

As a result of this, history and psychology can tell you nothing that might be of use to you. For example, one postmodern thinker informed me that I only can speak for myself, when I told him that “Our human nature requires us to seek some form of approval.” He went on to tell me that I could only speak about my own feelings and experiences, and that he would not give me permission to speak about his own feelings or “reality.”

Consequently, there are no lessons that he could learn from me or I from him. There could be no real connection because there was no glue, no common reality, to hold us together. As a result, there is no common wisdom that we could share.

Once we are deprived of the possibility of wisdom and understanding, only our feelings and experiences remain, and we are reduced to an animalistic existence. Religion then becomes a matter of experiencing God and nothing else – certainly not growth in wisdom.

However, living for feelings is a well that quickly runs dry. King Solomon was a prime but unlikely example of this. He had been on a wisdom quest to plummet the depths in search for the meaning of life. However, he had leaned exclusively upon his great mental prowess, which had become so renowned that many traveled from far away to hear him speak. However, Solomon’s wisdom didn’t go beyond the here-and-now. It wasn’t able to penetrate through the curtain to perceive what might lie beyond in another world. He therefore lamented:

·       And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with…For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. (Ecclesiastes 1:13, 18 ESV)

Seeking out the meaning of life became such an “unhappy business” that he hated his life, even though he had everything. This was because life didn’t make any sense to him:

·       The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event [death] happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity [or “incomprehensible”]. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun…(Ecclesiastes 2:14-20)

From anyone else’s assessment, Solomon’s life wasn’t toilsome. He undertook many successful and creative building projects; he wrote proverbs. He had everything – wives beyond number, uncontestable power, wealth and influence, and the esteem of all. Yet, he hated his life. Why? It all seemed meaningless to him. From the perspective of his wisdom, he would die like everyone else, and that would be the end of him.

After he consecrated the Temple of God, which he had successfully completed, the Bible does not record any more of Solomon’s prayers. Why didn’t his wisdom lead him to seek God to resolve his confusion and pain? The Bible records that his many wives had turned his heart away from the Lord. As a result, Solomon, despite of his wisdom, never glimpsed the big picture – the blessedness that awaits us beyond this life, the knowledge that we all need to live a consistent and devoted life unto our God.

In contrast to postmodernism and other forms of anti-intellectualism, there are things we need to know. We need to know that life has a meaning and purpose and that we are walking in lock-step with that purpose. We need to know that we will experience eternal bliss. Therefore, Jesus informed His disciples that they are blessed to have this knowledge:

·       Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Luke 10:23-24)

In our world, the value of knowledge has been debased. It is not regarded as essential. However, Solomon suffered greatly because he lacked this knowledge of the afterlife. It is only with this knowledge that we can stand against adversity and temptation and to not fear what everyone else fears. With this knowledge we can hold our ground against the threats of violence and even death, as Jesus had counseled:

·       “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him [God] who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:27-31)

Since we know that God is for us, we are enabled to live a courageous and purposeful life. We can speak boldly and to even stare down the possibility of martyrdom.