THE CONCEPT OF THE AFTERLIFE AS AN IMPERATIVE

Argument for the Life Hereafter ~ 206 ~ THE CONCEPT OF THE AFTERLIFE AS AN IMPERATIVE In the preceding pages the concept of the life hereafter was discussed in order to ascertain whether the advent of the life hereafter, as asserted by religion was or was not a distinct probability in the context of the present set-up of the universe: it was satisfactorily established that it was bound to occur. Now let us see whether or not this concept is a necessity in our present world. First of all, let us deal with the psychological aspect. Keningham, in his book entitled, Plato’s Apology, has described the dogma of life after death as “cheerful agnosticism”. All materialistic thinkers of the present age subscribe to the same view, in that they hold that man tends to seek out a world for himself where, free from all the restrictions and hardships of the present world, he may experience the freedom and happiness of his dreams. It is this very tendency in man, they say, which has given birth to the concept of a second life. They insist that this dogma is simply the result of wishful thinking, the desire to