THE CONCEPT OF THE AFTERLIFE AS AN IMPERATIVE

Argument for the Life Hereafter ~ 224 ~ inevitable reality have been forced by the lessons of history to agree that if we reject the concept of the life hereafter, there remains no other deterrent strong enough to control man and oblige him to observe the rules of justice and fair play. Immanuel Kant, the noted German philosopher, rejected the belief in God’s existence on grounds of insufficient proof: “Since religion must be based not on the logic of theoretical reason but on the practical reason of the moral sense, it follows that any Bible or revelation must be judged by its value for morality and cannot itself be the judge of a moral code.”15 Voltaire likewise did not believe in any metaphysical reality, but in his view also: “The concept of God and the life hereafter are very important in that they serve as postulates of the moral feeling. To him by means of them alone an atmosphere of good morals may be created. In the absence of such beliefs we have no incentive for good behaviour, making the maintenance of a social order well-nigh impossible.”16