THE CONCEPT OF THE AFTERLIFE AS AN IMPERATIVE

Argument for the Life Hereafter ~ 229 ~ possible on one occasion, it is perfectly possible for it to come into existence a second time. There would be nothing very strange about the recurrence of our present experience of life. In truth, there is nothing so irrational as admitting to a present occurrence, while rejecting the probability of its recurrence in the future. Modern man falls unwittingly into selfcontradiction. He is sure that the gods he has forged (the law of nature, chance, etc.) can cause the recurrence of certain sequences of events, but that the God of religion is not at all in a position to cause a regenesis of the present world. Explaining that the present earth and all its attributes owe their origin to an “accident”, Sir James Jeans epitomises this school of thought: “There is no wonder if our earth originated out of certain accidents. If the universe survives for a long period, any thinkable accident is likely to occur.”18 The doctrine of organic evolution asserts that all the species of animals have evolved from the same rudimentary species. According to Darwin, the present giraffe was originally like the other hoofed