ateday,

<<One K Packer did and I`d (almost) believe him.>>

'In late 1990, two months short of his 53rd birthday, [Kerry Packer] suffered a massive heart attack while playing polo in Sydney. Technically he died, when his heart stopped beating for seven minutes. But he famously came back from the dead when he discharged himself from hospital a week later and returned to the same polo field, where he abused photographers who were trying to record his recovery', Independent UK 2005, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kerry-packer-520819.html

After this temporary 'death' he made an horrific, blasphemous statement in an interview with Phillip Adams. See: http://www.theage.com.au/national/kerry-francis-bullmore-packer-1937-2005-20051228-ge1hp0.html?page=fullpage

He died finally on 26 December 2005.

Now he knows for sure what lies beyond the grave: 'Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him' (Hebrews 9:27-28), http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb+9%3A27&version=NIVUK

ttbn,

<<If there is an afterlife I hope it's nothing like the present one. Maybe what we call life is really Hell, and there is something nicer after it?>>

There is no IF to it. It is for CERTAIN. These are some things to look forward to if you've been redeemed through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection:

+ There is plenty of room in heaven for those who come via God's way: '‘My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going’ (John 14:1-4).

+ We know there is no sadness in heaven: God 'will wipe away every tear from their eyes' (Revelation 7:17).

+ This is what Christians have to look forward to: "Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.... He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’ (Revelation 21:1-4), http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev+21%3A1-4&version=NIVUK

+ No sin of any sort will be in heaven: 'But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness' (2 Peter 3:13).

+“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

What a day that will be! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnvZL_zW2JI

ttbn, we have God's guarantee that the afterlife will be nothing like the unrighteousness we experience in this world

What a day that will be!
OzSpen,
Sounds more like a Religion's got Talent, nice tunes though !

individual,

<<What a day that will be!OzSpen,Sounds more like a Religion's got Talent, nice tunes though!>>

It's time for you to listen to the content of the words and know how you can experience 'What a day that will be'.

Dear Peter Bowden (the author),

The question you pose, "Is there a God", is logically misconstructed and meaningless. As I shall explain, when this question is followed literally, even the most religious God-loving (or God-fearing) person must answer this question in the negative.

The word 'there', indicates a space.
Could God, presumably the creator of space, be found in space?

The word 'a' (as in "a God") precedes an object.
Could God be an object?
Had God been an object, then who created this object?

The word 'is' assumes a pre-existing division into categories into one of which God presumably falls.
But such categories would then necessarily precede God and be higher than Him: What kind of a limited "God" would it then be?

To seriously talk about God, no limitations can apply - and had we been able to speak of anything being other than God (including space, time, categories, existence and isness), then that would have constituted an unacceptable limitation on (or competition to) God.

Yes, some may like to speak about deities, even such powerful deities which can create, maintain and destroy worlds and communicate with their inhabitants, etc. - fair enough, but that would not be speaking of God. To avoid confusion, such deities should be written with a small-g: "gods".

So had your question been "Is there a god", then I could ask for clarifications and perhaps then come with some answer, but since your question was "Is there a God", my answer must be: "No, but there is nothing but God, including you and me".

Apologies, my previous post belonged to a different topic.
---

Dear Individual,

«I'd have thought once people are dead, they're dead, they don't come back.»

You thought correctly.

Matter follows the laws of matter. Old cars too do not return bright and shiny from the wreckers: I wish my old 1970 car did, but I would be delusional if I believed it would.

Nevertheless, it is only people and cars and the like that die, not us.
Those who identify themselves as a singular-of-people, mistakenly think that once that singular-of-people which they believe themselves to be, dies, they too will become dead and never come back. But in truth, we cannot die. We might lose our current body just like we might lose a car, but then we usually proceed to acquire a new one. This might be a bit of a nuisance for some, a bit of a relief for others, but overall not such a dramatic big deal as you describe.

«I have heard people talking of ghosts & having been dead. Could it be that the neurons or whatever makes up our brains simply don't die as suddenly as other organs fail ?»

There is a field of energy around our body.
In most cases it dissipates quickly after the death of the body.
In rare pathological cases it fails to and lingers on.
To prevent this, it is best to bury or cremate corpses as soon as practicable, then offer prayers for the departed and guide them to let go of these, now-useless, fields of energy.