EXPLORE
YOUR FAITH
Why
not emphasize the afterlife as the best reason for becoming a Christian?
When
the afterlife is emphasized as the primary reason [for being a Christian],
it inevitably turns Christianity into a religion of requirements
and rewards: [With this type of thinking] if there is an afterlife,
it doesn't seem fair to most people that everybody gets to go there
regardless. One must have to do or believe something [in order to
experience life after death]. Suddenly we're focusing on requirements
and rewards.
Secondly,
when the afterlife is emphasized, it tends to divide the world into
those who are saved and those who are not. An
emphasis on the afterlife also directs our attention to the other
world or the next world rather than to transformation within this
world. I see transformation within this world to
be the primary meaning of the Christian gospel. An invitation to
relationship with God is what begins to transform our lives in the
here and now, and as that relationship deepens, it also leads us
to become concerned about the transformation of society and the
world itself.
I see
Christianity, and its roots in Judaism and the Hebrew Bible, as
very much a this-worldly religion. There's no denial of an afterlife
in my saying that. But it's a way of saying that we leave the afterlife
up to God. Our task is the transformation of ourselves and of the
world this side of death.
--Dr.
Marcus Borg
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