Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: prem@geomag.fsu.edu (Prem Subramanyan) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: immortality in this life? Message-ID: Date: 28 Jun 89 04:20:01 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Florida State University Computing Center Lines: 31 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Frankly, I find it difficult to believe that God would allow creation to last so long as to give humans the chance to attain to such a place as being physically immortal "From the dust you came, to the dust you shall return", such is the curse placed on us by sin, and I seriously doubt anything we can do could break the curse. In order to achieve physical immortality in addition would require living in a very shielded environment, as injuries could always occur that would be fatal. The primary offering of Christianity, furthermore, is NOT immortality...I realize that I'm stepping on some people's theology here, but I honestly see a lot more in Scripture dealing with a relationship to God and freedom from enslavement to sin. The longer a person would live without Jesus , the more perverse he would become, making salvation necessary for him as well. Deeper sin would also lead to deeper despair, most likely causing many of our hypothetical "immortals" to yearn for death, probably committing suicide. Our "immortals" would need freedom from sin, and a personal relationship with God in order to lead healthy lives, so I really see no reason, if our "immortal" world existed, for salvation to become unimportant....in fact, it would probably be even more necessary (if it were possible) for life to even continue normally. Again, this is purely hypothetical, based on an unlikely premise, i.e. that God would allow us to "break the curse" of sin, which is death. In Jesus, --- Prem Subrahmanyam