People 'see' and 'communicate with' what appear to be the 'spirits of dead people' even though it's nobody they knew in life. These 'spirits' are often dressed in clothes from another time period.Ghost stories are also found around the world in legend and folklore.
This isn't proof that the dead survive, of course, but it indicates that people could have got the idea of souls from 'experiences' rather than from being afraid of the prospect of death. There have been different beliefs about it depending on culture too. Some are happy to have their ancestors available to give advice while others want the dead to move on as quickly as possible and not come back.
After lives haven't always been pictured as something wonderful to be looked forward too, either. Sheol certainly wasn't.
"Judaism before 623 BCE. The ancient Israelites originally followed a polytheistic religion; their beliefs were identical to other Semitic peoples. The dead were believed to have led type of shadowy existence under the earth, without energy, and separated from God. People worshipped both their ancestors in the underworld and many Sky Gods in heaven.
"The dead of all nations and all walks of life were sent to Sheol. There was no judgment day. All individuals ended up in Sheol after death - both those who had led a righteous and those who were evil while on earth. See Genesis 42:38 and Numbers 16:30-33.
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"Most writers of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) portrayed Sheol as a grim place. Its inhabitants were seen as living a type of shadowy existence for all eternity. It was dark. "The dead existed without thought, strength, or even consciousness."
The dead could also be accessed through necromancy. 1 Samuel 28:7-20 describes how King Saul persuaded a medium at Endor to contact the spirit of the deceased Samuel in order to predict the future.
"Deaths in the Bible. God - 2,270,365
not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the
many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers
were given. Satan - 10."
People 'see' and 'communicate with' what appear to be the 'spirits of dead people' even though it's nobody they knew in life. These 'spirits' are often dressed in clothes from another time period.Ghost stories are also found around the world in legend and folklore.
This isn't proof that the dead survive, of course, but it indicates that people could have got the idea of souls from 'experiences' rather than from being afraid of the prospect of death. There have been different beliefs about it depending on culture too. Some are happy to have their ancestors available to give advice while others want the dead to move on as quickly as possible and not come back.
After lives haven't always been pictured as something wonderful to be looked forward too, either. Sheol certainly wasn't.
"Judaism before 623 BCE. The ancient Israelites originally followed a polytheistic religion; their beliefs were identical to other Semitic peoples. The dead were believed to have led type of shadowy existence under the earth, without energy, and separated from God. People worshipped both their ancestors in the underworld and many Sky Gods in heaven.
"The dead of all nations and all walks of life were sent to Sheol. There was no judgment day. All individuals ended up in Sheol after death - both those who had led a righteous and those who were evil while on earth. See Genesis 42:38 and Numbers 16:30-33.
bullet"
"Most writers of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) portrayed Sheol as a grim place. Its inhabitants were seen as living a type of shadowy existence for all eternity. It was dark. "The dead existed without thought, strength, or even consciousness."
The dead could also be accessed through necromancy. 1 Samuel 28:7-20 describes how King Saul persuaded a medium at Endor to contact the spirit of the deceased Samuel in order to predict the future.
http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4139&p=53199&hilit=n...
"Deaths in the Bible. God - 2,270,365
not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the
many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers
were given. Satan - 10."