Belief in the afterlife (1)

John Guillaumier's attempt to discredit the Christian belief of the afterlife (The Sunday Times, November 2) was, to say the least, insensitive to the feelings of the majority of your Catholic readers.

We all try to follow a road which leads us to a new beginning - a concept which might seem difficult to comprehend, and which requires the gift of faith.

I wonder what Mr Guillaumier thinks of this life of ours if, according to him, our existence will be terminated without leaving a trace, just like what happens to a domestic pet.

What a useless life that would be, when everything is lost in an abyss of nothingness!

Believers have a wider vision of their earthly presence.

Events of a certain period of time are seen by Christians in relation to the fullness of eternal life.

The concept of an afterlife is not a myth or a fairy tale, but is mentioned in numerous instances in the New Testament; Jesus himself continually speaks of eternal life; some examples are:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth... but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Mt. 6, 19)

"The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father" (Mt. 13, 41-43)

"Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys" (Luke 12, 33)

Nailed to the cross and shortly before dying, Jesus said to the repentant crucified thief : "I say to you today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23, 43).

Our faith in an afterlife rests on solid foundations; three of the evangelists wrote the Gospel just a few years after Jesus's death; had they written falsehoods, they would have surely been challenged by their readers.

I agree with Mr Guillaumier that nobody has ever returned from heaven to recount his or her experience of eternal life and what exists after death; sadly this is normally uttered by those whose faith is not very well founded.

I find it rather strange that he blames priests for peddling the concept of immortality, when it was already recognised by the Ancient Egyptian and Greek religions, and by Islam.

Jesus Christ brought a new meaning to life, which, if focused on our immortality, is seen differently.