Why should anyone believe in the notion that life in some form or other continues after the physical death of the body?
This is a logical question. My belief in a life after death is not based on personal experience, but is a choice I have made. I have read the testimony of others, and I choose to trust that they are telling the truth.
The nature of life, death, and an afterlife are enormous philosophical questions that have been discussed and debated since the beginning of time. Enough volumes to fill a library have been written on these topics. My purpose is not to rehearse the history of thought on these questions.
Put simply, I believe life is the existence of individual identity, consciousness, and agency (the ability to choose when presented with options). Further, I believe that my individuality, consciousness, and agency (referred to as Intelligence in Latter-day Saint theology) are eternal, existing before my physical body was conceived and continuing after my body dissolves.
Birth and death are temporal stages of my eternal existence in which my spiritual essence acquires a physical form, grows and develops as a biological entity, ages, and eventually gives up the physical shell when the body can no longer function.
When my body cannot sustain itself, my spirit will leave its physical tabernacle and continue to exist in its disembodied form. I will retain the memories of my temporal existence, remembering the people I associated with and the things I did with my body. I will remain on the earth, but in a spiritual state that cannot be seen with mortal eyes. I will be given assignments and responsibilities by presiding spirits in a society very much like what I experienced during my mortal sojourn. The focus of activity in this spirit world is to prepare everyone for the coming universal resurrection and to teach faith in Christ as the Savior and Redeemer.
I confess that when I turn to science to substantiate my belief in an afterlife, I find no help. Biology defines consciousness as brain activity. When the brain ceases to function, consciousness ends from a biological perspective. Using the scientific methods of observation and measurement, no empirical evidence exists to prove that spirits exist or that individual consciousness exists beyond the cessation of brain functions.
Scientists have studied Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) for evidence of life after death. While people who have experienced "clinical death" (stoppage of the heart and blood circulation) have been resuscitated and reported out-of-body experiences, no one who has been brain-dead has revived. The scientific studies explain NDEs as bursts of intense neurological activity before the brain shuts down. These neurological "storms" present themselves as vivid dreams that include distortions of time and space. Though many NDEs report common elements, they are not all the same, suggesting that they are subjective rather than objective experiences. In other words, NDEs are not scientific proof of life after death.
So, why would I choose to believe in life after death if science cannot prove its reality?
The Bible offers the testimony of reliable witnesses who saw a man die, be placed in a grave, and then return to life, namely, Jesus Christ. Christ's resurrection is proof of life after death. These men and women had nothing tangible to gain for making such a bold claim, and in fact suffered intense persecution and violent deaths for sticking with their testimonies. In a court of law, they would rank high in credibility.
If the Bible were the only source of testimony of life after death, it would be enough. But other witnesses exist. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ also describes the appearance of the resurrected Christ to people in the Western Hemisphere. Jesus told them of His death, burial, and resurrection. They saw Him, heard His voice, and felt the physical reality of His resurrected body.
In addition, Joseph Smith and some of his associates had experiences not only with the resurrected Christ but also with other resurrected people. Moroni, a prophet who had lived in ancient America and died in the Fifth Century A.D., visited Joseph and others as a resurrected being. John the Baptist and the ancient apostles Peter and James, whose deaths are a matter of historical record, came as resurrected men to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Joseph suffered a martyr's death rather than deny his testimony of the resurrection. Oliver and the other witnesses maintained their testimonies throughout their lives, never denying what they saw and experienced.
Further, prophets have seen the world of departed spirits in vision. Joseph Smith recorded a vision of the spirit world in 1836, now canonized as Section 137 in the Doctrine and Covenants. Joseph F. Smith, a nephew of the Prophet Joseph and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1901 to 1918, reported an extensive and detailed vision of the world of spirits, now Section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Along with ancient and modern witnesses of Jesus and others who have returned from death to life, I have a theologically logical reason to believe in life after death. I believe in God and that He is eternal. I am made in His image. Therefore, I exist as an eternal being, capable of experiencing eternal life with God. An eternal God would not invest in non-eternal things. Thus, I expect to continue my existence after my body dies.
In the final analysis, believing in life after death is a matter of faith, and therefore, a matter of choice. I choose to believe in an afterlife that includes existence in the spirit world after physical death and eternal life in a resurrected and perfected physical body because to deny life after death is to deny the existence of God and any meaningful purpose to life on earth. I choose to believe existence over non-existence and purpose over nihilism. I choose life.
