Donatello wrote:Because of course I'll believe it if I see it.
If the afterlife is anything like the life we see now, chances are it'll be the last thing we're expecting and the Scientologists will be right. Won't our faces be red.
Moving the discussion in a bit of a different direction, more towards the tenets of faith and what we consider to be virtuous. As I said before, what bothers me greatly about some people of faith is that they thump certain parts of the bible to achieve their own means or heap scorn on someone else while conveniently forgetting about other fundamental elements of their supposed faith. Or like Anne Coulter, dismissing them as "weak" or "minor" parts of the faith, when they are anything but. To me, belief in these things is all or nothing. You can't have the fire and brimstone without the kindness and charity.
When it comes to virtue, consider these examples:
Man A does not attend church regularly and may identify himself as an athiest, or at least an agnostic. However, he does incorporate the basic teachings of Christianity into his life in terms of love, kindness, forgiveness and treating others as he himself would like to be treated. Whether intentionally or not, he also more or less adheres to the Ten Commandments (except I suppose those about worshipping God alone) and in particular he certainly hasn't committed murder. People who know him would most likely describe him as a good person.
Man B does identify himself as a Christian and a man of faith, with a religious icon a big part of his day-to-day life. Those who know him admire him greatly and tout him as a great human being. He attends services far more regularly than Man A. Truth be told however, he has perhaps strayed from some of those teachings and there are people who blame him for great atrocities, though his exact role in and responsibility for those incidents taking place is subject to debate. He is definitely interested in doing what he feels is the Lord's work.
Now, based on those superficial descriptions, which man would you say is the most virtuous? And if you believe in God and an afterlife, the more likely to get into Heaven? I'm after individual opinions here so I'd rather people not quote oodles of scripture about the creation of the world or anything like that, just based on your own ideology or religious instruction, who is the more virtuous person?
Yes that's true, just like I always said you will never ever understand God in your own understanding. It's by faith & Revelation 
Remember, you have to know the ABCs before you can do algebra.
on you.
