Immortality Or Extinction?

IMMORTALITY OR EXTINCTION?

Is life after death a real possibility? The authors seek to show that this is a substantive question. They criticise philosophers who argue that talk of life after death is unintelligible, and take to task theologians who stipulate that the language of immortality and resurrection refers solely to life here and now. However, it is one thing to show that talk oflife after death is not logical nonsense and that such language essentially refers to some future state. It is quite another to find convincing grounds for such a prospect. And the empirical case for extinction, which depends primarily on the evidence of the natural sciences, is impressive. Moreover the traditional Christian doctrinal framework has become so attenuated as to be unable to supply any substantial support for belief in life after death. But while 'normal' science points decisively towards extinction certain para• normal data suggest the contrary. The authors pay special attention to 'near-death experiences', as well as considering psychical research and claimed 'memories' of former lives. While they argue that such claimed 'memories' (even if regarded as veridical) are not evidence of personal survival, they find near-death experiences and the best cases provided by psychical research suggestive of continued personal life after death. The authors find such apparently well-evidenced paranormal data irreconcil• able with the implications of normal science, and there seem to be compelling arguments both for and against belief in immortal life. For the religious believer, the balance may be tipped by his experience of a relationship with God which he trusts God will hold in being through death. And although much traditional doctrine has been discarded, this experientially-based hope remains central to Christianity. However for those who doubt the objective reality of the religious dimension, the arguments for extinction may win the day.

Dr Paul BadhaJD is a Lecturer in Theology at St. David's University College, Lampeter, where he teaches modern theology and the philosophy of religion. He studied biblical and patristic theology at Oxford for his initial degree and then taught for one year in a secondary school. At Cambridge he obtained first-class honours in the tripos, part 3, on 'Christian Theology in the Modern World', prior to reading for a PhD at Birmingham. He took up his present appointment in '973· Paul Badham is the author of Christian Beliefs about Life after Death and has contributed various articles and reviews to Theology, The Expository Times and other journals.

Dr Linda BadhaJD, his wife, was a research student in the philosophy of science at Lampeter. She graduated with first-class honours in chemistry at the University of Birmingham and taught mathematics and natural science in secondary schools for some years before resuming university work from 1978-81. LIBRARY OF PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

General Editor: John Hick, H. G. Wood Professor of Theology, University of Birmingham

This new series of books will explore contemporary religious understandings of man and the universe. The books will be contributions to various aspects of the continuing dialogues between religion and philosophy, between scepticism and faith, and between the different religions and ideologies. The authors will represent a correspondingly wide range of viewpoints. Some of the books in the series will be written for the general educated public and others for a more specialised philosophical or theological readership.

Already published William H. Austin THE RELEVANCE OF NATURAL SCIENCE TO THEOLOGY Paul Badham CHRISTIAN BELIEFS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH Paul and Linda Badham IMMORTALITY OR EXTINCTION? Patrick Burke THE FRAGILE UNNERSE Margaret Chatterjee GANDI'S RELIGIOUS THOUGHT William Lane Craig THE KALAM COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT THE COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FROM PLATO TO LEIBNIZ Lynn A. de Silva THE PROBLEM OF THE SELF IN BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY Padmasiri de Silva AN INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY Ramchandra Gandhi THE AVAILABILITY OF RELIGIOUS IDEAS J. C. A. Gaskin HUME'S PHILOSOPHY ot· RELIGION H. A. Hodges GOD BEYOND KNOWLEDGE Hywel D. Lewis PERSONS AND LIFE AFTER DEATH Eric Lott VEDANTIC APPROACHES TO GOD Geddes MacGregor REINCARNATION AS A CHRISTIAN HOPE Hugo A. Meynell AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF BERNARD LONERGAN F. C. T. Moore THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS OF MORALITY Dennis Nineham THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE BIBLE Bernard M. G. Reardon HEGEL's PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION John J. Shepherd EXPERIENCE, INFERENCE AND GOD Patrick Sherry RELIGION, TRUTH AND LANGUAGE-GAMES Wilfred Cantwell Smith TOWARDS A WORLD THEOLOGY Shivesh Chandra Thakur RELIGION AND RATIONAL CHOICE Robert Young FREEDOM, RESPONSIBILITY AND GOD

Further titles in preparation IMMORTALITY OR EXTINCTION?

Paul and Linda Badham St David's University College Lampeter, Wales © Paul and Linda Badham 1982 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1982 978-o-333-25933-7 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission

First published 1982 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Companies and representatives throughout the world

ISBN 978-1-349-04441-2 ISBN 978-1-349-04439-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-04439-9 Contents

Preface Vll Acknowledgements IX

Part One I. I. The Logic of Mortality 3 2. The Meaning of Resurrection, Immortality and Eternal Life I6

Part Two 37 3· The Naturalistic Case for Extinction 39 4· The Attenuation of Doctrinal Support for Belief in a Future Life

Part Three 6g 5· The Evidence from Near-death Experiences 7I 6. The Evidence from Psychical Research go 7· Claimed Memories of Former Lives 99

Part Four I I I

8. Immortality or Extinction? I I 3

Notes and References I24 Select Bibliography I42 Index I44

v Preface

This book is a collaborative venture by Dr Paul Badham, Lecturer in Theology at St David's University College, Lampeter, and his wife Linda, who was a research student in the philosophy of science at the same college. Paul Badham's interests lie in theology and philosophy of religion and their interaction with the sciences. Dr Linda Badham's initial degree was in chemistry, and her researches in philosophy have been particularly concerned with exploring non-reductionist monistic materialism. As the purpose of this book is to examine a wide variety of arguments for and against life after death, co-operation seemed desirable. In Part One, we argue that whether or not there can be any life after death is a substantive issue, and that the language of Christian hope has reference to some future state and not primarily to the context of our present earthly life. Part Two is concerned with considerations derived from a naturalistic understanding of the world and man's place in it. We also show that whatever other support a doctrine of a future life may claim, it can no longer rely on the traditional framework of Christian belief. We move on, in Part Three, to consider some paranormal claims which might be taken, at least at face value, as evidential for post-mortem survival. Finally, in Part Four, we try to assess the implications of the arguments adduced in Parts Two and Three. Every part of this book has been discussed by both of us, and the research and writing of it shared between us. However, where the personal pronoun 'I' has been used to refer to personal experiences or earlier publications, the subject is Paul Badham.

P. B. L. B. and L. F. B.

VII Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Professor Norman Gulley and Dr R. A. Sharpe with whom I have debated the issues of personal identity and survival of bodily death on numerous occasions in our Life after Death seminar in which many of these ideas were hammered out. Additional thanks are due to Dr Sharpe who has also supervised my wife's research in the philosophy of science. Further I am grateful to Professor Carl Lofmark and Rev. Peter Morris for valuable criticisms. An earlier version of some of the material used in Chapter 5 appeared as 'Death-bed Visions' in Theology (] uly I g8o). I would also like to thank Mrs Margaret Walker for her speedy and accurate typing of the manuscript, and St David's University College for granting me a term's study leave during the writing of this book.

P. B. L. B.