Christians could live more meaningful lives if they understood the difference between what they believe and what they know. There is no guarantee when you close your eyes for the last time that there is anything on the other side. I am sure the average Christian would find what I am saying offensive, but it is only because they do not understand what I am trying to say.
I am not saying you cannot believe in an afterlife. I am not saying you cannot believe in heaven and eternal reward. I am saying that it is still only a belief. You are a finite individual, you do not know for certain and you cannot confuse faith with self-deception. At the very most, faith enables, but it does not replace certainty. The minute we let our faith masquerade itself as certainty, you are in trouble.
Now I know Hebrews 11. I think I know what it is saying, and it is not contradicting what I am saying, otherwise hope would not appear in the passage. There is no need for hope when you are certain and there is no need for faith when you are certain. God has no faith, or at least none that I can determine. He has no need for faith. Faith is an essential provision of human existence for those who would base their existence on contingencies outside of their scope of knowing.
