Hints of Heaven?

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Who says so? Well, God says so. (Gen.1:1) In these ten brief words, the opening verse of the Bible asserts that there is a heaven, there is an earth, and there is a God that made them both at the beginning of time. But if someone is not convinced of the absolute truth of the Scriptures, is there anything in the natural world that might speak to the existence of heaven?

Many are persuaded that the events that happen around us, to believers and unbelievers alike, point to the reality of something beyond this present life. For instance, how can we explain the experience of thousands of people throughout many centuries who claim that their bodies died, but that they had some additional existence in another realm for a time before they were brought back to their mortal lives on earth? Without evaluating the specifics of what people claim that other existence was like, we can at least observe that they indicate that life beyond this life was very real. Are all of these experiences to be completely dismissed as nothing?

Then there are some who believe that the seed germination process is a story that suggests new life after death. Here is the idea behind this one: Think about all the things that grow, and the seeds from which they come. They are planted in the earth, and somehow out of the "death" of a seed, a new life will begin. Beyond the specifics of how plants grow, there are also other nature stories that whisper to us of life after death. A sunrise brings the glorious renewal of a new day, as does the beginning of spring every year. There seem to be countless messages throughout the course of our days on this earth that indicate that as one life dies away, a new life comes into being.

Other people use their reasoning powers to justify their belief in the existence of an 'intelligent designer.' How does one look at a beautiful sunset, or a new-born baby, or even the wonder of a single cell, and think that these have ultimately sprung out of nothingness? The proponents of this perspective would say that there must be an entity behind the world of creation, one who dwells in another sphere.

Finally, (though this is not an exhaustive list!), some would argue that throughout the history of the world, people of all cultures and all faiths have believed in an afterlife. How do we explain this universality of focus on life beyond this earth?

So how would a skeptic crush all these hints suggesting the existence of an after-life? Perhaps by saying that there is something within man that needs to explain away all the messiness of turmoil, grief, strife, illness, war, and other aspects of human existence. Man needs a crutch to survive life, and the supposed 'hope' of heaven provides the much needed motivation for continuing to persevere.

So do you find the above arguments from natural life persuasive? My answer? Thus far I tend to side with the skeptic...