What if there is a god, but still only a material world in time? How would this be possible? If there is a god, wouldn’t that mean there is a spiritual world and eternity also? Yes, of course, yet a significant majority of people who claim commitment to belief in god and hope for eternal life in heaven function daily as if this were not so.
Is there really a majority of people who claim belief in god and hope for eternity that live as if there were only a material world in time? Let’s think about it.
First, think about the history of world religions, especially the history of what claims to be Christianity. Has that been a history of minimal concerns about time and material things? Has it been a history of people hoping that particular, ritual devotion to god will yield advantages in competition with everyone else for happiness by means of wealth and power in a material world in time?
Second, compare what Jesus teaches about the Christian life with common experience among those who claim to be Christian. Jesus taught love for enemy, but it seems like people struggle to love even their spouse, family, or neighbor. Jesus taught that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions, but people claiming religious belief seem as concerned about accumulating material things as anyone else. Jesus taught us not to worry about what we will eat, or put on for clothing, but religious people seem as worried about everything (especially having their way) as anyone else. Jesus taught that God makes all things work together for good, but fear and worry contradict this teaching. Jesus taught that we should owe no one anything except love, yet people and religious institutions are almost universally in debt, more and more. Jesus taught to love God above all things, but it appears that people seek a relationship with god on their own terms with expectations that god would thus be obliged to indulge their every wish and protect their wishes once indulged—a genii in a bottle or god as co-pilot sort of religion.
What greater force to move humanity towards atheism or ambiguous spirituality than a history of “believers” demoting God to serving their material appetites in time? Nevertheless, what is life in red pyramid world if there is a “god”?