Catholic Q&A
Even if we do not presume to believe in “eternal life” and so on, would it not be enough if we lived to the best of our ability in this world?
In the first place, any human being as long as he is alive seeks a meaning for his life, and deep within his heart he hopes his life is not meaningless. However, if human beings existed only while they were alive in this world, and then disappeared, would that not ultimately signify the fact that living in this world is meaningless? If our existence were limited only to this present world then people born with natural handicaps will not receive any recompense, and even offering one’s life for the sake of one’s neighbor will cease to have any meaning. As Paul declares, “What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’” (1 Cor. 15:32).
Every human being wants his life to be meaningful, and his existence to be affirmed.
When we consider it that way, we see that regardless of whether it be latent or conscious the hope for “life beyond death” is a natural aspiration of human beings, that cannot be rejected. Christian faith in the resurrection answers this fundamental and universal desire of human beings, and we believe that a guarantee of that hope has been granted to us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.