Does Christianity work without the afterlife?
Good point, and one rather similar to that made by Richard Holloway in his excellent book, Doubts and Loves. His idea is that Christianity is about following Jesus in this life, not booking a place in the next. All the theology that Paul put together rather gets in the way of this, and after all, Paul was never a follower when Jesus was alive. I’m a former evangelical Christian (the whole nine yards) and now an atheist. I regard Jesus as a very interesting teacher; a real, historical person, but not God. Holloway reckons a true Christian is someone who fights injustice, loves the rejected, and works to heal wounds of every sort. That’s really what Luke’s gospel tries to show.
