"We hope there is something beyond, but we do not know."
My prompt response was immediately checked by a languid wave of the hand, and an emphatic, "No one can know."
This uncertain state of mind is in striking contrast with that of the saints and martyrs; it cannot say, "To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Some highly honorable people tell me that they have no desire to live again, and express wonder that anyone has such a desire. The good influence we may leave behind us, they think, is immortality enough.
A general loss of faith in immortality, I am confident, would work irreparable harm to society. It would completely destroy religion. The Church, therefore, should do its utmost to keep alive a rational and heartfelt assurance of immortality. This, I am sure, can be done without, in any way, stultifying the intellect. In fact, the intellect must be made our ally if we are to succeed.
At this point the remark of a woman ninety years old is very significant and reassuring. After reading a popular book of the day on immortality, she said:
"I did not like it. I do not want anyone to try to prove immortality by science, because he cannot do it. I grasp the reality of a future life with my whole being."
Why are so many people losing their assurance of immortality?
1. The contagion of doubt
There is a contagion of doubt as well as a contagion of faith. With facts still favorable to a victory, an army may lose morale. When the general and all his officers keep hopeful, their confidence works its way down to the enlisted men. If the hopeful word is on many lips the morale is saved, and the whole army is confident of victory. Witnessing to any belief has a tremendous psychic influence for good or evil. The facts concerning any great subject are never deeply analyzed by the masses; yet the people possess a rare power for sensing the spirit of their times.