Would evidence of an afterlife...

[raph]

...necessarily constitute evidence of the existence of a god/gods? Or visa versa?

I was doing some reading in the local college library, waiting for my wife to get out of class, when I happened to come across the book "Who Knows" by Raymond Smullyan. In it, he brings up an excellent question; Is the existence of a god and the prospect of an afterlife necessarily linked? Would evidence of one constitute proof of the other?

Personally, I would say no. Unless the evidence proved a specific religion which linked the two (and to me, that would take some pretty spectacular evidence), I see no reason why there couldn't be one without the other. In the case of an "afterlife", would it not be at least theoretically possible that there is a part of our being that is not reliant on our physical bodies for its existence, and science has just not found or explained it yet? And couldn't a "god" create people with only one, finite life, instead of an eternal one?

[Deleet]

No, but if you allow one supernatural thing, might as well allow for others.
So even though they are not directed connected, they are in the same league.

But all religions with gods include an afterlife, don't they?

[Draconis]

I don't think there is an afterlife, but if there is, it could just be a natural part of the universe. In this case what is called supernatural might just mean not understood, like so many things in the past.

[J. T.]

You could argue that an afterlife would imply a god, but only by admitting that an afterlife is pretty implausible to begin with. That way you could say that an afterlife would have to be artificially maintained by a god.

[Betelnut]

I don't think there is an afterlife, but if there is, it could just be a natural part of the universe. In this case what is called supernatural might just mean not understood, like so many things in the past.

But then could you rationally call it "afterlife"? Wouldn't it just be life, continuing?

[~M~]

What exactly is an afterlife? What does it constitute? My immediate suspicion is that it does not warrant god-belief at all.

[Hazy Daisy]

Would evidence of an afterlife necessarily constitute evidence of the existence of a god/gods? Or visa versa?

Not at all. Imagine an "afterlife" where people love and hate each other, wonder about the "meaning" of the afterlife, ponder the existence of god, et cetera. The fact that you can imagine an afterlife that's pretty much identical to life as we know it proves that the concept of an afterlife does not necessarily imply the existence of any dieties. If an afterlife logically, necessarily implied dieties, then a "godless afterlife" would be nonsensical in the same way that "colorless green ideas sleep furiously" is nonsensical.

Edited to add: It's also possible to believe in a god, but not believe in an afterlife -- which is, in fact, what many Jews believe. (Also Jehovah's Witnessess, from what I understand.)