This is a Q&A blog post by our Visiting Scholar in Philosophy, William Lane Craig.

Question

Hello Dr. Craig,

I've been wondering how life can be meaningful at all if there is such a thing as an eternal afterlife. As Alex O'Connor points out, humans value things which are finite, and an infinite existence is the opposite of finite. If there is an infinite amount of seconds after this, how can this current second matter or be special?

If I'm in heaven or hell 3.675 trillion years from now, how will this second be meaningful? Even if you say that life is meaningful in deciding our afterlives, wouldn't only moments relating to belief or repentance be important? And how will our actions in the afterlife matter if we've already decided our eternal fate in this life?

Why would getting married or having kids matter if they're nothing in the grand scheme of things and in heaven we're all unmarried (as taught by Jesus)? Why does getting a job matter if I can be saved anyway?

If life exists forever, doesn't that mean that someday we will do everything possible? (have every possible conversation, play every possible game, meet every possible person, etc)? What then? Will we just start over? What would be the point?

You may point out that a finite existence is also meaningless, which I would concede to. This is why this sort of thought process has caused me a great deal of mental distress, and I am looking forward to seeing if a professional philosopher is able to provide any insights.

William Lane Craig’s Response

I think you and I both agree, Owen, that in atheism, our finite existence is meaningless because there is no ultimate significance to what we do; there is no ultimate standard of good and evil; there is no ultimate purpose for which we and the universe exist. Theism rectifies these deficits by contextualizing our lives in God’s plan for human history, by supplying an absolute standard of moral values and making the purpose for which we exist to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Now you are concerned that the infinity of the future would render our lives meaningless. “If there is an infinite amount of seconds after this, how can this current second matter or be special?” The current second matters because it contributes to the realization of God’s plan for creation and is infused with moral value as a result of God’s goodness. The reason you (or someone else) will be in heaven or hell in 3.675 trillion years might depend on what you do at this very second! Getting married or having kids or getting a job are objectively valuable in themselves and, moreover, matter tremendously because of the part they play in God’s providential plan. Who knows how such events help to determine the course of history to realize God’s ends? Who knows how many people will be in heaven (or hell!) because of your begetting children or getting a certain job? While people’s eternal destiny is ultimately the most important thing, that does not imply that “only moments relating to belief or repentance” are important. For there are myriads of events that are related to these as subsidiary goods that we may bring about.

I think your vision of the afterlife is also defective, Owen. Human fulfillment will come through the personal knowledge of God, the supreme Good, whom to know is an incommensurable good and the fulfillment of human existence. It is what we were made for. We should not think of eternal life as playing games and having conversations, but as enjoying the infinite depths of God who can never be exhausted.

- William Lane Craig

This Q & A and other resources are available on William Lane Craig’s website.