Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1879-11-25
We HAVE A CONSCIOUS
EXISTENCE AF1ER DEArHf"
rE...y No. 5. written BY . school Soy.l

IEssay No. J. written BY Q school ooy.I
The subject considered in this paper.
although somewhat metaphysical and
hacknsysd IL still OF surprising interest
to many. Older persons than the writer.
and persons possessed Of greater do.
gree Of reverence for the religious beliefs
Of the pas. and for old supsrstitions,
may perhaps deem an expression OF
opinion upon this matter by . school
boy impairment and presumptuous. but
the writer does not propose to offer an
apology for the presentation OF this
pepper, nor does he deem one necessary.
The question considered here ID still
held to be an open one by Q great mum.
Der Of people, and - such Is q privileged
subject for discussion.
The question. "Shall We have . oon-
scious existence after death?" has been
asked BY millions upon millions Of
human beings since man irst trod the
earth erect. but no affirmative answer
which will stand the scrutinixing test OF
sound reason has been received. Par
ents who have lost dear children BY
death, friends who have sorrowfully
consigned friends to the relentless en-.
brace Of earth have vsinly tried to pen
citrate the future for q solution Of the
ever recurring problem. but no answer
inp voice has been heard. Thousands
Of years ago Job Of Uz gave voice to the
question: "If . man die. shall hs live
again." but no answer came to him.
The many religious systems Of the
world from the mysticsl faiths OF India
and Egypt whose v~otariss possessed
90 practical Q faith" In the affirmative
OF the question asked that they would
lend their money to be returned
to them In the next world"-to the
blood. stained religion OF Paul aud Con.
stautine, have pretended to furnish an
authoritative affirmative answer to the
question, bat at all times there have
been Q minority Of men who have ques.
toned the authority and refused to 90.
cept the answer. And today scientific
rsssarch-with the results Of its investi.
cations In the heavens above by means
OF the telescope and the spectrum ansly-
sis; In the earth beneath by the revela-
tons OF geology; In the waters under
the earth by means Of deep sea sound.
iugs and dredging-is rapidly breaking
down the religious beliefs OF the past,
and Is filing the land with skeptics who
hesitate not to declare that when man
dies and 10 resolved back to his original
elements be will no longer have . con-
scious existence.
Those persons who believe the affirm
alive Of the question at issue ground
their faith principally upon the New
Testament scriptures, which to them 10
full OF convincing evidence In support OF
their belief. They say that "Christ
arose from the dead and aftsrward IS.
cended into heaven, and that be still
lives" etc. II, they say. 1t can be
shown that one person who was dead
and laid In the tomb for three days now
lives, that Ii abundant proof that others
Who have died may live again. They
also hold that the almost universal DO.
lief OF man In Q conscious individual
existence after death Is Q proof that he
will 90 exist, else the belief would not
exist. Again, God would not have given
man intelligence and the capacity for
spiritual enjoyment aud the pure afec.
tons which lie deep In his nature II
they are to exist for only . few score Of
years. "The pleasing hope, tho fond
desire, the longing after immortality and
the dread OF falling into nausht." 10
also urged q proof that tho intellectual
part Of man will enjoy Immortality.
Other lesser reasons are given by those
OF the Affirmative for the faith that 10 in
them, but want Of space forbids their
mention here.
Those persons who take tho negative
side Of the question claim that, a. the
burden OF proof 10 with the affirmative.
its supporters should bring forward
other evidence than that OF q book writ
ten nearly two thousand years ago,
whose improbable statements are not
oorroborstsd by any contemporary histo.
risn or writer. and that nearly universal
belief in . religious proposition, or hopes
aud fears, are not evidence which can DO
accepted in proof Of the statement.
Some Of the arguments advanced by the
negatives are that the intellect, or that
which 10 called the soul, 10 tho result OF
organization merely, and that when the
organized body returns TO Ito original
rlsmsnts the soul, or intellect, must
cease to exist. As Q burning candle.
which gives forth light and heat because
Of the combination Of Ito elements With
the oxygen OF the air. ceases to impart
light and heat when the Aame 10 eItin.
suished. and - the Aams no longer has
an existence, 90 when the elements,
which combine to mako man, begin to
deoompose, the result OF the previous
combination the soul or intellect
ceases to exist. "Thers can BE-, say
they, "no intelligence or soul where
there 10 no sense, and there can be no
sense where there are NO organs Of
sense. So far % 10 known, there 10 no
intelligence except In organic matter 80
organized as to have brains and nerves."
Tho question which appears at the
head Of this essay 10 still an open one.
The writer, however, In the absence OF
more direct and admissible evidence to
sustain It than any yet known or pre-.
ssnted here, feels compelled 10 say that
In his opinion the affirmative OF the
question has not yet been proved.