The notion of a heaven for good people and divine judgement for evil people in an after-life goes back at least to the ancient era of the Mesopotamian religion of Mithraism, and probably much earlier. The Old Testament does not say much about the notion of a heaven except a place where God and angels dwell. Neither does it mention a place of retribution where humans could suffer for their sins for all eternity. The Hebrew word 'scheol' meaning the unseen state has been translated 'hell' in the Old Testament on 31 occasions.

The Christian belief in a hereafter necessitates that the embodiment of this lifetime experience be consciously carried forward into the afterlife. The 'soul' complete with the memory of the past life, is held responsible for actions and beliefs during that life. Sir James Frazer O.M. in his excellent book, "The Golden Bough" (page 153) tells us "the savage commonly explains the processes of inanimate nature by supposing that they are produced by living beings working in or behind the phenomena, similarly if a man or animal lives and moves, it can only be because he has a little man or animal inside who moves him. The animal inside the animal, the man inside the man is the soul". The Christian notion of the soul is extended, not only to give it a mind and responsibility of its own for which it can be punished at the supposed Judgement seat of God, but eternal life as well. As an ordinary human being, I reject the Christian religion, including heaven, hell and all kinds of devils or angels, as religious superstition. There is no supernatural being outside earthly experience. Society would do well to be rid of Paul's divisive and unhelpful doctrines.

Rational people must agree that the human brain is the storehouse of all our knowledge, attitudes, emotions and beliefs. Our brain is our only mental repository from which we draw all our reactions to the passing parade of life. It is the power house which gives us the ability to think, react, decide or choose. When we die, our mortal mental repository with its vast records of experience, knowledge, beliefs and memories must be lost and decay with the rest of our mortal bodies. The soul is not a separate entity with a mind and will of its own. There is no 'little person inside the person' who cannot die.