something is just not on; but provided his actions are a facing up to death, and not a running away from it, there should not be too much danger. Generally the truth is acceptable to a person with courage, even if it is very unpleasant truth; whereas it is not so to a coward. At least nothing I have ever learned about human nature has suggested the opposite. So I see nothing wrong with a man believing in immortality, and behaving accordingly. But to believe in immortality here and now, as Christ most probably did, that is a bold undertaking. Although the molecular-biologists are pretty obviously going to attempt it, or perhaps are already, I would caution anyone against it, unless he felt compelled to try. For myself, it is an adventure best left to others. The one I chose was hard enough.
There are only two desires that could make a man want to be immortal, either here or hereafter; the constancy of his love or his fear of death. Fear of death may make him want to become immortal, but so far from keeping him alive, fear of death kills quicker than anything. It kills happiness, the vivacity of one's thoughts, and finally life. Immortality may not be possible, but I am quite sure that there is only one way of attaining it; namely, for a man to try to love as a god is supposed to love, and disregard the consequences. That is quite hard enough, without bothering about immortality here and now.
However, viewing things momentarily again through the eyes of a creator; if there is a God, can there be any doubt that this is what he wants men to do? On the other hand, if there is no God, can there be any doubt that this is how a normal man ought to behave? My late Mother used to say that the great forte of one of the Cathedral clergy in Durham was that he looked holy. She was right, he did look holy. I have a feeling though that God is not too much concerned with appearances; not for him the scientist's equation correlating sense-perceptions in the simplest possible way. There are rumours…