Immortality and Personal Consciousness? | John Polkinghorne

In memory of John Polkinghorne, 1930-2021, a passionate believer in the unity of knowledge.

Human beings yearn to live forever. But our only hope is some kind of non-physical reality like a personal God, alternative God, or cosmic consciousness. What would be the nature of such immortality? Would we retain our individual sense of self? Or would our drop of personal consciousness be subsumed within a vast ocean of cosmic consciousness? It would make a difference.

The Rev. John Charlton Polkinghorne was an English theoretical physicist, theologian, and writer. He was professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridge, and he resigned his chair to become an ordained Anglican priest.