Sometimes, when I read history, I think of the millions of anonymous people who lived in medieval Europe. Not a trace is left of them. Their remains were devoured by maggots centuries ago and their graves have vanished from the face of the earth.

It is absurd to believe that these dead people will be "resurrected". Only wishful thinking, and the innate self-importance of man could come up with such a preposterous and unnatural belief.

In medieval Europe, millions of dead Christians were promised resurrection by priests as their corpses were lowered into the grave. They were never resurrected, and were consigned, instead, to oblivion.

Leonardo da Vinci accused the clergy of deceiving simple people with celestial promissory notes which they exchanged for the coinage of this world.

Robert G. Ingersoll, an American lawyer, quipped: "I have little confidence in any enterprise or business or investment that promises dividends only after the death of the stockholders." 

John Guillaumier

St Julian's