If for his life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied" 1st Corinthians 15:19

What an awful verse! I have begun preparing for the Lenten Study and the materials mostly present some good verses and topics to discuss. I happened to notice this verse in the last chapter of the study quide. This is a some of Paul's reasoning that I have never been comfortable with. The study author talks about his father's life and how he "died too young" at 65. After saying how most people are forgotten and the world moves on after they are dead, he says "What a bleak and empty view of life..." The study author then tries to convince us that it might be OK to live selfishly since "no one remembers us." "If death is the final answer, why live a faithful life?" After presenting us with this, he offers an alternative using the standard claims of what we have gained from Christ's resurrection.

This is a perfect example of the theology that has never worked for me. I was taught duing my high school years to witness with the four spiritual laws but always found it odd that one had to first convince people what bad shape they were in and then tell them you have a incantation that will fix that suppossed empty feeling.

This worldview seems unable to meet people where they are at. For the author, life appears to be meaningless and empty unless there is a heaven. Does life only have meaning if we live on? Is that really true for this author and is that a necessary part of Christian theology? If so the they "are of all people most to be pitied"