Musings on the Afterlife

One of the central problems with religion is the cute, pat package it presents. Everything in religion is explained, and all injustices have some higher meaning. In this vein, the afterlife assumes a central position in explaining the injustices of this world. In mystical thought, death and the afterlife are explained as reuniting the soul with the essence of God.

Quick question: Why is there no Bibilcal source for the afterlife? Why do all the Bibilcal prohibitions relate punishment in terms of this world? How does one go about thinking of the afterlife? Is it a continuation of the consciousness? Do you get to lounge around in a toga eating grapes and sipping wine, basking in the presence of God?

I've been meaning to post something on the afterlife, and this one was rotting away in my draft box, so I figured it was time to air it out.