6.4 eschatology and life after death

• what is eschatology?

  study of what will happen at the end of time
• what does 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 tell us?

  • Paul explains how a persons resurrected body will be different from the body they had when they were alive
  • Paul compares the relationship between the earthly and the resurrected body to the relationship between a seed and a plant that grows from it
• what will be a sign of the end of time?

  • cosmic disasters that will be frightening large scale events
  • examples could be the sun darkening or the stars falling from heaven ( mark 13:24-25)
• what will happen after the cosmic disasters?

  • the son of man ( Jesus ) will come to judge the whole of creation
  • the end of the current world order will lead to the creation of a new one
  • the reign of God will be established
• what did Jesus' resurrection teach Christians ?

  life continues after death in the presence of God
• what does 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 say?

  ' so it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour , it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body '
• what does John 20:19-29 teach us?

  Jesus was resurrected in a physical body, he was not limited by any physical barrier but he was fully present and touchable
• what did early Christians believe about the end of time?

  • early Christians believed Jesus' resurrection meant that the end of the world would happen shortly
  • all people would be resurrected and taken up into the presence of God
• how do Christian beliefs now differ from the beliefs of early Christians about the end of time?

  • Christians realised they have to live in the life of the resurrection while they are still alive on earth
  • this means following Jesus' teachings and resisting temptation to sin which prepares them from judgement after death