Death and the Afterlife

• Disembodied existence: existing without a physical body.
• Resurrection: living on after death in a glorified form in a new realm.
• Beatific vision: a face - to - face encounter with God.
• Purgatory: A place where people go, temporarily, after death to be cleansed of sin before they are fit to live with God.
• Election: predestination, chosen by God for heaven or hell.
• Limited election: the view that God chooses only a small number of people for heaven or hell.
• Original Sin: a state of wrongdoing in which people are born because of the sin of Adam and Eve.
• Karl Barth interpreted the parousia to mean events such as the resurrection of Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit and Pentecost.
• Singing God's praises is an activity that happens in time, which is more compatible with the idea that we exist in some way and continue to be ourselves in heaven.
• The parousia is the second coming of Christ, which some people take literally as a single and final event, while others believe it is the transformation and perfection of creation underway and the role of Christians in the world today.
• Unlimite d election: the view that all people are called to salvation but only a few will be saved.
• Parable: a story told to highlight a moral message.
• Particular judgement: judgement for each person at the point of death.
• Parousia: used in Christianity to refer to the Second Coming of Christ.
• Christians reject the idea that a human soul can leave one physical body at the point of death and be reborn into a new physical body in this same world (reincarnation).
• Christians also reject the concept of disembodied existence - the soul moving on without a body.
• Although Plato’s dualist ideas were influential in Christianity, Christians do accept resurrection: living after death in a glorified physical form.
• An individual will be given a renewed spiritual body in the afterlife.
• John Hick also believed that different religions are different expressions of the same universal desire for God, there are no right or wrong religions but different practices and doctrine from different cultures.
• The afterlife is a continuation of the soul's journey started on Earth.
• The belief about hell developed as a way of social control and encouraged people to follow religious authority.
• Pope Benedict was critical as he thought the belief about hell disregarded Jesus’ sacrifice and failed to take into account the need for atonement for sin.
• John Hick believed that God will save all, regardless of their beliefs, arguing that everyone will reach God in the end, after death.
• Protestants reject views of purgatory as they are not supported in the Bible and contradict the idea of salvation.
• Catholics believe prayers from the living can contribute to the cleansing process, helping the dead soul to get through purgatory.
• Purgatory is a Catholic belief where the soul goes to be cleansed after death.
• Karl Rahner believes Purgatory should not be understood as a place of pain but as a metaphor for the soul’s greater awareness of consequences of sin in time between death and last judgement.
• This process can be done in this earthly life through repentance and confession.
• The New Testament teaches about reconciliation, not punishment and Jesus preaches about restoring the relationship between God and humanity.
• The pain of purgatory is self-inflicted.
• Karl Barth disagrees with double predestination, believing that we are all able to reach Heaven, Jesus’ sacrifice restored our relationship with God, allowing for salvation of all.
• Christians do not believe in life after death, as per Jewish scripture.
• Christians do believe in the afterlife, influenced by Ancient Greek Philosophy, particularly Plato.
• Plato was a dualist, believing that the soul and body are separate entities.
• Our soul is capable of life after death, according to Plato.
• In Jewish eschatology, there is no belief in life after death, as God’s Kingdom on Earth is all that is needed.
• Pharisees believe in resurrection of the body after death and in angels.
• Life after death is not a prominent theme in Jewish scripture.
• Eternity of heaven is seen as an endless, everlasting length of time.
• The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’