9 - Afterlife

• Akhirah - The name for the Muslim belief in life after death
• Barzakh - A place where the soul waits for judgement on the Last Day
• Afterlife - Humanism

  • Humanists believe that nothing survives death as humans don't have a soul
  • We are just physical, material beings, so when we die, it is the end
  • The chemicals of our bodies are recycled into the enivronment
• Christianity - Soul

  • The soul is eternal, will live on after the body died, and will rise to everlasting life in heaven
  • Soul is made 'in the image of God'. When God created Adam, he 'breathed' into him which means he gave Adam a soul
  • The difference between humans and animals is that humans have a soul, and animals don't. No animals was given life like Adam was
  • Soul is the part of humans that relates/connects with God in worship
• Christianity - Resurrection

  • Christians have a strong belief in life after death because Jesus rose from the dead after 3 days (resurrection)
  • In the Bible, the new resurrection body is...
  • Imperishable - Cannot be destroyed
  • Glorious - It is far better than our present body
  • Powerful - It has no physical weakness or pain
  • Spiritual Body - It can be seen like a body, but isn't physical
• Christianity - Judgement

  • Day of Judgement is when Jesus will return to earth and the world will end
  • All the dead will rise back to life to be judged by God
  • God then decides where your soul will spend the afterlife
• Christianity Heaven

  • Heaven is where those who have served God and followed Jesus will go
  • It is only for those who believe in Jesus
  • It is not a physical place in space
  • It is a place of love, peace and eternal happiness in the presence of God
• Christianity Hell -

  • Hell is where those who have disobeyed God will go
  • It is not a physical place but is symbolised as a place of fire and torment
  • Christians believe it is a place of unhappiness and suffering where you are separated from God
• Christianity - Purgatory

  • Roman Catholic Christians believe in a third place, purgatory
  • Most of us will end up here as we aren't pure enough to go to heaven
  • It is where the soul goes until it has been purified and can go to heaven
• Parable of the Sheep and Goats -

  • Jesus taught it is not what you believe but what you do that gets you into heaven
  • Those who do good (sheep) will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven
  • Doing good is feeding the hungry, giving water to thirsty, clothing the naked, caring for strangers, looking after the sick and visiting those in prison
  • Helping these is like helping Jesus
• Akhirah -

  • Akhirah is the Muslim belief in afterlife
  • It is the third most important belief in Islam, after the belief in Allah and Muhammad
  • Qur'an teaches if Allah can create everything, he is powerful enough to give life to the dead
• Barzakh -

  • At death, 2 angels will appear to question the soul
  • The Angle of Death takes soul to Barzakh where it waits until Day of Judgement
• Day of Judgement - Islam

  • On the Day of Judgement, every person will be resurrected in their body and reunited with the soul to go before Allah for Judgement
  • A book is presented to us which records everything we have done in life
  • It the book is received in the right hand, it means good deeds have outweighed the bad, and we will go to Paradise
  • If the book is received in the left hand, it means the bad deeds outweigh the good deeds and the person is sent to hell
  • Qur'an teaches Allah will forgive people who are truly sorry for their sins
• Paradise

  • Paradise is often pictured as a beautiful garden
  • It has rivers of milk and honey and people will be young again so they can enjoy all its pleasures
  • You will be close to Allah for eternity and it will be so wonderful, no one can truly understand until they are there
• Islam Hell

  • Hell is pictured as a place of great heat where fires are never put out
  • Some Muslims believe the punishment is forever
  • Others think the fires will purify the soul and when it is cleansed the person can enter Paradise