death & the afterlife

• life after death


  — new kind of existence, form of resurrection

  — accounts of jesus’ death make it clear he was physically present

  — was jesus’ death unique to him?

  — physical life = temporary, spiritual life = permanent

  — life after death example of gods grace
• aquinas on heaven

  — human beings have a special ’rational’ soul

  — faith in god will be replaced with knowledge

  — eternal, beyond space and time
• heaven (general)

  — metaphor of family ’god the father’

  — metaphor of ‘plenty’

  — catholic tradition based on aquinas’s view
• critiques on heaven

  — williams; would an eternity in heaven be desirable? wouldn’t it get boring?

  — every target we set would be achievable

  — some say god would make it so we would be bored/sad/suffer; but this raises problems for free will

  — why wouldn't god make us like that in the first place?

  — catholic theologian rahner agrees w/ williams

  — personal identity; how can we be the same if we cant feel negative emotions?
• hell

  — notion of being eternally separated from god

  — difficult to reconcile with idea of perfectly loving god

  — is any sin fairly punishable by eternal pain?

  — some argue whenever we do wrong we wrong god and that is eternally punishable; but this means pain for all eternity would be justifiable for minor things.

  — eternal punishment may also be boring

  — hick; rejects traditonal doctrine, says its incompatible

  – hell as a second death?
• purgatory


  — gregory; based on passage from matthew, possibility of forgiveness after death

  — place where the soul is ‘purged’

  — living prayers can contribute to this

  — rahner; developed more palatable version: not a place of pain, but a metaphor for greater awareness of consequences of sin between death and last judgement

  — accepted by catholics, rejected by protestants; think its contradictory to salvation
• effect on moral behaviour

  — most argue both faith and good works are needed, others argue deathbed conversion is sufficient, others argue god wouldnt send a morally good non-believer to hell

  — desire for heaven and fear of hell should not be motivators for good behaviour
• not places, but spiritual states


  — view biblical teachings in metaphor; ‘heaven’ being fully aware of god, ‘purgatory’ as recognising earthly sins, etc

  — rely on view that people will have conscious thoughts after death, depends on view of relation between mind and body
• symbols of spiritual and moral life on earth


  — ‘heaven’ when one is blissfully happy, ‘purgatory’ when going through tough times

  — does not assume existence of an afterlife so avoids philosophical problems

  — have to discard biblical teachings

  — could be experiences are glimpses of states that will be understood more fully after death
• calvin - election


  — idea of election often associated with calvin

  — no one can make a choice that god does not have under control
• augustine - election


  — no one can earn salvation

  — cncluded people were predestined for heaven/hell bc of god’s foreknowledge

  – believed election was a sign of the grace of god; no one deserves it but some are granted it
• limited election


  — not universally accepted

  — leaves no room for human freedom of choice

  — if god knows and controls all we do, there seems little point in making effort to be moral/worship

  — no choice other than to act how god has chosen
• unlimited election


  — developed by barth

  — christ brought everyone salvation

  — all are called to salvation but some may not accept
• universalist belief


  — taught by hick; god saves all, regardless of beliefs

  — had contact with good non-christians which may have influenced this teaching

  — believed afterlife provides further opportunities for development of faith in god

  — different religions were just different expressions of same universal desire for god

  — ratzinger criticises; makes jesus crucifixion seem pointless
• the sheep and the goats, matthew


  — sharp division between ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’; no middle ground

  — no mention of belief or faith in reward of heaven

  — many argue the ‘sheep’ behave in that way as a result of their faith/salvation

  — faith seen as inextricably linked with good works

  — ‘goats’ failed to take opportunities to do good, ignored christ
• does god’s judgement take place immediately after death or at the end of time? 


  — both views can be biblically justified; leads some thinkers to believe judgement happens both

  — irenaeus; most christians don't enter heaven until final day of judgement: just live in peaceful happiness. can get a fast pass

  — calvin supports; dead either in peaceful bliss or pain

  — OR people go straight to heaven/hell

  — supported by parble of Lazarus, although this clearly meant to be a story rather than a literal account

  — passage of jesus‘ crucifixion; ‘today’
• are heaven and hell eternal?


  — most agree its eternal but not all agree on meaning of this

  — for many it is timeless like god; escapes from idea of heaven as ’boring’

  — for others eternity of heaven is seen like an everlasting length of time; more compatible with biblical teaching

  — hell as eternal; would a loving god do that? hick; hell is in contradiction with christian concept of god

  — others argue perfect goodness & justice of god requires those who reject him to be distanced

  — augustine; we all deserve it as we have failed to live in gods image and likeness
• is heaven the transformation & perfection of creation?


  — ’parousia’; heaven may refer to a ‘new earth’, transformed back into perfection god intended when he made garden of eden

  — some take bible literally when referring to second coming of christ, others (e.g. barth) interpret it to mean events such as the resurrection
• does everyone go through purgatory?


  — idea not popular in protestant tradition; believe it is unnecessary in the face of christ’s sacrifice

  — led to selling of ‘indulgences’ in middle ages; abuse of this was catalyst for protestant movement

  – catholics believe purgatory is necessary for souls to be sufficiently purified to enter holy presence of god