Self death and afterlife

• Meaning and purpose of life


  At some point in their lives, most people wonder about the meaning of life in general and, in particular, about what purpose their individual lives have
• To glorify God and have a personal relationship with him


  Christians believe that humans cannot know the nature of God, but they should reflect God's glory in their lives
• Matthew 5:16: 'In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven'
• Living a life that glorifies God


  Christians experience the Kingdom of God in this life as well as beyond death
• John 5:24: 'Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life'
• To prepare for judgement


  According to the creation story in Genesis, humans were created for fellowship with God, but disobeying God led to alienation. God alone could restore the relationship and he did this through the death of Jesus, the supreme act of reconciliation. The final act of this reconciliation is the judgement that all humans will face.
• Glory


  The infinite beauty and splendour of God
• Judgement


  The traditional Christian belief that after death, people's lives will be assessed by God
• Heaven


  A reward for good behaviour, which links to the idea of justification by works
• Kingdom of God


  The rule of God, not a geographical location
• The concept of the Kingdom of God was a key part of Jewish thinking, with some Jews seeing it as linked to the coming of the Messiah, a military figure who would liberate Israel from Roman occupation
• Christians believe that Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom, which will be fully revealed after his Second Coming and Judgement Day
• Mark 1:15: 'The time has come, he said. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!'
• Some Christians see it as their purpose to live in such a way that the values of the Kingdom are realised fully on earth, through pursuing justice, peace and the fulfilment of everyone's needs
• YouCat 139: 'Christians are sent to engage in society so that the kingdom of God can grow among man'
• Many of those most actively involved in working for the realisation of God's Kingdom on earth see it as a means of giving glory to God, arising out of their personal relationship with God
• Soul


  The moral and spiritual dimension of human life, distinct from the physical body, given by God before birth and returning to God after death
• In the Old Testament, there are two Hebrew words for soul, which are associated with the principle of life
• Plato's world of Forms


  The perfect, metaphysical world of ideas, contrasted with the imperfect physical world
• Reincarnation


  The belief that at death, the soul is separated from the body and is re-embodied in another body
• Dualism


  The belief that the soul is a totally separate entity from the body, from which it separates at death
• Belief in the resurrection of Jesus was central to the Christian faith from the very start, and forms the basis of the Christian hope of life after death
• The four Gospels state that the tomb was empty, and that Jesus' friends knew it was him, though he was the same yet different, and not subject to human limitations
• Jesus, through God's power, conquered death, which opened up the possibility of eternal life after death for humanity
• 1 Corinthians 15:17-19: 'And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. It only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.'
• Resurrection of the flesh


  Augustine's belief that the physical body will be resurrected, with the spiritual and physical effects of sin erased
• YouCat: 'God created us with a body (flesh) and a soul. At the end of the world he does not drop the 'flesh' like an old toy. On the 'Last Day, he will remake all creation [...] this means that we will be transformed but still experience ourselves in our element. For Jesus, too, being in the flesh was not just a phase. When the risen Lord showed himself, the disciples saw the wounds on his body.'
• Spiritual resurrection


  The belief that after death, the body decomposes or is destroyed, but the soul survives and lives on with God, in a spiritual resurrection
• 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 50-54: 'So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised 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 natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. [...] I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.'
• 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 50-54: 'So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised 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 natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. [...] I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.'
• On the basis of his belief in Jesus' resurrection as set out earlier in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul believed that Jesus' death and resurrection had freed humans from the power of sin and death and had opened up for humanity the possibility of eternal life in the presence of God.
• Resurrection of the body


  Not the resurrection of the physical earthly body; that body perished at death. Rather, a new spiritual and imperishable body, appropriate to the new mode of existence after death.
• Paul believed that the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world of human experience were imminent
• Paul describes the Second Coming in language that many Christians believe was meant as metaphor, showing the momentous nature of what would happen.
• The trumpet heralds the arrival of a king.
• The Nicene Creed states the belief in judgement and the afterlife.
• Particular judgement


  The judgement that takes place straight after death and determines the eternal fate of the individual.
• General judgement


  The judgement that will take place at the Second Coming of Christ and is upon humanity as a whole.
• Mortal sins


  Very serious sins, e.g. murder, that will result in eternal separation from God if those who commit them do not seek God's forgiveness.
• Venial sins


  Less serious sins that do not lead to eternal separation from God.