Death and afterlife

• Heaven

  Jesus' description of heaven

  In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus describes heaven as paradise whilst on the cross.

  'And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." '(Luke 23:43)

  Jesus also speaks about heaven to his disciples in the Gospel of John.

  'My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?' (John 14)

  This implies that there is enough room in heaven for all of those who repent
• Hell as a place of eternal punishment

  Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus - Lazarus goes to heaven and the rich man who refused to help him goes to hell

  
  

  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that immediately after death, the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell. Such individuals suffer the punishments of hell, described as an '‘eternal fire.’

  
  

  lake of burning sulphur and eternal punishment, weeping and gnashing of teeth
• Purgatory

  place of purification where the soul is cleansed

  The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, 'nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven.' (Rev. 21:27)

  • but no scriptures that explicitly mention purgatory
• Spiritual places

  Catholic Church teaches about the immortality of the soul.

  This is the belief that after death our souls will either go to heaven, hell or purgatory.

  The soul is often described as the non-physical essence of a person.

  Heaven: Pope John Paul II

  • doesn't make sense to have physical senses in the afterlife - we are dead physically - the physical is gone, now it is only spiritual

  Pope a leader of the Catholic Church is seen to be infallible - cannot be wrong when teaching matters of faith or morality - supreme leader of Roman Catholic theology - CMP - authority
• Symbolic

  heaven, hell and purgatory as symbols of a person’s spiritual and moral life on Earth.

  This view would be held by those with little faith or belief in God.

  Under this interpretation, heaven, hell and purgatory are seen to be a symbol of a person's life on Earth.

  Heaven - represents an individual's happiness - personal happiness and happiness in their interactions with people.

  Hell would represent an individual's torment whilst on Earth.

  D.Z Phillips: anti-realist - God does not actually exist - purgatory is a symbol of our difficult mental struggle to be perfect
• Hell as a spiritual place

  2 Thessalonians 1:9 refers to hell as 'exclusion from the face of God.'
• limited Election

  Augustine - limited - God has 'foreknowledge' - predestination - we still have free will - God chooses who is saved from original sin from original sin

  Calvin - limited - predestination - some are chosen to go to heaven and others hell

  Many Fundamental Christians hold the view of limited election. They believe that heaven is only accessible to Christians who have accepted that Jesus is, ‘the way, the truth and the life’.
• unlimited election


  it is not that everyone will be saved as not everyone will choose Christ's path of salvation and go their own way

  it is that it is possible for all to be saved

  Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian traditions, no one is predestined to go to hell.

  God is omnibenevolent

  So, everyone has the opportunity to be redeemed and saved through Jesus Christ.

  Hick - pluralist

  Jesus never tried to convert the Jews

  ‘in my father’s house there are many rooms, and I am going to prepare a place for you’ (John 14:2)

  • there is room for everyone in heaven - all religions
• Universalism is the idea that all people, past and present, will eventually go to heaven due to the love and mercy of God.