death and afterlife

Question 1

Key terms

Particular Judgement
General Judgement

Answer 1

particular: refers to God’s judgement immediately after death
General: refers to God’s judgemnt at the end of time.

Question 2

keytweerm

Gehenna

Answer 2

is referred to by Jesus as a place of fire sinners are sent to

Question 3

keyterm

sheol

Answer 3

is the afterlife that Jesus believe in where the souls of all people go after death of the body. Greek word sheol- Hades

Question 4

introduction

Answer 4

the udifferent views on the afterlife within Christian theology:

can be tested on quite a wide variety of questions for this topic.
* Are Heaven, Hell and Purgatory physical places, non-physical states or mere symbols?
* Are Heaven and Hell eternal?
* Is Heaven the transformation of creation into a perfect form? (called new earth) (physical place)
* Does God’s judgement take place immediately after death or at the end of time?
* Does everyone go through Purgatory?
* Who goes to Heaven? (Election: Limited vs unlimited vs universalism).

Question 5

The Rich Man of Lazurus

Answer 5

A rich man ignored the desperate needs of a beggar called Lazarus and so was sent to hell and tormented while Lazarus went to heaven.
The rich man asked Abraham for comfort, which was denied and then to at least be able to warn his family not to sin, but Abraham refused, claimed if his family did not listen to the prophets then nothing else could convince them.

The rich man was in hell before his family, indicating (particular) judgement took place immediately after death, not at the end of time.

Heaven/Hell are portrayed as eternal physical places, since the rich man couldn’t leave wanted to dip his finger in water to cool down, wanted to talk to his family (indicating a voice) and that there was a chasm between him and Lazarus which indicates a physical landscape and barrier, also implying an eternal afterlife.

unlimited election is suggested, because those who do bad go to hell.

This passage is evidence against Heaven as new earth, since in the story the rich man wanted to warn his family who were therefore still on earth, which suggests that Lazarus was in heaven before the end of time and thus heaven existed before the end of time, meaning that heaven is not a future state of the earth.

Martin Luther believes this passage should be taken literally as the story does not explain Heavn or hell - the story symbolises the state of conscience.

Question 6

christian teaching about the afterlife

Answer 6

1. Rejection of disemboided existence - some thinkers have proposed some kind of disemoided existence between death and resurrecetion but reject it as a permanent state
2. The resurrected person will be the same as the person who has died
3. Resurrection is a gift from God not a natural process like Plato dualism.
4. We will enter a place or state of heaven and hell
   THE NICENE CREED: ‘He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father’
   ideas about afterlife/death was more prominent in the new testament

Question 7

The parable of the sheep and the goat

Answer 7

• The parable suggests that judgement occurs at the end of time when everyone has died, or the world has come to an end.
• Different denomination adopt different interpretations and the catholic church have the idea of a particular & general judgement. ‘all nation will gather before him’ = suggests that people will be. resurrected

Question 8

The Nature of Resurrection

Answer 8

• Paul affirms bodily resurrection = a physical destination
• He does not believe disembodied souls will be raised
• However, there are significant differences between earthly bodies and heavenly bodies
• we will be renewed/perfected
• St Augustine further argued that our resurrected body must be physical since Christ’s resurrection was of a physical body and since that represented the hope for all Christians that they would be resurrected.

Question 9

Heaven as a spiritual state

Answer 9

• Some thinkers believe it is best to think of Heaven as a spiritual state attained after death
• what this means is that it is not a place like the world, with time and dimensions
• its an eternal state
• goes through a process pof actuality to potentiality.

Question 10

Traditional Christian teaching in purgatory heaven and hell

Answer 10

• Belief in heaven and hell is prominent in Christianity
• Philosophical challenges surrounding the afterlife vary among individuals, with some unable to believe due to complexity, while others accept uncertainty until experiencing it.
• Many Christians anticipate judgment in the afterlife, often depicted in stories like the rich man and Lazarus, emphasizing a separation between individuals.
• The story illustrates awareness between heaven and hell but emphasizes a permanent division.
• Christians generally believe in a physical existence in the afterlife, albeit potentially different from earthly life.

Question 11

Aquinas view of Heaven

Answer 11

• accepted the view that the soul was ‘life principle’ that gave the organises its characterisitics
• saw human souls as distinctive and special
• we had a rational soul that enabled us to think, act morally and choose to love God
• He saw heaven as non-material as material is subject to change so dar a state to perfect bliss it would have to be immaterial.

Question 12

Aquinas on the afterlife

Answer 12

• Aquinas faced tensions reconciling Aristotelian and Platonic views on the afterlife.
• He adopted Aristotle’s notion of the soul as a life principle but posited a unique rational soul for humans, enabling the possibility of life after death.
• Aquinas argued that human reason and the ability to love God were facilitated by the soul, leading to eternal life in God’s presence.
• He proposed that perfect happiness could only be attained after death, through the beatific vision of seeing God face-to-face.
• Aquinas’ view of the afterlife as timeless resolves issues of boredom or monotony, but raises questions about personal identity in a timeless state.
• The transition from a temporal existence to a timeless soul challenges the notion of personal continuity beyond death.

Question 13

Heaven as a place

Answer 13

• the metaphor of God the Father is used in the context of Heaven, according to the book of revelation, ‘the great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass’
• Many protestant believe the Bible points to everlasting rather than eternal
• The symbolism might not be literal but the Bible points to Heaven as:
  1. A place of no more pian and hunger
  2. a place where people like Abraham and angels dwell
  3. A place where all tears are wiped.

Protestsants view of Heaven as a place: they believe catholic tradition title emaphaisis is placed upon the idea of meeting family and freinds = united with loveones

Question 14

N.T. Wright on Heaven

Answer 14

• ‘…in celebarating the new creation and lamenting the contiuing pain of the old’
• He understands the heaven as the workld redeemed
• this will occur after the parousia, when Jesus returned to judge the world and redeem it.
• The Fall brought disruption to the world as a whole and in N.T. wRIGHTS VIEW SALVATION WOULD BE INCOMPLETE IF THE WORLD IS UNREDEEMED

Question 15

strength of Heaven as a physical place

Answer 15

• It seems to matched the revealed theology of the Bible and resolves the issue of personal identity that were raised by Aquinas bestific vision.\
• It also seems to fufil both human and spiritual longings e.g. being reunited with loved ones but still worshopping God.

Question 16

Weakness of heaven as a physical place

BENARD WILLIAMS

Answer 16

• Raises majorobjections about the desirability of an everlasting heaven
• he argued an ongoing existence would result in boredom and undersiable (inertia)
• we mjust decide how to spend our limited time

unlimited time would mean that all goals would be achieveable and all choices would ultimately become meaningless

Question 17

New Earth

Question 18

as a place of punishment

Hell

Answer 18

• Augustine argued that the purpose of hell is to satisfy the demands of justice
• he insisted that hell is a literal lake of fire in which the damned will expeirience the horror of everlasting torment: the unbearable physical pain of literally being burned forever
• ‘By a miracle of their most omnipotent creator, they (loving creature who are damned) can burn without being consumed’ - Augustine
• mORDERN AUGUSTIANISANS VIEW THE AGAONY OF HELL AS ESSENTIALLY PSYCHOLOGICAL and spiritual in nature. - a metaphorical fire

Question 19

The afterlife as a symbolic or psychological reality

Answer 19

• This view is that there is no literal afterlife. The concepts of heaven, hell and purgatory are only symbols for human psychology of happiness, suffering and repentance.
• The stories in the Bible about them are just about how to be happy, avoid suffering and when to repent.
• One common reason a Christian might take this view is because they have a liberal view of Biblical inspiration.
• The liberal approach to the Bible views it as a product of the human mind, not the perfect word of God.
• this means that the depictions of an afterlife in the bible are symbolic or metaphorical rather than literal.
• The descriptions of an afterlife in the Bible should just be interpreted as reflecting psychological realities that people can experience in their life.

Question 20

Hick on Hell

Answer 20

• He rejects the traditional doctrine of an eternal hell, because in his view, it is incompaitable with beleifs in a God of love. (omnibeloevence)
• He argues insteadthat this was developed a s a form of social control, encouraging people to be frearful of disobeying his teachings of those in religious authority.
• it is not concieveable that a God of infinite love and mercy would consign his creatures to a punishment from which theybhad no hope escaping

Question 21

Dante’s inferno

Answer 21

• There are 9 circles of hell
• the punishments in these circles often fir in the sin that has been commited
• dante’s view of hell could be interpreted as retributive punishment.
• Hell is ‘realm.. of those who have rejeted spiritual values by yeilding to violwnce, or by perverting their human intellect to malice against their fellowness’‘

Question 22

Eternal concious torment = ECT

Answer 22

• One historic protestant view of hell is expressed in westminister confessions
• ‘but the wicked, who know not God, & obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, & punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the LORD and from the glory of his power’
• both physical and spiritual

problems with this:
- Hume argued that the idea of hell as a punishment is inherintly unjust
- it is unjust for a finite sin to be punished infinitely

Question 23

Purgatory

Biblical passage

Answer 23

• 2 Maccabees 12
  ‘…God’s faithful people would recieve a wonderful reward, Judas made provision for a sin offering to set free from their sin those who had died’ = people have always taken action for those who have died, for the resurrection of the body
• MATTHEW 12: ‘ anyone who speaks aginst the sun of man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy spirirt will not be forgiven, either in this age or age to come.
• The parable of the sheep and the goats is biblical evidence against purgatory. In the story people are divided into the good (sheep) and the bad (goats).

Question 24

PURGATORY

The church fathers

original apostles and bishops

Answer 24

• Gregory of Nyssa believed God wanted as many people to enter people heaven as possible
• ‘as fire tests and refines gold so too will fire purge the soul from any evil that dings to it and cleanse (her) from the remnant that are arising to his cement of the flesh’

Question 25

The nature of purgatory

Answer 25

• belief: those who die in Gods grace but are still imperfectly purified undergo finial purification called purgatory before entering Heaven
• traditionally, purgatory has been understood as a place of cleansing fire
• in some writings the smallest pain purgatory is more worse than the greatest pain on earth
• however catholics now have a number of ways understanding the nature of purgatory e.g. Dante depiction of purgatory wasused as apeom, consisting of the seven levels of suffering and spiritual growth (which are associated with the 7 deadly sins)

Question 26

DIFFERNT UNDERSTANDING OF PURGATORY

Answer 26

Karl Rahner on purgatory
- Argued that the period between death and resurrection the soul becomes more closely united with the cosmos as a whole.
- The pain of purgatory is self-inflicted pain as the person understands the reality of sin as well as repentance. = he implies spiritual judgement through Gods grace

PURGATORY OUTSIDE THE CHURCH.
- HICK BELIEVED IN UNIVERSAL SALVATION: This means everyone will be saved. He argued the processof soul making continues after death
- means that everyone passes through purgatory in the process of attaining salvation = he rejected the idea of hell only purification.

Question 27

evaluation of purgatory

Answer 27

STRENGHTS
- It recognises that our lives are often incomplete before we die
- it fits in wth the ideaof a loving God as more people have opportunity to be saved
OBJECTIONS:
-The scriptural foundations for purgatory are weak, it is not mentioned in the parable of the sheep and goats = it puts too much emphaisis on individual action rather than the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (augustine)
also leads to the question as to why it wasnt enough to save the people who believd?

Question 27

Unlimited election

Answer 27

• Limited election, predominant in Protestantism, faces criticism for portraying God as overly controlling, leaving no room for human free will or moral agency.
• Unlimited election, advocated by theologians like Karl Barth, posits that God’s love and salvation are available to all, with Jesus Christ as the chosen representative for humanity’s redemption.
• John Hick, another theologian, took a universalist stance, believing that God will ultimately save all people regardless of their beliefs, emphasizing the inclusivity of divine love.
• Critics of universalism, such as Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), argue that it undermines the significance of Jesus’ sacrificial death if salvation is guaranteed regardless of faith in Christ.

Question 28

Is purgatory a state through which everyone goes?

Answer 28

• Purgatory, a concept in Catholic doctrine, remains controversial in the Protestant tradition, with many Protestants viewing it as unnecessary due to Jesus’ complete defeat of sin on the cross.
• The selling of indulgences in the Middle Ages, purportedly to alleviate suffering in purgatory, fueled criticism and contributed to the Protestant Reformation.
• Martin Luther vehemently opposed the sale of indulgences and gradually rejected teachings about purgatory, citing a lack of biblical support and its undermining of salvation by faith alone.
• The Catholic tradition maintains that purgatory is essential for souls to be purified before entering God’s presence, although the duration of time spent in purgatory varies and is believed to be timeless.

Question 28

Are heaven and hell eternal?

Answer 28

• Christian perspectives on the eternity of heaven vary: some view it as a timeless experience akin to the eternal nature of God, while others see it as an endless, everlasting existence.
• The concept of eternal heaven as timeless avoids the notion of monotony, with activities like praising God occurring without a sense of before or after.
• Alternatively, some interpret eternal heaven as an endless duration, aligning with biblical references to activities such as singing and learning, suggesting continuity with our temporal existence.
• Controversy surrounds the eternity of hell, questioning whether a loving God would subject creatures to eternal punishment, with differing views on the justice and severity of such punishment.
• Augustine posited that all humans deserve eternal punishment due to sin, while others hold more optimistic views on human nature and the extent of deserving punishment.

Question 29

Augustine: Exclusivism, Grace, Predestination & Limited election

Election

Answer 29

• The idea that God chooses a small number of people for heaven
  ST AUGUSTINE:
• Augustine’s exclusivism holds that we are so corrupted by original sin that genuine persevering faith in Jesus is only possible with God’s help: his gift of grace, which predestines some people to have and keep faith in Christ and thus be one of the ‘elect’ who will be saved.
• He believed people would continue to sin despite the offer and the acceptance of grace.
• However, despite this sin God would elect some for eternal life on heaven
• eventhough nobody is deserving of salvation, God becuase of his love for humanity will save some people regardless.
• initially, some held the view that God simply knew who would be saved and condemned as he had acknowedge of people’s action
• he late adjusted his position to say that God actually chose those who would recieve his grace.

Question 30

Pelagius: predestination makes punishment unjust

Answer 30

• Pelagius argued that if we have original sin and are thus completely unable to avoid doing evil, it would surely be unjust for God to punish us for our sinful behaviour. ]
• It’s not ethical for all humanity to be blamed for the actions of Adam and Eve. This suggests an indefensible view of moral responsibility – that people can be responsible for actions committed by others which is of special absurdity in this case since the action occurred before they were even born.
• Pelagius concludes that only our having free will and thus being without coercion from original sin makes sense of the prevalent biblical theme of God’s judgement and punishment.