Death and Afterlife Flashcards
Arguments for Physical Resurrection
- Psychosomatic unity - human as one being, with mind body and soul all connected
–> cannot only resurrect certain elements - Aquinas
–> Soul not separate from body, therefore cannot be resurrected without Body
–> Humans commit good and evil acts with body, therefore body must also receive reward / punishment - St Augustine
–> Resurrection must be physical as Christ’s resurrection was physical - N.T. Wright
–> Jewish contexts grasped idea of physical resurrection, understood what they were witnessing
–> Gospels involved tangible interactions with JC, (Thomas touching his scars) could not have been hallucination or vision
Biblical backing for Jesus Physical resurection
- All 4 Gospels - Jesus tomb was empty, no body in, after resurrection
–> implies physical - John - Thomas touches scars left by Jesus crucifixion
- Corinthians - Paul describes nature of resurrected body
–> Analogy of seed turning into plant - resurrection not end of life but transformation
–> Asserts idea of physical resurrection
Arguments against (3) physical resurrection + solution
- Cannibal problem
–> If one person cannibalises another person, that persons body becomes part of theirs, how would physical resurrection work
–> indirect cannibalism - carbon cycle - body decomposes into soil and becomes plants - What state are we Resurrected
–> Age - Jesus resurrected at same age but was young, those who die of old age resurrected as elderly?
–> Amputies resurrected with all limbs - Body as source of flaws
–> disease, desire, limitation all caused by body - Issues solved by Paul in 1 corinthians - seed to plant - body different but continuation
+ “With God all things are possible” - Matthew - Omnipotence means not bound by human understanding
Scholars against physical resurrection
- Rudolf Bultmann - 20th century
–> Demythologisation of bible
–> cannot accept supernatural elements of NT at face value (e.g. resurrection)
–> views resurrection as symbol of transformative power of Jesus - Bart Ehrman - 20th
–> Questions historical reliability of resurrection narratives
–> inconsistencies in 4 Gospel accounts e.g. all say different people discovered JC body
–> suggests resurrection story evolved over time as opposed to being actual event
What is the New Earth + Biblical backing
- Idea that heaven is a perfected state of earth
- After final judgement, resurrected bodies will have eternal life on ‘new’ earth
–> Physical afterlife for Physical resurrection - Revelations
–> God shows John future with “New Earth” where there is “no more death, or mourning, or pain”
Arguments for ‘New Earth’
N.T. Wright
- Sermon on the mound states heaven as new earth
–> “Your kingdom come … on earth as it is in heaven”
- Kingdom of heaven not separate place, but rule of heaven come to earth
Argument against ‘New Earth’ + Counter arg
- The Penitent Thief - suggests Particular judgement
–> JC told thief being crucified, “I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”
–> suggests New earth wrong, as particular judgement means Heaven already exists
–> suggests unlimited elected - those who repent are saved
However
- Grammatical issue
–> grammar was not in original bible, was added later when translated - if move comma to “I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise” - suggests new earth could exist - with General judgement
+ JC did not rise until 3 days later - Also means could not have been in heaven with thief?
Scholars for Physical afterlife
- Augustine - Jesus Physical resurrection implies Physical afterlife
- Aquinas
–> Soul not separate from body, therefore cannot be resurrected without Body
–> Humans commit good and evil acts with body, therefore body must also receive reward / punishment
–> Beatific vision - Perfect happiness / heaven achieved through living in presence of God
Scholar against Physical Afterlife
- Bernard Williams - 20th
–> Immortality would lead to tedium and loss of meaning
–> Finite changing nature of life provides its meaning - to strip those makes physical living valueless and meaningless
Spiritual resurrection argument
- Majority also deny JC resurrection as physical
- Resurrection is spiritual, resurrection only of souls
- Believe the divine dont have physical bodies, therefore being purely spiritual is closer to perfection, therefore JC resurrection could not have been physical
Biblical backing for Spiritual Resurrection + Afterlife
- St. Paul
–> Stated he wished to die to be with Christ, but needed to “remain in the flesh” to spread Christianity
–> Implies when we die we are no longer flesh - spiritual
–> Implies particular judgement - as have immediate presence with Christ
Criticism of Spiritual Resurrection + Afterlife
- N.T. Wright
–> NT uninterested in afterlife apart from resurrection, which it clearly depicted as physical
–> Western Christianity overly influenced by Greek version of the soul e.g. Plato’s dualism - causes misunderstanding of true Christian teachings - Biblical problems
–> To deny JC his humanity (deny that divine can have physical bodies) undermines his crucifixion as implies he felt no suffering
Explain Afterlife as symbolic + Scholar supports this
- View that afterlife (Heaven, Hell, Purgatory) - only symbols for human happiness, suffering and repentance
- Often taken by liberal Christians who do not see bible as word of God
–> due to scientific advancements disproving elements of bible - Depictions of afterlife are symbolic / metaphorical
–> biblical stories meant to be taken metaphorically - Rudolf Bultmann - 20th century
–> Demythologisation of bible
–> cannot accept supernatural elements of NT at face value (e.g. resurrection)
–> views resurrection as symbol of transformative power of Jesus
Critiques of Afterlife as symbolic
- Undermines the eternal nature of heaven, hell and purgatory –> cannot be eternal if dont exist
- Liberal individual interpretations of bible mean inconsistency + over flexibility which leads people to believing in version of God that suits them instead of biblically accurate version
Explain Purgatory + Argument for purgatory
- Idea developed by Catholic Church - place f temporary punishment for those who have committed minor, venial, sins
- Claims we can help souls be purified by praying for them
- Venial - Forgivable, moral = unforgivable
- Moral argument for purgatory
–> unjust to be condemned to hell for a minor sin, but God cannot allow sinful beings into heaven
–> Purgatory is most moral and just solution to this
Biblical For + Against Purgatory
For
- Maccabees - “Pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins”
–> suggests aspect of afterlife were prayer can make a difference for dead e.g. Purgatory
- Matthew - “Every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy … in this age or the age to come”
–> possibility of forgiveness in afterlife
Against
- word ‘purgatory’ not in Bible
- Parable of Sheep and the goats
–> People divided into the good (sheep) , and bad (goats), but no middle or third options
- General judgement
–> if everyone judged at end of time, dead cannot pay of debts
Revelations
- The Judgement of Satan
–> States those given salvation are those with their names written in book, and those with names not written in book are damned to hell - no reference to purgatory or middle ground
- New Heaven and New Earth
–> States after death either go to heaven on earth, or fiery lake of burning sulphur (hell) no purgatory
Critics of Purgatory + Scholars
- Undermines Faith on Earth
–> No point in morality and faith on earth if can atone for sins in afterlife - Catholic Corruption - Sale of Indulgences
–> Catholic Church accept money in return for forgivness of sins, purgatory a part of money making scheme by Church - pay for priests to pray for dead relatives to cleanse soul quicker - Martin Luther - 16th Century
–> Purgatory was “Fabricated by Goblins” to make money - Alister McGrath
–> Purgatory emerged in Medieval Christianity to explain purification after death, has no biblical basis
–> Christs death and resurrection enough to fully atone for sins, purgatory not necessary - believers justified by faith alone and sins forgiven through JC sacrifice
Scholar supports idea of Purgatory
- Dante
–> Purgatory as journey for souls who believe in Christ but have venial sins
–> end of journey is beatific vision. - existence with God
Limited vs. Unlimited vs. universal election
- Limited - Augustine, Aquinas - God chooses only a few people he deems ‘righteous’ to receive salvation - ‘limited atonement’ Christ only died for sins of the elect
- Unlimited - Karl Barth - God calls everyone to heaven, all have possibility to be saved - ‘unlimited atonement’ Christ died for the sins of all
- Universal - Hick - Everyone will be saved
Augustine on Election
- Exclusivism, Grace, Predestination, Limited Election
- Exclusivism - humans corrupted by OG sin, salvation only possible with God’s Grace
- God only grants some gift of Grace, we cannot save ourselves, meaning predestination and limited election
- God’s forethought allows him to predestine people based on knowledge of what would freely choose
Augustine Response to Pelagius
- May seem unfair, but thats because God is beyond our comprehension, must just have faith
Scholar who critiqued Augustine on election
Pelagius
–> Predestination makes punishment unjust, unable to avoid sin then punishment for sin unjust
–> Punishment of all of humanity for sin of Adam + Eve unfair, cannot be punished for sins of others
–> Only with free will and lack of OG sin is biblical theme of punishment and judgement just
+ Limited election contradicts idea of omnibenevolent God
Aquinas on election
- Limited election, Predestination
- Fall did not wipe out all human free will
- Single predestination - God elects only the righteous to enter heaven –> But, if dont believe in purgatory, then those not in hell must go to heaven
Calvin on election
- Fall wiped out all human free will
- Double predestination - God both elects those who are righteous and condemned sinners
Karl Barth on election
- Unlimited election - salvation offered for all
- Election entirely due to God’s sovereignty and Grace, not human merit
- Christocentric - Christ represents all of humanity, therefore as Christ was elected so will all of humanity
- Christ as the electing God and elected man
- Cautions against speculative theology regarding mystery of salvation and afterlife
–> Should focus on scripture and revelation, not guessing games
Hick on Election
Universalism
- After death people continue existing in a world were they can redeem themselves - part of Soul-making theodicy
- All people will be saved - regardless of religion
- No just reason for a person to receive eternal punishment for finite crime
- Hell created by humans as form of social control
However
- Makes moral action on earth purposeless, regardless of morality and behaviour will go to heaven
Scholars on Hell
- David Hume
–> Proportionality means justice requires punishment to be proportional to the crime
–> Cannot justify giving infinite punishment for finite crime
–> Hell incompatible with omni-benevolence + unjust - Hick
–> Hell as form of social control - Sartre
–> ‘No Exit’ - play about 3 people trapped together
–> “Hell is other people” - hell is state of being on earth when relationships have been laced with corruption and means to an end - Tillich
–> Hell not physical place, but existence without God - CCC
–> Hell as “Eternal separation from God”
Explain Story of Rich man and Lazarus
- Rich man ignored beggar names Lazarus, rich man was sent to hell, Lazarus sent to heaven
- Rich man begged Abraham to warn his family against sinning, knowing hell is real, but he refused
–> Afterlife portrayed as physical place
–> Unlimited election - those who sin go to hell?
–> Particular judgement - as rich man in hell before family
Criticism
- Story in OT, if about Jewish afterlife then may not have relevance to Christianity
- Martin Luther
–> Parable, not to be taken litrally
–> Symbolises the state of our conscience after doing good or bad, cannot be literal as he believed in general judgement at end of time
