Death And The Afterlife Flashcards
What is reincarnation
Reincarnation is the idea that a human soul can leave one physical body at the point of death and be reborn into a new physical body in the same world, Christians reject this idea
What is disembodied existence
Disembodied existence is the idea that the soul and the body could part company , with the body decomposing whilst the soul moves on by itself. Christians also reject this idea
What is resurrection
Resurrection is the idea that a person will be given a renewed physical body in which to continue his or her journey into the next life.
-Christians believe this idea and use as evidence the fact that Jesus tomb was empty when people went to visit him which they say is because he was resurrected from death to eternal life
Explain the understanding of the phrases “gathered to his people” and “last days” found in the Old Testament
- The phrase “gathered his people” in the Old Testament believed to mean that something of the original man was going to join others with whom he was familiar after death, perhaps loved ones or perhaps people of the same culture or religious beliefs
- The phrase “last days” in the Old Testament is a clear reference to the resurrection
Explain what Christians believe about Jesus death
Christians believe after Jesus died, his body was placed in a tomb but on the third day after his death, when some of his female followers went to his grave to anoint the body , they discovered that the grave was empty and that the stone guarding the grave had been rolled away.
-In gospel accounts , Jesus was then seen as a physical person walking around. The accounts of this made it clear that Jesus was physically present after his death, in a way that could be experienced by the senses of those who were there. Jesus could be heard and seen by those who were there however his closest friends did not recognise him , suggesting his appearance had in some way changed
What do Christians believe about the resurrection of Jesus
Christians believe that Jesus was resurrected after he died on the cross and they believe crucially that this is evidence to show that the same will happen to the rest of us
What do Christians believe about the ascension of Jesus
Christians believe that after Jesus spent some time on earth in physical form he ascended into heaven.
It is not clear wether he discarded the resurrected physical body and lived on in some kind of spiritual form or wether he continued in the resurrection body for eternity. Most Christians believe Jesus continued to live in the transformed spiritual body
Explain what Corinthians 15:35-39, 42-44 teach about death and the afterlife
- This passage reflects Paul’s beliefs about the death and the afterlife- that Christ had risen from the dead and that the resurrection of Christ was a promise to all Christians that they too would be resurrected and it was not unique to Jesus
- However this passage still provokes some questions such as what is a spiritual body that is mentioned: is it made of material stuff , and if so is it the same kind of material our bodies are made of before death. Paul’s suggestion in the passage is that the body will be transformed and radically changed
What does Corinthians 5:1-3 teach about death and the afterlife
-In this passage Paul uses the idea of a tent being replaced by a more solid house to convey the idea that at the moment we live in bodies that we have now but they are not truly us, and that we will be given a more substantial and eternal home in the afterlife. Paul seems to be echoing the platonic way of understanding that physical life on earth is temporary and fragile , in contrast with the permanent solid certainty of life in another realm
What other ideas does Corinthians 5:1-3 convey about death and the afterlife
- Paul writes about a more solid house “clothing” or covering us, and this takes him to his second idea that we will be metaphorically clothed in heaven as opposed to being naked.
- This suggestion is an echo of the story of Adam and Eve, where as soon as the couple have committed sin they realise they are naked and hide from God as they are ashamed
- Through this metaphor, Paul appears to saying that in this life we are aware of our own sin and have to be ashamed of who we are but in the afterlife God will transform us so we are not in a state of sin any more
Explain Aquinas views about the Soul
- Aquinas had conflicting views about the soul as on one hand he embraced Aristotle’s ideas and taught that the soul was a life principle and the form or distinctive character of a living thing.
- in Aquinas view however the human beings soul was very different from the souls of other creatures as other life forms have souls that are taken when the body dies but humans have a rational soul which enables life after death as a possibility
- For Aquinas the soul was what gave a living creature it’s ability to do whatever it does and the soul is what gives humans the ability to accomplish their purpose
- However he did follow the platonic view in which there was a possibility of the soul living on and the capability of the beatific vision
What does Aquinas believe about the afterlife
Aquinas believes that the afterlife would be beyond space and time.
- This means his ideas of the afterlife don’t encounter issues such as what people would be doing all the time and how people would fill up time without getting bored as there would be none of it
- He said that there would just be one eternal moment of being in the presence of God.
-However his ideas of the afterlife and beatific Vision do encounter some problems e.g if the soul is timeless in the presence of God, it is difficult to understand how this is the same person as the one who had the physical body while on earth and went about their physical daily life
What does Christianity traditionally teach about heaven
Traditionally Christianity teaches that after death the faithful will go to heaven.
Heaven is described as somewhere where there will be no more suffering, no pain and no death, where all sin will be washed away and people will be purified and live in peace
What metaphors are commonly used to describe heaven
- One metaphor used to describe heaven is as the place where God lives , seated on his throne and surrounded by angels. God is in all places at all times in heaven
- Another metaphor for heaven is the metaphor of God the father where heaven is seen as a family home, the place where an adult return to stay with his or her father. This metaphor conveys an idea of comfort, return and familiarity under the authority of unconditional love
- Another metaphor for heaven is one found in revelation where the great street of the city of heaven was gold signifying that there will be so much wealth around heaven that people will be able to walk on it
What has the Catholic Church usually expressed as their view of heaven
The Catholic Church has usually expressed their view of heaven in terms of the beatific vision (coming one to one with God) described by Thomas aquinas
