Death and the afterlife Flashcards
“The God of love would not elect a limited number of people to salvation” essay
A: Augustine, we are corrupted, gods grace. God’s foreknowledge - knows who is going to heaven and Hell. Pelagius - if we have unavoidable original sin not just of fair for God to punish.
CA: omnibenevolence = justice. not everyone is entitled to salvation. God sent down Jesus which is loving
E: Barth - since Jesus died on the cross all humans have the potential. We choose whether we have faith in Jesus
A: limited election undermines free will. Augustine, babies are born with original sin. God of love would give us free will. Sheep and the goats you can to heaven through good works
CA: Calvin, double predestination, cannot have full free will as this would undermine the control God has on us. God is the only being that is completely free. God’s grace = god’s free gift. God desires people to be saved but some people don’t accept his grace
E: no incentive to be a good person. Hick - God of love would not condemn anyone to eternal suffering in the first place. no one is excluded from God’s grace
Dante
- Dante’s inferno: believed that Hell was a physical place. Lived during the renaissance era.
Scholars which believe Hell is symbolic
Gregory of Nyssa - Hell is a symbolic place: You have to confront your own guilt when you die. You will have to confront yourself in a spiritual way, which is enough of a punishment
Tilich - Heaven and Hell are metaphors which is a state of being alienated from God
Hick&Hume views against the existence of Hell
Hick: An omnibenevolent God would not would not send people to Hell.
Hume: God would not punish finite sins with infinite punishment
Aquinas’ view on Heaven
- Perhaps not a literal view of Heaven, but a metaphysical realm which transcends space and time. The beatific vision
Bernard Williams
Heaven would be boring. An idea of an eternal paradise does not sound interesting and you wouldn’t be entertained
Scholars that believe in literal interpretations of heaven&Hell:
Heaven:
- Fundamentalists / bible literalist: take the bible literally
- Dante: paradisio
- early and medieval Christians
Hell:
- Dante’s inferno
Scholars that believe in the symbolic view of Heaven&Hell
Heaven:
Bernard Williams: heaven would be boring
Hick: a spiritual place
Hell:
- Gregory of Nyssa: detachment of God
- Tillich
- Annihilationism: soul ceases to exist - only liberals
Protestant believes on death and the afterlife:
Heaven:
Calvin: double predestination, God chooses people who go to heaven and to Hell.
Hick: universalism - spiritual realm of happiness - soul making theodicy. Works faith is less important
Hell:
- Eternal fire, burning sulfur lake.
- Liberal: no Hell - Hick
Purgatory:
- Most do not believe in purgatory
- Hick believed this makes sense
Catholic views on death and the afterlife
Heaven:
- Aquinas: beatific vision
- can get to heaven through faith and works
Hell:
- Complete separation from God, despair, suffering and sadness.Spiritual state
Purgatory:
- Does exist
- Historically: selling of indulgences
- cleaning sin not previously abolished
- purged
Scholars that believed in Limited election
- Calvin: double predestination - God’s grace - God is the only being that is completely free
- Roman Catholic views: single predestination - God has elected those who go to heaven
- The narrow and wide gates - it is hard to get to heaven .The path to salvation is more difficult
Scholars that believe in unlimited election
Barth: all humans have the potential to be saved, they just need to. Jesus died for our sins.
“Discuss the view that the idea of purgatory makes more sense than hell” essay
A: An omnibenevolent God would not punish finite sins with infinite punishments. Purgatory was that people continued existing in a resurrection where they would have a chance to redeem themselves. Good argument as punishment is proportionate. For example does not make sense to imprison someone for life for a minor offense such as a parking ticket. Therefore Hell is incompatible with omnibenevolence. Explain a why this makes God omnibenevolent.
CA: less biblical evidence for purgatory. Sheep and the goats: “eternal hell”. If hell is replaced
by the idea of purgatory because we think it makes more sense than hell, then we are making our desires greater than an omniscient and just God
E: however words that were used to describe Hell before such as “harvesting” “burning” is better understood as “purging” “purifying”. Biblical evidence for universalism as well This is supported in the New Testament where Jesus teaches that eternal life is life in its ‘fullness’ this might be seen to support universalism
A: Augustine: also unjust that babies that die would go to hell just because of original sin. would imply an unjust God. More just for us to be cleansed proportionately for sins that we have committed
E: the idea of purgatory is not believed within most protestant communities. They may suggest that the Catholic church is corrupt. Luther claimed that purgatory was “fabricated by goblins”. Indulgences and money. Church is abusing it’s power. Made up by church. Hell makes more sense as more evidence.
CA: However, although the Catholic church may have been wrong to do this. The intermediate state and the idea of cleansing by fire can be found in the writings of Origen (3rd century) and Gregory of Nyssa (4th century).
The sheep and the goats
- “all the nations will be gathered before him” - all people, will be judged together
- the “blessed” will have “the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” - This could be evidence of predestination
- They are seen to be blessed because of what they have done: they have looked after the hungry, the thirsty, strangers
- Those that have been condemned to Hell described as ‘eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”
- Heaven is described as eternal life and Hell as eternal punishment
- the parable reminds us that God can see what is on the inside
- Judgement is based on actions first and foremost, then
- In the parable judgement seems to happen at the end of time. Therefore some Christians believe that death is a state of sleeping while we wait for final judgement where our souls will be reunited with the death.
- Other Christians reject this and talk of particular judgement.
The Catholic Church
- teaches that at the moment of death, people are judged individually and go to heaven, purgatory or Hell. At the end of time, all of creation will be perfected into a new heaven and a new earth
- Augustine: spoke of particular judgment when the ‘souls are judged and they depart from the body’ before they are reunited with the body and tormented ot glorified
- Calvin: while they wait for the day of judgement at the end of time the dead are conscious either in bliss or agony
“Could hell be eternal” discuss
A: Annihilations: the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given eternal life. Asserts that God will eventually destroy the wicket as opposed to leaving them in Hell. Only the righteous live in immortality. Sheep and the goats = ‘eternal punishment’ can mean being annihilated as non-existence can be depriving those of the opportunity to go to heaven
CA: yes as there is more biblical evidence for Hell being a place that is eternal - “ an eternal fire”. “They will all be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur” - this is known as the second death - Rich Man and Lazarus there was a chasm between the rich man so he could not warn his family.
E: Paul Tilich: hHell type language can be reinterpreted as psychological and spiritual descriptions of human alienation being alienated from the divine is characterised by a lack of purpose and joy. It is a condition of the human soul - aligns with God’s omnibenevolence
A: David Hume: God would not give an infinite punishment for a finite sin. Hick eternal hell is incompatible with he belief of a loving God. It may have been a form of social control
CA: Augustine: some people believe in physical resurrection (Augustine) just as Jesus did. Paul distinguishes Jesus earthy body from his resurrected body. “It is raised imperishable” - implies heaven is eternal. Our earthy bodies are associated with sin so God will give everyone o=immortal spiritual bodies. We deserve punishment the fact that he allows some people to heaven shows he omnibenevolence
E: Condemning babies born who die with original sin without being baptised. A God of love would not sent them to eternal Hell for something they are not culpable for. - (Augustines thought with original sin)
