Death and the afterlife Flashcards
1
Q
Heaven:
Aquinas
A
- Spoke of the beatific vision, the moment where we become face-to-face with God and live in harmony.
- Aquinas thought reason could be used to reach this beatific vision.
- This view tends to be supported by Catholics.
2
Q
Heaven:
Protestants
A
- Protestants see heaven as everlasting and not eternal where we live with God for the rest of time with our families and friends.
- Catholics would say that we are not ‘with’ our family and friends but instead our relationships change.
3
Q
Heaven:
N.T Wright
A
- By understanding the Gospels, N.T Wright argues that heaven can be seen as a different form of existence in the future state of the world where creation will be transformed and restored.
4
Q
Heaven:
Other views
A
- Heaven is a symbol of someone’s spiritual and moral life on earth - a sum of all of the positive moments.
- This means that heaven does not have to be a real place.
- ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’
5
Q
Hell:
Hell as an actual place
A
- Revelation teaches of a ‘burning lake of fiery sulfur’ showing eternal punishment - without punishment there may be no need for God to set moral laws on earth and then judge us.
- Sinning and turning away from God deserves punishment.
- Hell is an aim to alienate people from God.
- Catholics believe that this place would guide people to use their free will properly rather than being a place that God sends people to.
6
Q
Hell:
Hell as a spiritual place
A
- There should be no need to punish people by fire because alienation is enough.
- Paul Tillich understood hell as a metaphor for psychological alienation.
- Medieval images of hell may only be a product of their time.
7
Q
Hell:
Hell as a symbol
A
- Like heaven, hell could symbolize all the negative elements of someone’s life; this is because a loving God would not create hell.
- The second death means that we are not worthy of heaven and therefore will not exist after death.
8
Q
Purgatory:
Catholics
A
- Catholics acknowledge that most people are not bad enough to be sent to hell but people are also not worthy of meeting God how they are.
- Catholics believe that efforts made on earth can have a positive impact on the next life; ‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat’ (Parable of the sheep and goats) , 2 Maccabees 12 say we should pray for the dead showing we can make a difference towards someone who has died.
9
Q
Purgatory:
John Hick
A
- John Hick saw value in the idea of purgatory seeing as he felt that hell could not be part of a loving God’s plan.
- Hick could be seen as a universalist meaning he believed that everyone could be sent to hell.
10
Q
Purgatory:
Spirituality
A
- Purgatory could be seen as a spiritual place where people come to a greater understanding of their sinfulness.
- Symbolic of the final moment of repentance before seeing the perfect nature of God.
11
Q
Purgatory:
Problems
A
- The sacrifice of Jesus was enough for people to be able to enter heaven.
- It is not clear how the cleansing will work if heaven and hell are spiritual places.
- This belief has led to corruption as some think that they can buy themselves out of the cleansing of fire.
- If heaven and hell are eternal, how long will purgatory be?
12
Q
Limited election
A
- Comes from Augustine who believed that original sin had a hold on humanity therefore God’s grace was required for salvation.
- Matthew 22:14 ‘many are invited but few are chosen’
- Calvin saw God as being in ultimate control of everything including choices therefore we should act as if all are chosen because we do not know who has been chosen.
13
Q
Unlimited election
A
- Unlimited election suggests that heaven is available to God but not everyone will be saved.
- Karl Barth suggests that all humans may be saved by Jesus being God made humans; he is both the one who elects and the one who is elected.
- Karl Barth also believed that all humans are elected through the death of Jesus - ‘There is no condemnation - literally none - for those that are in Jesus Christ’
- Barth was seen as a universalist.
14
Q
Issues with the nature of God
A
- Some reject literal interpretations of hell because this would not be compatible with a loving God; surely he would prevent the need for punishment.
- Some say that people condemn themselves to heaven however surely God could stop this.
15
Q
Issues with continuity and identity
A
- Punishment must logically be towards the person who has lived on earth therefore some argue that we must need our bodies in the afterlife.
- Others say that identity comes form just our souls therefore heaven and hell do not have to be physical places.
- If our bodies go to the afterlife then there is a question as to what state they will be in; what age? what is we died in an accident and were disfigured?
