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THEOLOGY > DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE > Flashcards

DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE Flashcards

1
Q

DEATH+THE AFTERLIFE: OVERVIEW

A
  • Christianity teaches that people have souls which can survive the death of the body
  • After death, people are resurrected and live on in another dimension- possibly with God in heaven
  • However, Christians differ greatly in how they understand the afterlife
  • Although the bible offers teachings about the afterlife, it’s not clear how they’re meant to be interpreted
  • Also, some beliefs in the afterlife contradict other essential Christian beliefs
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2
Q

RESURRECTION: WHAT DO CHRISTIANS BELIEVE? (PART 1)

A
  • Life after death will take form of resurrection where the person will be given a renewed spiritual body in which to continue his or her journey
  • Judaism contains similar teaching of a general resurrection of the body- it was therefore something Jesus himself believed
  • The Last Days are referred to throughout the bible with clear references to resurrection (DANIEL 12:2)
  • Jesus’ resurrection after his crucifixion provides evidence for Christians that everyone will one day be resurrected
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3
Q

DANIEL 12:2

A

“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt”

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4
Q

1 CORINTHIANS 15:42

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“So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable”
- Suggests we will recieve an eternal spiritual body for the afterlife which is without sin

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5
Q

RESURRECTION: WHAT DO CHRISTIANS BELIEVE? (PART 2)

A
  • Christians believe the resurrected person will be the same person as the one who died
  • People will continue their ressurected state as individuals- they will not merge with God in some way but will share an identity with the individual who died
  • Christians believe life after death will be a miracle given by God. It’s not just a natural process; the person is resurrected through the gift + grace of God.
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6
Q

RESURRECTION: WHAT DO CHRISTIANS BELIEVE? (PART 3)

A
  • Resurrection will eventually involve some kind of judgement
  • Lazarus and story of rich man: there will be a separation after death between some kinds of people and others
  • Christians believe that heaven and hell will involve some kind of physical existence that we’re used to but nevertheless the belief is that we will continue as whole people, comprised of souls and bodies into the next life
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7
Q

Described metaphorically

HEAVEN

A

Some Christians believe Heaven must be described figuratively through metaphors and allegories because it’s so different to this world

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8
Q

RULER

HEAVEN: METAPHOR 1

A
  • Heaven is seen as the place where God lives, seated on his throne and surrounded by angels.
  • Because God cannot be confined to a single place, this must be understood as a metaphor of a mighty ruler seated on a throne
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9
Q

COMFORTING HOUSE

HEAVEN: METAPHOR 2

A
  • Another metaphor for heaven is the comforting house where one might return to stay with their father
  • Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven”
  • “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you” (Jesus in John’s Gospel)
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10
Q

CITY OF GOLD

HEAVEN: METAPHOR 3

A
  • Revelation 21:21: “The great street of the city was of gold”
  • A place of great wealth without suffering, pain or death
  • Sin will be washed away and people will be purified and live in peace
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11
Q

Think of your name

HEAVEN: THOMAS AQUINAS

A
  • Aquinas considered heaven as a beautific vision
  • In life happiness is never perfect because it’s temporary- time makes perfect happiness impossible
  • Perfect happiness can only be achieved after death by living eternally, outside of time in a state of perfect bliss
  • For Aquinas, this meant being in the presence of God where faith would be replaced with knowledge- a single moment in time where one enjoys basking in the sight of God
  • This is the view adopted by the Catholic Church
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12
Q

Are humans separated from God? For how long?

HELL: DEFINITION

A

After death, a person might be separated from God for eternity

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13
Q

burn baby burn

HELL: Interpretation 1

A
  • Hell can be seen as a place of eternal pain and punishment, often artistically depicted as a place of demons and hellfire
  • Revelation: 21:8- hell is described as a ‘burning lake of sulphur’ where bad people are thrown in
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14
Q

SOUL

HELL: Interpretation 2

A
  • Hell refers to a second death for the person who has no gained entry into heaven- The body dies, and then the soul dies
  • This view is developed by Revelation 21:6: “They will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death”
  • Here, the soul is not eternal in the way that God is eternal but can be ended if this is the will of God
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15
Q

2013 movie which had better sequels with more interesting characters

PURGATORY: DEFINITION

A
  • A place after death where the soul is ‘purged’ (cleaned or purified) before the person is ready to enter heaven
  • It is not a final destination, rather than an interim state between death and heaven
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16
Q

PURGATORY: POPE GREGORY

A
  • Wanted to explain why Catholics pray for the dead, basing his ideas on a passage from Matthew 12:30-32
  • Jesus is recorded as saying ‘either in this age or in the age to come’ - P.G saw this as a possibility of forgiveness not only in this age but in the afterlife
  • Therefore, there must be a temporary state after death in which people can rid themselves of sin and be forgiven
17
Q

PURGATORY: CATHOLIC VIEW

A
  • According to Catholics, some souls arent ready to be sent to heaven
  • Purgatory offers them a second chance to be cleansed of sin
  • Prayers of the living can contribute to this cleansing process, helping the dead soul to get through purgatory
18
Q

PURGATORY: KARL RAHNER

A
  • Purgatory should be understood as a metaphor for the soul’s greater awareness of the consequences of sin rather than a horrible place of pain
  • The pain of purgatory is self-inflicted as the person comes to terms with the full meaning of what they’ve done
  • Purgatory might be considered a metaphor for profound feelings of guilt and shame
19
Q

LITERAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE AFTERLIFE

A
  • Some evangelical thinkers take the ideas of afterlife literally, with the view that heaven, hell and perhaps purgatory are actual physical places on a different plane from this world
  • They argue the bible teaches that Jesus had a physical body after his resurrection- this body must have gone to a physical place
20
Q

What can they be understood as? What does this idea rely on?

METAPHPHORICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE AFTERLIFE (PT 1)

A
  • Heaven, hell and purgatory might be better understood as spiritual states rather than physical places
  • All the ideas of the afterlife being spiritual states rely on the view that people will have conscious thoughts and wishes after death - depends on a view of the relation between the mind and the body in whihc the mind can survive the death of the body.
  • If we experience emotions in this life and we are essentially the same people in the afterlife , perhaps we continue to experience the same kinds of thoughts and emotions.
21
Q

Someone might “be in purgatory” after death…

A

as they recognise their earthly sins and the ways in which they’ve fallen short of God’s stamdards and might work to repent

22
Q

Someone might “go to heaven” after death….

A

in the sense of becoming fully aware of having shed the physical body and being eternally in the presence of God.

23
Q

Someone might “be in hell” after death….

A

When they realise they’ve separated themselves from the love of God by rejecting him

24
Q

Maybe not after death

METAPHORICAL INTEPRETATIONS (PT 2)

A
  • Could also be argued that heaven, hell, purgatory are symbols of a person’s moral and spiritual life as experienced on this earth, rather than after death
  • People often talk of heaven when they’re blissfully happy, purgatory when they’re going through testing times and hell when they suffer bereavment or mental health problems
25
Q

ELECTION: KEY DEFINITIONS

A

Limited Election: only a small portion of Christians will be saved

Unlimited Election: All people are called to salvation but only a few are saved

26
Q

ELECTION

A
  • Individuals have been chosen by God to go to heaven from the dawn of time, not through their own merits but because of God’s sovereign choice
  • God knows, before we are even born, who will be damned to the fires of hell and who will rise to glory in heaven
  • God is omniscient so therefore he must already know
  • Probably one of the most controversial ideas in Christian theology
27
Q

Humans can’t do anything to be saved

ELECTION: Augustine

A
  • Argued only a few Christians will be saved, so there will be limited election
  • He believed this wasn’t a harsh or uncompromising idea as all humans deserve to burn in hell
  • Therefore, selecting even a few humans for salvation is an act of grace
28
Q

Salvation by grace alone

ELECTION: John Calvin

A
  • Protestant reformer- believed in Martin Luther’s ‘salvation by grace alone’
  • We can’t do anything ourselves to earn being saved by Jesus
  • We are chosen by God and predestined to turn to him and be saved
  • It is something God chooses, not something we do
  • He is in complete over everything that happens, meaning he must know who will be saved and who won’t
29
Q

People aren’t elected, Jesus is

ELECTION: Karl Barth

A
  • Due to God’s love, all people must have a chance of salvation (doctrine of unlimited election)
  • Jesus Christ brought salvation for the whole world
  • Election, for Barth, is the choice God made to send Jesus, the elected man, into the world
  • God made this choice to save humanity so therefore God still chooses to save people but extends this chance to everyone
    -Jesus is elected so that everyone has the possibility of eternal life if they believe in Him.
30
Q

Everyone will be saved in the end

ELECTION: John Hick

A
  • All people, whatever their belief, will be saved
  • A god of love would not reject everybody except Christians
  • Universalist position- everyone will reach God in the end
  • Hick believed the afterlife will provide additional opportunities for people to develop theit faith in God and grow towards making a choice for God
31
Q

What is this passage known as? What’s Jesus saying?

MATTHEW 25:31-46: Context

A
  • This passage is known as “The Sheep and Goats”
  • Here Jesus talks about the time when the “Son of Man” comes and separates people according to their deeds
  • The ‘Son of Man’ is an interesting title here- scholars don’t know if Jesus was referring to himself or amother figure
32
Q

MATTHEW 25:31-46: What is this parable saying?

A
  • This parable makes a sharp division between the ‘sheeps’ and the ‘goats’- there is no middle ground
  • No mention is made of their beliefs, only of their actions
  • Those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit people in prison
  • According to this source , there is no need to be a Christian or believe in God at all
33
Q

MATTHEW 25:31-46: What some Christians say

A
  • Some Christians argue that the reason the ‘sheep’ behave in this way is because they’re going to be saved , rather than having freely chosen to be good
  • They’d argue good works are the result of having faith and grace rather than a way to grow in faith or grace
  • Because of their face in God, they are displaying the characteristics of the Christian love that follow from having been given the Holy Spirit
  • Faith is therefore seen as inextricably linked with ‘good works’
34
Q

MATTHEW 25:31-46: The Goats

A
  • The goats face a harsh and eternal punishment and at first its difficult to see what they have done that is so wrong
  • The answer is not that they’ve done something bad but that they failed to take the opportunities they could have taken to do good to others
  • The parable is saying that when people have an opportunity to do those in need but ignore it, they are ignoring Christ

THEOLOGY (12 decks)

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