death and the afterlife Flashcards
christian beliefs on heaven
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches the following:
‘Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfilment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness’.
Heaven is often represented as a place where an individual experiences absolute joy and happiness.
It is a place all Christians strive to end up.
Jesus’ description of heaven
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus describes heaven as paradise whilst on the cross.
‘And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” ‘(Luke 23:43)
Jesus also speaks about heaven to his disciples in the Gospel of John.
‘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?’ (John 14)
This implies that there is enough room in heaven for all of those who repent.
christian teaching on hell
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches the following:
‘The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity.’
Immediately after death, the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell.
Such individuals suffer the punishments of hell, an ‘eternal fire.’
‘The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.’ (CCC 1035)
hell and eternal punishment
The idea of hell is that of a place of permanent, everlasting punishment.
The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus has inspired Christians to think of it as a place of agonising torment:
‘The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side [Heaven]. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades [Hell], where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.’ (Luke 16)
christian teaching on purgatory
The definition of ‘purge’ is to clean or remove. Catholics believe purgatory is a stage of purification (also called purgation).
It is a place in which they will be cleansed of their sins.
The Catechism gives the reason for this purification as ‘to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.’(CCC 1030).
The word ‘purgatory’ is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible but is hinted to at points.
For example, in Corinthians 3:15 ‘He himself will be saved, but only as through fire’.
heaven as an actual place
Saint Thomas Aquinas spoke of heaven as a beatific vision.
He described it as the state of eternal happiness when we come face to face with God.
It is seen as a relationship of love, peace and joy, a time when those in heaven will live in perfect harmony and be at peace.
christians and heaven
Christians also believe that at the end of time, the dead will be resurrected as Jesus Christ was.
God will bring Christians back to life physically. So, Christians believe in a literal, physical resurrection.
It says in the Creed that: ‘We believe in the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the world to come.’
Jesus was raised from the dead in a physical body which could be touched and could eat food.
As such, the Blessed will physically rise from the dead.
hell as an actual place
The Biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man is a well-known parable of Jesus found in the Gospel of Luke.
Lazarus is a poor man who begged the rich man for help on numerous occasions. The rich man chose not to help Lazarus.
When the two men die, Lazarus ends up in heaven and the rich man ends up in hell.
‘The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side [Heaven]. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades [Hell], where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.’ (Luke 16)
quotes about hell
In the book of Revelation, the image is of a ‘burning lake of fiery sulphur’.
The Catechism quotes, ‘Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell’.
purgatory as an actual place
Purgatory is seen to be a place of cleansing where people will have their sins forgiven.
Catholics on earth can pray for the sins of the deceased to be cleansed, in the hope they will end up in heaven.
In the Bible it states:
‘The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven.’ (Rev. 21:27)
heaven as a spiritual state
Pope John Paul II was an advocate of heaven as a spiritual state.
He explains that trying to work out which senses, if any, would work in heaven seems ridiculous.
‘The ‘heaven’ or ‘happiness’ in which we will find ourselves is neither an abstraction nor a physical place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit.’
papal infallibility
Pope John Paul II’s view implies that it is absurd to discuss physical senses being used in an afterlife.
The pope is the leader of the Catholic Church and is seen to be infallible.
Infallibility belongs in a special way to the pope as head of the bishops (Matt. 16:17–19; John 21:15–17).
Papal infallibility is a doctrine that the pope cannot be wrong when teaching matters of faith or morality.
This is because the pope acts as the supreme teacher of Roman Catholic theology.
hell and purgatory as spiritual states
If heaven is to be interpreted as a spiritual place, so then must hell.
Under this interpretation, hell would be seen as alienation from God which is punishment enough.
Second Thessalonians 1:9 refers to hell as ‘exclusion from the face of God.’
Under this interpretation, purgatory is seen as the continual mental struggle to achieve a state of perfection.
It is not a physical place where the soul is purified by fire.
symbolic heaven and hell
Another interpretation sees heaven, hell and purgatory as symbols of a person’s spiritual and moral life on Earth.
This view would be held by those with little faith or belief in God.
Under this interpretation, heaven, hell and purgatory are seen to be a symbol of a person’s life on Earth.
Heaven may represent the individual’s happiness. This would be both personal happiness and happiness in their interactions with people.
Hell would represent an individual’s torment whilst on Earth.
symbolic purgatory
Dewi Zephaniah Phillips was an anti-realist about religious matters.
He did not believe in the actual existence of God.
Phillips would see purgatory in the same way.
He would argue purgatory is a symbol of our difficult mental struggle to be perfect.
But this relates to our struggle in this life, not in an afterlife for which there is no physical proof.
