Death And The Afterlife Flashcards
Jesus’ resurrection and its implications
Although the resurrection was important to the writers of the NT, there is no system of explanation for the afterlife. They do broadly agree on three things:
- Jesus’ death and resurrection marked the start of Jesus’ movement and the foundation of Christianity
- Jesus’ resurrection was a moment of hope over despair
- It was a moment in which God acted in a mysterious and spectacular way
Over time these ideas gained greater theological and philosophical emphasis.
The ambiguities of Jesus resurrection
Jesus’ teaching on death and the afterlife was rooted in Jewish eschatology, especially that of the Pharisees. It had come from Greek philosophical ideas on the soul and immortality but Jesus taught that the significance lies in the establishing of a new order. He taught:
His life was a sacrifice for sin
His death would prompt God to establish a new order/kingdom
He would be raised up with saints and martyrs and his followers would have a place in heaven
These teachings are still somewhat vague and different views have developed on how and when this kingdom will be established.
‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.’ – Mark 1:14
The Kingdom of God
Jesus’ teachings on the age to come served several purposes depending on our interpretation of what the kingdom of God is: an actual place, a spiritual place or a symbol of moral life.
Parousia
Some passages seem to suggest early Christians thought they were living on the edge of the new era, expecting Jesus’ swift return to establish it (parousia). The role of parousia is to judge the world and select those who lived a good life to live eternally in the new world, restored and renewed by God.
Jesus’ parables describe the restored world in metaphors of weddings, feasts and harvest, but the main descriptions are in the book of revelation.
‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. and I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God’
The Kingdom as a present moral and spiritual state
Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God was a call for moral and spiritual reform. He presents it as if it is already begun, which scholars refer to as ‘inaugurated eschatology’. Jesus’ miracles are the signs for the new age being present as the prophets said. His parables and moral examples emphasise the ‘nowness‘ of the kingdom as a time to overcome racial prejudice, discrimination against the marginalised and the failings of contemporary religious practices.
The kingdom as a future redeemed state
His teaching is also traditional and preaches that the righteous will live in perfect harmony with God in a redeemed world. Saint Paul argued that Jesus’ death and resurrection was the first sign of the restored world in which humans can ‘see’ and ‘know’ God. He says before Christ we could only see God dimly through a ‘dark glass’ but they can now see the future ‘clearly‘. Other writers present it as a future state of perfection and completion of the relationship between god and humans.
Punishment and justice
In response to the OT question of why the wicked prosper and the good suffer, the NT says the wicked will be punished and the good will be rewarded. As a matter of justice, the wicked will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. The gospel of Matthew refers to Hades and sometimes Gehenna, both translated as hell, as places of torment and suffering for the wicked. The Sheol is the underworld of departed spirits awaiting judgement. Matthew combines these ideas to warn the wicked that hell is fire, torment and lament. Similarly the book of Revelation refers to those who are wicked as being ‘thrown into the lake of fire’.
One of the influential passages on this is the story of the rich man and Lazarus as told by Jesus. A rich man ignores Lazarus, a poor and sick man at his gate, while he himself enjoyed rich feasts and fine clothes. Both died on the same day, and Lazarus found himself in heaven with the righteous while the rich man was in Hades. The rich man’s punishment is torment and he can see Lazarus, begging him to ‘dip the tip of his finger in water and cool’ his tongue. The attitude of the rich man shows why he has been punished. Abraham replies ‘you received your good things, and Lazarus…[all] manner of evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony’.
No account of Lazarus’ moral character is given but it is assumed he lived a good live deserving of reward. The story challenged held beliefs and said that the wicked will receive their justice if not now, in the next life
The delay of parousia
The early generations hoped for Jesus’ return and the arrival of God’s kingdom. But a generation later, he had still not returned, so eschatology developed:
- Many recalled that Jesus himself had warned against making exact calculations about when the judgement day would take place. ‘about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the son, but only the Father.’
- Reviewing parables, they recognised the theme of delay and he would return like a ‘thief in the night’. This meant being morally vigilant until this point.
Place
Another problem is where this Kingdom will be located and if it would be the same as heaven. Dante’s vision and the book of revelation hints that it will be a continuation of this world.
Time and judgement
The exact moment of judgement at the end of days is uncertain, but NT writers suggest that the personal judgement immediately after death, like the parable of the rich man and Lazarus depicts, is more important. Jesus says to the robber crucified with him, ‘today you will be with me in paradise’. John’s gospel suggests that judgement is personal and ongoing.
There is also millenarianism, the belief that when Christ returns, he will rule for a thousand years with the Saints before final judgement occurs. This belief has become popular at politically difficult times as it signposts the end of the present age. Some have even encouraged environmental destruction to hasten the process. Since Augustine’s time however it has become more accepted that this is the role of the Church until Christ’s return on the day of judgement.
Purgatory
Although not mentioned in the Bible, the idea of purgatory is widely accepted so that people who have not died in a state of grace may continue to seek forgiveness for sins and receive punishment until final judgement. It evolved for two reasons: as matter of fairness to allow someone who has not fully prepared for God to have the time to do so, and because of the ambiguity of judgement.
The parable of the sheep and goats
Matthew 25 focuses on God’s judgement of the world before the arrival of the Kingdom. The parable is set in terms of farming life: the practice was for sheep and goats to graze together in the day and separate at night. Sheep are worth more, so they have more secure accommodation. The parable suggests that moral life is not an advantage but it is rewarded with eternal life on judgement day.
Developments in Christian eschatological teaching
According to J.N.D Kelly, early Christian eschatology focused on parousia, resurrection, judgement and the end of present order, but they were ‘held together in a naive, unreflective fashion with little or no attempt to work out their implications of solve the problems they raised.’ The problems have not gone away, and each generation must figure out how the ideas fit into their contemporary context.
Foretaste of heaven and hell:
Ambrose considered purgatory a place for souls to wait for judgement in a kind of taste of either heaven or hell.
Probationary school:
Origen argues that purgatory is like probationary school where the soul can experience many worlds to develop and perfect itself.
Redemption for the whole of creation:
Gregory of Nyssa argues that purgatory has a purifying purpose so that everyone may be cleansed of their sins and enter into heaven. In this ways God completes his purpose of redeeming and restoring creation.
Dante’s vision of purgatory
According to Dante purgatory is for those who believed in Christ and repented before death. Here they can purge themselves of sins and wrongdoings before entering heaven. He uses a description of the soul ascending up a mountain until it reaches the top and goes to heaven. The soul’s driving force is love.
Catholic teaching on purgatory
‘After death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven’.
The CC teaches that there is no specific teaching on purgatory in the NT but says that ideas such as ‘cleansing by fire’ suggest that some sins can be forgiven in this age, some in the next. Purgatory is them a post mortem interim state of a soul’s journey. It explains why the Church also prays for the souls of the departed and that they should be freed from sin.
John hick on the intermediate state
The lack of biblical support means many protestants have rejected it in favour of focus on judgement, heaven, and hell. However, recent theologians have seen the value of purgatory supported by the arguments of Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, because morally it makes sense. John Hick argues that the ‘gap between the individual’s imperfection at the end of this life and the perfect heavenly state in which he is to participate has to be bridged’. He urges us to think of the afterlife as a continuation of the soul-making process started on earth until they are united with God.
Hell
In recent times hell has become the least acceptable doctrine. This is partly because it has been viewed too literally but also because it contradicts the idea of a loving, forgiving God.
Origen argued that hell was a personal ‘interior anguish’ from being apart from God’. It is not permanent and would pass away with the redeemed world. Gregory of Nyssa argues that judgement is a result of a guilty conscience when faced with Christ.
Traditionally, judgement is universal and punishment is eternal because it gives a reason for faith in God and need for repentance. It doesn’t show God as unloving but shows his grace and justice: if the wicked go unpunished then God’s goodness comes into question.
Dante’s version of hell
Dante’s vision is shown in ‘Divine Comedy’. He writes that it is in every way a dysfunctional state created at the moment of Jesus’ death – it is the opposite of heaven. Reason is abandoned for irrationality, dwellers lack faith in god and live hopelessly. He writes that there are nine circles of hell as characterised by the virtues, with graphic descriptions of sin being matched with a similar punishment. In the ninth circle, the deepest and darkest part of hell, Lucifer has his throne, and his wings fan freezing air so cold that men cannot weep or move. Dante singles out two sinners: Judas who betrayed Christ, and Brutus and Cassius who murdered Caesar, representing the deliberate destabilisation of God-given moral & political order
Hell as a symbol of alienation
For many theologians, Dante’s hell makes us think of consequences to our actions as well as the kind of people our actions make us. In his hell there is no escape because they have all alienated themselves from God. The problem now with our understanding that hell is not in the earth’s core, is whether hell-based language has a place or not. For Paul Tillich, ‘heaven and hell must be taken seriously as metaphors for the polar ultimates in the experience of the divine’. Hell is a psychological power as a life alienated from god. Hell is not a place but a state of being.
Hell as eternal separation
Catholicism teaches that hell is eternal for those who commit mortal sins. Hell is not something chosen by God but by people who choose sin over his love. Hell is self-exclusion. The catechism writes that hell’s punishment 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’. Hell is used to urge people to use their freedom wisely and to do good. Hell is reserved for those who consistently reject goodness until final judgement.
Heaven
Heaven is the ultimate state in which humans see God ‘face to face’. It is the state of pure knowledge and lack of sin so that the soul may experience the fullness of joy. It is the restoration of the whole of creation. But it begs the questions: is it a state of life after death or just this world perfected? Can non humans enter heaven? Are all humans capable of receiving the beatific vision?
Dante’s vision of heaven
It is beyond description and Dante says ‘to go beyond the human cannot be put into words’. The heavenly souls yearn for ultimate good and harmony with God’s love. The end of the journey is a source of knowledge and illumination through God. There are ten levels of this as there are nine in hell, and each soul finds its intellectual resting place and degree of bliss.
Catholic teaching on the beatific vision
Heaven does not occupy actual space and time as Dante’s account suggests. The CC teaches thus:
‘The perfect life with the most holy trinity – this communion of life and love with the trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed – is called heaven’. It is a ‘state of supreme, definitive happiness’ where God reveals himself so that we may know him in a new glorious way. This is the beatific vision, or blessed state of everlasting bliss. It teaches that it is a community of immortal souls who are obedient to God’s will and reign with Christ for ever.
Election
The world elect is used in the NT meaning choice and refers to those who are chosen by God for eternal life but brings up many questions: who are the elect? On what grounds are the elected? When were/are they chosen?
Limited and unlimited election
It is closely associated with the idea of predestination and are for some, interchangeable terms. They are both used to explain why some will have eternal life while others will not. Election is also about the nature of God and his grace, with the two ideas clashing, leading to variations in belief.
Election and predestination
The idea of predestination comes from Augustine and has developed as a doctrine. Augustine’s analysis of human nature led to his conclusion that even faith in Christ is not sufficient to merit eternal salvation. This is because the will is so weakened by the Fall. God’s grace is key to Augustine’s predestination. Grace is not prompted by human actions but is freely given, unprompted and uncoerced. This means that although God calls all people to salvation, he knows that only the elect will receive it.
Single predestination:
God elects only those whom he ordains to enter heaven and eternal life
Double predestination:
God elects those whom he ordains to enter heaven and condemns the rest to hell.
Antelapsarian decree:
God decreed who were elect at the moment of creation, before the fall
Postlapsarian decree:
God decreed who were elect after the fall.
John Calvin and calvinism
Although he developed his version of the eternal decree from Augustine, his followers pushed his ideas further and developed a stronger version of limited election.
Calvinism is associated with double predestination and set out in the Westminster confession of faith as follows: ‘By the decree of God…some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life and others foreordained to everlasting death’. Calvin’s own position was weaker than Calvinism itself. He argued;
Thomas aquinas and catholicism
Aquinas‘ interpretation of Augustine led the CC to teach single predestination. God elects the righteous for heaven and the wicked elect themselves for hell.
‘God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a wilful turning away from God is necessary and persistence in it until the end’.
The elect are chosen by God because he knows that they will accomplish the good end which they are called to. However, the problem of predestination is that it appears to diminish human moral responsibility and the validity of trying to live a moral life.
Election and universalism
The notion of universalism, or apokatastasis (restoration), is that hell is not eternal and the eschatological goals of the cosmos is perfection of the world to its pre-fall state. But there are other considerations:
God’s goodness and love requires that all humans achieve salvation
If humans have free will, they must all be able to achieve salvation
What makes universalism attractive is that it includes those who have no faith or are of another faith, because for many Christians it is unfair for those who are unable to know Christ to be excluded from grace.
John Hick
Universalism is attractive to liberal Christians because the God that Jesus preached of does not line up with the God of judgement and exclusion which hell requires. The emphasis in the NT is on reconciliation with God. What purpose does punishing someone eternally achieve? If earthly existence is a journey of moral and spiritual education, then hell makes more sense as part of that journey where a person learns to fix their ways and strive for perfection.
Karl Barth
He is a Calvinist theologian and not strictly universalist, but his theory of election contributes to an understanding of universalism. He argued against the simplistic idea that election is choosing a few for heaven and condemning the rest to hell. Instead he argues it describes a revelatory action of God from general to particular. We know this because Jesus is elected and elector.
