Death and the Afterlife

Question 1

Differing interpretations of heaven, hell and purgatory - JC resurrection

Answer 1

• Christianity founded on idea that God can triumph over death, gives hope to those who suffer/die.
• Bible states that when Jesus died, his body was placed in a tomb. On third day, his body was no longer there. Jesus was then seen as a physical person walking around, but even his closest followers did not recognise him.
o This suggests he had changed in some way or another, was in his ‘resurrection body’
o After this Jesus ascended into heaven and it is not known whether he discarded his resurrection body/lived in a spiritual form or whether he lived in this resurrection body forever.
• Importance of Jesus’ resurrection not greatly explored in Bible. Broad agreement:
o Jesus’ death and resurrection did not mark end of word, but beginning of Jesus’ movement and foundations of Christianity.
o Moment of hope over despair.
o Was a moment in which God acted in a mysterious and spectacular way.

Question 2

sheep and goats

Answer 2

• Parable of Sheep and Goats suggest a kind of judgement.
o Parable linked to farming of time
• Sheep = expensive, separated from other animals.
• Goats = less expensive
o If you are a good person you go to heaven and you embody the animal of a sheep.
• Controversial considering Pharisee belief that it was the religious that go to heaven, JC says it is the good people.
• Raises an issue as to how to define ‘good’. Does this mean non-Christian, yet good people can go to heaven too?

Question 3

rich man and lazarus

Answer 3

Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:
o Rich man ignores Lazarus, goes to hell.
o Lazarus goes to heaven.
o Hell seen as place of fire and burning.
o Jesus saying you should use your wealth well, and then you will go to heaven.

Question 4

what could the kingdom of god be

Answer 4

o An actual place
o A spiritual place
o Symbol of the moral life

Question 5

quotes about the kingdom of God (mark and luke)

Answer 5

• ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near’ - Mark 1:14
o What is near? We do not know the scale of time.
• ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power’ - Mark 9:1
o Some of you won’t die before kingdom of God has come
• ‘But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you’ - Luke 11:20
o It has already arrived

Question 6

literal heaven - fundamentalist

Answer 6

• Fundamentalist Christians uphold the idea that heaven is a literal place based on John 14:6.
o They will accept the literal descriptions of heaven and hell in the Bible due to them believing in the Bible as the literal Word of God.
o Revelation 21:1-5 portrays an image of a new heaven and earth.
• People will no longer die; there will be no suffering.
• Echoes with the Garden of Eden, creation will be restored to its original intended state in the New Jerusalem.

Question 7

literal heaven - events before the advent of new jerusalem

Answer 7

o Revelation 20 causes a split in interpretation among Fundamentalists.
o Chapter speaks about an interval of 1,000 years.
• Satan is trapped in Abyss for 1,000 years, leads to peace on earth
• V3: Satan is released for short period of time after 1,000 years
• V7-10: Short burst of evil activity before throwing of the devil into a lake of fire
o Chapter 20 - description of thrones of people who had been killed for their faith via beheading, ‘faithful testimony’
Once these people have died, they will reign with Christ for 1,000 years and the rest of the dead will not be revived until after this period.

Question 8

literal heaven - premillennialists

Answer 8

• Held by people such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus.
• Antichrist will rule on the earth for 7 years (tribulation).
• After this comes the rapture, Christ and his church will return to the earth for a Millennium.
• Faithful will spend eternity in New Jerusalem with spiritual bodies.

Question 9

literal heaven - premillenalists: when will the rapture begin?

Answer 9

o Pre tribulation rapture followers think believers will go to heaven before the tribulation, so they don’t see the suffering.
• Many argue this is not Biblical as in Matt 24 and Mark 13 Jesus argues there will be destruction and loss of life during the tribulation suggesting believers will go through it.
o Post tribulation rapture argues the faithful will experience the full horrors of the tribulation and then will be raptured at the end of the 7-year period.
• Some say this is too precise, as we are not meant to know when JC will return.
o Some put forward the pre wrath rapture in which the church will experience some of the tribulation but be taken up before the end of it. (Marvin Rosenthal)

Question 10

literal heaven - amillenialists

Answer 10

• Millennium is not physical realm on earth and will not last 1,000 years.
• It began at Pentecost and is still active where we see evil and good battle.
• This current church age will end with the second coming of Christ.
• There will then be rapture where people will meet JC.
• They then will return to Earth and the final judgement day will happen.
• Shared by Augustine, RCC and CofE.

Question 11

literal heaven - post millenialists

Answer 11

• Kingdom of God extended in preaching of Gospel and eventually the whole world will be made Christian.
• Christ will then return at the end of a long period of peace and the last judgement will happen.
• Do not place emphasis on rapture and tribulation.

Question 12

literal heaven - heavenly bodies

Answer 12

o Phil 3:19-21, Christians are ‘citizens of heavens’
o Paul in 1 Cor 15 speaks about the nature of a spiritual body. It will be imperishable.
o Early Xian theologians understand the resurrection body to be a permanent spiritual body with a soul.
o Some argue it will be naked (like in Garden of Eden), whilst others say we will be in fine clothing.
o Fundamentalists believe body will be immortal and not age.
o RCC speaks of literal resurrection body, ‘when the soul will be reunited with their bodies’

Question 13

literal heaven - peter lombard and medieval view of resurrection body

Answer 13

o Peter Lombard says the natural substance of the body will be ‘reintegrated’.
• Middle Ages - you reach peak perfection at 30, so we will be 30 when we are resurrected.
• Peter Lombard says that if a child/baby dies, they will be resurrected, as they would have been if they had reached 30.

Question 14

literal heaven - methodius and the book of dun cow of olympus view of resurrection body

Answer 14

o Methodius of Olympus claimed the body would be reconstituted like a statue being melted down and reformed from the same material so that ‘all its defects could be eliminated’
o The Book of the Dun Cow claims if the body is eaten it would be ‘recast into a more beautiful form’

Question 15

literal heaven - meeting loved ones

Answer 15

o Died in 258 AD: Cyprian of Carthage argued we would meet our loved ones in heaven.
o 17th century: Richard Baxter argued the primary characteristic of heaven is total focus upon God.
o 19th century, heaven was seen as place of restoring life and friendships rather than worshipping God.

Question 16

literal heaven problems

Answer 16

o Bernard Williams questioned whether an eternity in heaven is actually desirable - part of the pleasure of living is making decisions about we want to achieve/do in our limited lifespan.
o Spatial issue - where is it?
• However, earthly space different to heavenly space
o Peter Cole asks, ‘if Christians are in a physical, resurrected state and physical environment, will they have to queue to see Jesus?’
o Problem of identification - how can we meet our friends?
o If hell and heaven are literal, what happens if a loved one does not go to heaven? Surely this will not be perfect happiness if a loved one is not there?

Question 17

hell as literal - matthew 25

Answer 17

• Matthew 25:31-46
o ‘He will divide them into two groups, just as shepherd separates the sheep from goats’ V32
o ‘Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels’ V41
o ‘These, then will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life’ V46

Question 18

hell as literal - revelation

Answer 18

o Hell is an abyss, prison
o You will find the devil there
o ‘Satan will bring them all together for battle’ V8
o ‘They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever’ V10

Question 19

hell as literal - augustine

Answer 19

o Interpreted these texts to mean hell is a literal lake of fire, where the damned experience everlasting torment and physical pain forever.
o ‘By a miracle of their most omnipotent Creator, they can burn without being consumed and suffer without dying’
o Children can go to hell as they are born in sin.

Question 20

hell as literal - dante

Answer 20

o Portrays hell in his Divine Comedy as circles at the centre of the earth.
• 1st circle - those who have died not baptised and virtuous pagans
• 2nd - lust (upper hell)
• 3rd - gluttony (upper hell)
• 4th - miserly people (upper hell)
• 5th - wrathful people (upper hell)
• 6th - heretics (lower hell - where fire is described as being)
• 7th - violent people (lower hell - where fire is described as being)
• 8th - fraudsters (lower hell - where fire is described as being)
• 9th - traitors (lower hell - where fire is described as being)
o Dante believes when JC died, hell became a place of eternal pain for those who don’t have God in their lives, made by God.
o 9 Circles of hell, sin matched with punishment
o Reason is abandoned to irrationality

Question 21

hell as literal - jonathan edwards

Answer 21

o ‘God never loved those in hell anyway’

Question 22

hell as literal - stump

Answer 22

o God will make people as comfortable as possible in hell, limiting the amount of damage and harm that people can do to each other there.
o Attempt to reconcile literal hell with the view of God as omnibenevolent.

Question 23

hell as literal - william l craig

Answer 23

o God can obliterate from people any knowledge of lost people so that they do not feel any pain at all in heaven.

Question 24

hell as literal - problems (general)

Answer 24

o Hell contradicts God’s victory over evil. Leibniz argues that evil triumphs over good in the concept of hell and this happens under a supreme, omnibenevolent God. It seems morally wrong.
o Vindictive justice seems un-Xian.
o If God is omnipresent, then he should be in hell, but this is impossible due to the concept of hell as a place where God is not present, contradictory.
o Eternal punishment is not necessarily a punishment as we can become immune to the pain.

Question 25

hell as literal - hume and hick criticisms

Answer 25

o David Hume argues that hell calls the justice of God into question because a finite sin can never deserve an infinite punishment.
o John Hick views hell incompatible with an omnibenevolent God. Hell was developed as a form of social control to encourage people to fear disobeying the teachings of those in religious authority.

Question 26

hell as lick - schleiermacher

Answer 26

o Schleiermacher argued the misery of those in hell would undermine the blessedness of those in heaven.

Question 27

purgatory as literal - maccabees

Answer 27

• Purifying fire, intermediate state
• State of grace where people can purge themselves of the guilt of their sins before going to heaven
• Backed up by 2 Maccabees 12:39-45 in Apocrypha
• ‘Therefore purgatory made atonement for the dead that they might be delivered from their sin’

Question 28

purgatory as literal - clement of alexandria and origen

Answer 28

• Clement of Alexandria and Origen taught those who perform works of penance would be purified through fire.

Question 29

purgatory as literal - augustine

Answer 29

• Augustine said the fire in purgatory is the same as the fire in hell, but it has a different purpose of cleansing.

Question 30

purgatory as literal - gregory the great

Answer 30

• Gregory the Great 593AD speaks about being forgiven in an age to come, refers to passage in Matthew 12:30-32
o ‘Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come’

Question 31

purgatory as literal - pope greg

Answer 31

• Pope Gregory also saw forgiveness as possible and there must be a temporary state after death where people are ridden of their sins. Pope Innocent IV’s and Greg formed the basis of the statement in the Second Council of Lyons, ‘if those who are truly repentant die in charity before they have done sufficient penance for their sins of omission and commission, their souls are cleansed after death in purgatorial and cleansing punishments’

Question 32

purgatory as literal - RCC

Answer 32

• RCC defines purgatory as purification, necessary as Scripture teaches nothing unclean can enter heaven. Only people with mortal sin go to hell, venial sins allow you to be forgiven after purgatory. People can shorten their time in purgatory by having masses said for them/praying. Doesn’t give any info on length of time in purgatory.

Question 33

purgatory as literal - criticisms

Answer 33

o Against idea of justification by faith where people are put right by faith in God
o Not Biblical, no real evidence
o Purgatory questions the idea that JC completed the final act of salvation on the cross
o If God is omniscient, why does this intermediate state exist if he knows whether you’re going to heaven/hell?
o Historical context – indulgences
o What is the point of being good in this life if we can just be purified in purgatory?

Question 34

heaven as spiritual - bible quotes

Answer 34

• Romans 14:17 - ‘For God’s kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace and joy which the Holy Spirit gives’
• 1 Cor 15:44-49 - ‘When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body’
• People will be with God spiritually in terms of their soul rather than a resurrection body in a physical place. Relies on idea of mind as capable of existence after the death of the body.

Question 35

heaven as spiritual - gunthrie

Answer 35

• Donald Gunthrie argues ‘we shall not expect, however, to find a description of a place, so much as the presence of God’.

Question 36

heaven as spiritual - edgcumbe hughes

Answer 36

• Philip Edgcumbe Hughes argued for conditional immortality. Humans have potential for immortality due to imago dei. Through sin that potential has been forfeited and through belief in JC they can have immortality again. Heaven is a situation of immortality of the soul.

Question 37

heaven as spiritual - c.s. lewis

Answer 37

• C. S. Lewis argues heaven is inconceivable, non-spatial and in the presence of God. Describes heaven as ‘union with God’. Biblical depiction of heaven is made up of pictures and symbols.
o ‘People who take these symbols literally might as well think that when Christ told us to be like doves, he meant that we were meant to lay eggs’

Question 38

heaven as spiritual - swinburne

Answer 38

• Richard Swinburne argued it is possible to have a disembodied existence. If we can imagine a situation where we could exist without a body then it is a coherent concept.

Question 39

heaven as spiritual - arguments for

Answer 39

• More plausible than literal explanation, know we have a soul, so makes sense for it to go to heaven.
• Gets rid of physicality of heaven, don’t need to worry about what we ‘do’ in heaven

swinburne
c.s. lewis
gunthrie
hughes

Question 40

heaven as spiritual - against (generic)

Answer 40

• Revelation and Sheep & Goats support idea of physical heaven.

Question 41

heaven as spiritual - against swinburne

Answer 41

• Brian Davies argues just because we can conceive of something doesn’t make it possible. (Against Swinburne)
• Swinburne’s idea of disembodied existence raises issue of identification, how do we recognise our loved ones by their souls?

Question 42

heaven as spiritual - ryle

Answer 42

• Gilbert Ryle argues that when we talk about a soul existing beyond the physical body is a mistake in the way we use language, cannot talk about soul as separate and they are therefore incapable of being separated after death.
o Uses analogy of cricket match. We can observe team members and their tactic, but we cannot ask where the ‘team spirit’ is as it is a separate entity.

Question 43

heaven as spiritual - dawkins

Answer 43

• Richard Dawkins argued there is no separate soul and that these beliefs are wish-fulfilment for those who lack courage and cannot cope with their own mortality.

Question 44

hell as spiritual - rev and thess

Answer 44

• Rev 20:10 - ‘They will be tormented day and night forever and ever’. Vision given to John, metaphor.
• 2 Thess 1:9 - ‘They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction separated from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might’ - hell is separation from God

Question 45

hell as spiritual - matt and kings

Answer 45

• Matt 27:46 - ‘My God, my God, why did you abandon me?’ - At moment of death we are separated from God.
• 2 Kings 17:18-23 and Isaiah 59:2 claims ‘your sins have separated you from your God’

Question 46

hell as spiritual - aristotle papanikolaou and elizabeth prodromou

Answer 46

• Aristotle Papanikolaou and Elizabeth Prodromou in ‘Thinking about Faith’ claim ‘these theological symbols, heaven and hell, are not crudely understood as spatial destinations but rather refer to the experience of God’s presence’

Question 47

hell as spiritual - RCC and CCC

Answer 47

• CCC says, ‘the chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God’
• Catholic Church teaches that hell is eternal for those who have committed mortal sins. It is the result of free choice, ‘self exclusion’ from the presence of God. Does not contradict the omnibenevolent nature of God, down to the individual to exclude themselves.

Question 48

hell as spiritual - c.s. lewis

Answer 48

• C. S. Lewis views hell as being cut off from the love of God forever and eternally unable to know his love and mercy. ‘Whether this eternal fixity implies endless duration - or duration at all - we cannot say’.

Question 49

hell as spiritual - problems

Answer 49

o If your soul is separated from God, where does it go? If hell is not a place, where is your soul if it is not with God?
o If soul is not with God, it challenges omnipresence.
o Surely separation from God is not a punishment if you’re an atheist? A literal hell is more realistic as a punishment. People would suffer physically as opposed to just being separate from God.
o Erases concept of judgement day as literal, denies physicality of Sheep and Goats.
o Where is the line between venal and mortal sins?

Question 50

purgatory as spiritual - popes

Answer 50

• JP II said in 1999 that purgatory was a state of being, ‘the term does not indicate a place, but a condition of existence’
• Pope Benedict XVI said in 2011 that purgatory is an ‘interior fire’.

Question 51

purgatory as spiritual - hick

Answer 51

o Purgatory makes logical sense, it is ‘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’
o Afterlife is a continuation of the ‘person making process’; the time it takes depends on the person.

Question 52

general views of heaven etc. - pannenberg

Answer 52

• He experiences the world in temporal terms, divided into past, present and future.
• God is conscious of a single comprehensive present; the unity of all events in a divine moment is eternity, ‘the truth of time’.
• Eternity is a non-temporal whole; only God is not caught up in temporal time.
• Hick explains ‘eternal life consists in our present earthly life in all its bodily concreteness, though seen in a radically new perspective’
• People will be judged on whether they lived out the message of Jesus, judged on Beatitudes
• Hell is not destruction, but eternity spent under God’s judgement in this life
• Idea of a future judgement is merely a metaphor as are the hope of resurrection, heaven and hell.

Question 53

general views of heaven etc. - criticisms of pannenberg

Answer 53

o What if someone is living in complete depravation and starvation? How can God’s good gift of ‘eternal life’ make this any better?
o Hick asks if this is the best form of eternity an omnibenevolent/potent God can devise?
o Can anyone say they’re truly happy all the time? People are going through the same lives but just with a different perspective.
o Even Christians have bad times.
o Some people in ‘hell’ live really good lives, with luxury etc.

Question 54

general views of heaven etc. - tillich

Answer 54

• He considers immortality to be the eternal presence of his earthly life within the divine memory
• Eternal life is the end of history in the sense of its telos
• Man’s immortality is in the eternal memory of God and that eternal memory is selective, remembers the good but the bad does not pass by into the divine memory
• Man continues to exist in the memory of God
• Goes to idea of Origen who argued hell is each person’s ‘internal anguish’ at being separated from God, felt it would pass away when the world is redeemed
• Tillich feels heaven and hell are metaphors for the polar ultimates in the experience of the divine.

Question 55

general views of heaven etc. - tillich problems

Answer 55

o If we accept Tillich’s view that God forgets the bad, then he essentially forgets what really makes us who we are.
o Fails to acknowledge the real continuation of people’s lives after death.
o Gives God an anthropomorphic portrayal, can’t have a ‘memory’.
o Goes against Christian understanding of heaven in Bible etc. If omniscient, shouldn’t be able to ‘filter out’.

Question 56

general views of heaven etc. - charles hartshorne

Answer 56

• We will continue to exist in God’s infallible memory when we are dead, will have immortal existence in the form of ‘everlasting fame before God’
• Heaven is the conception which God forms of our actual lives
• It is not only all of the good that is immortalised within the divine memory, but also all of the evil
• Evil is eternalised with the good and there is no final resolving of evil in the gradual creation of an ultimate good.

Question 57

general views of heaven etc. - charltshorne problem

Answer 57

o Eternity allows God to immortalise evil and this goes completely against the traditional view of heaven as a place of ultimate good.
o Fails to acknowledge the real continuation of people’s lives after death.

Question 58

general views of heaven etc. - sartre

Answer 58

• In play, ‘Huis Clos’, 3 people are waiting for the conventional idea of hell i.e. burning fire etc.
• Realise there is no hell like this and that hell is living with the deceits, lies etc. on earth. Psychological torture.
• Hell is not a place, but a state of being.
• There is ‘no exit’ to hell, because there is no freedom to be truly individual.
• Says, ‘hell is other people’

Question 59

when does God’s judgement happen? - at end of time: general

Answer 59

o When you are dead you know nothing and the first thing you know is the final judgement before JC, which will happen at the end of time.
o 2 Tim 4:1 - we will be raised and judged when JC comes back
o Parousia believers e.g. literal fundamentalists will believe God’s judgement happens at the end of time, based on Matthew 25
o Most fundamentalists see a period of time when the dead will stay dead and then judgement will happen e.g. premillenialists who believe in the rapture, amillenialists who believe the current church age will end with the coming of JC and postmillennialists which claims God’s judgement will happen at the end of time.

Question 60

when does God’s judgement happen? - at end of time: irenaeus

Answer 60

o Irenaeus put forward view that God’s judgement takes place at the end of time. Before that they will live in a peaceful happiness (‘intermediate state’) whilst they wait for final reward of heaven. Some will be ‘fast tracked’ e.g. saints.

Question 61

when does God’s judgement happen? - at end of time: calvin

Answer 61

o Calvin - people will wait for final judgement either in blissful peace or pain.

Question 62

when does God’s judgement happen? - immediately

Answer 62

o The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
• When Lazarus dies, he immediately goes to heaven.
• When rich man dies, he immediately goes to hell.
• Seems to be a direct going to heaven/hell.
o Jesus’ words on the cross (Luke 23:42-43)
• ‘I promise you that today you will be in paradise with me’

Question 63

are heaven and hell eternal - yes

Answer 63

• Fundamentalist Xians do see heaven and hell as eternal. There is clear evidence in the Bible that it is an eternal dwelling place.
• Augustine sees hell as an eternal lake of fire, dependent upon literal interpretation of Bible.
• Philip Edgcumbe Hughes argues that imago dei means when people die and go to heaven, they will be in an eternal state of bliss.
• CCC claims hell is ‘eternal separation from God’
• Paul Tillich - heaven is the eternal presence of man’s life within the divine memory.

Question 64

are heaven and hell eternal -no

Answer 64

• C. S. Lewis claimed eternal separation from God contradicts the omnibenevolence of God.
• Pannenberg - concept of heaven and hell are symbols of man’s spiritual state on earth.
• Hick claimed that eternal hell contradicts the idea of an omnibenevolent God.

Question 65

is heaven the transformation and perfection of the whole of creation? - yes

Answer 65

• Fundamentalist Xians sees that heaven is the transformation and perfection of the whole of creation. Due to texts such as Rev 21, which speak about the New Jerusalem coming.
• Romans 8:21 and Isaiah 66:22 speaks about heaven as a place that earth will be transformed.
• Calvin speaks about the passing of the current earth where we will be ‘fully renewed’
• N. T. Wright reminds that the New Testament speaks about the coming of God’s kingdom in power and judgement. Does not talk much about ‘going to heaven when you die’, thus, he puts forward the idea of the transformation of all creation.

Question 66

is heaven the transformation and perfection of the whole of creation? - no

Answer 66

• Those who see heaven as a spiritual state rather than a physical place see the scriptures above as metaphors of the perfection of ‘heaven’.
• Donald Gunthrie views language used to describe heaven is just taking every day images of opulence to put forward a concept that ancient hearers could understand, transformation of creation is the ultimate peace from being in the presence of God.
• Pannenberg views time as a non-temporal whole, eternal life exists here and now, cannot be a future transformation of creation.
• Barth interpreted the second coming as the resurrection and Pentecost; transformation is metaphor for the reign of Christianity now.

Question 67

does everyone go through purgatory? - yes

Answer 67

• CCC argues that ‘all who die in God’s grace and friendship’ go through ‘purification’
• Hick - everyone goes through an ‘intermediate state’ as we all die in an imperfect state.

Question 68

does everyone go through purgatory? - no

Answer 68

• CCC argues that some will go directly to heaven e.g. Mary and that some will go directly to hell if they have committed mortal sins
• Protestants reject Purgatory; as there is little Biblical support, view it as a good way for the Church to make money…

Question 69

limited election - bible

Answer 69

Limited Election (only a few Xians will be saved)
•	Luke 13:23, 'many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to'
•	John 14:6, 'I am the way, the truth and the life'

Question 70

limited election - augustine general

Answer 70

o Original sin means no one deserves to go to heaven
o Salvation is an unmerited gift
o Only God’s grace can save/JC’s atoning sacrifice
o People are predestined due to God’s omniscience, God chooses them
o Based this idea on Romans 8:28-30
o The fact that God chooses to save anyone is indicative of his loving nature

Question 71

limited election - augustine divided in 2

Answer 71

o Can divide Augustine’s view in 2
• Single predestination: God elects only those whom he ordains to enter heaven and eternal life
• Double predestination: God ordains those who are to go to heaven but also decrees that the reprobate or sinners are destined for hell and damnation.
o When does this happen?
• Antelapsarian decree: God decreed the elect at the moment of creation
• Postlapsarian decree: God decreed the elect post-Fall

Question 72

limited election - sovereignty of god, calvin

Answer 72

• God’s will is hidden, can’t know what he wants
• We are human and have limited capability of knowledge, limited election cannot be understood
• St Paul (Timothy 2:4) says not all men will be saved as individuals, but as kinds of men
• Should preach Gospel regardless, all have a duty to act morally, don’t know where we are predestined, so should act rightly.
• Developed concept of God’s unshakeable sovereignty.
• God knows who is going to hell/heaven, has control over that process.
• ‘God does not create everyone in the same condition, but ordains eternal life for some and eternal damnation for others’ (Double predestination)

Question 73

limited election - justification by faith alone

Answer 73

o Associated with Luther, drew on Paul’s teaching in Romans:

o ‘He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy’ (Titus 3:5)

Question 74

limited election today

Answer 74

o Influential in US, goes back to Godescalc of Orbais (Gottschalk)
o If Christ died for all people, but only some go to heaven, then it challenges the effectiveness of his death
o If died only for those who will be saved, he has succeeded in his mission
o His death is sufficient to achieve redemption of all, but only effective for the elect
o RCC puts forward single predestination based upon Aquinas’ view that humans are not intrinsically bad. Wicked freely choose hell through committing mortal

Question 75

problems with limited election

Answer 75

o Omnibenevolence? There are criteria of salvation only open to some?
o Questions free will
o If God controls everything, there is little point in us making any effort to act morally if our destiny is predestined
o Doesn’t link to basic idea of JC dying for us all

Question 76

unlimited election bible

Answer 76

• 1 John 2:2 - ‘And Christ himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven, and not our sins only, but also the sins of everyone’
• 1 Tim 2:3-4 - ‘This is good and it pleases God our saviour, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth’

Question 77

unlimited election - barth

Answer 77

• Doctrine designed by Barth, who argued that JC brought salvation for the whole world.
o The election done by God was that he chose to send JC, the elected one into the world with the purpose of saving sinful humanity
o JC is both the ‘electing God and elected man in one’
o God elects to take from us the negative aspect of his judgement, rejects Christ so that humanity is not rejected, punishes elected human Jesus rather than us.
o Humanity cannot be condemned - JC is the elect.
o God can possibly save everyone, but cannot be sure as this would go against divine autonomy.
o Election depends on faith, Church is elect.

Question 78

unlimited election - strengths

Answer 78

o Free will, can choose to accept/reject saving message of God
o Biblical
o Encompasses idea of benevolence/omniscience
o Potential for all to be saved

Question 79

unlimited election - problems

Answer 79

o Brunner argues Barth’s ideas are contrary to the NT and have completely misunderstood the Xian teaching of salvation.
o Fundamentalists feels Barth’s ideas go against Biblical passage of John 14:6.
o Don Carson argues Barth’s ideas diminish human responsibility, as people are not elected according to what they do, punishment rests on JC.
o What about those who deserve to be punished?

Question 80

universalism summary

Answer 80

• 1 Cor 15:22 - ‘for as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive’
• John 14:2 - ‘in my father’s house, there are many rooms’
• Originally put forward by Origen, claimed dualism was fatally flawed. God rules over kingdom for eternity, and Satan over his.
• God will overcome evil and restore creation to its original form (restorationist soteriology)

Question 81

universalism - hick

Answer 81

o Imago dei means we are naturally orientated towards God
o No final opposition between God’s saving will and our human nature, cam save us without undermining freedom
o Universal salvation is basis of Christian hope, can be completely confident of it
o Believes in a series of progressive afterlives where we will undertake purification in the form of ‘soul making’
o Will only be irrevocably fixed when we have reached final state of union with the God of love, not Christocentric but theocentric

Question 82

universalism - barclay

Answer 82

o NT full of Scriptures that support universalism
o Word for punishment is ‘kolasis’ but this means ‘pruning’
o Word for eternal is ‘aionios’, goats are sent away for ‘eternal pruning’ by God
o God’s grace should have no boundaries, should be big enough for everyone
o If God is a father, he cannot be happy without all his children with him

Question 83

universalism general criticisms

Answer 83

o If all people are saved, then it doesn’t matter how we act in this life
o Evangelicals argue that universalism negates the need to preach the Word of God. (However… being good reduces no. of intermediary states)

Question 84

universalism - pope benedict and c.s. lewis criticisms

Answer 84

o Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) argued that Hick’s view makes JC’s death pointless.
o C. S. Lewis claims by saving everyone, God violates our free will. E.g. atheists
o Fundamentalists it goes against Scripture such as John 14:6. If all are saved, the gate is not narrow as described in Matthew 7:13-14

Question 85

evaluation of purgatory as spiritual

Answer 85

• sheep and goats, judgement occurs in this life, not in purgatory
  + Avoids criticism of where purgatory is

Question 86

purgatory as spiritual - rahner

Answer 86

o Metaphorical place, not of great pain but rather, of a self-awareness of sin between death and the last judgement

Question 87

purgatory as spiritual - dante

Answer 87

• existentialist theologian
o Purgatory needs to be reinterpreted as psychological and spiritual ideas of human alienation.
o It is a symbol of a person’s moral and spiritual life as experienced on this earth, rather than after death. The suffering of this world, alongside the epistemic distance, demonstrate a very real separation from the divine, and can be a ‘taster’ of the life to come, and thus a motivation to seek salvation through faith in Christ.

Question 88

evaluation of purg as spiritual

Answer 88

• • Avoids criticism of where purgatory is

* + Kant, need to continue duty beyond afterlife, person-making process