Death and the Afterlife

Question 1

Limited Election

Answer 1

The belief that only a few Christians will be saved, those who God has chosen

EKLOGE: Those who have been chosen or called on by God for eternal life

Question 2

The Kingdom of God

Answer 2

This could be

• An actual place
• A spiritual place
• A symbol of the moral life

Question 3

Scripture supporting the existence of the Afterlife

Answer 3

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whoever believed in him, shall not die, but have eternal life’ - John

Question 4

Criticisms of Limited Election (x2)

Answer 4

Scriptural support for unlimited election

Not coherent with a Christian God for virtuous people to be condemned because there is only so many rooms in Heaven, or they did not get God’s grace

Question 5

Criticisms of Unlimited Election

Answer 5

Unless Karl Rahner’s ANONYMOUS CHRISTIANS exist, unlimited election is unfair, as not everyone has the Bible and you need to believe in Jesus to go to Heaven

Question 6

Orthodoxy V Orthopraxy

Answer 6

Orthodoxy: Correct belief

Orthopraxy: Correct conduct

Question 7

Arguments for Universal Election (x3)

Answer 7

John Hick argues that an omnibenevolent God would save everyone, regardless of their beliefs

Not everyone has access to the Bible, so it is unfair to damn people eternally. (They could be Rahner’s ANONYMOUS CHRISTIANS, but will lack orthodoxy as they do not believe in Jesus (‘whoever believes in him…’))

Eternal punishment is neither purposive or educative, so would not be used by an omnibenevolent God

Question 8

Criticism of Universal Election (x4)

Answer 8

Cardinal Ratzinger argued that universal election could not be the case, as otherwise Jesus’ crucifixion would have been pointless

No scriptural support

Arguably unjust to put wicked and virtuous people in the same place as it means actions lack consequences

Hick’s ‘TRANSCATEGORICAL GOD’ is patronising to other religions, as it deems them as a cultural expression rather than genuine and serious beliefs

Question 9

Universal Election (x2)

Answer 9

Everyone achieves salvation, regardless

According to Hick once people die, there is a ‘vale of soul-making’ where people come closer to God

Question 10

Arguments for Unlimited Election (x4)

Answer 10

Scriptural support x4 (John, Matthew, Luke and John)

Pelagius’ salvation by merit is a form of unlimited election and is JUST

Karl Barth argued that Jesus died precisely so that everyone had a chance at salvation, and this is supported in John

St Cyprian of Carthage state ‘Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus’

Question 11

Unlimited Election Scriptural Support (x4)

Answer 11

‘No one comes to the Father, except through me’ - John

‘Many are invited, but few are chosen’ - Matthew

‘Do your best to go through the narrow door; many will try to go in, but will not be able to’ - Luke

‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him, shall not die,, but have eternal life’ - John

Question 12

Unlimited Election

Answer 12

All people have the CHANCE to be saved, but not all ARE

Question 13

Arguments for Limited Election (x4)

Answer 13

God’s omniscience means that there is PRE-DESTINATION, so some people are fated to achieve salvation while others are not

John Calvin’s interpretation of Revelation means that 144,000 people will be ‘sealed’ in Heaven

St Augustine thought that only those with God’s grace could achieve salvation, as humans have a ‘divided will’ . Salvation by grace.

Scripture, such as Saul on the Road to Damascus in Acts shows how grace is necessary for salvation

Question 14

Hell as a Non-Physical Place (x4)

Answer 14

‘Rather than a place, Hell indicates the state who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy’ - Pope John Paul II

‘Hell is state of mind- never a truer word said’ - CS Lewis

‘Interior anguish’ is Hell according to Origen and Paul Tillich

Gregory of Nyssa thought that a guilty conscience was Hell

Question 15

Arguments for the existence of Hell (x4)

Answer 15

Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. ‘These then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life’ - Matthew

The Richman and Lazarus LUKE

Pope Benedict XVI believed in Hell and Pope Francis thinks that Hell is real, but empty due to the beatific vision

Hell is JUST

Question 16

Arguments for the Existence of Purgatory (x2)

Answer 16

In Revelation it states that ‘nothing unclean shall enter Heaven’, so it makes sense that there is a period of cleansing

Purgatory fits with the idea of an omnibenevolent God, as it is informative and purposive

Question 17

Against the Existence of Purgatory (x3)

Answer 17

Purgatory is never explicitly mentioned at any point in the Bible

If, as Pope Francis believes, purgatory and the BEATIFIC VISION means that Hell is empty, there seem to be no reason for the existence of Hell

Purgatory was invented by the Catholic Church to make money from indulgences

Question 18

Embodied Afterlife (x4)

Answer 18

‘Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all those who are in their graves will hear his voice’ - John

Humans require senses to experience things, so to experience Heaven, humans need a body

Jesus, Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus all had physical resurrections

‘As for this useless servant, throw him outside in the darkness; there he will cry and gnash his teeth’ - Matthew

Question 19

Disembodied Afterlife (x4)

Answer 19

If there is an embodied afterlife, the afterlife must be a physical place. No such place has ever been discovered

‘What is made of flesh and blood cannot share in God’s kingdom’ - Corinthians

Cremation suggests a disembodied afterlife and an embodied afterlife is cruel to those with severe disabilities and gender dysphoria

‘Our bodies will return to the dust of earth and the breath of life will go back to God’ - Ecclesiastes

Question 20

For A Physical Afterlife (x3)

Answer 20

‘In my Father’s house are many rooms’ - John

‘They will be like a well-watered garden; they will have everything they need’- Jeremiah

Many Chrisitians believe that the afterlife could be the transformation of the Earth into its pre-lapsarian state

Question 21

Against a Physical Afterlife (x3)

Answer 21

‘They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads’ - Revelations

Bernard Williams thought that a physical afterlife would lead to the TEDIUM OF IMMORTALITY

Friedrich Schleiermacher argued that knowledge of the misery of Hell would taint the experience of Heaven

Question 22

Immediate Afterlife (x4)

Answer 22

‘Today you will be with me in paradise’ - Luke

‘It is your sin that separates you from God’ - Isaiah

It is surely unfair and thus incoherent with a Christian God for humans to be judged collectively rather than individually

All predictions about the second coming (parousia) have so far been incorrect

Question 23

Delayed Afterlife (x4)

Answer 23

Near-Death Experiences have not experienced Heaven, suggesting a delay between death and the afterlife

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew suggests that there is a final judgement called Parousia and that Jesus will return

‘And then he will reward each person’ - Matthew

‘No one has ever gone into Heaven, except the one who came from Heaven’ - John

Question 24

Arguments against the Existence of Hell (x3)

Answer 24

Eterna punishment cannot be educative or reformative, so cannot be purposive, so is not coherent with an omnibenevolent God

Friedrich Schleiermacher thought that knowledge of the misery of Hell would taint a human’s experience of Heaven

If Hell is a physical place, then it requires a physical location and such a location has yet to be found

Question 25

Purgatory (x3)

Answer 25

Purgatory is a temporary ‘cleansing fire’ and a ‘purposive punishment’ according to the Catholic Church

‘All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven’ - Catechism

Purgatory is a self-inflicted mental pain as you become aware that your actions have separated you from God according to Karl Rahner

Question 26

Hell (x5)

Answer 26

Dante theorised of a physical place of punishment

Hell is also known as Hades or Gehenna

Perdition: State of eternal punishment

‘For mortal sin, which is contrary to charity, a person is expelled forever from the fellowship of the saints and condemned to everlasting punishment’ - Aquinas

‘As for the cowardly and faithless, their destination will be the lake that burns with fire and sulphur’ - Revelations