Immortality Flashcards
What is meant by Death?
When the physical body stops functioning, and their life on Earth in their current physical form ends.
What are the different ideas about life after death?
- Continuation of genes in children and descendants
- Legacy
- Live on in people’s memory
- Rebirth
- Resurrection
- Reincarnation
What is immortality?
The idea that even though an individual is physically dead, they continue to live on in some way.
What do Christians believe about life after death?
We are judged on judgement day/on death and resurrect to heaven (state of eternal happiness in the presence of God) or Hell (state of separation from God, seen as punishment). It can be a physical/spiritual resurrection.
What do Buddhists believe about life after death?
They believe that based on karma, your karma moves through different realms and in the human realm, you have the chance to reach enlightenment to get to nirvana which is the end of Suffering and an escape from the 3 poisons.
What do Hindus believe about life after death?
They believe that your soul reincarnated into different realms due to karma and in the human realm, you can get the chance to be united with Brahman and obtain moksha (escape from the cycle of samsara).
What evidence do Christians use with resurrection?
The bible talks about Jesus resurrecting and raising people from the dead. Jesus also talks about his fathers kingdom.
What evidence do Buddhists use with rebirth.
Teachings of the Buddha.
The Tripitaka (collection of Buddha’s teachings.
Dharma.
What evidence do Hindus use with reincarnation?
Four Vedas
The Upanishads
The Bhagavad Gita.
Problems with accepting scriptures:
Not everyone follows that religion Religious scriptures don't agree therefore one must be right and all the others wrong. Lack detail Can be interpretation differently Conflict with new scientific knowledge.
Evidence of immortality
- Ghosts
- Channelling
- Near Death Experiences
Ghosts as evidence for immortality
Genuine manifestations of dead people and often seen by more than one person. The ghosts walk through walls giving evidence of resurrection of the body in a spiritual form.
http://www.cram.com/flashcards/aqa-gcse-religious-studies-b-immortality-key-words-6650871
http://www.cram.com/flashcards/aqa-gcse-religious-studies-b-immortality-key-words-6650871
Channelling as evidence for immortality
Communicating with the dead through a medium.
NDE’s as evidence for immortality
Some people, when they are close to death or in an intense operation situation, claim to have had a sense of themselves leaving their bodies and seeing what exists
beyond this life;
Many accounts of these events and often they are very similar / share similar qualities.
Dualism
The idea that the mind and body are two distinct elements that makes up a human. (Often the mind / soul in this sense is the spiritual / non physical part of you. It is this part that would continue on after death.
Monism
Monism is the belief that that either the body & soul(Spiritual self) combined make up a person or it is simply the body and that the idea of the soul simply represents the mind’s concept of self awareness. The latter is known as Materialism
Problems with ghost experiences
Ghosts could be hallucinations. It could be a trick of light, a breath of wind, poor eyesight
or a hoax.
Problems with channelling experiences
Some mediums are frauds. Others could be reading the body language of the person.
Problems with NDE’s
NDES are given that name because the person is not actually dead. The experience is the result of
oxygen starvation that causes hallucinations.
Rene Descartes
Descartes argues we cannot doubt the existence of our minds
Because we have individual thoughts –“I think therefore I am.”
Even if we are dreaming, we must still exist to have thoughts. He argued physical body and
mind/soul are made up of different substance.
Richard Dawkins
Belief in the soul is a result of people refusing to accept that there is no purpose to life and he believes that each human is a product of evolution. People only survive by passing on their DNA to the next generation.
Cryonics
involve the preservation of humans in their physical form using low temperatures. Cryonics are used when people can no longer be kept alive by modern medicine, until such a time when the person can be resuscitated using new medicines.
Case Study for Cryonics: Kim Suozzi
At 23 years old, she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. She posted pleas on reddit and Facebook asking for financial aid for her brain to be frozen as soon as she died and aid for when she was finally revived.
Cryonics has a 1/2% chance of offering [me] another shot at life!
Kim Suozzi’s families thoughts:
They were unhappy as she placed more hope in science than accepting her death as final. They believed it was unnecessary as they believed God would one they resurrect all the dead!
