Insights: Death and the Afterlife

Question 1

Christian concept of the soul (early beliefs)

Answer 1

for life after death we are resurrected
- we have souls capable of surviving death
- strong belief that Jesus will come back- second coming of christ
- why do we think this?
–>the pharisees believed in a sort of physical or spiritual resurrection
–> Jesus’ tomb was empty - belief he had resurrected from the dead to eternal life
–> Paul argued our physical body will die but soul will not: “what is sown is perishable, what is raised in imperishable”
–> a person will be ‘glorified’ when resurrected

Question 2

Christian concept of the soul (later/modern Chr beliefs)

Answer 2

• position changed from the belief of the second coming of christ (Parousia), to belief that judgement will take place immediately upon death + that loved ones will go to heaven (or hell)
• Augustine: followed Paul’s idea that death is a punishment for sin-
  morality is a sin and only divine mercy will allow one to escape the literal burning flames of hell
• Aquinas: we have a ‘rational soul’ which enables life after death
• Catholic Church: “the human body shares in the dignity of ‘the image of god” (note: body=soul)
  –> soul is immortal, body is not

Question 3

Christian teaching on heaven: Biblical image

Answer 3

• Kingdom of God is represented as something happening in the here and now (Jesus’ miracles are a glimpse of what heaven is like- eg of the Kingdom of God being lived out in the present) and also as something to hope for in the future
• Paul’s letters: notion of Chr believers being “citizens of heaven”
• Hick: heaven is where the “penalty and power of sin have all been finally eliminated”
• Jesus: the social order will be reversed: ‘the last will come first and the first, last’
• a place to be united w/ loved ones: “Many of our dear ones await us there”
• Beautific visions
  – BIBLE: “blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”

Question 4

Heaven: Catechism of Catholic Church

Answer 4

• Heaven is the “blessed communion with God”
• “Heaven is the ultimate end”
• McGrath: heaven plays a significant part of chr worship (esp Greek Orthodox) and that one is “mystically transported to the threshold of heaven”
• Beautific vision- the ultimate destiny in Catholicism that one will become face to face with god

Question 5

Heaven: Paul Tillich

Answer 5

• Heaven is not a physical place or spiritual state that one achieves at some point in the future, but a link between one’s immortal soul and the eternal memory of God, whilst experiencing earthly (this) life

Question 6

Christian teaching on hell: biblical image

Answer 6

• no concept of punishment, but just an end to worries in the temporal world- Job describes it as where: “the wicked cease from troubling”
• “land of silence” (Psalm)
• idea of punishment emerges from the New Testament: use of word ‘Hades’ which translates to ‘the grave’. word ‘Gehenna’ is the word used to demote future punishment.
• Parable of Rich man and Lazarus: Hell is ‘torment’ + rich man says “I am in anguish in this flame”
• Parable of Sheep+Goats: “Depart from me you cursed, into the eternal fire”

Question 7

Hell: Augustine

Answer 7

• played a crucial role in establishing ideas+beliefs about Hell
• he inspired Dante and Milton
• hell was an instrument of divine justice- existed to counterbalance the evil perpetrated on earth
• wicked evildoers who escaped punishment in their earthy lives will now suffer eternally
  – redressing of the balance of justice: Hick: “the damned are embodied and able to burn everlastingly”

Question 8

Hell: catholic church

Answer 8

• “separated from him forever”
• chief punishment is separation from God

Question 9

Hell: contemporary Chr thought

Answer 9

• not a place of suffering but rather (Peter Hardy): “non-existence or a place of permanent exile from God”

Question 10

Purgatory

Answer 10

a catholic concept- idea of an intermediate station between earthly life and the eternal
- allows the fap to be bridged between one’s imperfect state at death, and the heavenly state in which one will ppt
- New T: purgatory is where one becomes “purified in character and prepared for the beatific vision”
- purgatory will punish someone for their sins, to act as a purifier for heaven
- often used as a method for fraudulence – publicly condemned by Martin Luther

• Gregory of Nysa: process of cleansing and prep for heaven- so ALL have the opportunity to purify themselves
• Catechism: purgatory means the ‘final purification of the elect’ - doff from the punishment of hell
  –> “before the final judgement, there is a purifying fire”

Question 11

Eternity:

Answer 11

• although we see a lot of ‘eternal’ ideas in the Bible, the New T shows different
  –> “till he should pay all his debt” (regards to how long the person is tortured)
• BUT other occasions: ““whoever blasphemies…is guilty of an eternal sin”
• Parable of sheep + goats clearly shows punishment+rewards BUT (Hick says) needs to be put into context: Jesus not trying to make a theological pronouncement but telling one to change their behaviour to avoid self-destruction. There is no purpose in eternal damnation; no moral improvement can be gained
  –> “Unless you repent you will inevitably come to total irretrievable misery”
• However, Aquinas: Eternity means to live compl out of time and space- afterlife is one simultaneous moment

Question 12

Limited Election

Answer 12

• that eternal life in heaven will only be available to the few god has chosen
• Augustine had the idea of predestination, where since the fall we have been lost to sin- only God’s salvation through god’s grace can enable one of eternal reward. Aug argues god chooses who will be chosen from the beginning (limited election)
  –> (he uses Paul to support this): “those whom he predestined he also called”
• Calvin: God is omniscient/potent and so has complete control over everything that happened in the universe- so any choice made by anyone is under god’s control - so god has already determined the destiny of every person

Question 13

Unlimited election

Answer 13

• through God’s grace, salvation will be available to all humankind, but not everyone will accept it
• Barth developed this idea of an UE: God is a loving god + so salvation is available to all who choose it. made possible bc he sent Jesus to save humanity from sin- Jesus ‘elected’ by god

Question 14

Universalist belief

Answer 14

• Hick supports this
• all humanity will be saved and that god has the ability and purpose to fulfil this BUT god created humans w/ free will (bc w/o this we wouldn’t be human beings) SO humans will be saved if they wish to
• Hick said this differs from predestination- we are created beings who have freedom
  –> “no final opposition between God’s saving will and our human nature acting in freedom”

Question 15

Does God’s judgement take place immediately after death or at the end of time? IMMEDIATE

Answer 15

SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT
- Bible: robber crucified next to Jesus is promised life in heaven: “today you will be with me in paradise”
- CA: lack of clarity in scripture and the church
- CA: a story, shouldn’t take literal interp

PART OF CHURCH DOCTRINE (mainstream christianity recognises the impt of personal responsibility for our choices)
- Catholic Church: “all who die in God’s grace…are indeed assured of their eternal salvation”

DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY
- Catholic Church: “after death they undergo purification”
- the fact there is purgatory suggests immediate judgement.
- CA: doctrine of purgatory (although there is some judgement upon death, final judgement is the ultimate goal)

Question 16

Does God’s judgement take place immediately after death or at the end of time? END OF TIME/FINAL

Answer 16

SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT:
- parable of sheep and goats:
- Catechism of CC: “The resurrection of all the dead…will precede the last judgement”
- Nicene Creed (liturgy of CofE): “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”

Question 17

Does God’s judgement take place immediately after death or at the end of time?
BOTH

Answer 17

view that they both form part of the afterlife to be experienced
SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT:
- “All who die in God’s grace…are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification”

Question 18

are heaven and hell eternal?
- yes

Answer 18

SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT
- impression given in the Gospels (parable of sheep+goats): as the “righteous” will go “into eternal life” and those who fail to help the needy will “go away into eternal punishment”
- Paul: he highlights the diff between the temporary ‘earthly tent’ which can be destroyed, and the permanent building from god, “eternal in the heavens. Also, “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ”

• SUPPORTED IN CATHOLIC CHURCH
• impression of eternity also seen in Catechism: mentions the “joy of immortality”
• catholics: “to die in mortal sin…means remaining separated from him for ever”
• CA: denies God’s omnibenevolence
• CA: poor fit w/ modern Chr understanding (tied to more traditional understandings of heaven+hell - idea of eternity doesn’t sit comfortably if one understands them to be symbolic or represented in the present)

Question 19

are heaven and hell eternal?
- no

Answer 19

SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT:
- “You will never get out until you have paid the last penny”

PHILOS
- Aquinas: explored the difficulty of existing in one place forever- he also said that to be in the presence of God is to be beyond time and space- this will be an eternal movement/or single ‘simultaneity’ – one will have a timeless soul that exists w/ god in perfect happiness
- also the arg that living in eternal happiness removes all purpose/meaning from existence

• ‘eternal’ is a v difficult concept - Many theological problems w/ being in heaven/hell for eternity
  —> e.g. AUGUSTINE thinks we all deserve eternal damnation and only gods grace can save us– thus the eternal punishment for finite sin is injustice
• modern christians: believe once one leaves their physical existence, one moves beyond the boundaries of space and time.
• Eternity not to be understood in the sense of a linear continuation of one’s spiritual journey, but a timeless experience of some nature
  –> Aquinas calls it simultaneity
  –> Rahner: describes the afterlife as a “return to the cosmos”
  –> Tillich: refers to one as being “preserved in the memory of God”
• Origen: one of the first to explain the idea of universal salvation, where at the end of time, after sufficient punishment, everyone will be saved
  –> Hick: those who don’t accept the idea of universal salvation instead believe people “passing out of existence rather than as endlessly enduring the torments of hell fire”

-CA: ultimately no one knows
- CA: lack of scriptural support: Jesus+teachings of Church clearly mention eternity

Question 20

Is heaven the transformation and perfection of the whole creation? Yes

Answer 20

• Revelation suggests that there will be a complete transformation: “Behold, I will make all things new.” Although there is still the idea that sinners will be going to Hell.
• The Catechism states:
  “At the end of time…the universe itself will be renewed”
• Gregory of Nyssa saw the end of time as being when the whole of creation would be redeemed.
• For many Christians today, many believe the transformation of creation is part of their obligation as Christians. It is for them to bring about through doing God’s work on earth.

+ve: good fit w/ modern understanding: works well w/ pluralist world that sees everyone working for good as working to transform and perfect the world.

+ve: scriptural support: image portrayed in Revelation are some of the final words of the Bible

+ve: fits the idea of God’s omnibenevolence- in the end god will bring everyone back to a state of happiness
-CA: this undermines the need to be ‘good’- if everyone is going to be saved, why behave morally
-CA: this also trivialises Christ’s death: if everyone will be saved, there’s no purpose in christ dying to save humanity from sin

Question 21

Is heaven the transformation and perfection of the whole creation? No

Answer 21

SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT:
- Catechism still holds that there will be those who cannot/will not be saved: “To die in mortal sin…means remaining separated from him forever”– all has not been perfected
- bible indicates there is a state or place where God is not available- sheep + goats
- not transformed: Bible: ‘Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but …eternal sin.”

SCHOLARS:
- idea that the whole of humanity will be saved is difficult for many Christians. - Joseph Ratzinger: feels it undermines the obligation to behave morally in the here and now- why bother if, in the end, everybody will be transformed?

+ve: scriptural support
+ve: gives purpose to humanity
+ve: supports modern views of freedom of choice (allows us to decide if we will be ‘saved’)

CA: scriptural support for complete perfection– Catechism+revelation both indicate that in the end everything will be renewed.

CA: undermines doctrine of purgatory- if there is not final perfection, what’s the point of purgatory

CA: undermines belief in resurrection- Jesus died so all can be saved- if final perfection is not going to be achieved, this implies Jesus failed.

Question 22

Does everyone go through purgatory? YES

Answer 22

SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT:
- Catholic church: the belief that most humans are not fit to come into the presence of God without some sort of purifying process: “before the Final Judgement, there is a purifying fire.”
- Bible: “he himself will be saved, but only as through fire”
- Gregory of Nyssa:
viewed it as a necessary step to ensure purification before the redemption of the whole of creation.

SCHOLARS:
- Karl Rahner: purgatory is a metaphor for the process where one becomes more aware of their sins+ consequences as they are viewed in the light of God’s grace- this happens between death+afterlife
Hick: those “too imperfect to enter it immediately” and so “purgatory…become purified in character and prepared for the beatific vision”

+ve: fits with chr doctrine: they hold ideas of original sin so only makes sense to be cleansed before God
+ve: allows for repentance: notion that one has the opportunity to redeem oneself from mistakes made in life.

CA; lack of scriptural support- no direct description of purgatory to be found in bible. in fact, bible says the very good and very bad go straight to heaven + hell, so maybe not everyone goes through purgatory

CA; catechism teaching: some go to straight heaven/hell immediately after death, instead of purgatory.

Question 23

Does everyone go through purgatory? NO

Answer 23

• no direct Biblical teaching to suggest purgatory exists- if it doesn’t exist, one cant exp it
• Catechism, there is the idea that some humans are so good they go straight to heaven upon death. Others are so bad, they go straight to hell
• Many Protestants object to purgatory on the grounds that such a doctrine undermines the finality and totality of Jesus sacrifice on the cross. His death was complete, it brings about salvation from all sin and no further process is necessary.

+ve: fits w/ Catholic teaching
+ve:idea of purgatory fits w/ Chr understanding: teaches there will be an immediate and final judgement–> God is omnibenevolent and so offers the chance of salvation – i.e. purgatory serves to link immediate personal judgement and final judgment

CA: no scriptural support + largely limited to catholicism.
CA: speculative- little basis for the doctrine of purgatory- has no solid foundation

Question 24

Important aspects of the parable of the sheep’s and goats