Life After Death Flashcards
Realism
- There are absolute truths
- ‘Correspondence theory of truth’ Things are true if and only if they correspond to the actual state of affairs
Anti-realism
- There are no absolute truths. Relative
- ‘Theory of coherence of truth’ Things are if they fit with other truths in your life. If YOU think he world is flat then it is flat
Jason Whitlark- an age to come
Is the kingdom of God heaven???
- Jesus thought the end times were really close at hand
- Such radically world-rejecting obedience when Jesus is called could only be demanded in the face of an imminent and cataclysmic appearance of the kingdom of God
- Jesus will come back and the kingdom of God will come down
Revelation 21 (Is the kingdom of God heaven???)
- “Then I saw a new Heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away”
- “Now the dwelling of God is with men”
- “There will be no more death or mourning, crying or pain”
- Jesus coming back is a parousia
- There will be a new glorious state
C.H Dodd- something already happened
Is the kingdom of God heaven???
- realised escatology
- The study of end times
- The end is here
- Kingdoms close absolute presence
G.E Ladd- present and future
Is the kingdom of God heaven???
- The kingdom of God, as preached by Jesus, was both present and future
- with the coming of Jesus, God’s salvic reign has been inaugurated but its full realisation was still to happen in the future
- Something that had been partially realised but still needed to be fully realised
Matthew 26:29
“I tell you I will never drink again this wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in my fathers Kingdom”
Matthew 25:34
“Then the King will say to the people on his right ‘come, you that are blessed by my father! Come and posses the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.”
Mark 1:15
“The right time has come he said and the kingdom of God is near! Turn away from your sins and believe the good news.”
Boethius- A timeless view
- God is changeless and does not exist in time
- He saw ‘the whole simultaneous and perfect possession of unending life’
- Life for God is not like ours which involves change and passing time
- No past present and future
- Unchanging
Boethius strengths and weaknesses
- supports God being omniscient
- Unchanging God
- Sees your entire life and judges your actions carefully
- Free will and consequences for own actions
- Can’t intervene so not omnipotent
- Not personal
Richard Swinburne- an everlasting view
- God exists in all points inside time but does not exist outside of time
Richard Swinburne strengths and weaknesses
- personal and omnipotent
- can intervene
- God would have to abide by the rules of time
- Can’t see all of time at once so how can judge human life
Protestant Christians
Christian attitudes to Heaven
- perfection
- Resurrection of the body and everlasting life
- Physical Heaven
Catholic church
Christian attitudes to Heaven
- ‘Beatific vision’ where you can see God face to face
- Aquinas
- Meeting of souls outside of time and space
- “State of supreme, definitive happiness”
St Paul
Christian attitudes to Heaven
- The body will be transformed and radically changed
- Resurrection of the bodies will be spiritual and glorified and no longer capable of being corrupt or destroyed
- Life on earth=temporary and fragile
Weaknesses of a physical Heaven
- Our bodies would need to be eternal
- We can’t exist outside of time and space. Would have to be inside
- How would our bodies get there???
- size of Heaven???
- God couldn’t be timeless
- What would we look like in Heaven???
Weaknesses os spiritual Heaven
- Being able to recognise other dead people
- you can’t take it literally
- What would a timeless Heaven look like???
Bernard Williams
Christian attitudes to Heaven
- Heaven would be a dull and boring place
- Em was 342. She died at 42 and remained at 42 for 300 years
- Do the same things over and over again
- Weakness=Heaven can’t be both timeless and everlasting, can’t be inside and outside of time and space at the same time