Religion and Afterlife Flashcards
protestant views on resurrection
see heaven as more of a community where people meet and recognise one another. some see resurrection as a spiritual event which involves the soul going to god- not a physical body
general definition of resurrection
the belief in an afterlife that involves the embodied existence of individuals
resurrection in early christian teaching
believed in a bodily resurrection but later redefined. jesus was resurrected and this is important. apostles creed: ‘the resurrection of the body’
catholic views on resurrection
most souls go to purgatory- punished, purified. after purgatory we can be a person again. beatific vision- the timeless beatific vision is the final end of humans - it is the state where we see him ‘face to face’
resurrection in the new testament
based on the bodily resurrection of jesus. st paul claimed that if christ did not rise from the dead then faith is in vain. if jesus was resurrected his followers can also hope for a similar bodily resurrection after death. when we are resurrected the resurrected body will be better than body now- it will be imperishable
muslim views and resurrection
belief in the afterlife: ‘Akhira’
involves the seperation of the righteous from the wicked. deeds done in the body will either be rewarded for good or punished for bad. you remain in heaven or hell eternally- but this is inconsistent with belief that allah is all mericful
christian quotes to support resurrection
‘even if he dies, he will live’
‘the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life’
‘it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body’
what are the main issues to overcome with hinduism and reincarnation
personal identity, continuity and idea of punishment-is it fair to be punished for something you don’t remember?
strengths of reincarnation
solves P.o.E to an extent-Moksha-shows why some suffer
memories aren’t always the key to identity (eg a person with alzheimers)
dualism - more than just a body- can be comforting
there is justice in the end- natural cycle
good for near death experiences
stevenson evidence
stevenson’s evidence for reincarnation- example of a girl from Pathak family
1- a child in india was taken at 3 years old to a town 170 miles away from where she had lived all her life. when she arrived she commented on how it had changed and pointed out the road where ‘her house’ was. you could not see the house from the road but her descriptions corresponded very closely with the building. she also knew dances that she claimed she had learned when she was a member of the Pathak family. when she met the pathak family she recognised each of them and greeted them with ‘warm affection’
stevenson evidence for reincarnation- imad
claimed to remember belonging to another family and the village he lived in even though he had never been there before- he knew the names of his family and the village. from 18 months he was talking of a previous life and he spoke of an accident and how pleased he was he could walk again. the family checked this and it appeared as if he was Mahmoud Bouhmazy who was in a truck accident which left him unable to walk- but he still lived in the village. although imad never claimed it was him who couldn’t walk
general weaknesses of reincarnation
there is a break in continuity- if i don’t have the same body or mind how am i still the same person?
there is a major lack of evidence- only a small number of people have memories of a past life
reincarnation may just be CRYPTOMNESIA- this is where a person thinks they remember something but it was actually from another source such as parents or novel
Geach’s criticism of reincarnation
in his argument he argued that even the experience of continued memories between different bodies would not be sufficient to claim the same identity, for such ‘memories’ could be accounted for in different ways and memories can be mistaken. it is difficult therefore to make sense of the idea that it represents continued existence
how is reincarnation unjust?
reincarnation merely postpones justice, there is no immediate explanation for suffering. how it is just to be punished or rewarded for a life i can’t remember or be responsible for?
problems with stevenson’s evidence
it occurs in cultures where there is prior belief in reincarnation
