SECTION 1 JUDAISM- TOPIC 2.1.8 JEWISH BELIEFS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH Flashcards
Scriptural teachings about life after death
-belief in existence after death.
-Torah indicates in several places that the righteous will be reunited with their loved ones after death
-wicked will be excluded from this reunion
SOWAA FOR LIFE AFTER DEATH
“the dust returns to the ground it came from, and
the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Different Jewish understandings of life after death
Resurrection
Judgement
Heaven and Hell
Resurrection
“I believe with perfect faith that there will be a resurrection”
(13 POF)
diff interpretations
resurrection of the dead will be:
-during the Messianic Age
-after the Messianic Age
-only the righteous will be resurrected.
the Messianic Age.
Judgement
“He will judge the world”
-that judgement will be based purely on
behaviour
-that all good people will go to heaven
-that judgement will be based on a combination
of belief and behaviour
-concentrate on this life rather than
worrying about the details of an afterlife
Heaven =
Gan Eden
Hell=
Gehinnom
Heaven and Hell
different beliefs
-the souls of righteous ascend to heaven
-souls of ordinary people go to a place of punishment
-Gehinnom is more like the Catholic purgatory and that souls are purified of their sins through punishment
and fire.
-that Gehinnom is a place where souls have
a chance to review what they have done with their lives on earth and repent for their wrong actions. this period will last 12 months and then rise to heaven and await resurrection
-truly wicked are destroyed by God and so cease to exist.
Why is belief in life after death important for Jews
today?
-teaching of the Tenakh.
-teaching of the Talmud. (oral discussions of torah by rabbis)
-one of the Thirteen Principles of Faith
-gives their lives meaning and purpose.
-
What are the major differences in Christian and Jewish beliefs about life after death?
J-Messiah will come and bring in the Messianic Age at
the Last Day
J-at end of the world the Jewish people will bring all the non-Jews to worship God.
C (conservative- Jesus will return and bring last day
C (Liberal ) -do not believe in the Last Day
Major similarities about life after death between Christians and Jews
-Both Christians and Jews believe this life is not all there is and that there will be life after death.
-Both Christians and Jews believe that good people will go to heaven.
-Both Christians and Jews believe there will be some form of judgement after death based on how people have lived on earth.
