SECTION 4 CHRISTIANITY- TOPIC 1.4.5 DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE

Question 1

Why Christians believe in life after death?

Answer 1

all Christians believe in life after death because:

-The main Christian belief is that Jesus rose from the dead

-St Paul teaches that people will have a resurrection like that of Jesus

-Jesus taught that he would come again at the end of the world for
final judgement, sending people to heaven/hell

-They believe in the immortality of the soul. They believe that when the body dies, the soul leaves the body to live with God.

Question 2

What are the non-religious reasons for believing in an afterlife?

Answer 2

1- Near-death experiences
2- Evidence for a spirit world
3- The evidence of reincarnation
(remembered lives)

Question 3

Near-death experiences

Answer 3

In near-death experiences people often describe feeling peace and joy, a sensation of floating above the body, seeing a bright light, entering another world,
meeting dead relatives and coming to a point of no return.

If near-death experiences are true, then there is a heaven and there is life after death

Question 4

Evidence for a spirit world

Answer 4

Ghosts and Ouija boards appear to give evidence of the spirits or souls of the dead surviving death

Medium is a person who claims to have the gift of communicating
between the material world in which we live and the spirit world inhabited by those who have died

If mediums can contact the dead in a spirit world then there must be a life after death.

Question 5

The evidence of reincarnation (remembered lives)

Answer 5

Many non-religious people claim to have remembered lives; they can
remember themselves in other lives.

Question 6

Other reasons why people believe in life after death

Answer 6

-It gives their lives meaning and purpose

-It gives comfort when a loved one dies

-It seems to be demanded by the nature of justice- the idea of an
afterlife where evil people are punished and the good rewarded makes sense of people’s belief in justice and fair play.