self, death and the afterlife Flashcards
1
Q
what is the jewish concept of the soul?
A
- in the OT there are two Hebrew words for soul: nephesh, ruack
- They are associated with the principle of life
- the word is often linked with the word ‘heart’ which was thought of as the seat of will
- in the teaching of jesus, the word is used alongside ‘heart’ and ‘mind’ almost in the sense of ‘inner self’
2
Q
what is the greek concept of the soul?
A
- plato thought there were two spheres of reality:
- the imperfect world – humans live and only have a partial understanding of reality and truth
- the world of forms – the body perishes at death but the soul is immortal and after death it returns to the world of forms before experiencing reincarnation.
3
Q
what is the modern thinking on the soul?
A
- physical and mental/spiritual dimensions being inextricably linked and both perishing at death.
- psychologists use the term psyche to refer to what makes a person an individual
4
Q
what is the christian thinking of the soul?
A
- the soul and physical body are seperate
- the soul is given by God before birth and taken away after death
5
Q
what do some christians believe about a spiritual resurrection?
A
- the body decomposes and the soul lives on with God
- the resurrection is spiritual not physical
- the analogy of the butterfly; the various stages of the lifecycle are physically totally different, yet the essential identity is the same
6
Q
what are the key beliefs about the resurrection of Jesus?
A
- central tenet of the christian faith for a number of reasons:
- it forms the basis of Christian hope of life after death
- Paul expressed the sheer pointlessness of life after death if Jesus’ resurrection is false
- all 4 gospels state that the tomb was empty
- it was a unique event
7
Q
what quote does St Paul say about the resurrection of jesus?
A
- And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile… if only for this life we have hope in christ, we are of all people most to be pitited – corinthians
8
Q
what do all 4 gospels have in common about Jesus’ resurrection?
A
- his friends knew it was Jesus, though not necessarily immediately
- he was the same yet different and not subject to human limitations
9
Q
what implications did Jesus’ resurrection being a unique event have?
A
- Jesus through God’s power conquered death, which opened the possibility of eternal life after death for humanity
10
Q
What did Augustine believe about the resurrection of flesh?
A
- Jesus’ death achieved atonement and his physical resurrection showed what was a possibility
- Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was physical
- God could perform the same miracle for anything with a soul
- both the spiritual and physical affects of sin would be erased
- this thinking can also be seen by the CC
11
Q
what did Augustine believe about the Fall
A
- the fall effected not only Adam and Eve but all of humanity
- every human is infected with sin in every aspect of their being: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual
- humans are totally dependent on God’s grace to deliver them from the eternal punishment that sin merits
12
Q
why is Corinthians significant for the resurrection?
A
- Paul based his belief on 1 corinthians 15
- he believed in the resurrection of the
physical earthly body rather than
immortality of the soul. - he believed that the second coming of christ
and the end of the world of human
experience were imminent
- he believed in the resurrection of the
13
Q
what are the catholic teachings on the afterlife
A
- the catholic church believe in two types of judgment
- particular judgement
- general judgement
- those who are without sin are directed immediately to heaven
- those who knowingly and deliberately reject gods love and mercy and those who have commited mortal sin and have not repented go to hell
- those whose venial sins have noy been remitted are directed to purgatory, where they will be prepared for heaven
14
Q
what is particular judgement
A
- the judgement that takes place straight after death and determines the eternal fate of the individual
15
Q
what is general judgement
A
- the judgement that takes place at the second coming of christ and is upon humanity as a whole
16
Q
what is general judgement
A
- the judgement that takes place at the second coming of christ and is upon humanity as a whole
17
Q
what is venial sin
A
- less serious sin that do not lead to eternal seperation from god
18
Q
what is mortal sin
A
- very serious sin that will result in eternal separation from god if those who commit them do not seek gods forgiveness
19
Q
what are the features of the belief that the afterlife is physical
A
- its the view that was almost universally held in the west until modern times the powerful saw it as a way of controlling the peasants
- at the end of the world, christ will return in all glory to judge all humans according to their deeds
- those assessed as holy will be taken to heaven by angels
- those whos sins are venial undergo a period of cleansing suffering and pain and yhis will enable them to enter heaven
- those who have commited mortal sins will be fast into hell to suffer torment for eternity
20
Q
what are the features of the idea that the afterlife is spiritual
A
- modern catholic thinking understands the afterlife as spiritual
- the view of judgement is similar to that of Eastern churches, with a two fold judgement
- heaven and hell are spiritual states
- hell results from the deliberate choice of mortal sin without repentance and refusing gods offer of forgiveness
- purgatory doesnt exist
21
Q
why do some christians reject the idea of purgatory and particular and general judgement
A
- it involves the language of space and time, which ends at death
- there can only be one spiritual judgement, which takes place at death
22
Q
what are the key features of the belief that the afterlife is a psychological reality
A
- some christians reject the idea of life after death as it lacks empirical evidence. they believe in living in such a way as to bring heaven on earth
- others think of judgement, heaven and hell as products of the human mind
- a life lived in accordance with ones convictions is spiritually fulfilled and so the individual experiences joy, etc
- the opposite is true for one whose life is one of inner conflict and this may lead to the need for psychotherapy
23
Q
what do process theologians believe about life after death
A
- most process theologians believe in objective immortality. all individual beings remain eternally as objects in the mind of god. in that sense they never die
- process theologians reject the idea of subjective immortality, which is the belief held by most christians that after death, humans exist as thinking beings with continued experiences
