Traditional Christian teaching on purgatory, heaven and hell Flashcards
What message does the rich man and Lazarus give a clear message of?
The fact that there will be a separation after death between some kinds of people and others.
Outline the story of the rich man and Lazarus
The rich man had been too interested in material possessions and has ignored the poor man at his gate, is sent into eternal punishment, whilst Lazarus is united with Abraham in heaven. In this story, the inhabitants of heaven and hell are aware each other, but are unable to do anything about their position
Where is the story of the rich man and Lazarus documented?
Luke’s gospel
What is the traditional Christian teaching regarding heaven?
place where after death, the faithful will go
What is heaven understood to be…
place where God lives, seated on his throne and surrounded by his angels
How is the metaphor of ‘God the Father’ used in the context of heaven?
Heaven is seen in terms of the family home, the place where an adult might return to stay with his or her father. The Lords prayer, for example, begins ‘our father, who art in heaven…’. In John’s gospel, Jesus tells his disciples: ‘my father’s house has many rooms; If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?’.
What ideas does the metaphor of ‘God the Father’ (used in the context of heaven) convey?
conveys ideas of comfort, return and familiarity under the authority of unconditional love
What passage, in the book of Revelation, is another metaphor for heaven?
REVELATION 21:21
‘the great street of the city was gold, as pure as transparent glass’
What does REVELATION 21:21, ‘the great street of the city was gold, as pure as transparent glass’ mean?
there will be so much wealth around the people that people can even afford to walk on it; no one will go without
In terms of ‘negatives’, how is heaven described?
somewhere where there will be no more suffering, no pain, and no death, where sin will be washed away and people will be purified and live in peace
How have Catholics usually expressed their understanding of heaven?
in terms of the beatific vision described by Thomas Aquinas
How have Protestants usually expressed their understanding of heaven?
as an everlasting existence, where people would live in the presence of God, reunited with their loved ones and able to worship God every day
What did Bernard Williams wonder?
Whether an eternity in heaven would really be desirable - surely however pleasurable heaven was at the beginning when we first arrived, it would become up boring after awhile? We would have literally all the time in the world, and so we will be able to do and achieve everything we wanted, especially if we had perfected bodies so that we were not hindered by physical limitations. Every target that we set for ourselves would be achievable, even if it took a long time to get there. If we wanted to learn to play an instrument, we would have forever to master it; In fact, we would have to master them all and to invent new ones - and then what? Whatever we wanted to do, we would be able to do it and perhaps the excitement of anticipation would disappear.
What was the main argument Bernard put forward?
that part of the pressure of living is making choices about what we will do with our limited lifespans, and setting ourselves of challenging objected which we might or might not be able to achieve, to that if and when we do achieve them, we feel a sense of pride. However, if we have time to choose absolutely everything, and have infinite times about eventually everything is achieved, the pleasure is gone. He describes a possible scenario in which a woman is experiencing eternal life and hating it.
What is a response to Bernard William’s objections?
in heaven, God would make sure that this did not happen; we might miraculously never be bored, just as we would never be sad and never suffer in the afterlife
