Death and Life After Death (paper 1 - 2.1)

Question 1

Christian beliefs about judgement

Answer 1

• Christians believe that after death the soul lives on in a resurrected body, the way the Christ’s body was resurrected after death.
• Some Christians believe in the Second Coming (Parousia) - the return of Jesus Christ from heaven to earth. This will lead to all people being resurrected from the dead when they will be judged in the Last Judgement.
• In the Bible it also says that a person will be judged by God after they die on how they have lived their lives. They will then go to either heaven, hell or purgatory.
• In the parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus describes heaven as eternal life with God and hell as eternal punishment
• Some believe that judgement will happen in two stages: an initial personal judgement when you die, followed by the judgement of all people at the end of time

Question 2

Why do Christians believe in life after death

Answer 2

• Christians believe that all humans have a soul that has been given to them by God. They believe that after death the soul lives on in a resurrected body, the way the Christ’s body was resurrected after death
• In the parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus describes how those who help the needy will go to heaven after death where they will have eternal life with God and those who don’t will go to hell where they have eternal punishment
• In Corinthians in talks of the earthly body as ‘perishable’ and the body that lives on after death as ‘spiritual’.
• Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.’ This shows that if a person believes in Christ they will be resurrected and have eternal life
• In the Bible it also says that a person will be judged by God after they die on how they have lived their lives. They will then go to either heaven, hell or purgatory

Question 3

Why do some non-religious people
Believe in life after death

Answer 3

• Some non-religious people believe in life after death because they experience what they think are ghosts. These are spirits of dead people that are experienced as a physical presence or as a presence that is sensed
• Others have experience of mediums who claim to be able to communicated between our material world and a spirit world where the spirits of the dead live
• Others may have had a near death experience, where they are near death but they can describe leaving their bodies and seeing themselves from outside their bodies
• Some non-religious people also like to think that the soul lives on after the body dies as this gives them hope for the future that they may see their loved ones again

Question 4

Why do some people not believe in life after death

Answer 4

• Humanists are physicalists and believe that nothing exists beyond the physical world that cannot be proven by science. Science cannot prove that there is life after death, therefore humanists don’t believe in it
• Experiences of ghosts could just be hallucinations and mediums who claim to be able to contact the dead could just be frauds
• A.J Ayer and Richard Dawkins also believe that anything that cannot be proven by science is ‘meaningless’, including life after death
• Near-death experiences are only products of the brain as the result of chemical changes. Since a near-death experience is only experienced by the person having it, they cannot be proven

Question 5

Christian beliefs about the nature of life after death

Answer 5

• Christians believe that after death the soul lives on in a resurrected body, the way the Christ’s body was resurrected after death
• In Corinthians in talks of the earthly body as ‘perishable’ and the body that lives on after death as ‘spiritual’.
• In the Bible it also says that a person will be judged by God after they die on how they have lived their lives. They will then go to either heaven, hell or purgatory
• In the parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus describes heaven as eternal life with God and hell as eternal punishment

Question 6

Christian beliefs about resurrection

Answer 6

• In the Bible it says that a person will be judged by God after they die on how they have lived their lives. They will then go to either heaven, hell or purgatory
• In the parable of the sheep and the goats is about God’ judgment. Jesus describes how those who help the needy will go to heaven after death where they will have eternal life with God and those who don’t will go to hell where they have eternal punishment
• In Corinthians in talks of the earthly body as ‘perishable’ and the body that lives on after death as ‘spiritual’.
• In the Bible it also says that a person will be judged by God after they die on how they have lived their lives. They will then go to either heaven, hell or purgatory
• In the parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus describes heaven as eternal life with God and hell as eternal punishment
• Some Christians believe in the Second Coming (Parousia) - the return of Jesus Christ from heaven to earth. This will lead to all people beingresurrectedfrom the dead when they will be judged in the Last Judgement

Question 7

Christian beliefs about judgement

Answer 7

• Christians believe that after death the soul lives on in a resurrected body, the way the Christ’s body was resurrected after death
• Some Christians believe in the Second Coming (Parousia) - the return of Jesus Christ from heaven to earth. This will lead to all people beingresurrectedfrom the dead when they will be judged in the Last Judgement
• In the Bible it also says that a person will be judged by God after they die on how they have lived their lives. They will then go to either heaven, hell or purgatory.
• In the parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus describes heaven as eternal life with God and hell as eternal punishment
• Some believe that judgement will happen in two stages: an initialpersonal judgementwhen you die, followed by the judgementof all people at the end of time

Question 8

Linear view of human existence

Answer 8

• Christians have a linear view of human existence. This means that God created the universe at the beginning of time and that He creates humans with body and soul that live only once on Earth
• They believe that the soul is immortal and will either go to Heaven or Hell (or Purgatory for Catholics) on Judgment day when God judges a person after death on how they have lived their lives
• It is not only the soul, however, that lives on after death, but Christians believe that the body will be resurrected, meaning raised from the dead as Jesus’ was.

Question 9

Cyclical (view of human existence)

Answer 9

• Hindus believe that the soul (atman) is reborn many times in a cycle of reincarnation or rebirth (samsara).
• What or who you are reborn as is dependent on your karma, which are your actions in your lifetime.
• If you fulfill your dharma (duty) in your lifetime then you will gain positive Karma which will allow you to be reborn into a higher Varna (class).
• The last stage of rebirth is Moksha where your soul escapes the cycle of samsara altogether. Since life contains suffering, Hindus believe that they escape suffering when they achieve Moksha