Christian Eschatology and the Afterlife (1RA0)

The last things

Eschatology means beliefs about the "last things", and it is one of those topics where the marks go to precise words. Five carry most of this module:

Put them together

_____ is the study of the last things: death, judgement and life after death. Christians believe that Jesus rose from death, an event they call the _____, and that after death each person faces God's _____. Roman Catholics also believe in _____, a state of purification before heaven, which most Protestant Christians do not accept.

Hope in resurrection

Everything else in this topic rests on one claim. Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and that this is not only something that happened to him. St Paul works this out at length in 1 Corinthians 15, arguing that if Christ has been raised then those who belong to him will be raised too, and that without that the whole faith would be empty. John's Gospel records Jesus saying, "I am the resurrection and the life." So when an exam answer explains Christian hope in the face of death, the resurrection of Jesus is where it starts. An answer that reaches heaven without going through it has skipped the reason.

Why does it matter?

For many Christians, why does Jesus rising from death change how they face their own death?

• Because they believe it is the pattern and the promise of their own resurrection, not only something that happened to him
• Because they believe it proves that God exists
• Because it shows Jesus was a wise moral teacher worth following
• Because it means Christians will not die

The sheep and the goats

Christians believe that after death each person faces God's judgement. The clearest teaching on what that judgement looks at is a parable Jesus tells in Matthew 25. A king separates people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, and the basis of the separation is not belief, wealth or status. It is what they did for people who were hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick or in prison. The line the parable turns on is the answer the king gives them: *"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."* The parable is quoted so often in this topic because of that line. It identifies God with the people most easily ignored, which is why many Christians treat practical care for others as something their faith requires rather than something extra.

Working it out

Three moments where these beliefs meet real life. Choose the response that best fits Christian teaching.

• Which of these would the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats most directly support?
• A friend says: "So Christians only help people in order to avoid hell." How might a Christian reasonably reply?
• At a funeral a Christian says they grieve, but "not as those who have no hope". Which belief are they drawing on?

Shared, and not shared

Examiners reward answers that know the difference between what Christians broadly agree on and where they genuinely differ. Presenting one tradition's view as "the Christian view" is the commonest way to lose marks in this topic:

Which are shared?

Select ALL THREE statements that Christians would broadly agree on.

• The dead will be raised to new life
• Each person will face God's judgement
• Christian hope for life after death rests on the resurrection of Jesus
• Souls are purified in purgatory before entering heaven
• Heaven and hell are definitely literal, physical places
• People return to earth in another body after death

Belief into practice

The twelve-mark question

The last question on this paper is worth 12 marks and begins "Evaluate this statement". It is the question this whole topic is really assessed by, and it is marked on structure as much as content. Four things have to be there: • Arguments supporting the statement, with reference to religious belief and teaching. • Arguments against it, again with reference to religion, and where Christians differ, say so. • Both sides genuinely weighed, rather than listed one after the other. • A justified conclusion: which side you find stronger, and why. The commonest way to lose half the marks is to argue one side beautifully and stop.

Build the evaluation

Put the parts of a strong twelve-mark answer into the order they should appear.

• Say what the statement is claiming, in your own words
• Give arguments supporting it, referring to Christian belief and teaching
• Give arguments against it, including where Christians themselves differ
• Weigh the two sides directly against each other
• Reach a justified conclusion saying which is stronger, and why

What is wrong here?

A student answers "Evaluate the statement: hell must be a real place" with three strong paragraphs arguing that it is, each supported by scripture, and then stops. What is the main weakness?

• It gives only one side. The question needs arguments against as well, and a conclusion weighing them
• It is too short for twelve marks
• It should not refer to scripture in an evaluation
• It should have opened with the conclusion

Write the other side

Exam practice. A student has argued that heaven and hell must be literal places. In about 60 words, write the OTHER side of the evaluation. Include:

• at least one argument that they are better understood as states of being with or without God
• reference to Christian belief or teaching, not only to opinion
• an acknowledgement that Christians themselves differ on this

Eschatology frame

Eschatology covers death, judgement and life after death. Christian hope rests on the _____ of Jesus, who is recorded as saying "I am the resurrection and the life". After death each person faces God's _____, and the Parable of the _____ and the Goats teaches that it weighs what was done for those in need. Christians differ on some of this: Roman Catholics also believe in _____, and Christians read heaven and hell either as places or as states of being.