Christian Eschatology and the Afterlife (1RB0)

What happens after death?

One of the oldest human questions is what happens when we die. Christianity answers it through eschatology: beliefs about the last things, meaning death, judgement and life after death. These beliefs give Christians hope, and this module ends by asking whether their real effect is on what Christians expect later or on how they live now.

The words for it

Christian hope turns on one event: the resurrection of Jesus. St Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ has been raised then those who belong to him will be raised too, and that without that the faith would be empty. Six terms follow from it:

The last things

Christians describe a sequence of last things. Put them in the order Christians traditionally teach.

• Death, the end of earthly life
• Resurrection of the dead
• God's judgement of each person
• An eternal destiny: heaven or hell

The Sheep and the Goats

Christians believe each person faces God's judgement. The parable most often set against that belief is the Sheep and the Goats, in Matthew 25. A king separates the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. To one group he says they fed him when he was hungry, clothed him when he was naked and visited him in prison. They protest that they never saw him in any such state. His answer is the line the parable turns on: *"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."* The startling part is that neither group knew. Nobody in the parable was being tested on their beliefs, and nobody realised they were being watched.

What is the basis of judgement?

Here is the parable in summary. Tap the ONE part that states what the separation actually turns on.

• A king separates the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.
• All the nations are gathered before him
• .
• He tells one group they fed him, clothed him and visited him in prison
• .
• Both groups are surprised, and ask when they ever saw him like that
• .
• The two groups go to different eternal destinies

What follows from it?

Select ALL THREE conclusions Christians commonly draw from the Sheep and the Goats.

• Serving someone in need is treated as serving Christ himself, which gives ordinary acts a weight they would not otherwise have
• Neither group knew what they were doing at the time, so the parable is not describing people performing goodness in order to be seen
• A belief about the future can shape behaviour in the present, since what is judged is what is done now
• Only the wealthy are welcomed by God, since only they can afford to give
• Actions towards other people are a side issue compared with holding correct beliefs
• The parable settles the question of whether people are saved by their actions rather than by faith

Read literally or as image?

Christians agree that heaven is eternal life in God's presence and hell is eternal separation from him. They divide over what kind of language that is:

Hearing the difference

A Christian says: "Hell is not somewhere God sends people. It is what it means to have finally turned away from him." Which reading is that, and what is the strongest argument in its favour?

• The metaphorical reading, and its strongest support is that much of the biblical language is drawn from concrete images such as Gehenna, a real valley outside Jerusalem
• The literal reading, since it describes hell as a definite condition rather than a vague idea
• A denial that hell exists at all, since nothing is being described as real
• The Roman Catholic teaching on purgatory, which describes a state rather than a place

Where Christians differ

Roman Catholics additionally hold purgatory: a state of final purification for those who die in God's grace but are not yet ready for God's presence. It is not a second chance, and everyone in it is bound for heaven. Most Protestants reject it, on two grounds: that they do not find it taught in Scripture, and that Christ's death is complete, so nothing further is needed to make a believer ready. Both sides read 1 Corinthians 15 as the ground of resurrection hope. Divergence in Christianity is usually like this: shared foundations, different conclusions drawn from them. Saying so is worth marks, because it shows you know the disagreement is an argument rather than a list.

Whose argument is this?

Belief in action

Four moments where what a Christian believes about the afterlife makes a difference.

• At a funeral, what does belief in the resurrection give a Christian?
• A Christian volunteers weekly at a night shelter and says the Sheep and the Goats is why. What is the connection they are making?
• A Christian says she cannot reconcile eternal hell with a God she believes is loving. What does this tell you about Christian belief?
• A humanist replies that there is no evidence for any afterlife, and that this life matters more precisely because it is the only one. How would a well-argued answer handle that?

Eschatology frame

Eschatology covers the last things: death, _____ and life after death. Christian hope rests on the resurrection of _____, which St Paul defends in 1 Corinthians 15. In the Parable of the Sheep and the _____, people are separated by how they treated others in need. Roman Catholics additionally hold _____, a state of final purification, which most Protestants reject.

Fear, or a call?

A Christian says her belief in judgement is not mainly about being frightened of hell. Read against the Sheep and the Goats, what is she most likely to mean?

• That what the parable describes being judged is how people treated each other, so for her the belief works as a call to act now rather than as a threat about later
• That judgement is not really a Christian belief, and she is quietly setting it aside
• That good actions guarantee a place in heaven regardless of faith
• That hell does not exist, so there is nothing to fear

Evaluate the statement

Exam practice, in the style of a 12-mark question. "For Christians, belief in life after death matters more for how they live now than for what happens later." Evaluate this statement in about 80 words. Include:

• one argument supporting it, using the Sheep and the Goats or another source of authority
• one argument against it, for instance from the resurrection hope in 1 Corinthians 15 or from a non-religious view
• a justified conclusion that says which case you find stronger, and why