AQA A-Level Religious Studies - Self, Death and Afterlife (Christianity)

Explain why many christians believe the purpose of life is to glorify God - why and how do they do this?

• To glorify means to praise and worship - an essential part of christian life.
• Christians believe God is the omnipotent creator and controller of the universe, therefore is worthy of worship.
• Humans have an important duty to glorify God as they are made imago dei.
• Part of this involves caring for his creation.

Matthew 5:16
"Let your light shine before others, …

that they may see good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Explain how Matthew 5:16 supports the belief that the purpose of life is to glorify God.

• Christians should perform good deeds as this will lead to people thanking/glorifying God.
• Christians are God's representatives - their actions should represent him well and reflect his love.
• St Teresa of Avila: "Christ has no body now but yours".

Explain how Christians believe they can have a personal relationship with God

• Through praying to God and seeing him as a heavenly Father, as Jesus has taught them.
• St Paul said that Christians have a personal relationship with God through faith and Jesus, who is God incarnate.
• Christians can develop a personal relationship with God through the Holy spirit.

Why do many Christians believe the purpose of life is to prepare for judgement?

• Christianity is an eschatological religion, focused on preparing for life after death.
• Judgement is the traditional Christian belief that after death, people's lives will be assessed by God. End of life is not end of existence.

How do Christians actively prepare for judgement?

• performing good works - parable of the sheep and the goat.
• prayer and Bible study - strengthening faith and commitment to God.
• Pray for forgiveness of sins, put faith in JC and his crucifixion.
• attending church, participating in sacraments and evangelising.
• Avoiding sin - don't break the 10 commandments.

According to St Augustine's understanding of Genesis, what was the consequence of Adam and Eve's disobedience?

St Augustine is known for the original sin doctrine.
Their disobedience brought about the fall - a fall from Grace.
As a result of their actions, there is a separation between heaven and earth. This is also where natural evil originated from.

• All humans adopt original sin.
• Everyone needs salvation through JC.
• In the same way that sin has entered the world through man, it can only be overcome by man.

Mark 1:15
"The kingdom …

of God has come near."

Explain why some Christians believe the purpose of life is to bring about God's kingdom on earth.

• Kingdom if God was a key concept in Jewish thinking. - many thought it symbolised the coming of the Messiah.
• The key christian beliefs is that Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God.
• Some believe the Kingdom of God is something to be fully actualised in this world - a society transformed by Gospel values, stewardship and justice.
• some christians believe the kingdom of God will be fully realised eschatologically - Jesus will complete this with his second coming.

St Teresa of Avila:
"Christ has no …

body now but yours."

Reza Aslan:
"The fist century was an era of …

apocalyptic expectation among the Jews of Palestine."

Explain what Reza Aslan mean when he writes that "The first century was and era of apocalyptic expectation among the Jews of Palestine."

• The first century was a time of apocalyptic expectation.
• People at the time were anticipating the end of the world.
• Therefore Jesus' eschatological teachings would not have approved radical at the time - end of the world was immanent.
• What was radical was about Jesus. Teachings was his preferential option of the poorest.
• Jews of palestine were looking for the Messiah, who would liberate them from the Roman occupation.
• Jesus' followers believed that Jesus was the Messiah - yet many did not.
• The belief that the end of the world is near was found in the teaching of Paul - they urged earlier Christians to bo celibate.

Matthew 5:
"Blessed are …

the peacemakers."

How do Christians work to bring about God's kingdom on earth?

• working to create the kingdom.
• engaging in liberation theology - emphasising the liberation of the oppressed, engaging politically in order to do this.
• today 2.4 billion people are christian.
• promoting peace.
  -promoting and embodying christian values.
  -promoting good works.
• empowering the poor and oppressed.
• protesting against injustice, such as Martin luther King Jr and racial inequality.
• giving to those in need.
• dedicating their lives to following Jesus.

Explain why some Christians may disagree with the approach with spreading love for the kingdom etc. ?

• some christians ahem criticised approaches such as "liberation theology" for being too political.
• they believe that christianity should not become politicised.
• this could risk turning Christianity into a social movement or political protest group rather than a religious faith that transcends these worldly affairs.
• christians should be focused on worshipping God rather than getting too engaged in worldly political issues and affairs..

Define resurrection with reference too the resurrection of Jesus.

• resurrection - rising from the dead.
• belief in resurrection is the central tenet of the christian faith.
• the resurrection is interpreted differently: some believe it was physical, others believe it was spiritual.

Give three things that the Gospels teach about Jesus' resurrection's:

• Mary Magdalene found that the tomb empty. and angel tells her: "do not be afraid, for i know that you were looking for Jesus, who was crucified. he is not here

he is risen." Luke 24: 1.

• Doubting Thomas refused to believe in the resurrection without direct, personal experience - when he saw the risen Jesus, he was encouraged to "reach out your hand and put it into my side." this led to his belief.
• he appeared to over 5000 people after his resurrection (st Paul, Corinthians."

Explain what st Paul means when he writes that "if christ has not been raised, your faith is futile (1 corinthian 15:17)

• christian belief hinges on the resurrection of JC.
• If resurrection has not happened, your faith is pointless.
• the resurrection means that christians have hope of life after death.
• resurrection means that death and sin have been overcome - good has been achieved victory over evil, the relationship between heaven and earth is restored.

What are the two different ways of understanding resurrection?

• physical and spiritual.
• physical body resurrection - Augustine: resurrection of the flesh.
• Augustine's belief in the fall is central to his understanding of resurrection, both spiritual and physical effects of sin are erased.
• spiritual body resurrection - St Paul: resurrection of a spiritual body.
• Paul believes in the resurrection of a spiritual body. The early body perishes.

Explain St Augustine's belief in resurrection of the flesh, with reference to his belief in Adam and Eve and the Fall.

• Augustine believe that, like Jesus is the Gospels, our resurrection after death will be physical.
• our bodies will be raised and glorified, not abandoned to decay.
• this will restore us to the pre- Lapsurian state, before the fall in the Garden of Eden.
• it was God's intention for human beings to live eternally with him.
• it makes sense that Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross secures eternal life not just for our souls but for our body as well.

Give a strength and a criticism of belief in resurrection of the flesh."

• the gospels record the physical resurrection of JC.
• The Bible is seen as the word of God. - literal christians.
• Our bodies are important for our identity - makes sense that if we of to heaven, so do our bodies.
• the physical body is mortal and perishable - human boyd is subject to sickness, aging and death.
• this belief depends on the fact that heaven is a physical place.
• logistics

Explain St Pauls teaching that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

• the physical boyd cannot enter heaven - we will not posses the physical body that we have now when we are in heaven.
• this influences the Catechism's teaching that heaven is a state rather than a physical place.
• our physical body is subject to sickness, again and ultimately decay. it is perishable.

Explain what st Paul means when he writes that is is "sown as a natural boyd, there is also a spiritual body…"

• Paul believes that we will receive a new spiritual body after death.
• our physical, earthly bodies are perishable.
  They are subject to decay - flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
• instead, God will give us a new spiritual body, which will have an eternal existence in Heaven.

Based on this, explain belief in spiritual resurrection.

• resurrection will not be of this physical, earthly body.
  This body is subject to sickness, aging and ultimately decay.
• instead, resurrection will be of a new, spiritual body - a body which is imperishable.
• this wil enable us to enter the eternal house of heaven, not built by human hands, and exist eternally with God.

What does the Nicene creed teach Christians about Judgement?

• Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
• outlines the christian belief in Christ's sending coming and the day of judgement, when all people (living and dead) will face judgement.
• he will also fully inaugurate the eschatological kingdom of God.

How does belief in judgement influence different christians?

• those who believe in justification by works will be committed to performing good works, in order to be judged as deserving eternal life in heaven.
• Matthew 25: parable of the sheep + goats.
• those who believe in justification by faith will put their faith in Jesus and his crucifixion.
• praise God with thanks
• they will remain committed to their faith.

Explain a Bible quote that suggests heaven and physical place:

• "my fathers house has many rooms" - Jesus, John 14.
  Jesus describes heaven as a house with many rooms - this could suggest heaven is a physical place, where we will have an eternal, physical existence.

Explain a Bible quote that suggests hell is a physical place.

• the fiery take of burning sulphur
  suggests that hell is a physical place of physical torment/torture/punishment.
• this may be particularly powerful influence on christians - the idea of eternal physical pain and torment would be a powerful motivation to avoid sin.
• However, this is difficult to reconcile with belief is an omnibenevolent God.

Explain the catholic belief in purgatory and its role in purification.

• all who die in Gods grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal

but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter they joy of heaven.

• purgatory: intermediate state for the cleansing and purifying of souls.

Explain the catholic church's teaching that hell is eternal separation from God.

• Hell is self- imposed. the catholic church believes that God does not predestine anybody to hell.
• hell is eternal separation God - absence.

Give two contrasting beliefs about when judgement takes place.

• particular judgement: judgement occurs immediately after death.
• general judgement: judgement occurs at the end of time, when Jesus christ returns to judge all of humanity, including the living and the dead.
  -the catholic church believes in both types.

Explain the difference between heaven as a physical place and as a spiritual state.

• heaven as a physical place:
  heaven is a physical location where we wil have a physical body.
• heaven as a spiritual place:
  heave is the state of pure happiness. modern catholics believe this.
  emphasises closeness to God.

What do heaven, hell and judgement tell us about the nature of God?

• God is a just judge.
• he is concerned with righteousness - he rewards this who do the right thing.
• he is a God of justice - he ensures that justice is ultimately done.
• God is omnibenevolent.

What does it mean to believe judgement, heaven, hell are psychological realities?

• some christians reject in life after death as there is no empirical evidence to support this belief.
• they think of judgement, heaven and hell as products of our own human minds.
• e,g heaven is a feeling of fulfilment.
• e.g hell is the feeling of guilt and dissatisfaction.
• Judgement is therefore excersised within our own minds.

What is objective immortality?

• process theology - God is not omnipotent and he did not create the world ex nihilo.
• process theologians believe in objective immortality.
• this is the belief that, after death, all individual beings exist eternally as objects in the mind of God. In that sense, they never die.
• some process theologians believe that subjective immortality. This is the belief that, after death, humans exist as thing subjects with continued experiences.

Give 3 different beliefs about the purpose of life for Christians.

• to glorify God and have a personal relationship with him.
• to prepare for judgement.
• to bring about God's kingdom on earth.

Explain two alternative ways of understanding the term the kingdom of God.

• earthly (transformation of world) and/ or eschatological (end of world).

1. as a transformation of the current world
2. as a future eschatological reality.

• many christians believe that Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God, or look forward to the time when Jesus will inaugurate the kingdom.