Judgement, Heaven, Hell & Purgatory - Christianity (SDA)

Nicene Creed

Sets out Christian belief in judgement & afterlife

Nicene Creed quotes

- "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead"

- "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come"

Catholic Church - Judgement

Two types: Particular & General

Particular Judgement

- Straight after death

- Determines eternal fate of individual

General Judgement

- Takes place at Second Coming

- Upon humanity as a whole

Catholic Church - Afterlife

- Free from sin = Direct to Heaven

- Committed Mortal Sin & not repented = Direct to Hell

- Committed Venial Sin which isn't remitted = Purgatory

Mortal Sin

- Very serious sin, e.g. murder

- Will result in eternal separation from God if not repented

Venial Sin

Less serious sins which don't lead to eternal separation from God

Purgatory

- Mainly Catholic idea

- Those destined for Heaven = Purified of venial sin, to make them fit for Heaven

Afterlife as physical - Origin

- Universally held in West until modern times

- Way of controlling peasants

- Belief perpetuated by Dante's Divine Comedy

- Some fundamentalist Christians still believe it

Fundamentalist Christian

Believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible

Afterlife as physical

- At end of world, Christ will return to judge all humans

- The holy = Taken to Heaven by angels

- Mortal sinners = Cast into Hell

- Venial sinners = Period of cleansing in Purgatory (Catholic)

Physical Afterlife - Characteristics

- Heaven = Eternity with God, free from pain / suffering

- Hell = Eternity apart from God, subjected to torture, e.g. blazing fire

Physical Afterlife quotes

- "My Father's house has many rooms" (Heaven)

- "The eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Hell)

- "Refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested". (Purgatory)

Judgement quote

"The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books."

Spiritual Afterlife - Origin

- Modern Catholic thinking

- Eastern Churches

Spiritual Afterlife

- Heaven and Hell = Spiritual states

- Not physical realms of unity / torture

- Purgatory is not a place

- One spiritual judgement at time of death - language of space and time at death, so there can't be two judgements.

Spiritual afterlife quotes (Youcat)

- "Heaven is the endless moment of love"

- "Hell is the condition of everlasting separation from God, the absolute absence of love."

- "Purgatory... is actually a condition. Someone who... still needs purification before he can see God face to face"

Psychological Heaven & Hell

- Life after death lacks empirical evidence

- We can bring about Heaven on Earth

- Products of the human mind: Joy = Heaven, Unhappiness = Hell

Psychological Heaven

- Life lived in accordance with one's convictions = Spiritually fulfilled

- Therefore the individual experiences joy

Psychological Hell

Life of inner conflict = Unhappiness & need for interventions, e.g. psychotherapy

Objective Immortality

- After death, all beings remain as "objects" in God's mind

- In that sense, they never die.

Process Theology summary

- God & Universe = Uncreated & Eternal

- God = Not omnipotent

- God & Universe exist panentheistically

Process rejection of Subjective Immortality

- Humans are still consciously thinking after death, with continued experiences

- Anthropocentrism: Many Christians (especially Catholics) believe animals don't have a soul, so don't have an afterlife

Subjective Immortality

- Most Christians believe this

- The thinking self continues after death as same subject of consciousness