Christian+views+on+death

media type="youtube" key="4_bb2etuVzI" height="378" width="683" align="left"

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Christianity and Death =

Death effects how some live their lives and what they practice. The central teaching of Christianity: the death and resurrection of Jesus, has millions of followers across the world today.. Christians view topics such as suicide, murder, and death by following the teachings of a man called Jesus and that is supplimented and somewhat augmented by various churches traditions. On death, the overall belief is that people have souls. When someone dies, their soul is judged based of their deeds in life, and evaluated according to how well their actions demonstrate Jesus’s teachings

Thomas Aquinas on souls


Thomas Aquinas was a traditional 13th century thinker who believed a soul defines the body as a person and more than just a lump of mass. In Thomas Aquinas’s “Summa Theologia” he explains souls in a philosophical way, building off of the thoughts of Aristotle and Socrates to relate the soul to the mind similar to mind- body dualism in how it reacts with a body. He explain this by claiming all objects move by being moved, and therefore something must move the body which itself is not the body. In a human body sense, it is moved with a motive as well, which is the soul (1, Question 75).  In regards to the nature of souls in the divine, Aquinas merely attributes it to God. He states “Now the operation of the soul is not in the genus of substance; for this belongs to God alone, whose operation is His own substance” which essentially means the soul is insubstantial but not divine, as God alone is divine. The process by which souls go to God is by His power. To justify God, Thomas Aquinas created the “first mover” notion that God must exist to at least start things in motion due to causality (1, Question 2).

Augustine on how souls are judged


In Augustine’s book, “City of God”, he tells how to properly live as a Christian in order to gain eternal life. One must be pure in mind and must not consent to evil. Augustine argues resisting temptation and keeping your body holy is seen as right in the eyes of God. This relates to how Christians live their lives as servants to God’s will before they die. In the book, Augustine relates the story of Judas and how he betrays Jesus. He says, “We rightly abominate the act of Judas, and the judgement of truth that is when he hanged himself he did not atone for the guilt of his detestable betrayal but rather increased it, since he despaired of God’s mercy and in a fit of self-destructed remorse left himself no chance of a saving repentance” (2). In the quote, Augustine is referring to how Judas murdered Jesus and decided to kill himself without repenting his sins to the Lord. In a Christian perspective, the act of killing someone is already a sinful act and the fact that he killed himself added to the crimes. Augustine believes Judas killing himself deprived the opportunity from someone else. The passage adds into the subject on how death relates to how what we do on earth, effects what happens in the afterlife. Because of Judas’ actions of assisting murder and committing suicide, he will be judged and condemned to eternal hell based of Christian beliefs.

Additional information about the afterlife
Christians believe that God is just and fair, and that he will not let evil go unpunished. Most believe in the idea of judgement after death, and that God will treat people in the afterlife according to how they lived their life on earth. Views differ as to what is required to get to heaven, and conceptions of heaven differ as well. A smaller majority of Christians believe in hell. Hell is seen as an eternal place of suffering for those who either did not follow God, or lived a life of sin without repentance. Other Christians believe that hell is a spiritual state of being separated from God for eternity. Views differ as to whether hell is eternal and whether it's punishment is spiritual or physical. Some Christians reject the notion altogether. Some Christians believe in purgatory, a temporary place of punishment for Christians who have died with unconfessed sins. Purgatory is also seen as an in-between state for the majority of people who are waiting for heaven. People see this as a time of cleansing from sin and preparing for heaven. Although heaven is often mentioned in the Bible, it is rarely described. Christians therefore have very different ideas about it. Some believe that heaven is a physical place, where their body goes after death. Others believe that it is their soul that lives on, and that heaven is a state of being united with God.

media type="youtube" key="qjtQSMe0VeI" width="560" height="315" align="center"

Similar or related pages:

Death in Religion Afterlife

Back to Culture Back to Home