Life After Death Religious Studies
Question E: If you behave well in this life, you will be rewarded when you die.
Christians believe that heaven is a place where they can spend an eternity with God after their death. Jesus’ crucifixion led Christians to think that they are freed from the punishment of original sin and they have the chance to enter heaven depending on how well they lived their lives and whether they did good or acted accordingly by obeying God. Those who have followed God faithfully throughout their lives can expect to go to heaven where there will be no bad things waiting to happen, as they will have repented their sins. If someone repents their sins then they are also allowed into heaven otherwise known as ‘the kingdom of heaven’
In the past, heaven was described as a magical place with angels who played harps and sat on clouds to soothe the people that lived there. A more modern idea about heaven is that when Christians enter heaven they see ‘Beatific Vision’ which is a direct and eternal view of God, making the viewer happy forever. Heaven is viewed by some as a state of mind and not a physical place where people can go. I agree with the concept of heaven being a physical and not mental place where you go after death. However, I still believe you can see God eternally in heaven along with everything else that makes you happy as a person. I also believe that heaven is a place where you can recollect memories and see people that made you the person that you were throughout your lifetime.
The idea of hell has changed over time, but the concept is still vaguely familiar. Whilst in older days hell was used to terrify people into not committing sins in their lifetimes in order to get into heaven, now hell is thought of as a place with no God and no ‘Beatific Vision’ which means anyone in hell can never be truly happy. Alternatively, hell may be seen as a place of doom and horror because the thought of God’s absence would be seen as torturous by some Christians, even though
Christians believe that heaven is a place where they can spend an eternity with God after their death. Jesus’ crucifixion led Christians to think that they are freed from the punishment of original sin and they have the chance to enter heaven depending on how well they lived their lives and whether they did good or acted accordingly by obeying God. Those who have followed God faithfully throughout their lives can expect to go to heaven where there will be no bad things waiting to happen, as they will have repented their sins. If someone repents their sins then they are also allowed into heaven otherwise known as ‘the kingdom of heaven’
In the past, heaven was described as a magical place with angels who played harps and sat on clouds to soothe the people that lived there. A more modern idea about heaven is that when Christians enter heaven they see ‘Beatific Vision’ which is a direct and eternal view of God, making the viewer happy forever. Heaven is viewed by some as a state of mind and not a physical place where people can go. I agree with the concept of heaven being a physical and not mental place where you go after death. However, I still believe you can see God eternally in heaven along with everything else that makes you happy as a person. I also believe that heaven is a place where you can recollect memories and see people that made you the person that you were throughout your lifetime.
The idea of hell has changed over time, but the concept is still vaguely familiar. Whilst in older days hell was used to terrify people into not committing sins in their lifetimes in order to get into heaven, now hell is thought of as a place with no God and no ‘Beatific Vision’ which means anyone in hell can never be truly happy. Alternatively, hell may be seen as a place of doom and horror because the thought of God’s absence would be seen as torturous by some Christians, even though