Comparison of Eternal Life

8/14/2019 Comparison of Eternal Life

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The goal of the religious quest is often described asimmortality or eternal life. Humanity has always chafedunder the limitations of mortality, and people have foundin religion the means to transcend the death which seems toproscribe the possibilities of human existence. Yet we

have already gathered under Immortal Soul, pp. 326-34,passages from scripture which recognize that every personhas an eternal spirit as his or her birthright. Everyonewill continue eternally in some form of existence after theend of this physical life. The question of eternal life,therefore, does not mean eternal existence per se, butrather what form it will take, and whether death willremain a barrier to human fulfillment.

We find that the scriptures of many religions give twomeanings to the terms "life" and "death." There is the

physical meaning of life: existence in this physical realm,and there is the spiritual meaning of life: the state ofblessedness which is enduring from life to life and hencetranscends death. There is the physical death: the droppingof the body which is an event in the voyage of every soul,and the spiritual death: the condition of distance fromGod, ignorance, and a hellish existence in the hereafter.

Hence when the question of salvation is at issue, theoutcomes called "eternal life" and "immortality" are oftenciphers to describe the condition of blessedness. Thiscondition is present already in the physical life of theperson who realizes Truth or lives in God's grace, and itwill continue, unabated, in the hereafter. The person whogains "eternal life" has accomplished the goal of life, andhence death is not to be feared as a limitation, as it isfor a worldly person who has tied all hopes to hispossessions and pleasures in the world.

Some Taoist scriptures, on the other hand, promote theideal of physical immorality. The eternal youth of theTaoist Immortals is a consequence of their life beingtotally at one with the Tao of nature. Likewise, thedoctrine of the resurrection is interpreted by someChristians, Jews, and Muslims as requiring thereconstitution of the dead in their physical bodies, todwell forever on this earth. Yet these physicalinterpretations are also based on a spiritual concept of

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life and death: only the spiritually alive are qualified toenjoy immortality or the fruits of the resurrection.

We note that Buddhist scriptures generally avoid speakingof the state of blessedness as eternal life. Buddhist

teaching views the desire for life as a kind of grasping,and hence a fetter to liberation.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God iseternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6.23).

Let us see some beliefs of various religions about theafterlife.

Christianity

Christian beliefs about the afterlife vary betweendenominations and individual Christians, but the vastmajority of Christians believe in some kind of heaven, inwhich believers enjoy the presence of God and otherbelievers and freedom from suffering and sin.

Views differ as to whether those of other faiths or none atall will be in heaven, and conceptions of what heaven willbe like differ as well.

A slightly lesser majority of Christians believe in theexistence of hell, where unbelievers or sinners arepunished. Views differ as to whether hell is eternal andwhether its punishment is spiritual or physical. SomeChristians reject the notion altogether.

Catholic Christians also believe in purgatory, a temporaryplace of punishment for Christians who have died withunconfessed sins.

Assemblies of God:

The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christand their translation together with those who are alive andremain unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent andblessed hope of the church. The second coming of Christincludes the rapture of the saints, which is our blessedhope, followed by the visible return of Christ with Hissaints to reign on earth for one thousand years. This

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We believe that the punishment of the wicked and theblessedness of the righteousness shall be everlasting,according to the declaration of our compassionate Redeemer,to whom the judgment is committed, "These shall go awayinto eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal

life." (RV, Matt 25:46)

Lutheran Church (Augsburg Confession, 1530):

Also they [Lutheran churches] teach that at theConsummation of the World Christ will appear for judgment,and will raise up all the dead; He will give to the godlyand elect eternal life and everlasting joys, but ungodlymen and the devils He will condemn to be tormented withoutend. They condemn the Anabaptists, who think that therewill be an end to the punishments of condemned men and

devils. They condemn also others who are now spreadingcertain Jewish opinions, that before the resurrection ofthe dead the godly shall take possession of the kingdom ofthe world, the ungodly being everywhere suppressed.

Mennonite Church in the USA:

We believe that, just as God raised Jesus from the dead, wealso will be raised from the dead. At Christ's gloriouscoming again for judgment, the dead will come out of theirgraves"--those who have done good, to the resurrection oflife, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection ofcondemnation." The righteous will rise to eternal life withGod, and the unrighteous to hell and separation from God.Thus, God will bring justice to the persecuted and willconfirm the victory over sin, evil, and death itself.

We look forward to the coming of a new heaven and a newearth, and a new Jerusalem, where the people of God will nolonger hunger, thirst, or cry, but will sing praises: "Tothe One seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessingand honor and glory and might forever and ever! Amen!"

Presbyterian Church in the USA:

If there is a Presbyterian narrative about life afterdeath, this is it: When you die, your soul goes to be withGod, where it enjoys God's glory and waits for the finaljudgment. At the final judgment bodies are reunited with

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souls, and eternal rewards and punishments are handed out.As the Scots Confession notes, final judgment is also thetime of refreshing and restitution of all things. And itis clearly the case that both the Scots Confession and theWestminster Confession of Faith want to orient the present-

day life of believers around this future. But the Biblespends more time focusing on new life here than on lifeafter death. So do all our more recent confessions.Although the Confession of 1967 mentions life after death,it does so only briefly. Its focus is on new life now andon the church's ministry of reconciliation.

Southern Baptist Convention:

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring theworld to its appropriate end. According to His promise,

Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory tothe earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judgeall men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consignedto Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteousin their resurrected and glorified bodies will receivetheir reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

United Church of Christ:

God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness ofsins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle forjustice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trialand rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which hasno end.

United Methodist Church (on purgatory):

The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardon,worshiping, and adoration, as well of images as of relics,and also invocation of saints, is a fond thing, vainlyinvented, and grounded upon no warrant of Scripture, butrepugnant to the Word of God.

Judaism

Jewish Beliefs on the Afterlife Jewish sacred texts andliterature have little to say about what happens after

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death. This may seem surprising to non-Jews, since thesacred texts of Christianity and Islam (both of which havetheir foundations in Judaism) elaborate rather fully aboutthe afterlife.

But Judaism is much more focused on actions than beliefs,so it is actually to be expected that its prophets andsages have not spent as much time on speculations about theworld to come as elaborations on the mitzvot to beperformed in this life.

The Torah and Talmud alike focus on the purpose of earthlylife, which is to fulfill one's duties to God and one'sfellow man. Succeeding at this brings reward, failing at itbrings punishment. Whether rewards and punishments continueafter death, or whether anything at all happens after

death, is not as important.

Despite the subject's general exclusion from the Jewishsacred texts, however, Judaism does incorporate views onthe afterlife. Yet unlike the other monotheistic religions,no one view has ever been officially agreed upon, and thereis much room for speculation.

This section will begin with a look at biblical textsaddressing the afterlife, then explore various Jewish viewson subjects such as the resurrection of the dead, judgment,heaven and hell, and the messianic age.

The Hebrew word Olam Ha-Ba ("the world to come") is usedfor both the messianic age (see below) and the afterlife(see Gan Eden, below). The world to come is important andsomething to look forward to. A Mishnah passage says, "Thisworld is like a lobby before the Olam Ha-Ba. Prepareyourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquethall." The tractate Moed Katan teaches, "This world is onlylike a hotel. The world to come is like a home."

Yet it is also emphasized that this world provides theability and privilege of doing good works and performingthe mitzvot: "Rabbi Yaakov also used to say, 'Better onehour in repentance and good deeds in this world than allthe life in the world to come. And better one hour oftranquility of spirit in the world to come than all thelife of this world.'" (Pirkei Avos, Chapters of the Fathers)

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The Afterlife in the TorahFor the most part, the Torahdescribes the afterlife in vague terms, many of which maysimply be figurative ways of speaking about death as it isobserved by the living.

An early common theme is that death means rejoining one'sancestors. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and otherpatriarchs are "gathered to their people" after death (seeGen. 25:8, 25:17, 35:29, 49:33; Deut. 42:50; 2 Ki. 22:20).In contrast, the wicked are "cut off (kareit) from theirpeople" (Gen. 17:14; Ex. 31:14). Other imagery emphasizesthe finality of death: the dead are like dust returning todust (Genesis; Ecc. 3:19-20) or water poured out on theground (2 Samuel 14:14).

Another recurring biblical image of the afterlife is as a

shadowy place called Sheol. It is a place of darkness(Psalm 88:13, Job 10:21, 22) and silence (Psalm 115:17),located in low places (Numbers 16:30, Ezekiel 31:14, Psalm88:7, Lamentations 3:55; Jonah 2:7, Job 26:5). In 1 Samuel2:6, God puts people in Sheol. In Isaiah 14:9-10, thedeparted in Sheol rise up to greet leaders who have nowbeen brought low as they are. The author of Psalm 88laments his impending death with these words:

I am sated with misfortune; I am at the brink of Sheol.

I am numbered with those who go down to the Pit;

I am a helpless man

abandoned among the dead,

like bodies lying in the grave

of whom You are mindful no more,

and who are cut off from Your care.

You have put me at the bottom of the Pit,

in the darkest places, in the depths.

(Psalm 88:4-7)

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Taken together, these early biblical descriptions of deathseem to indicate that the soul continues to exist in someway after death, but not consciously. Later in the Torah,the concept of conscious life after death begins todevelop. Daniel 12:2 declares, "And many of them that sleep

in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlastinglife and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence."Neh. 9:5.

Tehiyat Hameitim : Resurrection of the Dead.

More developed concepts of the resurrection of the dead andafterlife seem to have entered Judaism under Hellenisticinfluence after the Torah was completed. It became one ofthe fundamental beliefs in rabbinic Judaism, theintellectual successors of the Pharisees. The Sadduccees,

familiar to New Testament readers as those who denied theresurrection, were an exception. As seen above, theresurrection of the dead is one of Maimonides' "13 Articlesof Belief," and the frequently-recited Shemoneh Esreiprayer contains several references to the resurrection.

How this resurrection might occur has been a matter ofspeculation. Rabbi Hiyya ben Joseph suggested that "thedead will come up through the ground and rise up inJerusalem... and the righteous will rise up fully clothed"(Babylonian Talmud, tractate Ketubot 111b). Saadia benYosef al-Fayyumi (892-942 C.E.), the head of the academy ofSura, offered this explanation:

Even fire, which causes things to be burned so quickly,merely effects the separation of the parts of a thingcausing the dust part to return to ashes. It does nothowever, bring about the annihilation of anything. Nor isit conceivable that anyone should have the power toannihilate anything to the point where it would vanishcompletely except its Creator, who produced it out ofnothing.

Since then the matter can be thus explained, in view of thefact that none of the constituent parts of the human beingwho has been devoured could have been annihilated, theymust all have been set aside, wheresoever they may havetaken up, whether it be on land or sea, until such time asthey are restored in their entirety. Nor would such

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restoration be any more remarkable than their originalcreation.

Today, most traditional Jewish movements accept the conceptof the resurrection of the dead. A notable exception is

Reform Judaism, which official rejects the doctrine.

Judgment :

Traditional Judaism includes belief in both heaven andhell, as we will see below. How is one's destinationdecided? The School of Shammai offered this description:

There will be three groups on the Day of Judgment: one ofthoroughly righteous people, one of thoroughly wickedpeople and one of people in between. The first group will

be immediately inscribed for everlasting life; the secondgroup will be doomed in Gehinnom [Hell], as it says, "Andmany of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shallawake, some to everlasting life and some to reproaches andeverlasting abhorrence" [Daniel 12:2], the third will godown to Gehinnom and squeal and rise again, as it says,"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and willrefine them as silver is refined, and will try them as goldis tried. They shall call on My name and I will answerthem" [Zechariah 13:9]... [Babylonian Talmud, tractate RoshHashanah 16b-17a]

The school of Hillel suggested a more merciful view, inwhich the middle group are sent directly to Gan Eden(Heaven) instead of Gehinnom after death. Rabbi Haninaadded that all who go down to Gehinnom will go up again,except adulterers, those who put their fellows to shame inpublic, and those who call their fellows by an obnoxiousname [Babylonian Talmud, tractate Baba Metzia 58b].

The Talmud teaches that all Israel will have a share inOlam Ha-Ba, but makes some notable exceptions:

All Israelites have a share in the world-to-come...[However], these are they that have no share in the world-to-come: one who says there is no resurrection of the deadprescribed in the Torah, and that the Torah is not fromHeaven, and an Epicurean. (Sanhedrin 10:1)

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General Jewish belief is that one need not be Jewish toenjoy Heaven. "Moses Maimonides, echoing the Tosefta toSanhedrin, maintained that the pious of all the nations ofthe world have a portion in the world-to-come [MishnehTorah, Repentance 3:5]."

Gan Eden : Heaven.

In Judaism, the eternal destination for the righteous isGan Eden (the Garden of Eden). It is generally described asa place of great joy and peace. Talmudic imagery includes:sitting at golden banquet tables (Babylonian Talmud,tractate Taanit 25a) or at stools of gold (BabylonianTalmud, tractate Ketubot 77b), enjoying lavish banquets(Babylonian Talmud, tractate Baba Batra 75a), orcelebrating the Sabbath, enjoying sunshine and sexual

intercourse (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Berachot 57b).

On the other hand, other sages have offered a morespiritual view of Gad Eden. Rav suggested that there willbe neither eating nor drinking; no procreation of childrenor business transactions, no envy or hatred or rivalry; butsitting enthroned, their crowns on their heads, enjoyingthe Shechinah [Babylonian Talmud, tractate Berachot 17a(3rd century CE)]. Maimonides agreed, explaining:

In the world to come, there is nothing corporeal, and nomaterial substance; there are only souls of the righteouswithout bodies -- like the ministering angels... Therighteous attain to a knowledge and realization of truthconcerning God to which they had not attained while theywere in the murky and lowly body. (Mishneh Torah,Repentance 8)

Gehinnom: Hell.

The Jewish concept of the afterlife for the wicked is lessdeveloped. Known as Gehinnom (Gehenna in Yiddish) orSheo'l, it has its foundations in the dark pit described inthe Torah (see above) and an actual place where a pagancult conducted rituals included burning children (see thedescription in II Kings 23:10 and Jeremiah 7:31).

Gehinnom is the postmortem destination of unrighteous Jewsand Gentiles. In one reference, the souls in Gehinnom are

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punished for up to 12 months. After the appropriate periodof purification, the righteous continue on to Gan Eden(Rabbi Akiba and Babylonian Talmud, tractate Eduyot 2:10).The wicked endure the full year of punishment then areeither annihilated ("After 12 months, their body is

consumed and their soul is burned and the wind scattersthem under the soles of the feet of the righteous (RoshHashanah 17a)") or continue to be punished.

This belief is the basis for the Jewish practice ofmourning and asking blessings on deceased loved ones foronly 11 months (one would not wish to imply that thedeparted needed the full 12 months of purification).

The Messianic Age: The messianic age is a period in humanhistory that will be initiated when the messiah comes. At

that time the righteous dead will be resurrected, but thewicked will not. The messianic age will be a time of peaceand the restoration of the land and organizations of Israel.

Jainism

Karma

In Hinduism and Buddhism, karma is the natural moral law ofthe universe in which every good and bad action has acorresponding effect on the doer. This karma accounts forwhy some are richer, prettier or luckier than others andwhy otherwise similar people are at different spirituallevels. It is also the determining factor of the form intowhich one is reborn. "Good karma" results in a higherspiritual state and more favorable physical state, while"bad karma" has negative physical and spiritual results.

Jainism teaches that there are two different kinds of

karma, ghati ("destructive") and aghati ("non-destructive"). The former affects the soul and the latteraffects the body. Within each category are several kinds ofkarma, each of which has particular results and a way ofbeing shed. One can only attain liberation when he or shehas shed all karma.

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Karma is a Sanskrit word whose literal meaning is 'action'.It refers to the law that every action has an equalreaction either immediately or at some point in the future.Good or virtuous actions, actions in harmony with dharma,will have good reactions or responses and bad actions,

actions against dharma, will have the opposite effect.

In Hinduism karma operates not only in this lifetime butacross lifetimes: the results of an action might only beexperienced after the present life in a new life.

Hindus believe that human beings can create good or badconsequences for their actions and might reap the rewardsof action in this life, in a future human rebirth or reapthe rewards of action in a heavenly or hell realm in whichthe self is reborn for a period of time.

This process of reincarnation is called samsara, acontinuous cycle in which the soul is reborn over and overagain according to the law of action and reaction. At deathmany Hindus believe the soul is carried by a subtle bodyinto a new physical body which can be a human or non-humanform (an animal or divine being). The goal of liberation(moksha) is to make us free from this cycle of action andreaction, and from rebirth.

Sikhism

Karma and Reincarnation

Sikhism retains the general Hindu conception of theuniverse and the doctrine of samsara, or rebirth, based onkarma. Human birth is the only chance to escape samsara andattain salvation.

Islam

Like Christianity, Islam teaches the continued existence ofthe soul and a transformed physical existence after death.

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Muslims believe there will be a day of judgment when allhumans will be divided between the eternal destinations ofParadise and Hell.

Resurrection and the Day of Judgment

A central doctrine of the Qur'an is the Last Day, on whichthe world will be destroyed and Allah will raise all peopleand jinn from the dead to be judged.

The Last Day is also called the Day of Standing Up, Day ofSeparation, Day of Reckoning, Day of Awakening, Day ofJudgment, The Encompassing Day or The Hour.

Until the Day of Judgment, deceased souls remain in theirgraves awaiting the resurrection. However, they begin to

feel immediately a taste of their destiny to come. Thosebound for hell will suffer in their graves, while thosebound for heaven will be in peace until that time.

The resurrection that will take place on the Last Day isphysical, and is explained by suggesting that God will re-create the decayed body (17:100: "Could they not see thatGod who created the heavens and the earth is able to createthe like of them"?).

On the Last Day, resurrected humans and jinn will be judgedby Allah according to their deeds. One's eternaldestination depends on balance of good to bad deeds inlife. They are either granted admission to Paradise, wherethey will enjoy spiritual and physical pleasures forever,or condemned to Hell to suffer spiritual and physicaltorment for eternity. The day of judgment is described aspassing over Hell on a narrow bridge in order to enterParadise. Those who fall, weighted by their bad deeds, willremain in Hell forever.

The Qur'an specifies two exceptions to this general rule:

1.Warriors who die fighting in the cause of God are usheredimmediately to God's presence (2:159 and 3:169); and

2."Enemies of Islam" are sentenced immediately to Hell upondeath.

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Paradise

"O soul who is at rest, return to thy Lord, well-pleasedwith Him, well-pleasing Him. So enter among My servants,and enter My garden." (89:27-30)

Paradise (firdaws), also called "The Garden" (Janna), is aplace of physical and spiritual pleasure, with loftymansions (39:20, 29:58-59), delicious food and drink(52:22, 52:19, 38:51), and virgin companions called houris(56:17-19, 52:24-25, 76:19, 56:35-38, 37:48-49, 38:52-54,44:51-56, 52:20-21). There are seven heavens (17:46, 23:88,41:11, 65:12).

Hell

Hell, or Jahannam (Greek gehenna), is mentioned frequentlyin the Qur'an and the Sunnah using a variety of imagery. Ithas seven doors (Qur'an 39:71; 15:43) leading to a fierycrater of various levels, the lowest of which contains thetree Zaqqum and a cauldron of boiling pitch. The level ofhell depends on the degree of offenses. Suffering is bothphysical and spiritual.

Being a Muslim does not keep one out of Hell, but it is notclear whether Muslims remain in Hell forever. Non-Muslims(kafir), however, will be punished eternally. A Muslimauthor on IslamOnline.net explains it this way:

"Ultimately, God will remove from Hell those believerswhose sins were not forgiven nor atoned for by good deedsin their lifetimes, and they will then enter Paradise. Theremaining inhabitants of Hell will stay there eternally."

Other Muslim commentators, noting that Allah can rescuepeople from hell as he chooses, and that he is merciful andcompassionate, have hypothesized that eventually hell willbe empty. Alternatively, Hell can be seen as a place ofprogress where souls are instructed until they are fit togo to heaven:

"Life after death is actually the starting-point of furtherprogress for man. Those in paradise are advancing to higherand higher stages in knowledge and perfection of faith.Hell is meant to purify those in it of the effects of their

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bad deeds, and so make them fit for further advancement.Its punishment is, therefore, not everlasting."

Jehovah's witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses deny the existence of hell. Instead,they hold that the souls of the wicked will be annihilated.The death that Adam brought into the world is spiritual aswell as physical, and only those who gain entrance into theKingdom of God will exist eternally. However, this divisionwill not occur until Armageddon, when all people will beresurrected and given a chance to gain eternal life. In themeantime, "the dead are conscious of nothing."

Witnesses also have a slightly different view of heaventhan mainstream Christianity. Based on their reading ofprophetic books like Daniel and Revelation, Jehovah'sWitnesses believe that only 144,000 people will go toheaven to rule with God and Jesus. The remainder of therighteous will enjoy paradise on earth - a restored Gardenof Eden in which there is no sickness, old age, death orunhappiness.

Buddhism

The Buddha said of death:

Life is a journey.Death is a return to earth.The universe is like an inn.The passing years are like dust.

Regard this phantom worldAs a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,

A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,A flickering lamp - a phantom - and a dream.

According to Buddhism, after death one is either reborninto another body (reincarnated) or enters nirvana. OnlyBuddhas - those who have attained enlightenment - willachieve the latter destination.

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Reincarnation (Transmigration)

Based on his no-soul ( anatta ) doctrine, the Buddhadescribed reincarnation, or the taking on of a new body inthe next life, in a different way than the traditional

Indian understanding. He compared it to lighting successivecandles using the flame of the preceding candle. Althougheach flame is causally connected to the one that camebefore it, is it not the same flame. Thus, in Buddhism,reincarnation is usually referred to as "transmigration."

Nirvana

Nirvana is the state of final liberation from the cycle ofdeath and rebirth. It is also therefore the end ofsuffering. The literal meaning of the word is "toextinguish," in the way that a fire goes out when it runsout of fuel. In the Surangama , the Buddha describes Nirvanaas the place in which

it is recognized that there is nothing but what is seen ofthe mind itself; where, recognizing the nature of the self-mind, one no longer cherishes the dualisms ofdiscrimination; where there is no more thirst nor grasping;where there is no more attachment to external things.

But all these descriptions only tell us what is notNirvana. What is it like? Is it like heaven, or is it non-existence? The answer is not clear, due in large part tothe Buddha's aversion to metaphysics and speculation. Whenhe was asked such questions, he merely replied that it was"incomprehensible, indescribable, inconceivable,unutterable."

Chinese Religion

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The Chinese conception of the afterlife is based on acombination of Chinese folk religions, Taoism and MahayanaBuddhism.

At the moment of death, Chinese believe one's spirit istaken by messengers to the god of walls and moats, Ch'engHuang, who conducts a kind of preliminary hearing. Thosefound virtuous may go directly to one of the Buddhistparadises, to the dwelling place of the Taoist immortals,or the tenth court of hell for immediate rebirth.

After 49 days, sinners descend to hell, located at the baseof the mythical Mount Meru. There they undergo a fixedperiod of punishment in one or more levels of hell. Theduration of this punishment may be reduced by theintercession of the merciful Ti-ts'ang.

When the punishment is complete, the souls in hell drink anelixir of oblivion in preparation for their nextreincarnation.

They then climb on the wheel of transmigration, which takesthem to their next reincarnation, or, in an alternativeaccount, they are thrown off the bridge of pain into ariver that sweeps them off to their next life.

Greco-Roman Religious Beliefs

"I'd rather be a day-laborer on earth working for a man oflittle property than lord of all the hosts of the dead."--Achilles, in The Iliad

As illustrated by the above remark by the hero Achilles,death was not a glorius thing for the ancient Greeks. InHomer's epics, the dead are "pathetic in theirhelplessness, inhabiting drafty, echoing halls, deprived oftheir wits, and flitting purposelessly about utteringbatlike noises."5 While undesirable when compared with lifeon earth, this vague, shadowing existence was not generallycause for fear of the afterlife. Only terrible sinners(like Tantalus, Tityus and Sisyphus) were punished afterdeath; similarly, only a select few ended up in theparadisical Elysian Fields.

Hades

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With the rare exceptions mentioned above, Hades was theuniversal destination of the dead in Greek religion untilthe latter half of the 5th century BCE. Hades was a cold,damp and dark realm that was guarded by the god of the samename. The "gates of Hades" were guaded by the fearsomehound Cerberus, who wags his tail for new arrivals but doesnot allow anyone to leave. Without proper burial, onecannot enter the gates of Hades. The river Styx is theboundary between earth and Hades, but Hades has otherrivers as well (e.g. Phlegethon, Acheron, Cocytus). Asimilar concept is found in Japanese Buddhism in the SanzuRiver, which the dead must cross on the way to theafterlife.

Tartarus

In Greek religion, Tartarus was the deepest region of theunderworld, lower than Hades. Hesiod wrote that it wouldtake an anvil nine days to fall from heaven to earth andanother nine to fall from earth to Tartarus. Hades, notTartarus, is the place of the dead but some especiallywicked characters have been imprisoned in Tartarus to bepunished. It is where Sisyphus, thief and murderer, mustrepeatedly push a boulder up a hill for eternity; whereIxion, who killed his father-in-law, is attached to aflaming wheel; and where Tantalus is kept just out of reachof cool water and grapes for sharing the secrets of the

gods with humans. Tartarus is also where monsters and otherenemies have been cast after being defeated by the gods,including the Cyclopes, the Titans and Typhus. In Romanmythology, Tartarus was the eternal destination of sinnersin general.

Elysium

Elysium (also called Elysian Fields or Elysian Plain) was aparadise inhabited at first only by the very distinguished,but later by the good. Elysium first appears in Homer's

Odyssey as the destination of Menelaus. It is located atthe western ends of the earth and is characterized bygentle breezes and an easy life like that of the gods.Closely related to Elysium is Hesiod's Isles of theBlessed, mentioned in his Works and Days, which was locatedin the western ocean.

Reincarnation

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The notion that the human soul enters another body upondeath, though unfamiliar in popular Greek religion, waswidespread in Greek philosophy. The doctrine oftransmigration is first associated with the Pythagoreansand Orphics and was later taught by Plato (Phaedo,Republic) and Pindar (Olympian). For the former groups, thesoul retained its identity throughout its reincarnations;Plato indicated that souls do not remember their previousexperiences. Although Herodotus claims that the Greekslearned this idea from Egypt, most scholars do not believeit came either from Egypt or from India, but developedindependently.

Scientology

Scientology does not include an official belief about theafterlife. However, it reports that during auditing, aperson often recalls memories of past lives and thatScientology ascribes to the idea of being born again intoanother body.

Zoroastrianism

The Zoroastrian afterlife is determined by the balance ofthe good and evil deeds, words, and thoughts of the wholelife. For those whose good deeds outweight the bad, heavenawaits. Those who did more evil than good go to hell (whichhas several levels corresponding to degrees of wickedness).There is an intermediate stage for those whose deeds weightout equally.

Stoicism

The Stoics did not have a clear conception of an afterlife.Some held that the soul survives until the nextconflagration; others taught that the soul is part of theWorld Soul and would reappear in the new world. But apersonal immortality was not part of the Stoic worldview.

Mormonism

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Mormons believe that all humans who die will liveeternally. Their spirits will go to the spirit world, wherethey will undergo instruction and preparation. Then, "aftera time," there will be the Resurrection, at which time thespirits will be reunited with their bodies forever. [1]

Mormons believe in heaven, which is defined as "the placewhere God lives and the future home of those who followHim." Faithful Mormons and their families will live in thepresence of God and be rewarded in accordance with whatthey have done during their lives.

Joseph Smith also taught that families can live togetherforever in heaven if they are "sealed" through specialtemple ceremonies.

What about non-Mormons? "Those who choose not to follow ourHeavenly Father and Jesus Christ will receive a rewardaccording to what they have done in this life, but theywill not enjoy the glory of living in the presence of God."

Mormons do believe in hell. Those who did not repent whileon Earth will experience a temporary hell after death(during the time that all spirits go to the spirit worldbefore the Resurrection), but will have an opportunity torepent afterwards and avoid the eternal hell. Hell as aneternal place of misery it is inhabited only by Satan andthose who explicitly reject "the Heavenly Father, the Son

and the Holy Ghost" even after the period of instructionafter death.

Seventh-day Adventists

Seventh-day Adventists believe that death is a sleep duringwhich the "dead know nothing" (Ecclesiastes 9:5). This viewmaintains that the person has no conscious form ofexistence until the resurrection, either at the secondcoming of Jesus (in the case of the righteous) or after themillennium of Revelation 20 (in the case of the wicked).Because of this view, Seventh-day Adventists do not believehell currently exists and believe further that the wickedwill be destroyed at the end of time.

Summary:

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Though Various religions has different beliefs, Thescriptures clearly state that eternal life comes from Godthrough his son Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 14:6; Heb. 5:9 ),and is the "greatest of all the gifts of God". The phrase"eternal life" refers not only to everlasting life but alsoand more particularly to the quality of life God lives.Eternal life is available to all people who have lived onearth who accept this gift by their obedience to God's lawsand ordinances.

God's work, and the source of his glory, is bringing topass "the immortality and eternal life" of his children. Inother words, God works to enable his children's return tohis presence so that they may both live with him and liveas he lives.

So allied is Christ with the Father that the scripturessometimes define eternal life as "knowing" them: "This islife eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3)

Knowing Christ in this world comes by receiving him and hislaw. Jeremiah spoke for the Lord: "I will put my law intheir inward parts, and write it in their hearts. And theyshall teach no more every man his neighbour saying, Knowthe Lord: for they shall all know me" (Jer. 31:33-34). Asstated in the Gospel of John, one begins to know Christ andhis will by searching the scriptures, for, as Jesus

affirmed, "they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39).

Having the law written in one's heart implies an acceptancethat prompts action; indeed, the scriptures mention manyactions that one must take in order to receive the gift ofeternal life. To enter the path leading toward eternallife, one must exercise faith in Christ (John 3:36; 6:47),repent, be baptized for the remission of one's sins, andreceive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The scriptures statethat once on the path, the believer must strive to keep thecommandments that is, to do the works of righteousness,

primary among which is charity (1 Cor. 13; Matt. 25:34-36).The believer must also endure to the end.

While in mortality, individuals may come to a stage ofknowing the Father and the Son that allows the Lord topromise them eternal life. This occurrence is described inscripture as receiving the Holy Spirit of promise and theSecond Comforter (John 14:16) having the more sure word of

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Documents

Comparison of Eternal Life