Abrahamic religion

Abrahamic religions is a term used in the study of comparative religion to describe those religions deriving from a common ancient Semitic tradition and traced by their adherents to Abraham, a patriarch whose life is narrated in the Hebrew Bible, and who is also important in the New Testament, and the Qur'an. This forms a large group of related, largely monotheistic religions, generally held to include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and comprises about half of the world's religious adherents.

Afterlife

Most Abrahamic religions agree that a human being comprises the body, which dies, and the soul, which need not do so. The soul, capable of remaining alive beyond human death, carries the essence of that person with it, and God will judge that persons life accordingly after they die. The importance of this, the focus on it, and the precise criteria and end result differs between religions.

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Reincarnation and transmigration tend not to feature in Abrahamic religions. Although as a rule they all look to some form of afterlife, this is in effect a second stage (and continuation) of life, and usually viewed as eternal, rather than reincarnation and transmigration which are a return (or repeated returns) to this earth or some other plane to live a complete new life cycle over again.

Related Topics:
Reincarnation - Transmigration

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Judaism

Judaism's views on the afterlife are quite diverse. This can be attributed to the fact that Judaism is primarily focused on life, and not what happens after. This is not to say that Judaism has no afterlife concept, rather that it was a later arrival in Jewish philosophy which tends to label it as unimportant, and it only shows itself in advanced thought, usually Kabbalistic in nature, and writings and prayers from the 1st millennium BCE onward. Judaism has been described as focussing on this life and how to lead a holy life to please God, rather than future reward, and its attitude can be mostly summed up by the rabbinical observation that at the start of Genesis God clothed the naked (Adam and Eve), at the end of Deutoronomy he buried the dead (Moses), the Children of Israel mourned for 40 days, then got on with their lives.

Related Topics:
Kabbalistic - Moses

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The aspects of Jewish theology which deal with the afterlife tend to broadly agree that this will involve some form of a process of purification before admittance to the "world to come". The body will be punished in Sheol, or the grave, and the soul is purified in Gehenna (also Ge-hinnom) or purgatory. In purgatory, all souls are purified by reviewing their life and learning from the wrong they have done. This is done with a maximum time of one year as no soul is deemed unable to be redeemed, and that is supposedly the maximum amount of time to clean the blackest of souls. Various categories of people, such as slanderers and people who engage in malice, are said to find it exceedingly hard to do so. An alternative train of thought is that the most evil people's souls are completely obliterated in Abbadon. What happens after this process of purification, beside ascending to Gan Edan, or the garden of Eden, and closeness with God, is up to debate.

Related Topics:
Sheol - Gehenna - Abbadon

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Christianity

Eternal life is a fundamental concept in Christian theology, and may reasonably be seen as the raison d'être of Christianity as a whole. A theme common to most branches of Christianity is that the purpose of this life is to rely on God's grace for the hope of entering into his intimate presence (usually called "Heaven" or "Paradise"), and conversely, the most serious ("mortal") sins condemn the immortal soul to terrible punishment (called "Hell", "Damnation", and many other names) which is separation from God — for eternity.

Related Topics:
Eternal life - Heaven - Paradise - Hell

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According to the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, adherents believe in the Resurrection of the dead, to be followed by Judgement Day, as a prelude to the eternal Kingdom of Heaven described in various Bible books, such as Isaiah.

Related Topics:
Apostles' - Nicene Creed - Resurrection of the dead - Judgement Day

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God's grace and acceptance of His will through faith in Christ conforms the soul to the image of Christ, and prepares the soul for admittance to an eternal state of bliss, close to God ("Heaven", the "Kingdom of God", "Salvation", etc.). Some Christian theologies also admit a purgatory, analogous to Jewish Gehenna, where the temporal consequences due for sins are paid in further preparation, before being admitted to Heaven.

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The concept of forgiveness is central to Christian thinking and ritual. In many faiths, people can obtain forgiveness for their sins by sincere repentance, accompanied by prayer, good deeds, or physical self-punishment. In Christianity, forgiveness is only through the benefits of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, obtained by the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, which turns the human heart toward God through faith, and away from sin toward love. In most forms of Christianity, the grace of God is closely connected with the sacraments, beginning with baptism. In Catholic Christianity, the believer is sustained in a state of grace by penance and the other sacraments and means of grace (penitentials, alms, prayer, pilgrimage, etc.) but especially by the Eucharist. Penance in the Roman Catholic conception includes confession of the sin to a priest, who will prescribe prayers as a token of contrition, and as a pattern of obedient faith through which the penitent may earn forgiveness of temporal penalties due to sin. Contrition has at times taken extreme forms of ritual self-punishment and self-deprivation. The Catholic Church also developed a practice of dispensing indulgences, which are gifts of merit from the Church for remission of punishments due for sins (which otherwise must be purged after death, in Purgatory). By Medieval times, indulgences had been used as an incentive toward acts of charity and, even to muster armies for holy war, or to obtain money for the Church. The Protestant Reformation was sparked by a reaction especially against what the Reformers saw as an abuse and aberration, in the Catholic doctrine and practice of indulgences, and the idea that the Church is a treasury of merit which can be given to the penitent to help them progress toward God.

Related Topics:
Sacraments - Baptism - State of grace - Penance - Penitentials - Alms - Prayer - Pilgrimage - Eucharist - Contrition - Indulgences - Remission - Medieval times - Holy war - Protestant Reformation

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The concepts of afterlife and its eternal salvation or damnation are clearly stated in the New Testament, but only in an abstract sense. The precise nature of Hell and Heaven has been a major subject of theological speculation, and views have varied enormously among sects and epochs. The very literal "Fire and Brimstone" view expressed in Dante Alighieri's epic poem Divine Comedy (14th century), where Hell is a place of intense and continuous physical suffering, has been a very popular one throughout history.

Related Topics:
New Testament - Dante Alighieri - Divine Comedy - 14th century

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Christian theology generally excludes reincarnation, possession, or ghostly appearances by the deceased. While several Christian faiths accept the concept of possession by spirits (see exorcism), these are seen as malignant demons, never as departed souls. However, the Catholic and Orthodox emphasize strongly that the Christian life of departed saints has not ended, but rather has been perfected in the presence of God, and they are addressed in the prayers of the Church as intercessors with God, on behalf of men with the formula, "pray for us". Folk religious Catholicism is especially abundant with beliefs concerning help and miracles performed by departed saints.

Related Topics:
Exorcism - Demon - Saints

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Islam

Islam prescribes a literal, burning Hell for those who disobey God and commit gross sin. Those who worship and remember God are promised eternal abode in Heaven. Heaven is further divided into seven levels (hence the term 'Seventh Heaven') with the highest level reserved for those who die in the cause of faith. Upon repentance to God, any sin can be forgiven as God is said to be the most Merciful. Beyond repentance however, the Qur'an states that God will certainly not forgive shirk if the person keeps the belief to his death; attributing relationship to God such as the Christian view of Jesus not being the Son of God or trinity.

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