Afterlife

:For the Japanese film, see After Life.

Afterlife as reward or punishment

One notion of afterlife which is common to Judaism (see the afterlife and olam haba ), most sects of Christianity, and Islam is that human souls go on for eternity to a place of happiness or torment, such as heaven, hell, or purgatory or limbo.

Related Topics:
Judaism - The afterlife and ''olam haba'' ["world to come"] - Christianity - Islam - Soul - Eternity - Happiness - Torment - Heaven - Hell - Purgatory - Limbo

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Many religions hold that after death people get reward or punishment based on their deeds or faith.

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The Christian Bible, for example, contains the words of Jesus: "The measure you give will be the measure you get." (Mark 4:24). For many, belief in an afterlife is a consolation in connection with death of a beloved one or the prospect of one's own death. On the other hand, fear of hell etc. may make death worse.

Related Topics:
Christian Bible - Mark - Fear

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In the informal folk beliefs of many Christians, the souls of virtuous people ascend to Heaven and are converted into angels upon their deaths. However, a more literal reading of scripture suggests that the dead wait until the Last Judgment, which is followed by resurrection for the faithful. The Roman Catholic Church makes a sharp distinction between angels, who were created by God before the creation of humanity, and saints, who are virtuous people who have received immortality from the grace of God.

Related Topics:
Angels - Last Judgment - Roman Catholic Church - God

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In view of the eternity of afterlife, some consider regular life as relatively unimportant, except for determining whether or not afterlife follows, and/or what kind. It is just a provisional situation, and the metaphor of a tent as provisional housing facility is used as quoted below:

Related Topics:
Metaphor - Tent

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:For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.(Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:1)

Related Topics:
Tabernacle - Building - House

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In what we know of Egyptian religion, afterlife is very important.

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The believer had to act well and know the rituals explained in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

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If the corpse was properly embalmed and entombed in a mastaba, the defunct would relive in the Fields of Yalu and accompany the Sun god on its daily ride.

Related Topics:
Embalm - Mastaba - Fields of Yalu

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If, during the psychomachia, the souls of the defunct was found faulty, the Devourer monster would eat them.

Related Topics:
Psychomachia - Devourer

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Others, including some Universalists, believe in universalism which holds that all will eventually be rewarded regardless of what they have done or believed.

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Life after death is however in no way a universal belief, for example, Jehovah's Witnesses interpret Ecclesiastes 9:5 to preclude a living afterlife:

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:For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward;for the memory of them is forgotten.

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They believe that a resurrection in the flesh at some future date will be a reward and that death (non-existence) is a punishment.

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