Christian Eschatology

Eschatology: Christian teachings about life after death.

Belief 1:
When you die your soul leaves
your body and goes to either
heaven or hell.

Belief 2:
On the Last Day God will raise the
dead in bodily form this is called
resurrection.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that

whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Heaven

Not described in detail in Bible.

Some believe it is a physical place.
Some believe it is a state of being spiritually united with God.
Universalists believe everyone will go there, not just Christians, because Jesus
died for everyones sins.

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. Revelation

21:1-4

Hell
Not described in detail in Bible.
Place of punishment and separation from God.
Some Christians dont believe in hell. They think those who dont believe in Jesus
will just cease to exist.

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our
Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction 2
Thessalonians 1:8-9

Purgatory
A belief of Roman Catholics.
From the Latin word purgare meaning make clean.
Where souls of the dead who believed in Jesus, but still werent significantly pure
are purified until theyre clean of their sins and can go to heaven.
Catechism of the Catholic
Church:
after death they undergo
purification

Not accepted by Protestants:

The belief in purgatory is
repugnant to the Word of
God. 39 Articles of Religoin

Judgement

Christians believe that:

God is fair, just and merciful.
The Day of Judgement is when God will judge all people on how they lived their lives.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the thronethe dead
were judged according to what they had done. Revelations 20:12

The Second Coming: Jesus will come back to earth and establish the Kingdom of God.

Resurrection
Jesus was resurrected.
St Paul argues in 1 Corinthians that Jesus resurrection is evidence that Christians
will be resurrected too.
Many Christians believe that in the last days God will raise their bodies to life again.
Resurrected bodies will be different to earthly bodies. St Paul makes the
comparison of our earthly bodies as tents (flimsy, temporary) whilst our heavenly
bodies are houses (permanent):

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a

building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2
Corinthians 5:1

Why is life after death important for Christians today?

Jesus promised life after death to those who believed in him.
Life after death is a reward for faithful people.
It offers justice to those who may have got away with bad things in this
life.
It offers hope for the future.
It allows Christians to be with God forever.