Essay on Eschatology:

2. What is the meaning and significance of death in light of the Christian narrative?

Christianity is divided into thousands of denominations across the world, each denomination has a specific set of beliefs and norms which contribute to, and sometimes challenge the overarching themes of Christianity and The Bible. Christopher M. Moereman in his book, Beyond the Threshold explains Normative Christianity, and the specific beliefs and practices within. Kyriacos C. Markides in this book, The Magus of Strovolos uses the teachings of Dr. Stylianos Atteshlis, also known as Daskalos, to further illustrate the specific beliefs and practices within Esoteric Christianity. After reading and understanding the writings of both Moreman and Markides, it is clear to see there are ideas which distinguish Esoteric Christianity from Normative Christianity. This essay will explore these ideas which include the idea soul, the idea life after death, and the teachings of Daskalos.

Heaven and Hell are ambiguous topics discussed and debated throughout all of human existence. Particularly, if there is a heaven or hell, and if so, what do they entail? Where are they? What do they look like? The 1990 film, Flatliners, explores one possible option for what happens to human essence after death. The film explores where this essence, whatever it may be, may go. It also explores what this place will look like for each of the different characters, as well as hints at the idea that deeds on earth may affect a person’s place, status, or experiences in the afterlife. Some of the ideas in the film related to some of the ideas brought about in the Bible, as well as some of the ideas and beliefs of the Essences that are discussed in the book Heaven: a history by Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang. The hint of redemption from sins in the movie is related to the Bible, but the individual experiences were similar to the beliefs of the Essenes for an individualized hope in the afterlife. Both the Bible and the Essenes expressed a setting for the afterlife that is portrayed in the film.

One of the most offensive beliefs of the Christian belief today is the idea of hell. Why is this such an area of disbelief and repulsion? In short, people are not willing to face the consequences of their actions or decisions so they despise the idea of the eternal consequence, which is hell. This leads people to then claim that a loving God would not send people to hell, since a loving God and hell are definitely in contradiction. If observed, however, a loving God is not in contradiction with the existence of hell at all.

Hell not only seems to be a very harsh reality, but this concept also clashes with the goodness of God. This extreme divine justice is incompatible with the idea of an all loving and perfectly good God. It is written in Chronicles that ‘He is good; his love endures for ever’. However the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in divine punishment for their wickedness, Gods participation in the Battle of Jericho and Noah and the flood all challenge the belief of Gods omnibenevolence and therefore his right to reward and punish.

Death, it’s the inevitable final destination for all living things, and above that, it’s an endgame that many fear more than anything, trying desperately to make an impact on the great big world around them before their time comes. Some believe that death is only the beginning of a new life in a paradise that will last until the end of times, but most also know of another place, where those with sinful lives are punished for the life they wasted, and this place is seen in a variety of ways, by many religions, and even forms of media, some similar, and many very different. For example, unlike what most would assume eternal damnation would be like, the Norse’s idea of damnation, Hel, isn’t such a bad place in the long run. See, the Norse didn’t exactly have an idea of rewarding moral lifestyles,

At death, the body ceases to function and decays, but the soul of everyone is immortal and will be judged immediately. The souls of those who are faithful to God will be purified and go to live with God in heaven. However, the soul of anyone who has denied God will spend eternity separated from God in hell. At the end of time, all of the dead will be bodily resurrected and each individual will be judged and either rewarded or punished according to the life that they led.

While Phaedrus, the Bhagavad Gita, Epicurus’ Letters to Menoeceus, and the story of “The Priest Walchelin and the Hellequin’s Hunt” all offer slightly different theories on what happens after death, they all agree that the death of the body is inevitable. However, the texts fail to give explicit instruction on how mortals should best live their life so as to be best situated for existence after death. Identifying how the texts instruct people to live life in a way that’s meaningful despite its temporary nature will help identify methods for benefitting humanity and thus retroactively reveal our shortcomings. According to these texts, the only way to live a meaningful life is to focus on the betterment of the soul. Because the soul will

Well respected puritan minister, Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”(1741) tries to elucidate all the consequences that occur in the afterlife if you’re a sinner. Edwards purpose of this sermon is to address the Puritan society and congregation the repercussions that can come from being sinful. He formulates a desperate tone in order to reach his audiences internal conflicts with the Puritans and their sin. Edwards supports his claim by using logos, ethos, and pathos to appeal to the readers and for the audience in the story to betray sin.

Other views of hell require, as Shawn Bawulski wrote, a degree of improper hermeneutics: “As difficult a doctrine as it may be, it seems to me that eternal punishment cannot be purged from the Scriptures without doing some degree of violence to the text. “ While reading the Bible, the idea that would arise would not be annihilation. Annihilation’s belief system exists because of feeling, rather than Scripture. It is possible to interpret certain passages to fit the annihilationist’s school of thought, but, as Bawulski recorded, it would require to improperly interpreting certain texts. Their interpretations need to interpret unquenchable fire as an ending of suffering, worms will not die as though wretched souls will die and cease to exists, God’s wrath remains on him as a mere moment, and the words of everlasting or forever next to the words “chains,” “contempt,” “destruction,” “fire,” or “burning punishment, torment” as temporal. In addition, the cross supports the idea of the horridness of hell since Calvary was the only method capable of saving humanity. Jesus Christ had to go through an inconceivable amount of suffering in order for humanity to be redeemed from an inconceivable amount of pain. The suffering of annihilationists argue for is minimal, because they believe their view is less cruel than the classical view, and, therefore, they undermine the cross.

Before the book, most evangelicals believed in what Edwards calls a “traditionalist view,” and that the “conditionalist view” was something new to the Church as a whole. This book is organized into rather broad sections. There are seven sections that the reader has delineated in the book, introduction, what the Bible says, Jesus and his teachings on fire and non-fire punishment, Golgotha, New Testament and Hell, early Christian teachings, traditions, and conclusion.

In Christianity, death is thought to be the point at which the soul leaves its earthly body and the soul is at rest until

The definition of death is another issue paramount to this discussion. Robert Rakestraw, professor of theology at Bethel Theological Seminary in his article on this very subject

A major theological problem exist as it related to Christ descending into hell to take the keys of death. Although the Apostle’s Creed points out that Jesus descended down into hel, His descent was not about suffering, but about a triumph victory over Satan. In order to ascertain the truth behind the afterlife, the validity of hell has to be established.

There are some philosophies we can take to be better prepared to face death. First, by attending to the important relationships in our live so that we don?t have regrets about what we failed to say or do with those we