A Study Of Christian And Muslim Beliefs About Life After Death
The concept of life after death has always interested people of all religions and all ages alike. Many questions have arisen concerning this doctrine. What happens when we die? Is there a Heaven or Hell and if so what will they be like? Do we get judged? How can you prevent a bad afterlife? Both Christians and Muslims who reject the atheistic view, which totally denies the possibility of life after death, believe that they have the answers to these puzzling questions.
Christianity is a worldwide religion, whose believers worship and follow one God, and believe Jesus is the Son of God. Christians believe that there is an eternal life after death, and see death as a new beginning rather than the end. This new life will be eternal and will differ from their previous awareness. St. Paul[1] shows this through the analogy: “For we know that when the tent we live in on earth is folded up, there is a house built by God for us, an everlasting home, not made by human hands, in the heavens”. Christians believe that if they trust in God, and their life has been an honourable and honest one, they will be rewarded.
St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians Chapter 15 states that when we die our bodies stay in the grave until “the trumpet sounds”. Then the deceased will be raised and given spirited bodies. We will then await judgement. According to popular Christian belief, the end of the world comes with the fulfilment or completion of God’s creation. Their belief is that this world will unquestionably come to an end. The Book of Revelations tells of this and says that on the day of completion, a new Earth and new Heavens will be there. Several Christians believe that Jesus warned of catastrophes as a sign of the end of the world such as wars, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes. However, Jesus like many people from his time used very highly figurative language, therefore it is not easy today to...