Death and the Afterlife
What type of place is it
Physical
Dante's Divine Comedy 1308-1320
Revelations 21: He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length
Metaphorical?
Who even is John?
Christ is "The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep"
Spiritual
Beatific vision
"See Him as He is"
Must be outside time
Criticism
Overcrowding
William Lane Craig: infinite time is absurd
Eternal Tedium (Bernard Williams)
Bodies damaged in Hell
Augustine: Salamander is immune to fire, God makes us immune
John Hick, 'Full Content of God'
Atemporal
CA: Punishment must be in time?
CA: Purgatory must be in time?
Hell is "Eternal separation from God"
Metaphor
Rudolf Bultmann: "Repeatedly present"
Historic/Historical bible
Historic is mythological, should be interpreted as a metaphor for life
Historical is factural, should not be interpreted
St Catherine of Genoa: purgatory is inner "purifying fire"
Purgatory
Catechism
How can be with a transcendant God?
CA: Kenosis?
Little biblical evidence
As requires temporality must be physical
Sheep & Goats: "eternal pusishment" and "eternal life" exhaustive?
John Hick: We cannot obtain the 'full content of God' in this life, so need further soul-making in the afterlife
When is Judgement?
Parousia/Second Coming
Nicene creed
CA: "I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise"
CA: Rich man & Lazarus
"No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven"
Eternity
Infinite punishment/reward for finite crime/goodness?
Aquinas: is always in relation to an infinite God
CA: theft=Hitler?
Election
Limited Election (Limited Attonement)
Preserve's God's qualities
Omnipotence
Omniscience
Necessary being
Single/Double predestination
Augustine & Calvin are double
Augustine: we are so flawed that we do not deserve salvation without Grace
Calvin: "All are not created on equal terms"
Jesus' death undeserved
God preordains people with grace
Infers that they will be Christian (does not infer other way)
Grace is required for faith
God's will is hidden (Voluntas abscondita)
God's sovereignty is protected
Humans have no power over God's will
Unlimited Election (Unlimited Attonement)
Universalism
Living God who is the saviour of all people, especially of those who believe
Karl Barth: Double predestination is a SCANDAL!
CA: Free will
CA: omnibenevolence
We are all sinners
God elects himself in Christ to be reprobate
Christ takes our place as the reprobate
"There is no condemnation - literally none - for those that are in Jesus Christ"
Hick: We must move from the 'image' to the 'likeness' of God
This requires evil & time after death - hence purgatory & heaven
Cardinal Ratzinger: What is the significance of Christ?
Hick argues he is a 'gift to the world' as a teacher of wisdom (but no more)