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DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF HEAVEN, HELL & PURGATORY: - Coggle Diagram
DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF HEAVEN, HELL & PURGATORY:
AS PHYSICAL
- once raised, the body would enjoy the delights of heaven and the pains of purgatory and hell
- those assessed as holy will be taken to heaven by angels
- those who have committed mortal sin will be cast into hell to suffer for eternity
- those who's sins are venial will undergo a period of cleansing in purgatory
- when these doctrines were developed, people were much more aware of the reality of death (before anaesthetics)
- pain, death and suffering were a part of normal life e.g women dying in childbirth
- people were killed and tortured in painful ways during persecution from the romans
- they also lived in a time where crime led to brutal physical punishment
- it is no surprise that they believed in the literal reality of hell being a place of torture as punishment for sin
- the church hoped that focusing on the suffering of sinners after death would deter people from committing individual sin
- the presence of doom paintings with hell having demons and fire served to remind people they were under judgement
- people feared death so much because of this and would go to great lengths to avoid going to hell
AS SPIRITUAL
- if resurrection of the dead is a spiritual reality, then it must be the same for final judgement
- if purgatory exists, it mist be spiritual
- if heaven is a spiritual reality, then the qualities the saved enjoy are spiritual
- joy, peace, love, being reunited with loved ones
- they have safe and secure knowledge of gods presence
- suffering of the damned is a spiritual loss
- no source of goodness, joy, peace, eternal separation from loved ones, endless sorrow and spiritual pain, absence of god
AS PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY
- There is no empirical evidence for any kind of existence after death
- so the idea the idea that behaviour in human physical life can make a difference of experience after death seems pointless
- judgement, heaven and hell might be psychological realities
- the product of the human mind and not the external power of god
- a person who is spiritually fulfilled experiences a state of contentment
- a person who is spiritually in conflict experiences psychological suffering
- when a person lives a life wholly in harmony with their deepest beliefs they experience inner peace, contentment and joy
- when someones spiritual beliefs clash with the way they live their life, the result is inner conflict and suffering which leads to a psychological hell
- for those who find themselves in psychological hell, there is a possibility they may escape through therapy or treatment
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