Afterlife Beliefs

There have been numerous questions that have caused anxiety for humans for centuries. These range in complexity from wondering what one wants to eat for breakfast to what is the meaning of life. When it comes to the later, additional questions emerge, such as, what happens when one dies and if there is indeed an afterlife. Views on this vary among the world religions, but sometimes they can even vary among a single type of religion. An example of this is seen in Christianity.

When it comes to Christianity, there are several different denominations. It has been estimated that there are around 35,000 denominations and that number continues to grow. This highlights the difficulty in evaluating views on death and the afterlife based on denomination

This is true to a certain degree, but fails to mention other prominent figures that drove this reformation. Among these are Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) and John Calvin (1509-1564) (Dunstan, 15). These prominent individuals questioned the immorality of the church of the time that had been known to utilize practices such as the sale of indulgences. Altogether, these three theologians drove a schism from the Catholic Church and formed one of the major branches of Christianity that exists today.

With this basic history of the different major branches of Christianity it is necessary to look at each of the branches individually. This will demonstrate the main differences in their respective views on death and the afterlife. There are three general categories that will be discussed with regards to their views on death and the afterlife, which are: what is necessary for salvation, views on what occurs upon death and the places that the soul will ultimately end up after

It is believed that purgatory is a place for those who die in the grace of God, but with a blemish of venial sin or with a temporary debt from sin that is unpaid (Brantl, 232). All sins are required to be paid back. This is done through what is called indulgences, which are set by the Church. The terms of the indulgences can vary, but generally involve prayer and confession of one’s sins. Additionally, indulgences can be gained by performing other good works in order to make up for one’s sins. If the sins are not repaid through indulgences then the soul, while in purgatory is purged, cleansed, and readied for transfer to heaven. This process causes intense suffering for the individual, but one that is also marked by love from God. In fact, the intensity of purgatory prompts Catholics to pray for those in purgatory. Additionally, it is taught that Catholics short gain as many indulgences as possible before death in order to shorten their term in