Topic Presentation
Death and the afterlife are essential events in most religious faiths, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam, as they mark the end and beginning of different sets of life. In secular culture, death represents the end of life where human ceases to exist as beings. Similarly, the afterlife represents the existence after death or a later life.
In the religious culture, there are two lives for humans, one which is lived on the conventional earth and another which exists later in another world setting. According to religious faiths, death marks the pathway to the other life or from the conventional world, while the afterlife represents the existence in an atypical world setting.
Most religious cultures believe human beings exist in two forms, the soul and the body. Only the human body is taken during death, or rather, experiences cessation of life, or dies. However, the soul part of humans is believed to pass to the imaginative world and continue to live. Most religions share some beliefs about the understanding of death and the afterlife. However, some slight differences distinguish the faiths.
Reason for Choosing the Topic
Death and the afterlife are important aspects in the lives of many believers, regardless of their religious beliefs. The reason for choosing the theme is that the afterlife is the ultimate goal and reward for most religious believers in various faiths, and death is the means and pathway to acquiring and enjoying the reward. Believers in various religions are motivated by the reward in the afterlife, making it an important theme in many religious topics.
Death and Afterlife in Catholicism
According to the Catholic Church, death represents the passage to eternal life, where the physical body dies, leaving the spiritual body to ascend to the new life. Catholics believe humans have two bodies, the spiritual body and the physical body. The physical body exists only in the conventional world and ends at death, where it receives resurrection to usher in the spiritual body, which passes to the new life. Afterlife in Catholicism refers to the eternal life enjoyed with God or otherwise, depending on the destination. According to the Catholic, there are two forms of the afterlife, heaven and hell (Mercurio et al., 2022).
Heaven is enjoyed by people who lived according to the ways of Christ, while hell is a place of eternal suffering for the wicked people who lived in sinful ways. Once the physical body dies, the spiritual body representing the soul is promoted to the spiritual world, which is subjected to God’s judgment to determine the next destination. Souls that received salvation of Christ are taken to heaven to be with the Trinity, while others are taken to hell for eternal suffering.
Death and Afterlife in Islam
Death and the afterlife are essential aspects of the Islamic religious faith. Death represents the separation of the soul from the physical body. According to Muslims, when an individual dies, the soul is separated from the body and is promoted to the next life in a process called resurrection, while the physical body is left to rot. Afterlife in the Islamic religion refers to the life that starts immediately after the soul is separated from the body (Lucinder, M. & David, 2016). The Islamic religion believes in two forms of the afterlife: the life enjoyed by the people with good deeds, called the Jannah, and that for the individuals with evil deeds, called Jahannam (Davoudi, 2022).
The Jannah is a place of good life with no pain, sickness, or suffering. On the other hand, Jahannam is believed to be a place of suffering and agony (Sheriff, 2023). According to Muslims, Allah is the one who determines the destination of one’s soul, and the decision is influenced by past deeds (Online Quran Tutoring, 2018). However, Allah is merciful and compassionate, ready to forgive people who regret their bad actions and deeds.
Death and Afterlife in Hinduism
Like other religions, Hinduism regards death and the afterlife as essential aspects of faith. Death refers to the separation of the soul from the physical body. Hindus believe only the physical body can experience death, while the soul is immortal. During death, the soul known as atman is reborn in a different body (Sing, 2022).
The afterlife in Hinduism commences immediately after death, with the soul reborn. The afterlife exists in two forms in Hinduism: Moksha, which is enjoyed by believers who are faithful to the teachings of Krishna, and Nirvana, which is a place of extinction (Jayaram, 2019). Death and the afterlife are stages of Samsara’s cycle.
Death and the Afterlife in Jewish
According to the Jewish religion, death and afterlife events are part of the life of a believer. Death refers to the cessation of the physical body’s motility, where the soul is separated from the body. The soul is immortal and lives after the death of the physical body. Afterlife in Jewish communities commences after the death of the physical body (Perundevi, 2016).
Jews believe that sinners and those who lived a pure life do not share the same place in the afterlife (Moreman & Kerr, 2022). People who lived sinless lives are sent to Gan Eden, while those who led evil lives are taken to Gehinnom, where they are tormented (Ariela, 2019). However, the righteous would later return to the earth during judgment day in the Messianic age, where their immortal souls will reunite with their physical bodies.
Death and Afterlife in Buddhism
Buddhists consider death as the extinction of the physical body, while the soul is believed to be immortal. After death, the soul is reborn and begins another phase of life. Those with good deeds (Kusala Kamma) are taken to the Sagga, where they enjoy life.
Buddhists believe the afterlife occurs in an endless cycle known as the Samsara, characterized by birth, rebirth, death, and dying again. The rebirths are characterized by six realms of existence, which are shared according to an individual’s evil or good deeds (Dorji & Lapierre, 2022). Good deeds attract three good realms: heaven, God, and humans. On the other hand, negative deeds attract three evil realms, namely, animal, ghost, and hellish.
Similarities
Immortality of the Soul
All the religions believe in the immortality of the soul. In Catholicism, the other faiths believe that the human soul is immortal and only separated from the physical body. During death, the spiritual body represents the soul and is separated from the physical body, which is promoted to the next phase of life. Depending on the individual’s deeds, the soul experiences the afterlife, whether heaven or hell.
Two Realms of Life in the Afterlife
All the religions believe in the existence of two forms of the afterlife, as determined by the individual’s deeds before death. In Catholicism, the other religions believe in the existence of a good and a bad place for good and evil deeds, respectively. Good deeds take the soul to Jannah, Moksha, Gan Eden, Sagga, while evil deeds lead the soul to Jahannam, Nirvana, and Gehinnom, just as the Catholic Heaven and hell.
Death of Physical Body
All the religions believe in the death of the physical body. In Catholicism, the religions subscribe to the death of the physical body, which ceases to exist on the conventional earth. During death, the physical body is separated from the soul and left to rot, while the spiritual body representing the soul is promoted to the afterlife. The two realms of life after death are enjoyed only by the spiritual body, not the physical one. Similarly, the soul is judged in the afterlife, either taken to the good place or the bad place.
Differences
The Samsara Life Cycle
Unlike the Catholic Church, which believes only in the two realms of life, life on earth and the afterlife, Hinduism and Buddhism believe in the endless cycle of life where the soul undergoes rebirth in six realms of existence. The two religions believe in the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence, and dying again in the afterlife. Whereas, the Catholic Church only subscribes to two realms of existence in the afterlife, heaven and hell.
How the Knowledge Changed My Perspective
I know there is a slight difference among these religions, and most beliefs and practices are shared. I now understand that most faiths are similar; only the terminology varies. In the future, I will not isolate people of different faiths but treat them as a family since their beliefs are similar. There is no significant difference between a Catholic and a Muslim; similarly, there is no significant difference between a Hindu and a Buddhist, just the terminology.
References
Ariela Pelaia. (2019). The concept of sin in Judaism.
Davoudi, N. (2022). Remember death: An examination of death, mourning, and death anxiety within Islam. Open Theology, 8(1), 221-236. Web.
Dorji, N., & Lapierre, S. (2022). Perception of death and preference for end-of-life care among Asian Buddhists living in Montreal, Canada. Death Studies, 46(8), 1933-1945. Web.
Jayaram V. (2019). The concept of sin in Hinduism.
Lucinder, M. & David M. (2016). Sin, forgiveness, and reconciliation: Christian and Muslim perspetives.
Mercurio, J. R. A. (2022). Impact evaluation on the religious practices on honoring the dead. Applied Quantitative Analysis, 2(2), 42-54. Web.
Moreman, C. M., & Kerr, J. (2022). Fear of death unaffected by intensity or type of afterlife belief in a Jewish population. Death Studies, 46(2), 360-368. Web.
Online Quran Tutoring. (2018). Importance and benefits of forgiveness in Islam.
Perundevi Srinivasan. (2017). Women in Hinduism.
Sherif Muhammad Abdel Aweem. (2023). Women in Islam vs women in Judeo-Christian tradition: Myth and reality.
Singh, R. (2022). Exploring the role of death and dying in shaping the identity of Hindu elderly people: A medico-religious approach. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 1-13. Web.