R.E Short Course Revision Notes - Edexcel

Matters of Life and Death

Life after death:

Christian beliefs:

-          All Christians believe that there is a life after death. The resurrection of Jesus proves that there is life after death.

-          Some Christians believe that when you die you will stay in the grave until the end of the world when god will raise everyone and judge everyone. All good Christians will go to heaven and everyone else will go to hell.

-          Catholic Christians say that when you die, the souls of very good Christians will go to heaven and bad Christians will go to purgatory to pay off their sins. Then at the end of the world everyone will be raised and good Christians will go to heaven and most other people will go to hell.

-          Many Christians do not believe in resurrection and they believe that the soul is immortal and will live on after death. They believe this because of things such as near death experiences. These Christians don’t believe in hell.

Muslim beliefs:

-          Muslims believe in the resurrection of the body. They believe that when you die, your soul will stay in the grave until the end of the world when you will be judged on if you will go to heaven of hell. Good Muslims will go to heaven and bad Muslims will go to hell to pay off their sins and then go to heaven. Everyone else will go to hell.

-          The Qur’an teaches that if you die on a pilgrimage to Makah, your soul will go straight to heaven. Therefore some Muslims believe in the immortality of the soul. They believe that god will judge this soul when you die and you will go to heaven or hell.

-          Muslims believe that life is a test and that god will judge you on whether you have passed this test on not. If you pass you will go to heaven, if you do not you will go to hell.

Why do people believe in life after death?

Paranormal:  The evidence of the spirit world, ghosts and Ouija boards convince people of life after death. Religious people say that these occurrences help to prove the existence of god. People who predict the future, mediums who claim that they are able to contact the dead and ghosts and spirits help to prove that there must be something after this life.

Reincarnation: there is also evidence of reincarnation which for some people proves that there is another life after death

Near death experiences: people who are about to die who have an out of body experience and see the light at the end of the tunnel and are then revived, also show some people that another world exists beyond ours.

Abortion:

Social facts:

In the UK, abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. It is allowed if 2 doctors agree:

-          The…