On one hand, it may entail the longest, most untroubled, deep sleep that could be imagined. On the other hand, it may involve a conscious existence. That too would be good, even better. It would mean carrying on with life and all its pleasures but none of its pain. And so the afterlife presents no bad choices, only good ones.
Death was not a source of terror or even dread. Twenty-four centuries later, with all our advances in understanding our world and human life within it, surely we can think that that both Jesus and Socrates had a lot of things right.
Jesus taught that in this short life we have, we should devote ourselves to the welfare of others, the poor, the needy, the sick, the oppressed, the outcast, the alien. We should listen to him.
But Socrates was almost certainly right as well. None of us, of course, knows what will happen when we pass from this world of transience. But his two options are still the most viable. On one hand, we may lose our consciousness with no longer a worry in this world. Jesus saw this as permanent annihilation; Socrates as a pleasant deep sleep. In either scenario, there will be no more pain.
On the other hand, there may be more yet to come, a happier place, a good place. And so, in this, the greatest teacher of the Greeks and the founder of Christianity agreed to this extent: when, in the end, we pass from this earthly realm, we may indeed have something to hope for, but we have absolutely nothing to fear.
Contact us at letters time. Service is live streamed from the Berlin Cathedral on March 15 as gatherings of more than 50 people were banned. By Bart D. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity, and the author or editor of more than thirty books, including the just published Heaven and Hell.
TIME Ideas hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors. Related Stories. Already a print subscriber? Go here to link your subscription. Need help? Visit our Help Center. This sense of proportionality led around the year CE to the invention of another place between heaven and hell — a place of purification of our sins. It arose from the recognition that while most of us were not sufficiently meritorious to deserve heaven instantly after death, most of us were also not sufficiently wicked to deserve eternal punishment.
Purgatory was the place where those who were judged worthy of heaven eventually were purged, purified and punished for their sins before going on to their heavenly reward. Purgatory thus became the default destination after death. Divine justice and mercy were better served by a place where souls, who, like most of us, were not really all that good at being really bad, could be both punished and perfected. Hell then was reserved only for the most incorrigible.
Even so, Purgatory was no holiday resort. The inhabitants were purified by fire. The Protestant reformers of the 16th century hated the idea of Purgatory and threw it out.
They saw it as the root cause of corruption within the Church as people paid money on earth to the Church to try to lessen their time there.
Humanity was again classified into only two classes — the saved and the damned. Heaven is a state of being totally immersed in the presence of God and with all those who have loved as God.
God desires all to be in union with God. This was made explicit through Jesus Christ. When we consciously choose to not love; when we consciously choose to be indifferent to the needs of those around us, to the needs of creation; we choose hell. We trust in that infinite mercy and so we claim that nobody is in hell, because we do not know what goes on at the moment of death, even for the most heinous of acts. When a heart desires from its depth that mercy, we trust God offers forgiveness.
Rebirth is a funny thing. Through myriad rebirths, we all will deserve and endure birth in hell. It is most unpleasant. We could be reborn in any of the six realms: the realm of gods, of demi-gods, of humans, of animals, of hungry ghosts, or in hell. The nature of our next birth is determined by our karma — our actions of body, speech and mind.
Micheal L. In the short space allowed here it must be understood that all of the kingdoms which one may inherit after his resurrection are kingdoms of glory, the Celestial, Terrestrial and finally Telestial being the lowest 1 Corinthians After their resurrection, the great majority of those who have suffered in hell will pass into this kingdom telestial ; the balance, cursed as sons of perdition, will be consigned to partake of endless woe with the devil and his angels Doctrine and Covenants Since those going to a telestial kingdom travel to their destination through the depths of hell, it follows that all those who live a telestial law will go to hell until redeemed by Christ, who holds the keys of death and hell Revelation What is Christianity?
Find a Course Run a Course. How could a loving God send anyone to hell? Abi Weaver. More tough questions If God exists, why is there suffering? Why are Christians such hypocrites?
Kevin Croft, Hope Church Vauxhall. Begin exploring what it's all about.
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