Life after Death, Reincarnation, Resurrection and Immortality of the Soul

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Life after Death, Reincarnation, Resurrection and Immortality of the Soul Belief in life after death has taken many forms, some which are unique in particular religious belief systems, though; others can be found in more than one religion. 'For most religions, life after death is an article of faith. In Western religions, the belief is founded in scriptural evidence, but for all religions the belief in life after death is the same: life after death has been promised to humans by an all powerful'[1] There are many views of life after death in particular which have been much adhered to and much discussed by philosophers. This essay will attempt to put forward some of the key ideas and arguments for and against life after death. One view of life after death does have a venerable philosophical history. It can be found in Plato's Phaedo. Here we are presented with the figure of Socrates who is about to drink poison because he has been condemned to death. His friends are grief stricken but Socrates assures them that he is perfectly able to survive death. His friends ask Socrates how he wants to buried and he responds to them by saying "however you wish, provided you catch me, that is, and I don't get away from you". Socrates is distinguishing himself and his body, which is soon to be lifeless. He is clearly thinking of his real self as something distinct from his body. So according to this argument we shall survive as a disembodied self. Many Muslims believe in a disembodied survival of death during which the soul is questioned and sentenced to either torment or ease until the day comes when the soul and earthly body is reunited[2... ... middle of paper ... ... fear of non-existing is the prime reason for the fear of death. To conclude, ultimately the only way life after death is verifiable is via eschatological verification. All of the views supporting the idea of there being a life after death are not coherent because they namely lack empirical evidence. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Philosophy of religion life after death by Jonathan Webber [2] Philosophy of religion life after death by Jonathan Webber [3] Topic 5 Human Destiny by Sarah Tyler [4] Philosophy of Religion by Stephen T Davis page 701 [5] Philosophy of Religion by Stephen T Davis page 703 [6] Jeff Astley- thinking about life after death [7] Jeff Astley- thinking about life after death [8] Philosophy of Religion by Stephen T Davis page 705

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