Humans have always been fascinated with the questions about what happens after death. One belief is that the body merely ceases to live and consciousness stops, while another belief is to simply not give the question any thought. A third possibility; however, is a belief that the essence of the person moves on to another reality or existence with a higher being. According to the Catholic teachings, there are three possibilities for humans in the afterlife. This essay will briefly introduce these three possibilities as Heaven, Purgatory and Hell as understood by the teachings and faith of the Catholic Church.
First of all, Catholic teaching states that after death a person has two possibilities for an ultimate destination with a third probability that is merely a temporary stop along the path. Secondly, Catholicism holds the belief that the essence or sole of the dead moves on to a state of being or consciousness, not necessarily to a physical destination. These three possible places to each being in the afterlife are known to Catholics as Purgatory, Heaven and Hell.
In his August, 2010 homily titled the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Benedict XVI states that Heaven is, “something far greater and far more difficult to define with our limited human conceptions” (Pope Benedict XVI). In other words, Heaven is not something that human beings can accurately describe because of the limitations of language and understanding. Regardless of these limitations, Heaven is important in the Catholic religion as not merely a place where humans go after death; it is a state of being and consciousness where the human essence can be with God in the kingdom of God (Hontheim). Heaven is sometimes thought of as ...
... middle of paper ...
...re destined to realize.
Works Cited
Hanna, Edward. "Purgatory." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 3 Mar. 2014
.
Hontheim, Joseph. "Heaven." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 3 Mar. 2014
.
Hontheim, Joseph. "Hell." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 3 Mar. 2014
.
Marthaler, Berard L. “The Creed: The Apostolic Faith in Contemporary Theology”. 3rd ed. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2010. Print.
"Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary." Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August 2010 - Homily of Pope Benedict XVI. Vatican.va, 15 Aug. 2010. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.
"Inquisition." In New Catholic Encyclopedia, edited by Berard L. Marthaler, 485-491. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2003.
· Lewis, CS. Mere Christianity. New York: Doubleday, 1982. · McBride, David. The Story of the Church.
Dante Alighieri presents a vivid and awakening view of the depths of Hell in the first book of his Divine Comedy, the Inferno. The reader is allowed to contemplate the state of his own soul as Dante "visits" and views the state of the souls of those eternally assigned to Hell's hallows. While any one of the cantos written in Inferno will offer an excellent description of the suffering and justice of hell, Canto V offers a poignant view of the assignment of punishment based on the committed sin. Through this close reading, we will examine three distinct areas of Dante's hell: the geography and punishment the sinner is restricted to, the character of the sinner, and the "fairness" or justice of the punishment in relation to the sin. Dante's Inferno is an ordered and descriptive journey that allows the reader the chance to see his own shortcomings in the sinners presented in the text.
Many religions and philosophies attempt to answer the question, what happens after a person dies? Some religions, such as Christianity and Islam, believe there is an afterlife. They believe that good and moral people enter Heaven or Paradise and that bad and immoral people go to Hell. Other religions and cultures believe that death is final, and that nothing happens after a person dies. Buddhism and Hinduism have different ideas about death.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. “Hell-Heaven.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 638-651. Print.
conrad Henry Moehlman The Journal of Religion , Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr., 1938), pp. 174-182
In Dante’s Inferno hell is divided into nine “circles” of hell; the higher the number correlates to the grimmer the sin and the pain you will endure. However, I do not completely agree with Dante’s version of hell, perhaps due to the difference in time periods. In this essay I will be pointing out my concerns with Dante’s description of hell and how I would recreate hell if I were Dante.
Edward, Jonathan. The Eternity of Hell’s Torments: Puritan’s Minds, copyright 1995. Roman numerals II and IV
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 21, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org
Marravee. W, 1987, “A Christian Response to Suffering”, Review for Religious, no. 46, pp. 256-260.
What is going to happen to us when we will die? Some people never considered what it could happen to them after life. For many people, death is a redoubtable event because they do not know what to expect after their death. However, other persons, such as religious people are conscious of what to expect after their death because of their beliefs. Each religion has different ideas and different ways of looking life. Death, therefore, is viewed by different religions in many ways. Although, different religions have a distinct conception of death, they all have something in common: they all give hope to people. Among all different religions in the world, four of the most common ones - Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu- view death in different ways.
Pollen, John Hungerford. "St. Ignatius Loyola." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1910. 23 Mar. 2014 .
I thought that, like many other religions, there was a desirable and undesirable place to go to after death. Hindus do not believe in a heaven or hell. They believe in rebirth and this happens depending on their karma. Karma is the computation of a person’s actions. An individual’s karma will decide on what they will be reincarnated as in their next life. Their goal in life is to become one with Brhaman and this happens when there is no more karma. There is no more rebirth and karma has equalized, meaning it has balanced. The person is immersed into Brahma and they are forever with the ultimate. An example of this is how a river flows into an ocean. This stage is called Moksha and that is the ultimate
Bainvel, Jean. The New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York City: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15006b.htm (accessed September 23, 2011).