Different Religions and Cultures - Assignment Example

Eschatology What is the final destination after we die? Do we go to heaven or hell? Are we condemned to hell or are we directed to go to heaven? Do we cease to live or do we sleep for a certain time before our final judgment? Alongside the provocative question of the implication of life, is the question of what happens to a person when they die. These questions are hard to answer and that people ask themselves these questions in their entire life (Bloch and Jonathan 42). The purpose for these questions is because every human being is mortal and they will die someday. Therefore, death is something that humanity share in that we are born, we live, and eventually we die. In order to comprehend what happens when a person dies, it is significant to comprehend the meaning of death. Death simply implies end of life, which is permanent cessation of body functions (Soto 112-114). Different religions and cultures have developed their own explanation as to what happens to a person when they die but majority of them share similar opinion that there is afterlife. The afterlife is distinct to people according to their culture and religion. For instance, Christianity argues that there is eternal life where people will meet and stay with God in heaven. Other religions such as Hinduism and Islam tell people that there are heavens of many levels. The good things that a person did will determine which heaven a person will enter when they die. Buddhism elaborates on this faith and asserts that the stay in heaven is not permanent as people will be reborn as animals or humans signaling the beginning of a new life on earth. As much as different religions and culture of the world have different view of the life after death, the tragedy and fear of death and the belief in eternal life is a universal occurrence. Human mind and understanding cannot contact a person’s own death as an internal experience. Human mortality is an inevitable phenomenon, which transcends human understanding throughout their lives. However, before they die, people witness death of their relatives and friends, for the desire of the survivors after the matter of death, people are prone to thinking about their own mortality (James 142). In this situation, people develop a feeling of uncertainty originating from the fear of the unknown. Therefore, the only way that human beings have formulated to deal with the tragedy and pain of death is to establish an intricate vision of what might happen after death. Different cultures in the world have distinct ways of understanding heaven and hell. The idea of how people deal with their mortality is centered in their religion and cultural beliefs. The rationale behind the belief of afterlife needs the ability to view part of the self, which is the soul as having the ability to exist and live autonomously of the physical body. Further, the salience of human mortality makes people belief that there is life after death in order to offer encouragement to people to confront and address the tragedy of death. People’s beliefs started to accept the notion that a person’s conducts on earth are the main factors that will decide the type of afterlife a person will experience when they die. Most people belief that there is heaven, which is an eternal place, occupied by virtuous and pure souls or spirits, and hell exist for all evil doers or souls (James 143). Hell is believed to be a place of people who committed sins on earth. Such people will be condemned to eternal doom. When a person dies, it does not imply the end of life but it shows the end of physical life and the start of an era of rest after a tedious and tiresome work on earth. This era of rest will continue until the day of resurrection, when everybody will encounter God who will in turn judge their earthly behaviors and determine the eternal fate or the fate of their souls (James 144). Additionally, most cultures and religions require their people to belief and understand that human soul or spirit will live forever in accordance with the way a person lived his or her life on earth. Further, the promises of afterlife gives people hope that even if they die, they will be able to get in touch with those people on earth. The purpose of afterlife is to present the understanding to people that this world is ruled and governed by a supreme being powerful than human beings. Death does not mean the end of a person’s life but it is viewed as a mandatory process that a person had to pass through in order to enter full happiness and eternity, therefore, people should not fear the tragedy of death. As human beings, we have terrible struggles that in the end we are destined to lose. Therefore, people hold the belief that fear of death is normal to all people in the world, and that as human beings we should not spend most of our time worrying about death and after life. This is because death cannot release human beings from earthly struggles and sufferings but the only way that human beings can be happy is by being optimistic in the sense that they should refuse the idea that life is indeed all they have, and belief that their souls will live forever when they will die. Theories such as string hypothesis have been formulated to explain what happens to human soul after death. Through the string theory, scientists argue that there is presence of several realms and dimensions that states that in the beginning, time and space had a start, and that time and space are assets of the universe. If this is a reality, then beyond the universe, the world would be distinct and with different laws of time and space. The notion that the earth is not the only place and that there might be other worlds or universes existing in accordance with distinct laws might find its place in contemporary physics. Therefore, Christian view of heaven or eternity, which holds that God lives and exists outside the universe, is considered rational and intelligible. This might explain the existence of heaven where human souls go after they die (D’Souza 78). In sum, due to diverse opinions and beliefs among cultures and religions about what happens when we die, some people summarize that no belief or faith can explain or knows what happens to human beings when they die. However, most people adhere to their cultures and beliefs about their final destination when they will cease to live on earth. These beliefs eventually give people hope and confidence in the face of uncertain or unknown world and the inevitability of death. Therefore, most people beliefs that the spirit or the soul of a person continues to live even after physical death. This soul maintains and keeps a person’s identity even after death has separated it from the material body. In order for a person to enjoy eternity, they have to lead virtuous life before they die. Those people who do wrong things are destined for misery in the eternal life. Works Cited Berger, Peter L. The Sacred Canopy. Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Doubleday, 1967. Print. Bloch, Maurice, and Jonathan, Parry. Introduction. Death and the Regeneration of Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Print. D’Souza, Dinesh. Life after Death: The Evidence. Virginia: Regnery Publishers, 2009. Print. James, Evans H. We Have Been Believers. Augsburg: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1993. Print. Soto, Gary. The Afterlife. Boston: Graphia Publishers, 2005. Print. Read More