The End of Life
What you need to know
Test yourself
Tips for answering questions
Course Content
1. The ways in which Christians understand
the distinction between ‘body’ and ‘soul’
2. Christian understandings of heaven, hell
and purgatory and the concept of God as
judge, the relation between moral
behaviour and the afterlife
3. Christian funeral rites, and the ways in
which these reflect belief and aim to
support the bereaved
Key Words
Judgement
Immortal
Grief
Soul
Hell
Funeral
Resurrection
Mourn
Bereavement
Heaven
Purgatory
What is the soul?
Can you remember 8 points about the soul?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Body, mind and soul
Unlike animals
Breath of life
Plato’s ideas
Resurrection is proof
God’s image
Conflict between body and soul
Eternal
B
A
B
P
R
I
C
E
What is the soul?
Complete the following key quotes:
• So God created man in…
• If there is a natural body…
Now write out the 8 key points from the soul
again to see if you can still remember them
What are heaven and hell like?
Heaven - where God and angels are
thought to live; a very pleasant
place or condition
Hell where wicked people are
thought to be punished after
they die; a very unpleasant
place or condition
(Purgatory – a place of temporary suffering;
in Roman Catholic belief a place where
souls are made clean by suffering before
they can enter heaven)
What are heaven and hell like?
• Can you describe the traditional views
of heaven and hell?
• Who goes to heaven and to hell? Do all
Christians agree about who goes
where?
• What are the more modern / liberal
interpretations of heaven and hell?
• Why do some Christians find it hard to
believe in hell as a real place?
• What is purgatory, who believes in it,
and why do they believe in it?
How will people be judged in the
next life?
God is omniscient so knows us better than
we know ourselves. He will judge everyone
on their actions from this life.
• What two things is judgement based on?
What does this picture show
about how people are judged?
Why are the goats to
the left and below the
sheep?
What is the purpose of funerals?
For Christians, death is not the end of
life; funerals remind them of this as
well as offering comfort and support to
mourners
• You need to know the 9 key features of
a funeral service
• You need to know how Christian
funerals differ: what is different about
a Quaker or Catholic funeral?
What is the purpose of funerals?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Gathering
Hymns
Readings & sermon
Eulogy
Prayers
Reflection
Commendation
Committal
Wake
Greedy
Hippos
Really
Enjoy
Pancakes
Rhinos
Can’t
Cook
Waffles
A sentence like this can help you remember things in
the right order
Key Quotes
The soul:
• ‘So God created man in his own image…’
• ‘the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life, and the man became a living being.’
• ‘If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual
body.’
Judgement
• ‘No one comes to the Father except through me.’
• ‘In my Father’s house there are many rooms…’
Funerals
• 'I am the resurrection and the life…he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die.'
Part A Questions
1. What is death?
2. What is the soul?
3. What is purgatory?
Part B Questions
1. What is meant by soul?
2. Describe two things that happen
at a Christian funeral service.
3. Describe two Christian beliefs
about how people will be judged
when they die.
Part C Questions
1. What do Christians believe about
life after death?
2. Describe three purposes of a
Christian funeral.
3. Describe three key Christian
beliefs about heaven.
Part D Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
How may Christian funeral rites reflect beliefs
about life after death?
Explain Christian beliefs about what happens to
good people when they die.
Explain how Christians view the distinction
between body and soul.
Explain what Christians believe about life after
death
Explain Christian beliefs about how the way
people live might affect what happens to them
when they die
Explain how a Christian funeral service might
comfort someone whose relative has died
Explain why Christians might believe that they
should behave morally
Part E Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
These questions ask you to ‘Discuss this
statement. You should include different,
supported points of view and a personal
viewpoint. You must refer to Christianity in your
answer.’
‘When people die that is the end.’
‘People believe in life after death because they are
afraid of dying.’
‘A forgiving God would not send people to hell.’
‘This life is more important than the next.’
‘Funeral services are for the living, not the dead.’
‘It cannot be true that there is life after death,
because there is no evidence of it.’