Death and the Afterlife
Sample answers:
a) Describe and explain what happens at a Christian funeral? [8
marks]
A Christian funeral often starts with the words, ‘I am the
resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, even though he
die, yet shall he live.’ Which are the words of Jesus from the
Bible. The priest who is running the service might well say this
from the door at the back of the church before he comes in with
the coffin. During the service there will be hymns and Bible
readings to remind Christians of the promise of redemption and
the hope of eternal life. The priest may well give a eulogy. When
it comes to the disposal of the body some Christians prefer a
cremation and others, Roman Catholics in particular, prefer to be
buried. At a cremation the body is removed to a crematorium
where it is burned and the ashes are returned to the family.
Sometimes they are buried and sometimes they are scattered. In
a burial the mourners gather by the graveside and the body is
lowered into the ground. It is traditional for the priest to say,
‘Ashes to ashes and dust to dust in the sure and certain hope of
the resurrection to the life eternal through Christ Jesus.’ In some
funerals the mourners will wear black as this is a sign of
mourning. Other Christians prefer to wear bright colours as this
shows the promise of Heaven.
b) How might belief in life after death affect the life of a
Christian? [7 marks]
Christians believe that you can only get into Heaven if you are a
good person so they will try to live a good life so that they will
not suffer an eternal punishment in Hell. They will also probably
feel that they should encourage others to do the same as they
would not want their loved ones to suffer in Hell. They may try
to convert people they know to Christianity, particularly if they
believe that you can only get into Heaven if you are a Christian.
After all Jesus said, ‘No-one comes to the Father except through
me.’ However, they may believe that a loving God would not
punish a good person for not being a Christian and so they would
emphasise the need to act in a moral way. One of the key things
for Christians is to admit when you do sin and repent. They may
go to confession to seek forgiveness for their sins, particularly in
the Roman Catholic tradition.
c) ‘When people die, they just stop; that is the end of a person.’
Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer showing that
you have considered more than one point of view. You must
write about Christian views in your answer. [5 marks]
No-one can know what happens after death. Most of my friends
think that death is the end and there’s nothing else after. They
think that when people talk about Heaven it’s just because they
are scared of dying. Christians believe that death is the
beginning of an eternal life, hopefully in Heaven with God. They
would say that the only way suffering on Earth makes sense is if
there is a reward in the afterlife. They look at what happened to
Jesus when he came back from the dead and see this as proof of
an afterlife. I’m not sure you can call it proof but it backs up
their ideas and if you could prove that it really happened maybe
more people would believe. Death is the end of your body. It is
burned up or rots away but is that all a person is? Christians
believe in a soul which can’t die. So death doesn’t affect your
soul. Some people believe that your soul contains all of the
things which make up your personality and so is the real you. If
it can’t die then death can’t be the end.