Compare and contrast Christian and Hindu beliefs about: Life; Death; The Beyond.

Hindu traditions are clear that the rested order is dependent on the sacrifice of the cosmic man. All the elements of the created order have their origin and being in one single act this unifies them and makes them somehow one. They believe each individual embodies Brahman this element is the Atman. The body is not the whole person this is true for both dualist Christians and Hindus, they believe in an eternal part the soul (or Atman in the Hindu tradition), which will live on after they die, it is real but immortal. Hindus see the Atman like a drop in the ocean, Brahman is the ocean and when a drop immerses into the ocean it becomes indistinguishable. The Atman is part of the divine it is seen in a similar way to the Christian view, which is seen in the writings of Plato he believed the body was corruptible and is destroyed through evils such as disease but that the soul is not affected in this way it is incorruptible. But not all Hindus believe that the soul is just the divine. Another school of thought the Vendanta believe that Atman shares the characteristics of Brahman and that they are all controlled by Brahman but that it is not purely Brahman it parts which are individual to that person. But it is generally accepted by that there is a very close link between the divine and the individual.

The Hindus see life as a burden and this emersion with Brahman happens eventually. Hindus believe in the idea of rebirth (reincarnation) they are trapped in the law of samara, the law that controls rebirth. The Atman moves on in stages up the levels of caste, starting at the lowest level and moving up to the priest caste until the union with Brahman. When a man or woman dies the soul is reborn into a new life. The decision as to whether you go up or down the hierarchical system is dependant upon your Karma. Karma is connected in a way to the Atman it weighs it down. Disobedient acts weigh it down and worthy ones lighten it. Good people are lighter and move up through the caste, the law of Samsara is sometimes seen as a ladder. This process of rebirth repeats until the Hindu is good enough to stop being reborn and become part of Brahman.

These ideas show a value to life for Hindus, life is important as it dictates the weight of your Karma and the Hindus incentive is to reach Moksha (union with the divine). Through a respectable life following the teaching of the tradition and living a good life the Hindu can hope to move up the law of Samsara.

The Christian tradition teaches that death is not the end, life continues after the physical death, this concept is seen through the idea of soul where the body dies and the soul is released. The soul goes onto what is often referred to as 'heaven' a place where man is unified with God, forever to live in the presence of God. The soul is judged like the Hindu atman, the atman is judged on the weight of the Karma, the soul is judged by a person's life, a good honest person gains union with God but a bad life is punished with a privation of God also know as 'Hell'. The bible teaches of judgement, the evangelist John deals with the issue of judgement, this is the way which God himself or through an intermediary assesses the worth of people, they are judged on Moral behaviour, ritual and secret knowledge.

The Christian tradition is divided on the issue of judgement. Some look from the Augustinian perspective that God will judge and that judgement is final, an eternal deprivation of or union with God. This idea is traced right back to the time of the medieval church, which preached of eternal torment, or eternal serenity this was depicted in images like the 'doom paintings'. The other idea is from the theologian Irenaeus he believed that God did not judge like this he was more humane and that no one deserved an eternal separation, eventually everyone would be with god. After death life continued it continues until the person is 'God-like', people are born in the image of god but must mature into the likeness of god.

These ideas about life after death show that life as with the Hindu tradition has value. God gave life a purpose; Gods thought that humans were worth saving. God sent the prophets and they failed to redeem the people so he sent Jesus who died to save man and then the Paraclete to live in people forever. He did not leave man to live isolated on the earth he was an active part of creation. The two theodicies from Augustine and Irenaeus also show purpose. The Augustinian theodicy claims life is soul-deciding what you do on earth affects the after life. Irenaeus claims life is soul-making the union with god is quicker if life on earth is good and the person becomes closer to God while still living on earth. It is an opportunity to do Gods will as shown in the 2 great commandments, which are to love god and to love your neighbour. The passage found in the gospel of Matthew, claims that not even a sparrow dies without Gods knowledge, he even knows the number of hairs on your head. God also still speaks to people through religious experiences and the Roman Catholics believe that God speaks through the Pope in the Ex Cathedra pronouncements. If people are not important and earthly life is unimportant why odes the Father choose to make huge sacrifices to help mankind.