Examine the concepts of immortality of the soul with resurrection of the body - to what extent is one of these a more convincing argument for life after death than the other?

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AO1) Examine the concepts of the immortality of the soul with the resurrection of the body.

AO2) To what extent is one of these a more convincing argument for life after death than the other?

AO1: Since the beginning of time, philosophers have debated whether a post-mortem existence is possible. The eschatological question not only terrifies us, but astonishes us also. Religion to many provides the comforting idea that this short, seemingly irrelevant existence has meaning when being put towards an afterlife. Different religions teach different forms of life after death within their institutions, but how can we evaluate which one is more plausible?

Resurrection is a central doctrine within Christianity, it is also very important amongst other monotheistic religions such as Islam and Judaism. This monistic approach sees that God, as an act of love, will bring back to eternal life those who have died. “He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live”.(John 11:25) The person who has died is not ‘resuscitated’ for this would be a contradiction as life and death are two wholly separate states. The person is no longer the same as the one who has died after resurrection, instead they are given by God a ‘spiritual form’ also known as the ‘soma pneumatikon’ which is the continuity of memories and characteristics. Monism suggests that the soul and body exist as one entity and must coexist alongside each other even after death. Thomas Aquinas believed that eternal life had to consist of both body and soul for it was the soul that allowed the body to live due to it being the primary source of all physical activities. For example: sensations through our nerves, movement through our muscles and the brain in understanding our mind. This relationship of body and soul was inevitable as Aquinas referred to it as a ‘natural union’ where one cannot be without the other.
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Many issues arise with Resurrection for only nine have ever been resurrected and the only evidence of this comes from the Bible, for example: “A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have”.(Luke 24:39)

Immortality of the soul is another popular, monotheistic notion of life after death.

This idea agrees that the physical body can not live without the soul however it is dualistic as opposed to monistic for it implies that the soul can live without the body. If snow is faced with fire, it cannot exist as a solid ...

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