Examine the key concepts associated with two of the following: Immortality of the soul, rebirth, reincarnation, and resurrection ii.) Discuss the claim that belief in life after death is credible.

Another key concept of rebirth is the law of karma, the principle that significant actions have consequences. Ultimately, Buddhists aspire to escape from samsara by recognizing the illusion, thus reaching Enlightenment (nibanna). Consequently, rebirth finds itself in opposition not only to Christian teaching, but also to the teaching of Hinduism.

The belief in the resurrection originates from the accounts of Jesus’ followers and disciples concerning his resurrection as recorded in the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the writings of St Paul. Resurrection comes from the Latin, resurrectus and it is the promise of post – death existence in a re-created human body. A key feature of resurrection is that it is a monist theory, in that a physical body is required for redemption. Traditional eschatological teaching of Christianity, Judaism and Islam are concerned with the end of time and the idea of resurrection can be seen in the Bible, in Ezekiel 37. ‘God shows Ezekiel a valley of dry bones and states that he is able to ‘make these live again’. The reviving of the dry bones signified God’s plan for Israel’s future national restoration, showing that Israel’s new life depended on God’s power and not the circumstances of the people. Putting ‘breath’ by God’s Spirit into the bones showed that God not only wanted to restore them physically but spiritually. Although, many interpret this passage in different ways and some maintain that this passage was only a metaphor.

Within Christianity, whether resurrection involves a bodily life after death is debated. In general terms, Catholicism has traditionally believed in the resurrection of the person’s body and soul. The Church teaches that when a person dies, their body starts its process of decomposition. Meanwhile, the soul leaves the body and is immediately evaluated in a Particular judgment. There are three possible destinations immediately after the judgment, heaven, hell and purgatory. Later, when Jesus returns to earth he will conduct the final judgment. Saint Paul argued in favour of resurrection of two grounds. Firstly, since Jesus was resurrected, so too should Christians hope to be resurrected. Secondly, since God has created many types of bodies in nature, we should believe that he is able to make human bodies perfect (1 Corinthians 15). If we accept that God is creator, then resurrection seems a coherent idea. While Dr. Rowan Williams, suggests that one should expand on what one thinks about the Resurrection. Resurrection might be ‘not describable…not an event, with a before and after, occupying a determinate bit of time.’ The best understanding of the ‘nature’ of the Resurrection may be recognising how much one cannot presume anything about its nature in an event.

ii.) Discuss the claim that the belief in life after death is credible.

Life after death is credible to a large extent, as there is a large of percentage of people who believe in it. A study carried out between October and November 2009 showed that out of 2,060 people, 53% believed in life after death, with 55% believing in heaven and 70% believing in the human soul in the UK. However, there are many problems with believing in life after death – not least the fact that there is no proof. As Hume might have said, ‘there aren’t enough witnesses’ and ‘testimony isn’t proof.’ Some evidence put forward is parapsychological, such as near-death experience, mediums, and so on, though the data generated from such evidence is contested.

While there may not be any hard evidence for rebirth, it provides advantages to those who believe in it, therefore attaining the label of credibility. For instance, there is an idea of moral value because if one is constantly reborn, one must constantly strive for good karmic effects. However, G.E Moore’s theory of ‘naturalistic fallacy’ might intervene because rebirth confuses moral ideas with factual information about how the world works. There is no means of verifying the principle of karma, and it assumes a dark view of reality with the inevitability of suffering. On the other hand, there is some psychological truth in the ideas of anatta and anicca, since an individual continues to grow throughout their life.

Resurrection also delivers benefits for those who believe in it, thus making it credible to a large extent. It has a basis in tradition and is supported by evidence from Sacred Scripture, while it is also fair and encourages morality. However, many challenges to belief in resurrection have been centred on the fact that there is no available way to falsify claims concerning life after death. But, non-Christian sources agree that Jesus was executed by crucifixion and his disciples believe that he rose from dead. A Church persecutor, Saul of Tarsus, unexpectedly transformed into a believer after the resurrection. Verification is only possible in the weak sense of eschatological verification suggested by John Hick in his Celestial City analogy. John Hick is a materialist, who believes that the soul and the body are ‘psycho- physically’ unified. Hick explains in his Replica Theory, where he discusses how God makes it possible for people to be ‘replicated’ on a parallel universe. Hick talks about how the instantaneousness replication would be different from simply being transported from London to New York, he says all the individuals would know their dead and would be on a world populated by deceased individuals. His theory could be seen as incoherent because there is no evidence in science to suggest there is a parallel universe, however if you accept God’s omnipotent existence, this theory is plausible and does not depend on dualism. But, even Hick recognised the limits of his own theory and the fact that it is hypothetical in the extreme. It should be noted that this is an extending theory into the unknown and is purely hypothetical.

To conclude, life after death is credible because believers avoid the limitations of rationality and focus on faith, rather than empirical evidence. While some philosophers like Bertrand Russell, argue that the hope of a better life in heaven relieves humans of responsibility for what happens on Earth and encourages a fatalist mentality, such beliefs may do the opposite and soothe fears of demise.