In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, heaven is described as, “A perfect life with God… it is the state of the supreme, definitive happiness.”
It also states that “Those who die in God’s grace and friendship live forever with Christ… They see God face to face.” There is also evidence of heaven in the bible… When Jesus was dying on the cross, he spoke to the two criminals beside him and said “Today, you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23), thus proving that there is a heaven.
I believe that heaven is open to every one of all religions and beliefs as long as they believe in God and they are sorry for any wrongs they have committed. People make mistakes and God knows this but as long as you are truly sorry, ask for forgiveness and accept and love God I believe that you should be able to go to heaven.
Purgatory is described as “A place for all who die in God’s grace and friendship, but are still imperfectly purified… after death they undergo purification so that they can reach the holiness needed to enter the joy of heaven.” There is also evidence of Purgatory in the bible. For example, making atonement for the dead was in hope that they might be released from their mortal sin and therefore get into heaven. (2 Maccabees 12:46)
Purgatory is only a Roman Catholic belief and it is believed that the prayers of people here on earth help the souls in Purgatory to be purified. Some people disagree. I believe that purgatory exists for those who accept and love God but had not been cleansed of all their sins, through confession or the last rights.
The Catechism also states that “We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him… to die in mortal sin means remaining separated from him forever by our own free choice. Thus meaning we must go to hell.
The evidence of the existence of hell is written in Matthew, Chapter 25, “ Depart from me into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
I feel that it is only the people that knowingly reject God and do not regret their sins that go to hell. Some people’s upbringing and background mean that they are unaware of Jesus. They are not taught what it is to be a Christian and therefore should not go to hell because they cannot reject something that they know nothing of. Everyone commits sins, but as long as you are sorry and act in a Christian way, you should be forgiven.
I believe they should not go to hell just because they do not know of Jesus. If they have not been taught, they cannot be expected to know and therefore it would be highly unjust to send them to hell as it is not their fault. I believe that the only people who should go to hell are those who are fully aware of God and reject him, those who do not live a Christian life and do not regret their sins.
In the Catechism, it is written that no-one is predestined to go to hell.
God gave us free will which means that he will not stop us from committing sins. He has laid down his commandments and sent teachings, and if we do sin, God will forgive us if we ask for it and we are truly sorry. To get to heaven you must repent your sins and want to be with God. Those who reject God, freely choose to go to hell. It is there decision, depending on their actions and thoughts towards and about God and others.
No one is predestined to go to hell or heaven or purgatory.
Explain the importance of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection for Christians today
Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection is very important to Christians today because of what we learn from it about God and his love for us. It also teaches us how to live our own lives better.
Through Jesus’ suffering we know that he had human emotions of fear, anger and pain, just as we do. For example, in the Garden Of Gethsemane he spoke to God, asking him to “Take this cup away from me” meaning that he did not want to be crucified and go through all of the pain. He was afraid, and when he saw that the disciples were asleep, he felt that his friends had let him down. Something we have all experienced at times, he was disappointed and sad because there had been no-one there for him when he needed them the most, “Could you not stay awake one hour with me?” This gives us a closer relationship with God because when we feel sad, let down, in pain, angry or afraid, we know that Jesus knows how we feel because he has been through the same things.
Jesus sacrificed his live for us, his death and suffering lead to our freedom.
And in our own lives we should make sacrifices for other people. We sacrifice our time, our belongings, our money and sometimes even our lives. Sometimes we have to give up something we want to give others the things they need. There are examples of this all over the world, people who choose to join charities and travel the world, caring for the poor, feeding them, people who are carers to those with special needs, those in the armed services… All of these people give up their time and forget their needs to come to the aid of others.
If we go through sacrifice and suffering, just like Jesus did then it enables us to empathise with other people and understand them better. Sometimes bad things happen but there are positive effects and people learn to look after each other and empathise with each other. For example, disasters such as the Tsunami in 2004. Thousands of people lost their homes, their families and even their lives. But many countries and charity organisations came to their aid. Care centres were built, homes were rebuilt, families re-united. Sometimes, terrible things happen, but if we make sacrifices for others and pull together then we can make things better.
Sacrifice happens every day and sometimes its just simple things that make a difference and make people feel better and make other people’s lives easier. For example, just letting someone in front of you in a queue or giving up a seat, just giving up some of our time to God. Sometimes, just to pray or go to mass. Little things make all the difference. And doing these things doesn’t only help others but makes you feel good, knowing you have helped someone else, made them happy.
Our beliefs about the suffering of Jesus are shown in Christian worship and practises. For example, Lent. At Lent we all give something up that means a lot to us or do something extra to help others. Some people also fast, not just at lent, but frequently, some even two to three times a week, every week. This is to show God that we can suffer and that we have respect for him.
The death and resurrection of Jesus show us that there is life after death and that it is not the end. Now we know that there is a heavenly realm.
We live a mortal life, any day could be our last, and knowing this and knowing that every day here counts means that we have to make it count. It inspires us to live better lives and be better people. Life is so fragile. We should treasure it, because when we are falling out with people, or refuse someone something or turn away from someone, it could be our last day. We would not have spent it wisely and it would be too late to put things right.
Our beliefs in the death and resurrection of Jesus effect our worship and practises such as funerals…Funeral’s are more of a celebration of life than a mourning of death and the priest wears white, because they are going to be with God, we should not be sad. Although they are taken from us and we shall miss them, we should remember them for who they were and what they did, and keep them forever in our hearts, remembering that they are with God now.
Other practises include the Stations of the Cross, when we remember the pain that Jesus went through and pray for him and others that are going through pain. There is also confession, so we are cleansed of our sins and the last rights before someone dies so that you can make your final peace with God before you die and therefore go to heaven. We also keep symbols that remind us of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, such as a crucifix.
The death and resurrection is a reminder to us that we do not live just for today and there is more than this life, Therefore, encouraging us to live a fuller, happier life, helping others, making sacrifices and empathising with others.
“For a Christian to die for his/her beliefs does not make sense. It is better to live for them.”
Since Jesus’ time there have been many Christians that have died for their beliefs. Thousands of people have died, simply for being Christian. In Roman times they were often crucified or fed to the lions for sport. Christians who were also Roman citizens were also beheaded. Orthodox Christian practise forbade the deliberate seeking out of martyrdom but many Christians attempted to achieve martyrdom on purpose.
People thought that they would be seen to be greater in the eyes of God if they died for their belief, but doing this on purpose, skirted on the sin of suicide. Martyrs were recognized as people who would rather die for their faith than renounce it, not for those who did it purposefully for their own ego, thinking they would be closer to God than others because they had done something heroic for their faith.
Throughout history there have been hundreds of martyrs such as Jean Of Arc and Thomas Becket, many suffered horrible deaths such as being crushed, burnt alive at the stake, stabbed to death etc. The 20th Century saw again, large numbers of Christians being killed by Non – Christians.
During the rein of Adolf Hitler, hundreds of Christians were martyred, among them, Maximillian Kolbe and Paul Schneider.
Many people believe that all of these people were better off to live for their beliefs and carry on their good deeds and the word of God. They could have carried on teaching others, helping others. But, for all of these people it would have meant denying Christ and carrying out their beliefs in secret, if at all. Some were tormented and asked to perform ceremonies of other beliefs. This would have been an awful thing to have to go through. The fact that these people gave up their lives instead of denying Christ shows their strength. They would have had to live their live in shadow, hiding away their beliefs.
I do not believe they could have done much good in doing this and would have to live with the fact that they had denied their God. When people die for their faith it shows their strength, the strength of their religion. Because, although they were killed, the people who killed them did not win, in fact they lost. Because it is easy to deny something or someone just to save your own life but it takes a lot more to stand up for what you believe and show people that you are stronger than them and that your God is worth more to you than your life.
Although some people believe that you would do more good here on earth, I do not believe it would be right for those people to learn/ teach their religion in such a secretive way, having to pretend everyday. The fact that they have died shows not only the “enemy” but people of their own faith that people have stood up for them, that they have made sacrifices, gone through suffering, not just for God but for all people of that religion.
There is a life with God after we die, and I do not believe that we should be afraid to stand up for what we believe in, just because the consequence of doing so means death. The fact that those people were so tragic, and yet so strong gives them remembrance in our hearts, that they made sacrifices for us, to remember what they have been through, the pain they felt. They did it to make a difference, to make a stand and the remembrance of them should make an impact on our lives, especially today. In a country and a society where we do not have to hide our religion, race or culture, where we can carry out religious practises freely and promote what we believe in. We should always remember those who fought for us to be here, living like this. So we can make a difference, live a good, free life being good Christians. So we can die in God’s grace and spend eternity with him.
