Funeral services always raise profound questions about the meaning of life and death. Jesus himself believed in a life–giving God: ‘the God of the living, not of the dead’. Christians believe that the Christ’s resurrection is the triumph of good over evil and life over death and has made eternal life available to them.
The actual funeral service itself begins with the priest or other minister reading aloud such as: ‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ saith the Lord; ‘he that believeth in me shall never die,’ and: ‘I know that my redeemer liveth….’ Then the Psalm takes place which often starts like this ‘The lord is my shepherd’ and then lessons are read telling of God’s care and of the hope of eternal life. Usually after this point there maybe a sermon remembering the life and work of the dead person and the Christian beliefs about life beyond death. A funeral may help people come to terms of death, it tells people you don’t just die and get buried in the earth but you get judged for your life on earth and get punished for all your wrong doings.
Christians also have strong beliefs about life after death.
However different Christian groups have different beliefs about life after death. There are different major Christian’s groups which are Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Conservative Protestants and Liberal Christians (non-conformist).
Roman Catholics believe that when a person dies, their body starts to decompose while the soul leaves the body and is immediately evaluated in a Particular Judgment. There are three possible destinations to after the judgment: Heaven, Purgatory or Hell. Heaven will be a reward for those at the highest ranks whose love for God has been perfected in this life. However only a few Christians will qualify for this path. The second destination available is Purgatory (a state between heaven and hell where people are prepared for heaven). This is where most Christians believe they will be sent to after the Particular Judgment even though they aim to perfect their love for God so they can go straight to Heaven. Christians will enter Purgatory if they die in a state of grace but loves God. Here in Purgatory they will suffer for a time in order to cleanse themselves of their imperfections, sins and faults. However if friends and family of a dead person offer masses, prayers and other acts of piety and devotion then the stay for a person in purgatory can be shortened. The only difference between hell and Purgatory is that people in Purgatory will be released one day whilst the people in hell will never be released in order to enter heaven. Hell will be for those that did not believe in one god or committed major sins, which have not been forgiven. Hell will be a permanent stay with no release and the punishments won’t be eased.
Roman Catholics also believe that when Jesus returns to earth in the ‘second coming’ he will conduct the General Judgment (Final Judgment). This will only affect the people in Purgatory at the time because those in heaven or hell will continue to spend their eternity there.
Eastern Orthodox beliefs are very similar to the Roman Catholic Church except they do not indicate a method in which pain is inflicted on the people. Eastern Orthodox do believe that the bible is the word of god but talks about fire, heat worms and etc have been interpreted literally or symbolically.
Conservative Protestants beliefs hold a variety of ideas about the fate of the late. This church of Christians believes that once a person dies they enter into complete oblivion – a state of non-existence. They believe that they will remain unconscious and have no self-awareness whilst there bodies decay. However on the General Judgment the dead will be called from their graves and will be resurrected and judged. Those of who will be saved will go to heaven and those not as fortunate will spend their eternal lives in hell for punishment. Here is an important quote from the bible referring to this matter;
“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” Daniel 12:2
Liberal Christians do not believe in the inerrancy of the bible. In their religious studies they realize that the beliefs of the ancient Israelites about Sheol were derived from surrounding pagan cultures in the Middle East. Liberals also do not interpret the bible literally and feel that it has little detailed, specific information to be found on life after death. Most liberals also concept of hell as a permanent place of punishment and torture for anyone.
As you can see there are many different Christian beliefs about life after death but all vary from each other one way or another. Sometimes people don’t like to think or talk about death. Most people are afraid of death. One reason is that we have no idea of what’s going to happen when we die. Fear of the unknown can be much worse than fear of what we know.
People say Children are never too young to learn about death, it will help them to respect life even more. I agree with this statement because if a child doesn’t know anything about death he wouldn’t know the importance of life on earth and how it would affect your life after death. But different people have different opinions; some say talking about death could make a child less afraid as they will know there is a life after death and they would be reassured that they will see loved ones again, one day. Others say talking about death to a child at a young age could make them fear death, feel guilty constantly and worry about hell and worry that their loved ones may not go to heaven.