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SELF, DEATH & AFTERLIFE (AQA A LEVEL RELIGIOUS STUDIES PAPER 2 CHRISTIANITY) — Transcript

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0:01you're well welcome back to our paper
0:04two revision I'm Ben Wardle and as I say
0:07this is the next in our paper two
0:09revision video series so we are
0:11continuing our look at the study of
0:14Christianity for the AQA a-level
0:16religious studies and we are looking
0:18today at self-death and afterlife so we
0:21are going to be going through the
0:22consolidation questions for this which
0:25is the third topic on the specification
0:27and others they will be covering
0:29everything that you need to know in
0:31terms of your key ao1 and ao2
0:33information that you can then apply in a
0:3610 marker a 15 marker and of course
0:38don't forget a 25 marker on the dialogue
0:41section as well so if you haven't
0:43already do make sure you download the
0:45blank consolidation booklets which you
0:47can fill in you can either do that
0:49before you watch this video or indeed
0:51you can do that as you watch the video
0:53and we will walk through the questions
0:55and cover all of the key content that
0:58you need for an a star if a question on
1:01self-death and afterlife does come up in
1:04our exam so let's get started shall we
1:06and question number one is to give three
1:09different beliefs about the purpose of
1:11life for Christians and these are the
1:14three that we need to know for this
1:15section and we're going to be exploring
1:17them and diving into them in this video
1:20so the first one is to glorify God and
1:23have a personal relationship with him
1:25and here of course we'll be able to make
1:27lots of synoptic links to the god topic
1:29the second one is to prepare for
1:31judgment and this idea in Christianity
1:33of preparing to be judged to be held to
1:36account by God and of course we'll make
1:38lots of links here to the topic on
1:40justification in terms of how you are
1:43actually Justified how are you saved is
1:45it based on your works for example is it
1:48based on your faith or is it actually
1:50based on a little bit of both and then
1:52we'll also be looking at the third and
1:54final idea about the purpose of life
1:55which is to bring about God's Kingdom on
1:58Earth and we see this language of the
1:59Kingdom used very frequently by Jesus
2:02and Christians believe that he actually
2:04inaugurates the kingdom of God during
2:06his Earth Earthly life and so be asking
2:08what role do Christians today play in
2:11terms of bringing about God's kingdom is
2:13this a religion where you're just
2:14waiting to be rewarded with life after
2:17death or should you be trying to make a
2:19difference and have an impact in this
2:21life if God's kingdom supposed to be
2:24created on this planet in this lifetime
2:26and we'll be asking what that might mean
2:28and what that might look like question
2:31two then is to explain two alternative
2:33ways of understanding the term the
2:36kingdom of God and as I say this really
2:37is a key phrase It's a key phrase in the
2:40New Testament and it is a very important
2:42concept for Christians in terms of what
2:45Jesus has to say then he said this is
2:47the first thing that we have him
2:49recorded as saying in the New Testament
2:51because at the first of the gospels that
2:54we think was written so sorry I've
2:55really worded that wrong let me say that
2:57again the first gospel that we think was
2:59written with actually the gospel of Mark
3:02and the first thing that Mark records
3:04Jesus is saying is this the kingdom of
3:07God has come near repent and believe the
3:10good news and so we need to be asking as
3:13students of the Bible as students of
3:16Christianity what that phrase actually
3:18means that the kingdom of God has come
3:20near is he saying that he thinks the end
3:22of the world is imminent and people need
3:24to prepare for that final judgment and
3:26then entry to heaven or when he says the
3:29kingdom of God has come near does he
3:31actually mean he's going to transform
3:33this world that he is going to lead some
3:35kind of political social Revolution
3:37where he's going to transform this world
3:40so we've got these two different ways of
3:43understanding that term the kingdom of
3:45God the first way is an Earthly way it's
3:48about a transformation of this world
3:50that the term kingdom of God means the
3:52transformation of this present world and
3:55then our second understanding is that it
3:58is eschatological and Esco apology is
4:00all about the study of the end of times
4:02then what will happen at the end of the
4:04world and so that second understanding
4:06of the kingdom of God is that it is
4:09after death that it is a different kind
4:11of existence and of course for
4:13Christians they would understand that to
4:14mean heaven so as they say we've got
4:17this first understanding that it is a
4:19transformation of this current world and
4:22this could be a really great link to
4:24liberation theology couldn't it the idea
4:26that you as the Christian should be
4:28engaged in bringing about social change
4:30that God has the preferential option for
4:33the poor and so you should be
4:35challenging the powerful you should be
4:37empowering the poorest and you should
4:39actually be working for social change
4:41and transformation in this world that
4:43Jesus wasn't just talking about going to
4:45heaven but he actually wanted to see
4:47change in this world and but then that
4:50second understanding is that it is a
4:52future eschatological reality and all
4:55that that means is that the kingdom of
4:57God is something that will be entered
4:59and that will be experienced after death
5:01so it's this key um distinction I
5:04suppose is the word I'm looking for
5:06between the kingdom of God being a
5:08transformation of this world and
5:10something that can be achieved in this
5:12world on this planet and that would have
5:14very you know political and social
5:15connotation wouldn't it and then this
5:17idea the kingdom of God is
5:19eschatological that it's about life
5:21after death that it can only be fully
5:23realized after the end of this physical
5:26world that as I say it's all about a
5:29Heavenly Kingdom a different kind of
5:31existence so many Christians believe
5:34that Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of
5:36God so he started to bring it into
5:38existence
5:40um or they look forward to the time when
5:42he will inaugurate the Kingdom so you
5:44know Jesus is the key character here of
5:47course as he always is when we talk
5:48about Christianity but this key
5:51distinction is whether he has already
5:52begun that inauguration through his
5:54lifetime when he lived in the world 2000
5:57years ago or whether it's actually going
5:59to take place as I say in the future
6:02when he returned for example when we
6:04have the second coming of Christ now for
6:07Reza athlan who is a scholar we've
6:09spoken about before he thought that the
6:11fact Jesus was using this language about
6:13the kingdom of God coming there was
6:15actually to be expected because he says
6:18the first century which is of course
6:20when Jesus was around was an era of
6:23apocalyptic expectation among the Jews
6:26of Palestine and remember you know Jesus
6:28was a Jew himself and so here saying
6:31that the language Jesus used about the
6:33kingdom of God having come near would
6:35have been something people were quite
6:37familiar with because people were
6:39expecting the end of the world within
6:42their lifetimes they were literally
6:44anticipating that the world would be
6:46destroyed and that then there would be
6:48this complete transformation with their
6:51own lifetimes and of course it's now 2
6:53000 years later which is why Christians
6:55today have got to Grapple with this
6:57question of what did Jesus mean when he
6:59spoke about the kingdom was he talking
7:01about social and political change in
7:04this world was he talking about a world
7:06that is to come that will will be
7:08experienced after the death of your
7:10physical body or of course was he
7:12talking about a bit of both was Jesus
7:14beginning the inauguration of the
7:16kingdom of God was he beginning the
7:18reign of that Kingdom but it will only
7:20finally be fulfilled after death
7:22eschatologically at the end of the world
7:25so yeah lots of questions about this
7:27term kingdom of God and we're going to
7:29be talking about it throughout this
7:30video it really is a key concept and
7:33it's really important you understand
7:34that there are two ways of understanding
7:36it as an Earthly transformation or as an
7:39eschatological expectation okay number
7:42three then explain why many Christians
7:45believe the purpose of life is to
7:47glorify God so what does that actually
7:49mean why and how do they do this and
7:52I've said to refer to Imago day which is
7:54of course that key Doctrine from Genesis
7:56that God created humans in His image
7:59there are images Divine we're made in
8:01the image and likeness of God and so
8:03humans have this special value and this
8:05special role so a key quote you could
8:08use if you're talking about glorifying
8:09God in an answer is from the gospel of
8:12Matthew chapter 5 verse 16 when Jesus
8:15said let your light shine before others
8:18that they may see your good deeds and
8:21glorify your father in Heaven so really
8:24important in terms of glorifying God
8:25that it's not just you glorifying God
8:28but it's actually you doing things that
8:30will lead to other people uh glorifying
8:33God and believing in God so to glorify
8:36the word itself means to praise and
8:38worship and as we know praise and
8:41worship of God is an essential part of
8:43Christian life isn't it because
8:44Christians believe God is the omnipotent
8:47Creator and controller of the universe
8:49and so he is worthy of worship and that
8:52is of course a really important synoptic
8:54link to the god topic that we looked at
8:56in the previous videos now humans in
8:58particular are seen as having an
9:00important duty to glorify God because of
9:03course they've got this very special
9:04role in creation we talk later on don't
9:06we about Dominion stewardship this idea
9:09of humans being made in magoday in the
9:11image of God they have this unique
9:13relationship with God and this unique
9:15relationship
9:16um with the rest of the world that
9:18unique role that they have and so they
9:21should because they are made in the
9:22image of God reflect God's glory in
9:26their lives and as Jesus has said they
9:28must do things that will glorify God
9:31that will lead to people thanking God
9:34because of the goodness they are seeing
9:37you do and the good things that they can
9:39see you do and you could say that part
9:41of this part of glorifying God is caring
9:44for his creation that you are praising
9:47him and worshiping him through the way
9:49in which you live for your treatment of
9:52creation that you are caring for
9:54creation and you know Pope Francis wrote
9:56for example his encyclical lordato see
9:58on climate change it's something the
10:01church takes very seriously this duty to
10:03be a good Steward to care for God's
10:05creation because if God's creation and
10:08you want to glorify him you want to
10:10honor him you want to fulfill that very
10:13special role he's given you because he's
10:15made you Imago day and he's given you
10:18this special responsibility to look
10:20after the world you are made in the
10:21image of God but yes to glorify God
10:24means to commit yourself to praising and
10:26worshiping him and you know remembering
10:29that you are maybe magoday that you're
10:31made in the image of God
10:33our next question then is um a bit of a
10:36deep dive actually on that quote we've
10:37just mentioned so explain how Matthew
10:39chapter 5 verse 16 to let your light
10:42shine before others that they may see
10:44your good deeds and glorify your father
10:45in Heaven how does that support the
10:47belief that the purpose of life is to
10:49glorify God so I've said that Christians
10:52this quote tells me should perform good
10:55deed for this will lead to other people
10:57thanking and glorifying God so of course
11:00you know really important in terms of
11:01thinking of the mission of the church
11:03you know that duty to evangelize to make
11:06disciples of all Nations that you can
11:08bring people to belief in God by
11:10performing good deeds and doing good
11:12works and I've put that it's a great
11:14link to justification by work so from
11:17the parable of the sheep and the goats
11:18we get that key teaching that you will
11:21be judged and held to account based on
11:22whether you've performed good works that
11:24help other people so it's a really
11:26important thing to do to actually be
11:29glorifying God through your actions and
11:31as I've put there it's kind of like
11:33evangelizing through your actions people
11:36can see the fruits of your faith yeah
11:39when we spoke about religious
11:40experiences on paper one we spoke about
11:42William James and that idea of fruits
11:44versus roots and you could argue that
11:46you know a really important thing for
11:48Christians is that people can see the
11:50fruits of their faith that they can see
11:52that compassion they can see that
11:53kindness that they can see Christianity
11:56that following um the religion either
11:58Force the good in your life and then
12:00ultimately in the world now Christians
12:03and this is important in terms of why
12:05Christians believe they should glorify
12:07God and how they can do that Christians
12:09see themselves as God's Representatives
12:11if you like as his envoys in the world
12:14and so their action should represent him
12:17well and they should reflect his love
12:19his compassion his Mercy For example
12:22Saint Paul writes and his letter to the
12:25Colossians that you should clothe
12:27yourselves with compassion kindness
12:29humility gentleness and patience so it's
12:32all about putting your faith into action
12:34it's evangelizing through your words
12:37and so people will see your goodness and
12:40as a result give thanks to God because
12:42you're making the world a better place
12:44you are being his representative his
12:46Envoy now a great quote that underpins
12:49this is from Saint Teresa of Avila who
12:51said that Christ has no body now but
12:55yours because of course following
12:57Jesus's Ascension Christians must
12:59continue to perform the good work that
13:01he began you know people would look at
13:03Jesus and they would be led to belief in
13:06God you know they would say surely he is
13:08God's son because of the things they
13:10could see him doing of course many
13:11people rejected that belief at the time
13:14hence the fact he would then killed on a
13:16craft but many people his disciples were
13:19convinced because of what they saw him
13:21doing that he was who he said he was and
13:25so in the same way Christians today
13:27should represent Christ they should
13:29perform those good works that he modeled
13:31that he taught about for example they
13:34should show compassion as he did they
13:36should bring healing and repeated they
13:38should help those in need as he did and
13:41so of course we've got lots of Great
13:42Links here to the other topics to come
13:44so justification by work for example the
13:47idea that God wants you to perform good
13:49works and you'll be rewarded with Heaven
13:51if you do so that idea of Good Conduct
13:54being at the core of Christianity that
13:56there are certain things you are
13:58expected to do and good works you're
14:00expected to perform as a Christian
14:02because of you know the centrality of
14:05doing good things to your Christian
14:06identity and then Liberation theology if
14:09I say you know that idea of putting your
14:11faith into practice by engaging
14:13politically and socially and another
14:16brilliant quote actually this is one of
14:18my all-time favorite Christianity quotes
14:21I've got to tell you it's from Saint
14:23Francis of Assisi and he said this as I
14:25say I love this quote preach the gospel
14:28at all times and when necessary use
14:31words now this is brilliant because this
14:33is all about saying to Christians that
14:36you should be preaching the gospel for
14:38your actions rather than your words so
14:41preaching the gospel is not about
14:43necessarily going out and handing out
14:45Bibles excuse me I can't speak it's
14:48actually about doing good deeds that you
14:50should be preaching the gospel you
14:52should be embodying the gospel through
14:54your actions and through what you do to
14:57help others and that is what God wants
14:59that will lead to people glorifying God
15:01because of your goodness
15:04doesn't say Christian should put gospel
15:06values into practice and feed to emulate
15:08Christ in everything that they do this
15:10will lead people to the faith and
15:12convince them that Christianity is the
15:14fourth for good in the world and so it's
15:16this idea of evangelizing for the
15:18religion through your actions which are
15:20the fruits of your faith but yes it's
15:23this idea that you should perform good
15:25deeds and by doing so you glorify your
15:29father in Heaven because you are looking
15:31after his creation but you'll then also
15:34attracting people's attention in a very
15:36positive way because people are seeing
15:39your goodness and the great things
15:40you're doing to help people and that
15:42will lead to them glorifying God as well
15:45so what about question five explain how
15:48Christians believe they can have a
15:49personal relationship with God so we
15:52want to be thinking now about this idea
15:53that God is involved that he is imminent
15:56that he does care for creation he is
15:59concerned with his creation with your
16:02well-being and with having a
16:03relationship with with you you know if
16:05we think for example about Aristotle's
16:07prime mover for example the prime mover
16:10is completely uninterested in the world
16:12the prime mover just is there and have
16:15as I say no relationship with the world
16:17we know in Christianity from obviously
16:20what we spoke about when we discuss the
16:21nature of God that actually Christians
16:23do believe they can have a personal
16:25relationship with God and indeed that is
16:27very very important for them so how can
16:30they actually achieve this how can you
16:32have this personal relationship with
16:34this Transcendent omnipotent Creator we
16:37could say you can achieve it through
16:39praying to God and seeing him as the
16:41heavenly father because of course that
16:43really does personalize him doesn't it
16:45seeing him as the father seeing him as
16:46the parent and this is based on what
16:48Jesus taught and of course we know from
16:50sources of wisdom and Authority that if
16:52Jesus fed them then Christians Listen
16:55don't they because he speaks with
16:56ultimate Authority as the Incarnate Son
16:59of God as Divine himself and for example
17:02Jesus literally taught his father
17:04followers to pray the Our father that is
17:07how you have a personal relationship
17:08with God by praying to him and referring
17:11to him as your father yeah really really
17:13simple point there but really really
17:15insightful to how that personal
17:17relationship is developed you are
17:19literally referring to God our Father
17:21and this helps you could say Christians
17:24to strengthen their personal
17:26relationship with God as I say by seeing
17:28him as that Father Figure Saint Paul
17:30also said Christians can have a personal
17:32relationship with God he thought that
17:34could be achieved through your faith in
17:36Jesus
17:38who we've got incarnate so of course if
17:40you're thinking about God as a person
17:42you're instantly thinking of Jesus so
17:45you know that key belief in the Trinity
17:46that God became incarnate in the world
17:49through the person of Jesus Christ and
17:51so by focusing on Christ you can develop
17:54as well a personal relationship with God
17:57so for example Saint Paul wrote in his
17:59letter to the Galatians in Christ Jesus
18:01you are all sons of God through faith so
18:04if through Jesus Christ that you again
18:07you become a child of God so again
18:09seeing God the Transcendent omnipotent
18:12Creator as a father that gives you that
18:15personal relationship with him and of
18:16course that is achieved through Jesus
18:18who is God as a person because he is God
18:21incarnate God in the world he is the
18:24human faith we could say of God and then
18:27finally of course and as you will see
18:29I've tried to tick off Father Son and
18:31Holy Spirit here finally of course
18:33Christians can develop a personal
18:35relationship with God through the Holy
18:37Spirit who as we know is the third
18:39person of the Trinity and God's active
18:42presence in the world today now Saint
18:44Paul writes to the Corinthians your
18:46bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit
18:48who is in you so that is how close God
18:51is to you that is how you have a
18:53personal relationship with him because
18:55the Holy Spirit literally dwells within
18:57you and so you've got that emphasis
18:59there on God's imminence which allows
19:02you to have that personal relationship
19:04with him and remember the holy spirit is
19:06sent down after Jesus's Ascension to be
19:09God's active presence in the will today
19:11to be an advocate to be a guide who
19:13reminds you of Jesus's teachings and
19:15helps you to achieve salvation so that
19:19you could say is how you can have a
19:21personal relationship with God through
19:22the holy spirit because your bodies are
19:25temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you
19:27so that is all about God's closeness to
19:30you and therefore developing that very
19:33personal relationship with you so yes in
19:36terms of thinking about that personal
19:37relation relationship with God do try to
19:39think of it in terms of God the father
19:41and what the connotations of the term
19:43father and that's the great link of
19:45course to the god topic and
19:46anthropomorphic language about God why
19:49that might be used think about obviously
19:51Jesus the son being the personal faith
19:54of God if you like the second person of
19:56the Trinity who is God incarnate but
19:58then also think about the Holy Spirit as
20:00well who is literally in you because
20:03your body is the Temple of the Holy
20:04Spirit question six then why do many
20:07Christians believe the purpose of
20:11so why might that be seen as the purpose
20:14or the point of your Earthly life but
20:16remember Christians believe that
20:17although you're only on this planet for
20:19you know maybe around 80 to 100 Years
20:21hopefully
20:23um you will spend
20:24eternity in either heaven or health this
20:27is very much the warm-up act isn't it
20:30and but of course it's a very important
20:32warm-up act because many Christians
20:34believe if they don't believe in
20:35predestination that what you do in this
20:38world will determine where you go after
20:41death and if I say you're here for a
20:43very short time but then you're going to
20:45spend eternity either having a lovely
20:47time in heaven or not so great of a time
20:50in hell so Christianity is an
20:53eschatological religion as I've said
20:55it's focused on the future it's focused
20:57on preparing for life after death yeah
20:59Christians believe that there is more to
21:01life don't they than just this life and
21:04that is really at the heart of this
21:05religion and we're going to be talking
21:07later on about what heaven might be like
21:09at physical psychological spiritual
21:12understanding but I think you know we
21:13can agree the vast majority of
21:15Christians who practice their faith
21:17today believe that death is not the end
21:19and so there is something to come and
21:21Christians believe that that will be
21:23judgment followed then as they say by
21:26either that eternal life or Eternal
21:28damnation now judgment if the
21:31traditional Christian belief that after
21:32death your lives will be assessed by God
21:36he will hold you to account for your
21:37Earthly actions and so the end of our
21:40short temporary life in this world and
21:42of course in this body is not the end of
21:45our existence full stop because eternal
21:48life is Promised by scripture and as we
21:50know from the sources of wisdom and
21:51Authority topic you know if something's
21:54in scripture it's seen as significant
21:56yeah whether you believe in Sola
21:57scriptura or you believe in the jewel
22:00tradition in the Catholic Church of
22:01scripture and church tradition we know
22:05that for Christians the Bible is
22:07important it's seen as the infallible
22:08inherent word of God for example so the
22:11fact that belief in eternal life is in
22:13scripture means that this belief had
22:15significance and importance for
22:16Christians today so Christians believe
22:19that this life should be used to prepare
22:21for this important judgment because many
22:24Christians believe our conduct in this
22:26life will determine our destiny after
22:28death now of course there are different
22:30beliefs about what the Judgment criteria
22:32is and but one of the most famous is of
22:36course the parable of the sheep and the
22:37goats from Matthew 25 which makes it
22:39very clear that the Judgment criteria is
22:42good works because Matthew 25 teaches
22:45that God will judge all people based on
22:47whether they have performed good deeds
22:49in this lifetime and so for example
22:52feeding the hungry and caring for the
22:54sick and Jesus teaches in this Parable
22:56that those who have performed good works
22:59who are seen as the sheep in the story
23:01will be rewarded with eternal life and
23:03of course if you're thinking about sheep
23:05sheep follow the shepherd don't they
23:07they're very well behaved they do what
23:08they're told I think obviously I'm no
23:10sheep expert but that's my understanding
23:13of this image here and so the Sheep are
23:15the ones who have followed Jesus's
23:17teaching Jesus is seen as the Good
23:18Shepherd and so they've performed Good
23:20Deeds um however those who have not the
23:24goats who I'm assuming are more cheeky
23:26and you know don't behave and don't do
23:28what they're told
23:30um the goat excuse me
23:32um will be punished with eternal
23:35damnation they will go to hell basically
23:37so Heaven is therefore seen as a good
23:40reward for good behavior isn't it
23:43empathizing the importance of preparing
23:45for Judgment Day by doing good deeds and
23:48so that Parable is a great piece of
23:50evidence for why Christians believe the
23:52purpose of life is to prepare for
23:54judgment because they do expect you will
23:57be held to account by God on the day of
23:59judgment for how you have lived your
24:01life and so everything that you're doing
24:03in this life is about moving towards
24:05that and making sure that you secure a
24:08favorable judgment so that you can go to
24:117 and you can avoid Eternal damnation so
24:14what about question seven how do
24:16Christians actively prepare for
24:18judgments if we're saying that judgment
24:19and the preparation for judgment is
24:22important how does this practically look
24:24what do Christians actually therefore do
24:26you could say they will perform good
24:28work such as those outlined in the power
24:30of the sheep and the Goat which are
24:32feeding the hungry giving drink to the
24:34Thirsty inviting strangers in clothing
24:37those who need clothes caring for the
24:39sick visiting those in prison there are
24:41of course other really great examples of
24:43good works in the New Testaments you
24:45know the parable of the Good Samaritan
24:47for example it is it's all about helping
24:49those in need helping those less
24:51fortunate than you treating others how
24:53you would like to be treated if not they
24:56may also prepare through prayer and
24:58bible study which is all about
25:00strengthening their faith and their
25:02commitment to God so of course
25:03especially if you're talking about
25:05justification by faith it's going to be
25:07really important for Christians to be
25:09prepared for judgment by committing to
25:12worshiping God committing to prayer and
25:14strengthening their faith in Jesus
25:16Christ and the power of His crucifixion
25:18and resurrection and it might also
25:20involve Discerning what God's purpose is
25:23for your life and understanding what the
25:26rules he expects you to follow are and
25:28then pursuing that yes so living in
25:30accordance with what you understand
25:32God's purpose for your life to be you
25:35might say also that you will pray for
25:37forgiveness of sins you'll put your
25:38faith in Jesus Christ and of course put
25:40your faith in the power of His
25:42crucifixion that idea that Jesus is the
25:44Lamb of God who takes away the sins of
25:46the world so you can't actually earn
25:48your own salvation you have to put Faith
25:51in the fact that that act that radical
25:54active sacrifice that Jesus performs on
25:56the cross is going to be sufficient for
25:59you to be forgiven and saved and of
26:01course the crucifixion is all about
26:03saving you from the original sin that is
26:05inherited from Adam and Eve you might
26:08also say that Christians will prepare
26:10for judgment by attending church of
26:12course participating in the sacraments
26:14the seven sacraments of the Catholic
26:15church for example and of course
26:17evangelizing for the religion yeah
26:19because Jesus had given his Commission
26:21in Matthew 28 that people should make
26:23disciples of all Nations baptizing them
26:26in the name of the father Son and Holy
26:28Spirit and so that can again be seen as
26:30something that you will be held to
26:31account for have you endeavored to make
26:33disciples of all Nations and finally of
26:36course they will avoid sin won't they
26:38because they will not want to break the
26:39Ten Commandments they will not want to
26:41displease God instead they want to earn
26:44his approval they want to you know tick
26:46the boxes that need to be ticked in
26:49order to go to heaven and I've made a
26:51note there of course that's the great
26:52link to ethical monotheism and the Sinai
26:55Covenant that idea that God did a deal
26:57with the Israelites that you know if
26:59they only worship Him He will look after
27:01them and he will give them that special
27:03treatment so again you're going to want
27:06to follow God's teachings and you know
27:08follow the Commandments that are found
27:10in the Bible in order to then be saved
27:12after death in order to prepare for
27:14judgment I should say what about
27:16question eight then and the question is
27:18this according to Saint Augustine's
27:21understanding of Genesis what was the
27:23consequence of Adam and Eve's
27:24Disobedience and in terms of
27:26understanding life after death we have
27:28to understand where death actually comes
27:30from because you know you have to always
27:32remember that according to the uh
27:35Genesis narrative when human beings were
27:37created they were actually created
27:39Eternal and they were actually put into
27:42this paradise you know this Earthly
27:44Heaven basically the Garden of Eden and
27:47its only Human Action that actually then
27:50introduced death and sin into the world
27:52so you know we have to understand the
27:54Bible structure of the comedic structure
27:57not because it's a comedy and you're
27:59meant to laugh out loud at every page
28:00but actually because everything does
28:02begin well and then we have the fall and
28:05then it is through Jesus Christ and his
28:07crucifixion and resurrection that we
28:09then have that Redemption that we then
28:11have that restoration of the
28:13relationship between Heaven and Earth so
28:17Saint Augustine very very important for
28:19us as students of Christianity he is
28:21known for his original sin Doctrine
28:23which states that all people are sinful
28:25as the result of Adam and Eve sin in the
28:28Garden of Eden so just to bring you up
28:29to speed on this God created a perfect
28:32world and he placed Adam and Eve in the
28:34Garden of Eden and there was no death
28:36pain or suffering it was good as we're
28:39told in Genesis so it was you know as
28:41they say this Earthly Paradise where
28:43they had everything they wanted and they
28:45had an absolutely lovely time now Adam
28:47and Eve were placed in the garden to
28:48take care of it and of course that's a
28:50really important link when you're
28:52talking about stewardship the first
28:54humans were placed on the planet to take
28:56care of it so the idea of stewardship
28:58they were also given and this is
29:00important free will very important
29:02especially when we then talk about
29:03justification for example and good works
29:06and key moral principles of Good Conduct
29:09excuse me better get the titles correct
29:11and so we were given free will they were
29:13given Free Will and Augustine said that
29:16is because a runaway horse is better
29:18than a stone and of course this is a
29:19great link to the problem of evil and
29:21suffering topic on paper one when we
29:23talk about that Free Will defense and
29:25Saint Augustine says because of God's
29:27only benevolence he gave us free will
29:29because a runaway horse is better than a
29:32stone so he didn't want to condition us
29:34to just do good in order for goodness to
29:37have value and in order for us to form a
29:39meaningful relationship with God it has
29:41got to be done freely it can't be
29:43coercive it can't be programmed into us
29:45we have to choose it in order for it to
29:47have significant value and so they were
29:50told by God they were given this command
29:52by God that they could do anything
29:54except eat from the Tree of knowledge
29:56and of course we all know what then
29:58happened because human beings cannot
30:00give in to that Temptation can they and
30:03so disguised as a snake Satan spoke to
30:06Eve of cloth even to blame and
30:09encouraged her to eat the fruit from the
30:11tree from the Tree of knowledge of Good
30:13and Evil Satan encouraged her by saying
30:15that she would become like God if she
30:18did and eve took a bite
30:21before giving Adam fruit to eat as well
30:23and of course that's a great link to the
30:25gender topic where you know we see the
30:27issue of gender in Christianity and the
30:30you know the negative press and PR that
30:32women have got from philosophers and
30:34theologians such as Augustine um and now
30:37as soon as they're eaten from that tree
30:38they immediately felt shame another
30:41result of this Disobedience Adam and Eve
30:44were expelled from the garden and
30:46condemned to a hard difficult life for
30:48example women would experience pain in
30:51childbirth and those who worked would
30:53find it with painful toils so people
30:55would have difficult lives so remember
30:57as I say linking to paper one the
31:00problem of evil and suffering the idea
31:02here is that evil suffering pain
31:04hardship all entered the world because
31:07of Adam and Eve eating from the trade
31:09this is Augustine's you know big
31:11explanation that he provides and their
31:14Disobedience brought about what we call
31:17the fall and obviously a fall is when
31:19you fall off something or fall down from
31:21somewhere and in this case it is a fall
31:24from grace it is the fall from a perfect
31:27United relationship with God it is the
31:30fall from a union Between Heaven and
31:33Earth now as a result of their actions
31:35there is now a separation between Heaven
31:38and Earth evil and suffering have
31:40entered the world and there is
31:42disharmony in creation which explains
31:44for example natural evil you know
31:46because there is now this disharmony and
31:48this dysfunction so we are all
31:50implicated in this yeah every single
31:53person who is now born according to
31:55Augustine is implicated in this now at
31:57the Catholic Church believes in this
31:59it's called Original Sin the Baptist
32:01Church however does not and that
32:03explains their contrasting views about
32:05infant baptism but if we're just talking
32:08about Augustine and that Catholic view
32:09all of us are born sinful into a sinful
32:13world because we we were all present
32:15according to Augustine in Adam's loins
32:17and so all human beings are essentially
32:20complicit we are all guilty we are all
32:24sinful um and of course Adam and Eve are
32:26to blame for that so we now have to pay
32:29the price we inherit original sin
32:31through sexual reproduction so all human
32:34beings are born sinful and as they say
32:37that is why the Catholic Church believes
32:39in infant baptism you need to have your
32:41thing washed away and you need to be
32:43welcomed into the the Christian
32:44Community as soon as possible because
32:47you are born sinful into a sinful and
32:49Fallen World We of course therefore need
32:52salvation through Jesus Christ and so in
32:54the same way that sin has entered the
32:57world through man it can only be
32:59overcome by a man and of course that is
33:01Jesus Christ that is why God became
33:03incarnate in order to save the world to
33:05become the Lamb of God who takes away
33:07the sins of the world as John the
33:09Baptist called Jesus in the same way as
33:11they say that sin has entered the world
33:13through a man God then has to enter the
33:16world in order to save the world because
33:19if only Jesus Christ who is born sinless
33:22because of the Immaculate Conception who
33:24can then atone for Adam and Eve's
33:28um Disobedience which has implications
33:31for us all now this is very very very
33:34important in terms of thinking about the
33:36Christian beliefs on self-death and
33:39afterlife question 9 for you now then
33:42explain why some Christians believe the
33:44purpose of life is to bring about God's
33:46Kingdom on Earth and I've asked you to
33:48refer to Jesus's teachings in the
33:50gospels and as I mentioned before this
33:52idea of the kingdom of God was a key
33:55Concept in Jewish thinking and remember
33:56Jesus was a Jew his early followers his
33:59disciples were Jewish and at the time of
34:02Jesus there were different ways of
34:04understanding this idea of the kingdom
34:06of God so some rabbis so religious
34:08teachers thought that belonging to the
34:10kingdom meant keeping all of the 613
34:13Commandments event set out in the law
34:15don't know why there's a random bracket
34:17by the way but there we are little typo
34:19for us and however other Jews thought
34:22that it meant the coming of the Messiah
34:24as a military figure who would liberate
34:26Israel from Roman occupation and again
34:29that really reminds me of Liberation
34:30theology and that idea of you know Jesus
34:33having actually rolled up his sleeves
34:35and been a bit of a political
34:36revolutionary and but we have to
34:38remember don't we that in the first
34:40century it was this era of apocalyptic
34:42expectation and people were expecting a
34:45messiah they were desperate for a
34:47messiah to come and liberate them from
34:49Roman occupation now of course
34:50Christianity later then became the
34:53official religion of the Roman Empire
34:55um but we're not there yet we're at the
34:57stage in terms of Jesus rocking up and
35:00talking about the kingdom of God we're
35:02at the stage where people are
35:04anticipating this Messiah their Federal
35:06Roman occupation they're praying quite
35:09literally for escape for Liberation now
35:12the key belief in Christianity is that
35:15Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God the
35:18word Kingdom itself appears 162 times I
35:22believe in the New Testament and Jesus
35:25regularly speaks of the kingdom and he
35:27often used of course parables in order
35:30to do so and as I said the first thing
35:32that Jesus said if we put the gospels
35:34into order and we think that Mark was
35:36the first to be written the first thing
35:38that we are um or we have him recorded
35:40as saying is that the kingdom of God
35:42hath come there and remember His Earthly
35:45life his Earthly Ministry I should say
35:47begins with his baptism as an adult and
35:49by John the Baptist and so this is then
35:52what Jesus said that the kingdom of God
35:54has come near so this is very very
35:56important because we then associate
35:58don't we Jesus with the arrival of the
36:00kingdom of God and when he says has come
36:03there what does he mean does he mean
36:04tomorrow does he mean next Tuesday does
36:06he mean in a thousand years does he mean
36:07in 2000 years as it has now been since
36:10he lived and the kingdom we could argue
36:12is still nowhere better to be seen and
36:15but here's the important thing some
36:17Christians believe the kingdom of God is
36:18something to be fully actualized in this
36:22world and so the kingdom of God refers
36:24to a transformation of the world in the
36:26same way that you know some Jews thought
36:28the Messiah would come to liberate them
36:30from Roman occupation for many
36:33Christians they believe that the kingdom
36:35of God is something to be fully
36:37actualized in the here and now that it's
36:39going to happen in this world it's going
36:41to be a transformation of society it's
36:43going to be a complete upheaval of the
36:45social order it's going to be a society
36:47transformed by gospel values by a
36:50commitment to stewardship and a
36:52commitment to Justice however others
36:54believe that the kingdom of God will
36:56only fully be realized eschatologically
36:59so that actually the kingdom of gods
37:01cannot come into fulfillment in this
37:03world on this planet that actually the
37:06kingdom of God will only ever fully be
37:08actualized and realized eschatologically
37:11and by that I mean once this world have
37:14ended yeah and there's a radical thought
37:16the end of this world and so Jesus will
37:19actually complete this work with his
37:21second coming and that's why the return
37:23of Jesus in this second coming is so
37:26important for Christians because his
37:27work is not done the story is not
37:30finished he needs to come back to
37:32completely fulfill and bring about this
37:36kingdom of God ideal now as I've said to
37:39you before
37:40um thank you either of Avila fed Christ
37:42has nobody now but yours and so you
37:44could argue that it is a Christian's
37:46Duty it is the purpose of their life to
37:49continue Jesus's work that you should
37:51continue inaugurating the kingdom you
37:53should continue transforming This World
37:56by preaching gospel values by working
37:59for Justice by being a good Steward by
38:01modeling those Christian values um and
38:04of course you could say that Jesus began
38:06inaugurating the kingdom 2000 years ago
38:08he pressed the start button but you must
38:11continue the work today
38:13um and a really interesting quote
38:14actually from Pope John Paul II in his
38:17encyclical Redemptorist missio which is
38:20on the mission of the church to
38:22evangelize and he wrote this in the late
38:2420th century he said Jesus gradually
38:27reveals the characteristics and demands
38:29of the Kingdom through his words his
38:32actions and his own person he said the
38:35kingdom of God is Meant For All Mankind
38:37and all people are called to be members
38:40of it now of course there is still there
38:42a lot of ambiguity about where the
38:44kingdom will be about when it will be
38:46fully realized um but again it's talking
38:48about inclusion and it's talking about
38:51the fact it's for everybody and so yes
38:53we need to be thinking why do some
38:55Christians think that their purpose is
38:57to bring about God's Kingdom on Earth
38:59well it's because Jesus have begun that
39:01process he's taught you how to do it
39:03he's shown you what it will look like
39:05you know teaching you about love
39:07kindness Justice forgiveness Etc healing
39:10helping people and so now because Christ
39:12has nobody but yours it is your job to
39:15keep that good work going until Jesus
39:18arrives with the second coming to finish
39:20off the process but of course if you're
39:22thinking ao2 wise a criticism of that is
39:25that it's too political it's too
39:26socially engaged which is something that
39:29actually the Catholic Church have argued
39:31about Liberation theology and the idea
39:33is the kingdom of God is entirely
39:35esthetological they would say the
39:37kingdom of God is something that cannot
39:38be fully achieved in this world this is
39:41a fallen world and so the kingdom of God
39:43means actually life after death that it
39:46will only be
39:47experienced after your death so it is as
39:50we started off the video by saying this
39:52debate between it being Earthly
39:54eschatological or actually a bit of both
39:57I do hope that makes sense so question
40:0010 is to explain what Reza Aslan means
40:02when he writes that the first century
40:04was an era of apocalyptic expectation
40:08among the Jews of Palestine and I want
40:10you to start thinking about that that
40:12quote about that Insight from him in
40:14terms of what it tells us about Jesus
40:16and his teachings and in particular his
40:19teachings about the purpose of a
40:20Christian's life and of course about
40:22what it means to be a Christian so he
40:24was saying that the first century was
40:26the time of apocalyptic expectation that
40:29really is the mouthful of a phrase
40:31um how what does this mean well as I
40:33said it's that people at the time were
40:35anticipating the end of the world and
40:38many of them thought that the world
40:39would end within their lifetimes yeah
40:42there were lots of signs lots of things
40:44happening that made them think this is
40:47it yeah things can't carry on as they
40:49are and that's why they were
40:50anticipating a messiah that is why they
40:52were expecting that you know there would
40:55be the apocalypse that the world would
40:57end um and of course it is in that
41:00context that Christianity grew and
41:02developed that Jesus was the Messiah and
41:04so his arrival in the world meant
41:06something was going to change about the
41:08world now this context that they say is
41:10very important for understanding what
41:12Jesus was saying in particular when he
41:15keeps going on about this kingdom of God
41:17and we're thinking what on Earth does
41:19this man mean we have to think well what
41:21would it have meant in the first century
41:24so we could say Jesus is eschatological
41:26teaching so his teachings about life
41:29after death about the end of the world
41:30would not have appeared radical at the
41:33time so you know the parable of the
41:34sheep and the goats for example when
41:36he's talking about this judgment day you
41:38know these elements where he's speaking
41:40about life after death would have been
41:43very familiar to people at the time it
41:45would have made sense to them that you
41:47know the world could have been ending
41:49soon
41:49um however there was a lot that was very
41:52unique of course about what Jesus was
41:54saying um however what wasn't unique was
41:57this prediction this sense that the end
42:00of the world could be imminent um now
42:02arguably you could therefore say what
42:04was really radical about Jesus's
42:06teachings was his preferential option
42:09for the poorest so you could say that
42:11Jesus was unique because of his message
42:13about inclusivity about love for
42:16everybody and the fact that he showed
42:18particular concerns for the poorest in a
42:21society where there was a really big
42:23divide between the rich chest and the
42:25most powerful and then the oppressed and
42:27the poorest it's very interesting that
42:29you know you've got the Son of God who
42:31was coming to the world and he's made
42:33this beeline for the poorest and for the
42:35most depressed um and so what is radical
42:37about him we could say is his message
42:39about the need for social change and his
42:42concern for the poorest and that was a
42:44concern shared by the early church yeah
42:46when we talk for example about
42:47evangelism we know that in the early
42:49church there was this original concern
42:52for the poorest to help those in need
42:54that that concern has been present since
42:57the very first day of Christianity
43:00um and so you could argue and this is
43:03what red that Aslan argues in his book
43:05that Jesus was very much a politically
43:07engaged figure that he was very much
43:10working for the transformation of this
43:12world but then his work was cut short
43:14when the Romans got fed up of him going
43:17around whipping people up and they
43:19killed him on a cross and and so the
43:21kingdom You could argue is actually
43:23referring to transformation of this
43:25world and so ever put here Judith
43:28Palestine were on the lookout for the
43:29promised Messiah a bit like Simon Cowell
43:31on The X Factor of the pave who would
43:33liberate them from the Roman occupation
43:35now of course Jesus's followers believed
43:37that Jesus was the promised Messiah
43:39however many people did not yeah they
43:42could not believe some of the things he
43:43was saying they did not want to believe
43:45the claims that he was making and so
43:47obviously he ended up being killed as I
43:50say on the cross with the honor charge
43:51of insurrection
43:54um for you know posing a threat to the
43:55government of the day to the Roman
43:57authorities was it on a charge of
43:59blasphemy for the claims he was making
44:00to be the Messiah to be the Son of God
44:03but we do know that he ruffled a few
44:05feathers shall we say don't use that
44:07phrase in your exam but I hope you see
44:09what I mean
44:10um and so Jesus was very much a
44:13revolutionary figure and we'll talk
44:15about this a lot more when we talk about
44:16liberation theology but this is the idea
44:19that kingdom of God is a very radical
44:21idea because of who's included and who
44:23is um preferenced is that the right way
44:26to put it who you know who is
44:28particularly welcome and it is a
44:31complete reversal of the third Century
44:33social order that it's those on the
44:35periphery of society those who are
44:37excluded and marginalized who are
44:39actually now included and loved at the
44:41very heart of the kingdom and now I
44:44believe that the end of the world with
44:45imminent is also found in the teaching
44:47of Paul
44:48um he did not Advocate having children
44:50for example but instead urged people to
44:53if they could remain celibate and focus
44:56instead on prayer and preparation for
44:58judgment and so this suggests that they
45:01that the early Christians saw no need
45:03for sexual reproduction because they
45:06thought that the world was going to end
45:07within their lifetimes now of course
45:10later Christians realized the world
45:12wasn't ending so they needed to get
45:14procreating again
45:15um and of course that's why the religion
45:17is so widespread today isn't it because
45:19it became the state religion of the
45:21Roman Empire and then you know people
45:23reproduced and then brought up their own
45:25children within the religion and we are
45:27where we are today but at the beginning
45:29in the beginning of this religion it was
45:32a very different mindset you know they
45:34were living in a very different context
45:36weren't they and so we must be mindful
45:38of the contextual factors that
45:40influenced Biblical scripture
45:43so moving on how do Christians work to
45:46bring about God's Kingdom on Earth so if
45:48you are focusing in an essay on this
45:51idea that the kingdom of God is a
45:53transformation of this world that it is
45:56a very much a political and social ideal
45:59what does that mean well how do they do
46:01that first of all they work to create
46:03the kingdom one of the key lines of the
46:05Our father is on Earth as it is in
46:08heaven so the idea that this world
46:11should become like heaven that that is
46:13what Christians should be doing they
46:15should be working to make this world
46:17represent happen in terms of it being a
46:19place of Peace for example a place of
46:22love where everybody exists happily and
46:25everybody has been lost to survive
46:27so yeah a really great evidence-based
46:30line there actually from the Our father
46:31that this whole idea of the kingdom of
46:34God being an Earthly transformation
46:36rather than an eschatological promise is
46:39that it's about working to create the
46:41Kingdom on Earth as it is in heaven and
46:43as I say we'll talk later in the video
46:45about what heaven is where Heaven is
46:47physical spiritual psychological
46:49Etc uh so you could say that they will
46:52engage in Liberation theology unless
46:54they are Pope Benedict xviens because he
46:56was really not impressed with Liberation
46:58theology and so you could work to bring
47:00about God's Kingdom on Earth because
47:03um or by I should say Excuse Me by
47:06focusing on the liberation of the
47:08oppressed engaging politically in order
47:10to do this so you know standing up for
47:12those whose human rights are being
47:14persecuted and opposing abuses of power
47:18for example people may engage in
47:20evangelism because of course Jesus said
47:22to make disciples of all Nations and
47:24baptize them in the name of the father
47:26Son and Holy Spirit they may promote
47:28peace Jesus said in The Sermon on the
47:30Mount blessed are the peacemakers and so
47:32you could say you work to bring about
47:34God's Kingdom on Earth by being a
47:36peacemaker and promoting peace it could
47:38be achieved by promoting and embodying
47:40Christian values so Saint Paul when he
47:43says to clothe yourselves with
47:45compassion for example it can be
47:47achieved through performing good works
47:49and again a great link to justification
47:50through works whatever you did for the
47:52least of these people you did for me so
47:55it's all about helping those in need
47:56that's how you help to bring about the
47:58Kingdom on Earth it could be by
48:00empowering the poor and the oppressed
48:02Jesus said that the last will be the
48:04first and the first last so it's the
48:07idea of challenging those who use power
48:09to exploit others and showing that
48:11preferential option for the poorest and
48:13the most in need you might protest
48:15against the injustices such as uh you
48:18know Martin Luther King and the fight
48:19for racial uh justice and equality and
48:22you might help those in need help to end
48:25poverty and help to end suffering she
48:27The Fez to sell all that you have and
48:30give to the poor and you shall have
48:31wealth you shall have treasure in heaven
48:34so again that's how you bring about the
48:35Kingdom on Earth by giving to those in
48:38need to you know Empower them and
48:40support them and you could also do this
48:42by dedicating your life to following
48:44Jesus of course prioritizing and
48:46implementing his teachings in the world
48:48in your life no matter how difficult
48:51this is yeah no one's saying that
48:53inaugurating the kingdom is going to be
48:54easy or a walk in the park because Jesus
48:57said whoever wants to be my disciple
48:59must deny themselves and take up their
49:02craft and follow me so it absolutely is
49:05a very challenging thing it absolutely
49:07is going to be difficult to bring about
49:09the Kingdom on Earth but Christians if
49:11they believe it's the purpose of their
49:13life they will be prepared for the
49:16sacrifices yeah for example Jesus said
49:18you know you must hate your family and
49:21follow me that's what's required in
49:23order to inaugurate the kingdom that you
49:25have got to be prepared to take up your
49:27your craft to you know be faced with
49:30burdens be faced with backlash and
49:33challenges and then follow Jesus that
49:35that could be how you actually work to
49:37bring about the Kingdom on Earth
49:39question 12 then why might some
49:41Christians disagree with this kind of
49:43approach why might they reject the idea
49:46that the kingdom of God needs to be
49:48created on Earth and that could be
49:49through politically engaged and socially
49:52engaged methods well some Christians as
49:54I've said have criticized approaches
49:56such as Liberation theology which very
49:58much emphasize that message of on Earth
50:00as it is in heaven of the kingdom of God
50:02being an Earthly transformation and for
50:05being too political they believe that
50:07Christianity should not become
50:09politicized you should stay away from
50:11politics you should stay away from those
50:14issues and matters because Christianity
50:17needs to focus on life after death
50:19rather than engaging too much with
50:21politics in this life because they
50:24believe this could rest turning
50:25Christianity into a social movement or
50:29even a political protest group and of
50:31course for many people for many
50:33Christians many theologians Christianity
50:35is a religious base that transcends
50:38worldly Affairs and so Christians should
50:40be focused on worshiping God rather than
50:42getting too engaged in worldly political
50:45issues and Affairs and recently for
50:48example we've seen Justin Welby the
50:50Archbishop of Canterbury being
50:51criticized by the government for his
50:54comments on their Rwanda Asylum Seeker
50:56policy for example you know the
50:58deportation to Rwanda if somebody has
51:01come over
51:02um and crossed the channel
51:04um you know and then ask for Asylum he
51:07have been criticized by the government
51:08for getting too involved in politics
51:11because they've said Faith leaders
51:12should focus on faith not politics so
51:15yeah that criticism it is too political
51:18you shouldn't be too politically engaged
51:21for example Pope John Paul II and
51:23Benedict xvi's have both condemned
51:25Liberation theologians for engaging with
51:27marks with them they've um said that
51:30Catholicism should remain above politics
51:33that that is the criticism of the
51:36kingdom of God being seen as Earthly
51:37transformation because it leads to you
51:39getting you could say too involved with
51:42Earthly affairs with politics when
51:44religion is meant to be focused on life
51:46after death and it's meant to transcend
51:49all of those worldly issues so a very
51:51very interesting thing actually to be
51:53debating And discussing and to be
51:55writing about of course in an evaluation
51:58essay and of course more on this when we
52:00talk about Liberation theology so stay
52:03tuned for that very excited to talk
52:04about that okay we're gonna now move on
52:07we're going to move on from those
52:08conversations about the purpose of life
52:10and the kingdom of God and we're going
52:12to look now at life after death in much
52:14more detail and different understandings
52:16of what life after death may be like and
52:19of course whenever you talk about life
52:21after death in the context of
52:22Christianity your first thought has to
52:25be on the resurrection of Jesus because
52:27this is how Christians believe they can
52:30actually have life after death that
52:31Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and
52:34so they can rise from the dead they can
52:36conquer death as well so Resurrection it
52:39simply means to rise to rise from the
52:41dead and belief in the resurrection is
52:43of course the central tenor of the
52:45Christian faith it really is the
52:47foundation for the Christian faith the
52:49same All rights in his letter to the
52:51Corinthians if Christ has not been
52:53raised so if the resurrection didn't
52:55happen your faith that should say excuse
52:58my typo is pointless and you are still
53:01in your sins so your faith is pointless
53:03your religious faith is pointless if
53:05Jesus Christ has not actually risen so
53:08this is the foundation of Christianity
53:10and that's why Christianity and the
53:12kingdom of God is seen as an
53:14eschatological religion because it very
53:16much is focused on life after death
53:19um so of course Easter Sunday is the day
53:22when Christians celebrate Jesus's
53:24resurrection we have the line in Luke 24
53:27which is very iconic in my opinion he is
53:30not here he has risen he's gone he's
53:33come back from from the dead halleluia
53:35let's have a hot cross bun let's have a
53:37nice little Cadbury's Easter egg and so
53:40all four gospels Matthew Mark Luke and
53:42John state that the tomb was empty and
53:44then in his letter Saint Paul talks
53:47about Jesus's resurrection as well he
53:49says over 500 people saw Jesus now Jesus
53:54himself really Dev emphasized the
53:56importance of his resurrection in terms
53:58of how we understand him and how we
54:01understand Christianity he says I am the
54:04resurrection and the life the one who
54:07believes in me will live even though
54:10they die now that's interesting in terms
54:12of justification by faith isn't it the
54:14idea that the one who believed in me
54:16will live that you know your
54:18justification that having eternal life
54:20is based on belief it's based on faith
54:23in Christ and but yes Jesus very much
54:26making it clear there that he had no
54:28resurrection and the life and so if you
54:31want life after death you need it
54:33through Jesus that he is the way the
54:35truth and the life that I've heard no
54:38one comes to the father except through
54:39me and we'll talk about that more when
54:41we discuss religious pluralism and Saint
54:44Paul writes to the Romans for we know
54:46that since Christ was raised from the
54:48dead he cannot die again so that idea
54:50you are then Eternal so life after death
54:52is eternal you will exist forever you
54:55cannot then die again that is something
54:57that happens to the Earthly body in this
54:59world but of course then we've got this
55:01idea that you will go to another world
55:03to an eternal existence that awaits you
55:05death no longer has Mastery over him so
55:08remember
55:09the idea of sin and death being tied
55:12together and so Jesus Through the events
55:15that Easter through his crucifixion he
55:16conquers sin because he pays the price
55:19for it he is the Lamb of God who takes
55:21away the sins of the world he is the
55:23sacrifice but then on Easter Sunday he
55:25then conquers death though as I say they
55:28are very much tied together they are
55:29understood as a package deal and Jesus
55:32Christ and this is why he's so important
55:34overcomes sin and he overcomes death and
55:37so a really important line actually from
55:39Pastor Adrian Rogers he said that
55:42without the resurrection there would be
55:44no Christianity so you know this is
55:46great as well by the way to talk about
55:48the kingdom of God whether it's Earthly
55:49or eschatological because actually
55:51Christianity is focused on life after
55:53death it's focused on rising from the
55:56dead so actually Christianity should not
55:58be too concerned with transforming this
56:00world because this is a religion based
56:03on life after death it's an
56:04eschatological religion and so without
56:06the resurrection there would be no
56:08Christianity it's not a social movement
56:11it's not a political party it's all
56:13about the resurrection it all depends on
56:16this idea that Jesus rose from the dead
56:18that he conquered death so that those
56:21who believe in him those who follow him
56:23can also have life after death uh now
56:26important to note the resurrection is
56:28interpreted differently so some believe
56:30it was physical whereas others believe
56:32it was spiritual and we're gonna explore
56:35these different interpretations which
56:37you could be asked about for a01 or ao2
56:40questions as we now move through the
56:42video before we do that though I just
56:44want to link it back to scripture so
56:46important in your answer the a level
56:48that you are linking back to scripture
56:50to get those top marks to get those AA
56:52style Grace you've got to be referring
56:54to the gospels you've got to be linking
56:56it back to scripture and so what do the
56:58gospels teach about his resurrection
57:00remember they are the only sources of
57:03information we have about the
57:04resurrection and we know that they're
57:06not reliable we know that they were
57:07written by people already can convinced
57:10that Jesus was the son of God these
57:12gospels were written with an agenda they
57:14are our only source of information about
57:16the resurrection and but they are very
57:18insightful in terms of what they tell us
57:20so as I say Luke 24 is where Mary
57:23Magdalene interesting that it was a
57:25woman if we think about uh religion and
57:28sexuality and gender and we'll talk
57:30about that in that later video but it
57:32was a woman it was Mary Magdalene she
57:34found that the tomb was empty an angel
57:36tells her do not be afraid don't worry
57:38about it for I know that you were
57:40looking for Jesus who was crucified he
57:43is not here he has risen so that is the
57:45moment Mary discovers that actually the
57:48story is not over yeah things didn't end
57:50on Good Friday with his death that there
57:52is more to come that actually he's back
57:55from the dead and he's asked to go and
57:57find his disciples
57:59a really interesting example in John 20
58:01is of doubting Thomas who we've called
58:04that because he refused to believe in
58:06the resurrection without direct personal
58:08experience he doubted for one of a
58:10better term that it had actually
58:12happened and when he then saw the Risen
58:15Jesus he was encouraged by Jesus to
58:17reach out your hand and put it into my
58:20side that is what Jesus is quoted as
58:22saying in the Gospel of John now this
58:25led to doubting Thomas's belief so his
58:27doubt disappeared Jesus responded to him
58:31and responded to Thomas's Newfound faith
58:34in Jesus having Rhythm because you have
58:36seen me you have believed you know we
58:39can say well yeah he's had his empirical
58:41evidence yeah doubting Thomas was the
58:43pioneer of empiricism Aristotle would
58:45have loved him because he wanted that
58:47evidence he wanted to see for himself
58:49because seeing is believing but Jesus
58:52said something really interesting he
58:54said blessed are those who have not seen
58:57and yet have believed and of course that
58:59is another really important link to
59:01justification by faith the idea that you
59:03will be saved because of your faith and
59:05religion is all about faith isn't it
59:07it's believing something despite the
59:09lack of evidence
59:11um you could link that as well of course
59:12to Anthem and his ontological argument
59:15if I could get my words out where he
59:17says that you know belief precedes
59:19understanding that it's about this leap
59:21of faith and of course feeders them as
59:23well is that idea that you know you
59:25should have faith alone that faith alone
59:28should be sufficient you should not need
59:30evidence you should not need proof
59:32religion is about putting faith in God
59:34in Christ without faith but yes doubting
59:38Thomas did see him he did actually touch
59:40him and he therefore believed in Jesus's
59:43resurrection but then Jesus uses that as
59:45an opportunity to say people should
59:47believe in the resurrection despite not
59:49seeing it despite not having that
59:52first-hand empirical proof so really
59:55interested in us to say in terms of
59:56justification by faith and in terms of
59:59you know what Christians base their
1:00:01beliefs on it's very much about faith in
1:00:03something that doesn't align with facts
1:00:06yeah because it is of course it's
1:00:08incredible that someone could rise from
1:00:10the dead it's just not a normal thing to
1:00:12happen is it and then as I say a final
1:00:14fact for you he appeared to over 500
1:00:17people after his resurrection so lots of
1:00:21people you could say there who could
1:00:23give testimony to the fact that Jesus
1:00:25actually rose from the dead and but as I
1:00:29say different understandings about what
1:00:31that term Resurrection actually means so
1:00:34keeping on with Saint Paul he writes to
1:00:38you Corinthians that if Christ has not
1:00:41been raised your faith is futile your
1:00:43faith is pointless and I want us to talk
1:00:45about this because this is a brilliant
1:00:47quote to be using in your essay it's
1:00:49absolutely fantastic to be referring to
1:00:52this if you can
1:00:54when you are writing about the
1:00:57resurrection when you're writing about
1:00:58Christianity yeah and how important it
1:01:01is because as I've put here Christian
1:01:03belief hinges on it depends on the
1:01:06resurrection of Jesus Christ if the
1:01:08resurrection has not happened Saint Paul
1:01:10is saying your faith is pointless so
1:01:12again this is an eschatological religion
1:01:14the kingdom of God is about life after
1:01:16death not necessarily A transformation
1:01:18of this world it's all about life after
1:01:21death it's all about what happens next
1:01:23now through the resurrection Christian
1:01:26um can and this is again a quote from
1:01:28Saint Paul count yourselves dead to sin
1:01:31but alive to God in Christ Jesus so it's
1:01:35this idea again of death and sin being
1:01:37two sides of the same coin and that they
1:01:39can be conquered through the
1:01:41resurrection that the resurrection is
1:01:43about Rising above them and through that
1:01:46Resurrection through Jesus's
1:01:47resurrection all who believe in Jesus
1:01:50though Christians can also conquer death
1:01:53and be saved from thin now the
1:01:56resurrection is important of course
1:01:57because it confirms Jesus as Divine in
1:02:00terms of you know that he is the Son of
1:02:02God that he has got incarnate it also
1:02:05means that Christians have hope for life
1:02:07after death doesn't it that through this
1:02:08Resurrection through reading about the
1:02:10resurrection Christians can have hope
1:02:12that they can also overcome death and
1:02:15that death will not be the end for them
1:02:17either and that is of course what Jesus
1:02:19teaches them the resurrection means that
1:02:21death and sin have been overcome that
1:02:23good hath achieved victory over evil
1:02:25that the relationship between Heaven and
1:02:27Earth have been restored because Jesus
1:02:30has arisen back to heaven so that is
1:02:33very symbolically important now in terms
1:02:36of some key quotes about this from some
1:02:38Keith Wallace if you are writing about
1:02:40the resurrection and its importance T D
1:02:44Jakes says salvation is the root the
1:02:48resurrection is the fruit so really
1:02:50emphasizing the importance of the
1:02:52Resurrection in terms of you know Jesus
1:02:55of the source of Salvation that it is
1:02:57the resurrection then that takes place
1:02:59that because you are saved you can then
1:03:01rise from the dead that Jesus atones for
1:03:04sin on Good Friday and then he rises
1:03:06from the dead on Easter Sunday uh Bethel
1:03:09Hume said that the great gift of Easter
1:03:11is hope so again why is the resurrection
1:03:14important for Christians because it
1:03:16gives them hope that at Easter they see
1:03:17hope that death is not the end that you
1:03:20know you can transcend death that you
1:03:22can overcome death that sin and death
1:03:24can be conquered through faith in Jesus
1:03:26Christ and then finally NT Wright very
1:03:28famous
1:03:29um scholar of the New Testament he says
1:03:32the resurrection completes the
1:03:35inauguration of God's Kingdom so that's
1:03:36very important for all the conversations
1:03:38we have been having about the kingdom of
1:03:40God and the role of a Christian within
1:03:43that Kingdom he says it is the decisive
1:03:46event that is how important it is
1:03:48demonstrating that God's kingdom really
1:03:51has launched on Earth as it is in heaven
1:03:54sorry really have been launched on Earth
1:03:56as it is in heaven so the resurrection
1:03:58really important there for understanding
1:04:00the kingdom of God that it is showing us
1:04:03who Jesus is and it is showing us that
1:04:05the inauguration of the Kingdom had now
1:04:07begun that he is writing from the dead
1:04:10he is opening the door to life in the
1:04:13Eternal Kingdom you know that idea that
1:04:16God hath arrived in the world of course
1:04:18through the Incarnation and then he had
1:04:20overcome sin he has overcome death so
1:04:23it's very much the beginning of this new
1:04:24era uh where people can enjoy life in
1:04:27the kingdom of God okay let's talk more
1:04:31about the resurrection then we need to
1:04:33know about two different ways of
1:04:35understanding it we need to know about
1:04:37the physical understanding of this which
1:04:39is the bodily Resurrection resurrection
1:04:42of the flesh which is all about
1:04:43Augustine and his beliefs on Adam and
1:04:46Eve and how they brought sin into the
1:04:47world are very important for
1:04:49understanding why he believes in
1:04:51Resurrection of the Flesh and then we
1:04:53also need to talk about spiritual
1:04:55Resurrection the idea from Saint Paul
1:04:57that Resurrection will be of a new
1:05:00spiritual body and we're going to talk
1:05:02about that and we'll talk about Plato
1:05:04and dualism for example and we'll talk
1:05:06about what this means does that mean
1:05:07that you know that heaven for example is
1:05:10then a spiritual Place rather than a
1:05:12physical place so let's get started
1:05:14Augustine Augustine writes that the
1:05:16bodies of the Saints shall rise again
1:05:19free from blemish and deformity for this
1:05:23idea that the saints that all the good
1:05:26people will rise again that their bodies
1:05:29will rise again so Resurrection will be
1:05:31of the body and that your body will then
1:05:34be free from blemished and deformity so
1:05:37we write thin city of God one of his
1:05:39famous texts that already both the
1:05:41learned and unlearned have believed in
1:05:43the resurrection of the Flesh and its
1:05:45Ascension to the Heavenly places that
1:05:48he's saying there that the resurrection
1:05:49your Resurrection will be of your flesh
1:05:52and it will then Ascend to happened so
1:05:55it's very much this idea of a physical
1:05:57resurrection and therefore a physical
1:05:59heaven now Augustine's belief in the
1:06:02fall and of course the original sin
1:06:04which is associated with that is
1:06:06absolutely Central to his understanding
1:06:08of the physical Resurrection okay
1:06:10because in Jesus's physical Resurrection
1:06:13both the spiritual and physical effects
1:06:16of sin are arrays so in the same way
1:06:18that sin has entered the world through a
1:06:20body then he's overcome through a body
1:06:22and they're in the same way you know
1:06:23that Adam and Eve were the physical
1:06:25people who physically brought that sin
1:06:28into the world it is through Jesus
1:06:29Christ and his physical resurrection
1:06:31that actually sin is overcome and so
1:06:34really important for understanding
1:06:36resurrection of the flesh is
1:06:38understanding his views on original sin
1:06:40which is of course why we went through
1:06:42them a little bit earlier but then in
1:06:44contrast you could talk about Saint Paul
1:06:46and his belief in Resurrection of a
1:06:49spiritual body that he writes in one
1:06:52Corinthians and I really do think this
1:06:54is very very influenced by Plato you see
1:06:56a lot of platonic dualism here he says
1:06:59the body that is sown is perishable it
1:07:02is raised imperishable it is sown a
1:07:05natural body it is raised a spiritual
1:07:08body he says if there is a natural body
1:07:12there is also a spiritual body so as I
1:07:14say you know very dualistic really
1:07:16reminding me of Plato and what he said
1:07:19about this separation between the Mortal
1:07:21body and The Immortal Souls and because
1:07:24he then goes on to say uh in one
1:07:27Corinthians that flesh and blood that
1:07:30should say excuse me not flesh and
1:07:31bloody flesh and blood cannot inherit
1:07:34the kingdom of God he says nor does the
1:07:37perishable inherit the imperishable so
1:07:40it's this idea that you know you've got
1:07:41the body which is of course mortal it's
1:07:43subject to aging it's subject to Fitness
1:07:46it's subject to death but anything
1:07:48you've got an imperishable immortal Soul
1:07:51so Paul believes we can see here from
1:07:54Corinthians in the resurrection of a
1:07:56spiritual body so the Earthly body will
1:07:59perish but then you've got this
1:08:01spiritual body that will survive your
1:08:04Earthly death that will be raised from
1:08:06the dead and that will continue to exist
1:08:09after your physical Earthly death now of
1:08:12course the key link here is to paper one
1:08:13and self and life after death and of
1:08:16course in particular to Plato and his
1:08:18idea of dualism that you've got this
1:08:20physical body as I say which Plato saw
1:08:22is a prison of your soul that is subject
1:08:24to desire to Decay to ultimately death
1:08:27and so you've got this key distinction
1:08:30um and so a key word a key phrase we'd
1:08:32use is the immortality of the soul the
1:08:34idea that you have this separate and
1:08:36distinct Body and Soul
1:08:39um and so that your soul can live on
1:08:41after your physical death and of course
1:08:43again that then has implications for how
1:08:45we understand Heaven If Heaven is then a
1:08:48spiritual place where your spiritual
1:08:49body will go you know so we're going to
1:08:52talk more about the nature of Heaven
1:08:53later but yes
1:08:54thinking about Augustine and his
1:08:56resurrection of the flesh this physical
1:08:58resurrection and then Saint Paul and his
1:09:01resurrection of a spiritual body the
1:09:03spiritual Resurrection because flesh and
1:09:06blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God
1:09:08really great quotes remember really
1:09:10great quote to be using Okay so we're
1:09:12going to Deep dive into these two ideas
1:09:14now then and get some more understanding
1:09:16of them in case we get a question on
1:09:18them
1:09:20after I've had some green tea do excuse
1:09:22me so question 17 explain Augustine's
1:09:26belief in Resurrection of the flesh was
1:09:28referenced with belief in Adam and Eve
1:09:30and the fall that big dramatic
1:09:32disastrous moment so Augustine believed
1:09:35that like Jesus in the gospels our
1:09:37Resurrection after death will be
1:09:39physical yeah he very much understands
1:09:42Jesus's resurrection is mythical and you
1:09:44could refer to doubting Thomas actually
1:09:46touching him as evidence of that and so
1:09:49he sees that as physical and he believes
1:09:51that our Resurrection will therefore be
1:09:53physical he says the bodies of the
1:09:55Saints shall rise again but this time
1:09:58free from blemish and deformity so
1:10:00you're gonna have a bit of Botox
1:10:01basically on your way up to heaven he's
1:10:04gonna give you you know a little
1:10:05renovation but you're still gonna have
1:10:07your body your body is going to rise
1:10:09again so our bodies he believes will be
1:10:12raised and glorified not abandoned to
1:10:15Decay this will restore us to what we
1:10:18call the pre-lacterian state so the
1:10:20State before Adam and Eve sinned and
1:10:23brought about the fall so our bodies and
1:10:25the entire universe I suppose will be
1:10:28restored to its pre-lap Therian State
1:10:30before the Fall In the Garden of Eden
1:10:33now with God's intention in the
1:10:35beginning according to Augustine's
1:10:37understanding of Genesis and for human
1:10:39beings with their human bodies made of
1:10:42course in the image of God Imago day to
1:10:45live eternally with him and of course
1:10:47Adam and Eve then really threw the
1:10:48spanner in the works by thinning and
1:10:51bringing thin and so death into the
1:10:53world it therefore makes sense for
1:10:56Augustine that Jesus is sacrificial
1:10:58death on the cross remember he is the
1:11:00Lamb of God who takes away the sins of
1:11:02the world that that secures eternal life
1:11:05not just for our souls but for our body
1:11:08as well so the idea that your body that
1:11:11the human body was originally made in
1:11:13Mago day in the image of God and so
1:11:16actually the physical body is not going
1:11:18to be abandoned it will also be be
1:11:20restored it will also as he says rise
1:11:23again but this time free from blemish
1:11:26and deformity because of course
1:11:27blemishes and deformity are associated
1:11:30with them which was brought into the
1:11:32World by Adam and Eve before they send
1:11:34everyone was Immortal and through Jesus
1:11:37is sacrificial death on the cross we can
1:11:39be restored to that immortality our
1:11:42bodies can then have immortality once
1:11:45again so yeah very important for
1:11:47understanding resurrection of the flesh
1:11:48is understanding you know how Augustine
1:11:51understands Genesis and the actions of
1:11:55Adam and Eve and their very physical
1:11:57implications of their actions you know
1:11:59we're about 18 then what is the strength
1:12:02and a criticism of this belief so we
1:12:04need to now be thinking about Rao too we
1:12:07need to now be thinking about evaluating
1:12:09this key belief so the gospels these are
1:12:12the strands by the way the gospels
1:12:14record the physical resurrection of
1:12:15Jesus Christ so again if you're thinking
1:12:17about your sources of wisdom and
1:12:19authority and you believe the Bible is
1:12:21the infallible inherent word of God the
1:12:23fact that the gospels talk about
1:12:25physical Resurrection is going to be
1:12:27seen as important isn't it that's going
1:12:28to be seen as great evidence for a
1:12:31Christian who believes in the
1:12:32infallibility of scripture that
1:12:34Resurrection will be physical because
1:12:36Jesus is resurrection as we know from
1:12:38doubting Thomas than as we know from him
1:12:40appearing to 500 people is understood to
1:12:43be a physical event he is not in the
1:12:45grave it's not that his body's still
1:12:47there but his spirit's gone he is not
1:12:49there he hath risen they are the words
1:12:51of the Angel the tomb is empty it is the
1:12:54physical body that appears to have risen
1:12:56we could therefore say the Bible is seen
1:12:59as the word of God belief in the
1:13:00resurrection of the flesh would be
1:13:02consistent with that reading that
1:13:04literal reading of the four gospels
1:13:05which are seen as those eyewitness
1:13:07accounts to the early life of the church
1:13:09and of course to the life and death and
1:13:12resurrection of Jesus which all recruit
1:13:14recured by making up words now do excuse
1:13:17my pronunciation which will record I
1:13:19should say that the tune was empty and
1:13:22that he is rhythm and also you could add
1:13:25on here just thought you might like to
1:13:26add this one up that our bodies are
1:13:28actually very important for our identity
1:13:31if you're going to talk about
1:13:32Resurrection it makes sense to talk
1:13:34about the resurrection of our body that
1:13:36it makes sense that if we do go to
1:13:38heaven so do our bodies as we cannot be
1:13:41separated from them that idea we're made
1:13:43in Mago day that refers to our bodies as
1:13:46well so why would they then be abandoned
1:13:48you know we we can't comprehend what it
1:13:51would mean to exist without a body
1:13:52because you know it is our body that is
1:13:55key to our identity and to our
1:13:57functioning this world isn't it and so
1:13:59you could say
1:14:00you know that we need our bodies of
1:14:03course we do if we're going to rise from
1:14:04the dead it makes sense for us to have
1:14:07our bodies because they are important
1:14:08for our identity um and so Aristotle
1:14:11remember from again paper one he
1:14:14believed that the soul is the essence of
1:14:16the cells so unlike Plato he believes
1:14:18that you cannot and you should not
1:14:20separate the body and the soul that they
1:14:23are connected it doesn't make sense to
1:14:25speak of them as two separate things
1:14:26they are connected so monitor them yeah
1:14:29that they are one and so he said the
1:14:31soul is the essence of the self of the
1:14:34body and so you know you can't talk
1:14:36about separating them however of course
1:14:38we could then bring in Plato and say
1:14:40absolutely you can separate them because
1:14:43the physical body Plato believed is
1:14:45mortal and perishable and we can
1:14:47actually see for ourselves that the
1:14:49human body is subject to sickness aging
1:14:52and of course ultimately death
1:14:54and it therefore seems improbable you
1:14:57could say that our physical body could
1:14:59be restored to a physical existence
1:15:03because you've died you know your body
1:15:06is no longer helpful to you with it
1:15:08because it's aged or it's you know
1:15:10become unwell and so what I'm going to
1:15:13be rocking up in heaven in my 100 year
1:15:15old body with my thimmer frame you know
1:15:17it's it's not going to be helpful
1:15:19perhaps you could fail so it seems
1:15:21improbable of course your counter
1:15:23argument there is that Augustine says
1:15:24that it will be raised but then as I say
1:15:26botoxed a bit and judged up a bit then
1:15:29it will be free from blemish and
1:15:30deformity um but again is that then
1:15:33still you is he not just giving you a
1:15:34brand new body you know Resurrection I
1:15:37thought was rising from the death not
1:15:38being given a brand new body would that
1:15:40change your identity would you recognize
1:15:42yourself if you looked in the mirror in
1:15:44heaven you know if you saw someone you
1:15:46recognized
1:15:47um you know how would you recognize them
1:15:49if they're no longer looking like the
1:15:51way they looked in this world so this
1:15:54belief of course depends on belief that
1:15:55heaven is a physical place so if you're
1:15:57gonna argue that there is resurrection
1:15:59of the flesh then you're arguing that
1:16:01heaven is a physical place
1:16:03and very few christines today of course
1:16:05believe this in the past it might have
1:16:07made sense to look at the clouds and
1:16:09think oh yeah Heaven is up there just
1:16:11above the clouds but now that we all go
1:16:13up in the air on planes and you know in
1:16:15spaceships and what have you we know
1:16:17that heaven is not just there that
1:16:19heaven is not just some physical place
1:16:21just above the clouds where everyone's
1:16:23walking around and having a nice time
1:16:24you know so
1:16:26um another example of course is that the
1:16:28catechism describes Heaven as a state so
1:16:32that again could challenge the idea of
1:16:34resurrection of the flesh because it's
1:16:35not necessarily a place that you go to
1:16:37but it's the state so even if I am
1:16:40resurrected where am I resurrected to
1:16:42and what do I look like what body will I
1:16:44have will I recognize other peoples and
1:16:47then of course another point a final
1:16:49point is logistics this is the one I was
1:16:51thinking about would we need to eat
1:16:53sleep use the toilet exercise as if they
1:16:57get BOTOX to maintain Eternal youth if
1:17:00we have art bodies in heaven for me
1:17:03logistically it just is a complete
1:17:05contradiction to talk about the body
1:17:07existing eternally those two things for
1:17:10me just aren't reconcilable because the
1:17:13body is intrinsically something that
1:17:16ages and decays and ultimately dies and
1:17:19so it doesn't make sense to me that the
1:17:21body which we know needs food sleep to
1:17:25go to the toilet exercise Etc that the
1:17:28body would then be able to be Eternal
1:17:29now Augustine would say to me well you
1:17:32know you're on however I think that's
1:17:34very valid argument to make in terms of
1:17:36the logistics of this that if you are
1:17:39going to have a body in heaven you know
1:17:41it just doesn't make sense for a body to
1:17:43be Eternal because we know as they say
1:17:45intrinsic to a body is the aging process
1:17:48let me know what you think in the
1:17:50comments down below I've given this a
1:17:51lot of thought I don't know if you can
1:17:53tell it's kept me awake at night I've
1:17:55been wondering about this for a while
1:17:57um let's move on then in terms of
1:17:59another criticism of resurrection of the
1:18:01flesh because of course Saint Paul's
1:18:03there and this is a great quote to use
1:18:05if you are criticizing or evaluating
1:18:08um resurrection of the flesh then Paul
1:18:10said that flesh and blood cannot inherit
1:18:13the kingdom of God the here thing that
1:18:15the physical body that the flesh
1:18:17literally he uses the word cannot enter
1:18:20Heaven now remember if you write about
1:18:22this don't say that Saint Paul responded
1:18:24to Augustine because Saint Paul was
1:18:26before Augustine and but you can
1:18:28certainly say that Saint Augustine's
1:18:30view is inconsistent with that found in
1:18:32Paul's letters so we will not possess
1:18:34Saint Paul seems to suggest here the
1:18:36physical body that we now have when we
1:18:38are in heaven now this influences the
1:18:40catechism teaching remember key teaching
1:18:43document of the Catholic Church which
1:18:44have equal authority to the Bible as we
1:18:47know from sources of wisdom and
1:18:48Authority this influences the
1:18:51catechism's teaching that heaven is a
1:18:53state rather than a physical place
1:18:55because as I've said that our body our
1:18:57physical body is subject to thickness
1:19:00aging and ultimately Decay and death
1:19:02isn't it it is perishable and again this
1:19:05is going to be linked nicely I think to
1:19:07Plato and dualism especially if this was
1:19:09a dialogue's question that dialogue
1:19:11between philosophy and Christianity on
1:19:13life after death this would be a
1:19:15fabulous thing to mention because the uh
1:19:18you know Plato was said that the body is
1:19:19the source of endless trouble for us
1:19:21whereas the soul is Immortal and
1:19:23imperishable and you can link that
1:19:25really well really impressively if I may
1:19:27say so myself to Saint Paul's teaching
1:19:30about you know the body which is
1:19:33perishable but then the spiritual body
1:19:35that is imperishable you know there is a
1:19:37really great link to make that between
1:19:40um ancient Greek philosophy and their
1:19:42New Testament scripture Saint Paul's
1:19:44letters and definitely mention if you've
1:19:46got the opportunity in that dialogue
1:19:48question that the flesh and blood cannot
1:19:50inherit the kingdom of God quote really
1:19:52does seem very consistent with Plato and
1:19:55his idea that you've got that distinct
1:19:58body and soul that dualism so yes
1:20:01getting very excited about the synoptic
1:20:03length you can make there in your
1:20:05dialogue questions on this topic so yeah
1:20:07this actually is another great quote
1:20:09that would work well that Saint Paul
1:20:11says it is known as the Natural Body it
1:20:13is raised a spiritual body if there is a
1:20:16natural body there is also a spiritual
1:20:17body I think that really again supports
1:20:20that idea of um dualism so yeah let's
1:20:23all pray let's all manifest that
1:20:25dialogue's question on the dialogue
1:20:27between philosophy and Christianity
1:20:28regarding
1:20:30um the soul so Paul believed as I've
1:20:34written here that we will receive a new
1:20:36spiritual body after death our physical
1:20:39Earthly buddies are perishable they are
1:20:41subject to Decay because flesh and blood
1:20:43cannot enter the kingdom of God so we're
1:20:45going to leave them behind now instead
1:20:47God will give us a new spiritual body
1:20:49which will have an eternal existence in
1:20:51heaven
1:20:53now of course there is still a lot of
1:20:55ambiguity there isn't there about what
1:20:57that body is going to be like because
1:20:58body has very physical connotation
1:21:02um and so as I say when we do get on to
1:21:04talking about heaven hell of physical or
1:21:06spiritual we'll unpack this a bit more
1:21:08but I think this is a really platonic
1:21:10notion that if there is a natural body
1:21:13there is also a spiritual body that they
1:21:15are distinct and so then you've got the
1:21:17resurrection of the spiritual body that
1:21:19you have got this Eternal Soul
1:21:21immortality of the song you could link
1:21:23it to rather than a resurrection of your
1:21:26physical body but of course you know you
1:21:28could also bring in Aristotle there to
1:21:30criticize that because he said you know
1:21:32the soul is the essence of the the body
1:21:34of the person you can't actually
1:21:36separate them which I think is a really
1:21:38interesting thing to think about okay so
1:21:40based on this for question 21 what is
1:21:44spiritual resurrection and this of
1:21:46course is Paul's idea so it's the idea
1:21:48that Resurrection will not be of your
1:21:50physical Earthly body that this body
1:21:53which is aged got thickened got weaker
1:21:55over time is not going to be the body
1:21:58that is resurrected and therefore in
1:22:00heaven because I say this body is
1:22:02subject to sickness aging and ultimately
1:22:04Decay something of course that we see in
1:22:06Buddhist teaching as well just thought
1:22:08I'd mentioned that don't know why that
1:22:10came to mind and instead the
1:22:12resurrection will be of a brand new
1:22:14spiritual body a body which is
1:22:18imperishable and as they say what we
1:22:19understand about the physical body you
1:22:21know is that it's not imperishable
1:22:23nobody's Immortal their physical body is
1:22:26always going to ultimately die sorry to
1:22:28break it to you
1:22:30um you know no matter how much Botox you
1:22:32get you're still going to age
1:22:33um so the point is you need a new body
1:22:36or you know you need this separate
1:22:38spiritual body so this will enable us to
1:22:40enter the Eternal house in heaven not
1:22:43built by human hands and that's of
1:22:46course interesting thing not built by
1:22:48human hands it's of a different
1:22:50substance it's of a different nature a
1:22:53different characteristic it's not been
1:22:55built by human hands you know
1:22:57emphasizing again perhaps it's not
1:22:59physical it's not literal bricks and a
1:23:01nice jacuzzi a swimming pool and a cost
1:23:03of coffee it's of a very different
1:23:05substance it's of a very different
1:23:07nature uh the catechism of the Catholic
1:23:09Church said and this support this Heaven
1:23:12is a state of supreme definitive
1:23:15happiness so you know it really does
1:23:17suggest doesn't it that it's not a place
1:23:19for the flesh it's not a place for the
1:23:21body it's a state of supreme definitive
1:23:24happiness and we're going to unpack that
1:23:26more in a moment and but I've just put
1:23:29here to give us strength and a criticism
1:23:31of belief in spiritual resurrection and
1:23:34I've just realized I've not actually put
1:23:36them on the slide there I do apologize I
1:23:38could pretend that this is a test for
1:23:40you that I'm now going to say over to
1:23:42you but I'm actually going to be honest
1:23:43and hold my hands up and admit I have
1:23:45completely clearly forgotten to do this
1:23:48um so what could we say is the strength
1:23:50of this well I think I would be making a
1:23:52point here just thinking off the top of
1:23:53my head sorry guys
1:23:55um you know of that consistency with
1:23:57ancient Greek thinking you know that we
1:23:59see this in philosophy this idea of
1:24:01dualism that there is a separate body
1:24:03and soul you could talk a strength of
1:24:05this as being it makes sense doesn't it
1:24:08because the body we know is subject to
1:24:11Decay so it gives a better explanation
1:24:13it gives them more um you know
1:24:15acceptable explanation of why why
1:24:19eternal life is possible or how it's
1:24:21possible you know especially for modern
1:24:23Christians you could say it aligns more
1:24:25with modern ways of understanding the
1:24:27world where we you know we do know that
1:24:29the body is subject to death and Decay
1:24:33um so in terms of the strength you could
1:24:35say it's you know it's more acceptable
1:24:37it's more mainstream maybe it's
1:24:39consistent with the Catholic Church's
1:24:41position that heaven is a state it's
1:24:44obviously based on scripture but could
1:24:46think Paul is saying flesh and blood
1:24:47cannot inherit the kingdom of God and it
1:24:50then shows you how you could have life
1:24:53after death you know it resolves a lot
1:24:55of problems such as if somebody died
1:24:57you know in a really awful way what
1:25:00would their body be like in heaven you
1:25:02know it helps to understand this key
1:25:05distinction between the physical and
1:25:07then the spiritual
1:25:09um but in terms of criticisms of this
1:25:11you could say well we can't understand
1:25:13ourselves as not having a body you know
1:25:15it's Central to our identity so with
1:25:17Aristotle said it is important that we
1:25:20see the soul as the essence of the body
1:25:22that it you know is part of the body it
1:25:24can't be separated uh you could also of
1:25:26course say a criticism would be from
1:25:28Augustine the Augustine's understanding
1:25:30of original sin is that then
1:25:33Resurrection has to be physical so you
1:25:35know linking to him and his
1:25:36understanding of the key events
1:25:39um in Christianity in the Bible
1:25:41according to that comedic structure you
1:25:43could also say of course you know
1:25:45Jesus's resurrection was physical so
1:25:47ours would be as well you know you can't
1:25:49start challenging the gospels in that
1:25:51way if they're saying that there is this
1:25:53physical Resurrection why would it be
1:25:55that he wasn't in the Tomb but then we
1:25:57would stay in the Tomb yeah so just be
1:26:00thinking with your strengths and your
1:26:01criticisms what Scholars have you
1:26:03mentioned for different sides of the
1:26:04argument how can you use them to then
1:26:07criticize and to provide those really
1:26:09strong evaluation points but yeah do let
1:26:11me know as well your answers in the
1:26:13comments below um and again huge
1:26:15apologies for that here we are we've got
1:26:17text back now you'll be glad to see
1:26:19normal service has been resumed thank
1:26:22the Lord for that quite literally so
1:26:24we're going to move on to um our final
1:26:27home straight now if I can call it that
1:26:30you know when the horses are getting to
1:26:31the Finish Line that's where we are guys
1:26:33to use my whole thing um analogy you can
1:26:36tell I've just been reading in the
1:26:37papers about the Cheltenham Festival
1:26:39can't you anyway what does the Nicene
1:26:42Cree teach Christians about judgment yes
1:26:44let's save ourselves with some sources
1:26:47of wisdom and Authority so the nice
1:26:49theme Creed teaches us Jesus will come
1:26:52again in glory we've used that word a
1:26:54lot haven't we to judge the living and
1:26:57the dead and he Kingdom will have no end
1:26:59again referencing to the kingdom of God
1:27:01there which is Led of course by Jesus as
1:27:03we know so it outlines the Christian
1:27:06belief in Christ's second coming in his
1:27:08big return his comeback tour and the day
1:27:11of judgment when all people the living
1:27:13and the dead will face judgment so this
1:27:16suggests doesn't it as well that
1:27:18judgment is not going to be an
1:27:19individual thing but it's going to be an
1:27:21event earlier if Wembley Stadium you've
1:27:24seen nothing yet it's going to be an
1:27:26event it's going to be a moment and it's
1:27:29also of course when he will fully
1:27:30inaugurate the eschatological kingdom of
1:27:33God so you know that again suggesting
1:27:35that Jesus will play that role in
1:27:36opening the gates to the kingdom and you
1:27:38know cutting the ribbon and saying come
1:27:40on in
1:27:41um in terms of this belief in judgment
1:27:44then how did they influence different
1:27:46Christians how does that believe in
1:27:48judgment influence different Christians
1:27:50well a key synoptic linked to Signal
1:27:52here is of course to good conducting key
1:27:55moral principles yeah those key debates
1:27:57about justification education by faith
1:27:59and justification by works now you know
1:28:01if we go into detail on this those who
1:28:03believe in justification by work will be
1:28:06committed to performing good work in
1:28:08order to be judged as deserving eternal
1:28:10life in heaven and as we mentioned
1:28:12earlier Matthew 25 the parable of the
1:28:14sheep and the goats is Kate now in terms
1:28:17of scripture from Matthew 25 we read the
1:28:19Nations will be gathered before him and
1:28:21he will separate the people from one
1:28:23another as the shepherd separates the
1:28:25sheep from the goats and so again it
1:28:28suggests it's going to be an event
1:28:31when all people will be gathered and
1:28:33judged those who were judged who have
1:28:35not helped others though to have not
1:28:37performed Good Deed remember it's not
1:28:39just those who have hurt people it's
1:28:41those who have not actively helped
1:28:42people they will go away to Eternal
1:28:44punishment but the righteous will go
1:28:46away through eternal life now a really
1:28:49important
1:28:50um epistle letter is the epiple of Jane
1:28:53from the New Testament James writes that
1:28:55faith without works is dead really
1:28:57important so we said that you have to
1:28:59put faith into action your actions as we
1:29:02said before are the fruits of your faith
1:29:04and and so as Saint Francis of Assisi
1:29:07said preach the gospel at all times and
1:29:09when necessary use words so emphasizing
1:29:12the importance of actions in
1:29:14Christianity and put faith into action
1:29:16and you will be rewarded so that of
1:29:18course is an influence in terms of
1:29:20judgment what about justification by
1:29:22faith well those who believe in this
1:29:25will put their faith in Jesus and
1:29:27remember you this is you know your
1:29:28Protestant solar b-day for example faith
1:29:31own the idea that because of the Fall we
1:29:34cannot earn salvation for ourselves and
1:29:36so we have to put our faith in Jesus
1:29:39Christ being able to do it for us uh you
1:29:41know and rely on God's grace do they put
1:29:44Faith in Jesus Christ the Lamb of God
1:29:46who takes away the sins of the world if
1:29:47you didn't know by now and of course his
1:29:49crucifixion as that radical Act of
1:29:52atonement that saves you those who who
1:29:54believe in this of course will then pray
1:29:57to thank God won't they for his grace
1:29:58for giving up his thumb so that their
1:30:01things could be forgiven so they could
1:30:03then have salvation they may also then
1:30:05attend Holy Communion taking part in the
1:30:08sacraments to remember that sacrifice
1:30:10you know in our next video or one of our
1:30:12upcoming videos sorry expressions of
1:30:14Christian identity we talk about how
1:30:17that is commemorating the Last Supper
1:30:19when Jesus said this is my body this is
1:30:22my blood that will be given up for you
1:30:23and it's that idea isn't it that you
1:30:26want to commemorate that you want to
1:30:27remember that because it's so amazing
1:30:29that because he has done this for you
1:30:31you you can be saved that he have given
1:30:34up his life for you it's not something
1:30:36you can do all you can do is respond by
1:30:39putting faith in Jesus Christ and being
1:30:40thankful and also you will of course
1:30:42remain committed to the faith for
1:30:44example praying attending church
1:30:46avoiding sin and placing your faith in
1:30:48God because as John 3 16 says for God so
1:30:51loved the world that he gave his one and
1:30:53only son that whoever believes in him
1:30:55shall not perish but have eternal life
1:30:57so the idea there is you will be judged
1:30:59on the on the kind of thing I was trying
1:31:01to say strength and Faith at the same
1:31:03time and it came out very wrong you will
1:31:06be judged on the strength of your faith
1:31:09that that is what you're going to be
1:31:10judged based on isn't it that's your key
1:31:12takeaway here that's your key methods
1:31:14you will be judged on the strength of
1:31:16your faith that you have put your faith
1:31:18in God very important
1:31:20so 25 explain a Bible quote that
1:31:23suggests Heaven is the physical place
1:31:24and of course this then links in with
1:31:26what we said about resurrection of the
1:31:28Flesh and and of course Saint Augustine
1:31:30so Jesus said my father's house has many
1:31:33rooms so you know that anthropomorphic
1:31:36language of dad having a nice big
1:31:38mansion he's got a nice big house in the
1:31:40Cheshire Countryside
1:31:42um you know again the connotations of
1:31:44rooms suggest that there's going to be
1:31:46physical space yeah we comprehend a room
1:31:48we think of a physical place don't we
1:31:50and the idea of many rooms is that it's
1:31:52a very big place as I say booking and
1:31:54Palace you ain't you ain't seen nothing
1:31:56yet um he so he describes it as the
1:31:59house with many rooms which could
1:32:00suggest it's the physical place where we
1:32:03will have an eternal physical existence
1:32:05um however Saint Paul then said we have
1:32:08a building from God an eternal house in
1:32:11heaven so I could argue the same for
1:32:12that bit but we then have not built by
1:32:15human hands so that suggests it's of a
1:32:17different substance that it's not bricks
1:32:19and a cement mixer that have made it if
1:32:21that made sense
1:32:23um and so with these quotes you can
1:32:25absolutely use them to argue for one
1:32:27thing but then bring in your critical
1:32:30analysis and of course to get that AA
1:32:32style you have to use critical analysis
1:32:34because you can actually say but however
1:32:36Jesus often spoke in Parables that we're
1:32:38not supposed to be taken literally and
1:32:40so could he have been using this
1:32:42language in a metaphorical way or could
1:32:44we say you know the translation of the
1:32:46text from the the language Jesus spoke
1:32:48to the word rooms as it's translated in
1:32:50Bibles today does not accurately convey
1:32:53the meaning that it originally had or
1:32:55the intention Jesus originally had in
1:32:58using this this metaphor this imagery
1:33:01for what heaven is going to be like so
1:33:03yeah always be thinking of your critical
1:33:05analysis and you know can you actually
1:33:07go back on yourself and criticize what
1:33:10you've just said always helpful for that
1:33:13one or two lines of critical analysis to
1:33:16be in there how about this one um by the
1:33:18way for your aoq questions don't worry
1:33:20about that for ao1 what about this one
1:33:23then that uh hell is a physical Place
1:33:25well Revelation 21 is quite explicit
1:33:28about this we're told that hell is the
1:33:30fiery Lake of burning sulfur it's
1:33:33obviously a lake is physical but then
1:33:35also in terms of you know the feeling is
1:33:37going to be physical it's going to very
1:33:39much be a place of physical torment and
1:33:41pain and of torture and Punishment as
1:33:44I've put on the screen there so this of
1:33:46course if you're thinking about
1:33:47influences and the impact of these
1:33:50beliefs this may be a particularly
1:33:52powerful influence on Christians yeah
1:33:54the idea of Eternal physical pain and
1:33:56torment would of course be a powerful
1:33:58motivator to avoid them however we could
1:34:01say the idea of this the idea of this
1:34:04physical place is you know difficult to
1:34:07reconcile with belief in an
1:34:09omnibenevolent God isn't it that idea
1:34:11God is only benevolent but he then wants
1:34:13to subject us to Eternal physical
1:34:15torture so you could say they physical
1:34:18understandings are hard to reconcile
1:34:20with what we understand about the nature
1:34:22of God and we're going to talk more
1:34:24about how you actually end up in Hell a
1:34:27little bit later on um but yeah just be
1:34:28thinking about that also be thinking is
1:34:31that as well meant to be taken literally
1:34:33or is that just meant to influence you
1:34:35and tell you how painful it will be for
1:34:37example the Catholic Church sees hell is
1:34:39separation from God
1:34:41and that could be used to convey how
1:34:43painful that will be you know it's
1:34:45trying to help you think about it and
1:34:47comprehend the extent of the pain you
1:34:49will feel
1:34:50okay so talking of the Catholic church
1:34:52we need to explain the Catholic Church's
1:34:54understanding of heaven and of course
1:34:56we're going to refer to the catechism
1:34:58the official Church teaching document in
1:35:01our anther
1:35:03and then I've asked you to consider
1:35:05whether this is compatible with
1:35:07scripture because of course as we know
1:35:08from the sources of wisdom and Authority
1:35:10video you know Catholics believe in that
1:35:13dual approach to Authority that you have
1:35:16got the Bible and tradition being equal
1:35:19but of course what you then do if they
1:35:22contradict so let's have a look shall we
1:35:24so the catechism tells us those who die
1:35:26in God's grace and friendship are
1:35:29perfectly purified as well and are
1:35:31perfectly purified as well they live
1:35:33forever with Christ that's what we're
1:35:35told now you know that's really
1:35:37interesting in terms of how you get
1:35:38there you've got to die in God's grace
1:35:40and friendship and be perfectly purified
1:35:42we're told that heaven is the ultimate
1:35:45end and fulfillment of the deepest human
1:35:48longings it is the state of supreme
1:35:51definitive happiness now for me that
1:35:54appears to be very influenced by
1:35:56Aristotle who we've met on paper one
1:35:58when we're talking about natural moral
1:35:59law for example um and of course virtual
1:36:01ethics and his idea of beauty ammonia so
1:36:04is heaven a kind of eschatological
1:36:07eudemonia
1:36:08um is what I'm wondering certainly the
1:36:10key word there is State isn't it the
1:36:12state of supreme definitive happiness
1:36:14what does that actually mean so the
1:36:17church says to live in heaven is to be
1:36:19with Christ now does that mean that he's
1:36:21going to be there coming round to see
1:36:23you giving out gifts and you know free
1:36:25vodka
1:36:26um I don't know why I bought vodka
1:36:29but hey there we go some people might
1:36:32find that Heavenly to be handed Vodka
1:36:34Shots by Jesus I don't know
1:36:36um
1:36:38I'm honestly I'm losing it what was I
1:36:40saying
1:36:42um to live in heaven is to be with
1:36:43Christ so we think literally there
1:36:45wandering around saying hello or is it
1:36:48again more of a state
1:36:50the church says the elect to live in
1:36:52Christ but they retain or rather find
1:36:55their true identity their own names
1:36:57you're still going to have an identity
1:36:59but you're actually going to be in
1:37:01Christ whatever that might mean and
1:37:03actually we're going to talk about the
1:37:04process theology approach to happen in a
1:37:06minute the idea of objective immortality
1:37:09that you exist in the mind of God that's
1:37:11how you live on so yeah that's coming up
1:37:14but watch out for that
1:37:16um we also read that heaven is the
1:37:17Blessed community of all who are
1:37:19perfectly incorporated into Christ so
1:37:22again this doesn't really sound visible
1:37:23to me that we're in the body of Christ
1:37:25kind of thing you know it seems to be
1:37:28um
1:37:29spiritual certainly not physical but you
1:37:32know let me know what you think the
1:37:34church also said this mystery of blessed
1:37:36communion with God and all who are in
1:37:38Christ is beyond all understanding and
1:37:40description so the church is actually
1:37:42saying we cannot understand what heaven
1:37:44is like we can't actually understand
1:37:45what heaven is going to be like it's
1:37:48beyond all understanding and description
1:37:50uh scripture however does speak of it in
1:37:52images that life light peace a wedding
1:37:55feasts wine of the Kingdom at a fear I
1:37:57mentioned the Vodka they've got a nice
1:37:59bar up there and a few cocktails on
1:38:01standby the father's house for Heavenly
1:38:03Jerusalem Paradise so yeah scripture
1:38:06does use images but actually the church
1:38:07says it's beyond all understanding and
1:38:10description so are they actually helpful
1:38:12right link of course to religious
1:38:14language now interesting one here the
1:38:17church said because of his Transcendence
1:38:19God cannot be seen as he is unless he
1:38:22himself opens up his mystery to man's
1:38:25immediate contemplation and gives him
1:38:27the capacity for it the church call
1:38:29fifth contemplation of God in his
1:38:31Heavenly Glory the beautific vision so
1:38:34this is that term for heaven that it is
1:38:36the beautific vision that it's basically
1:38:39Eternal contemplation of God and again
1:38:42that does not sound difficult to me this
1:38:45idea of Eternal contemplation of Eternal
1:38:48thinking about God that is what heaven
1:38:50is that you will eternally just think
1:38:52about God and of course that will make
1:38:54you very happy that will help you
1:38:55achieve eudaimonia if you think the
1:38:57purpose of life if we link it all the
1:38:59way back to the start about 10 hours ago
1:39:02um is to glorify God
1:39:04the catechism explains Heaven as we've
1:39:06said as the end and fulfillment of the
1:39:08deepest human longings the state of
1:39:10supreme definitive happiness and as I've
1:39:13mentioned I really do see parallel fair
1:39:15with Aristotle and his idea on eudemonia
1:39:19um although he believed of course that
1:39:21could be achieved in this lifetime
1:39:22whereas this is suggesting the Catholic
1:39:24view is that you will achieve eugimonia
1:39:26after death that it can't be achieved
1:39:28fully in this lifetime you work towards
1:39:30it but then you achieve it after death
1:39:33um and of course we can say that this is
1:39:36consistent with the biblical notion of
1:39:37eternal life and closeness with God and
1:39:40of course the catechism does address the
1:39:42fact that scripture has those images and
1:39:44but of course the nature of it is not
1:39:45clear you know so you know thinking of
1:39:48Saint Paul's letters and thinking of the
1:39:50way Jesus talks about heaven we've got
1:39:52to think how consistent is that with
1:39:56um the Catholic church and the catechism
1:39:57question 28 then we need to talk about
1:40:00an important Catholic belief which is
1:40:01purgatory and this is very important
1:40:03because of the need for purification
1:40:05remember the catechism just said you
1:40:07have to be perfectly purified in order
1:40:10to go to heaven so here's what the
1:40:12Catholic church then says all who die in
1:40:15God's grace and friendship but then are
1:40:17still imperfectly purified so you're not
1:40:20fully purified or indeed assured of
1:40:22their Eternal salvation so don't worry
1:40:24you are still going to be saved but the
1:40:27church says after death they undergo
1:40:29purification so as to achieve the
1:40:32Holiness necessary to enter the joy of
1:40:35heaven so after death those who have
1:40:38still not been perfectly purified will
1:40:40have an opportunity to be purified and
1:40:43that is in purgatory okay which is the
1:40:46kind of school for the soul shall we say
1:40:49where you are perfected in order to
1:40:52enter Heaven so it seen as an
1:40:54intermediate State for the cleansing and
1:40:56purifying of souls now famous early uh
1:40:59thinker Origins said that if a man
1:41:01departs this life with lighter fault so
1:41:03he's not too bad he's not ended up in
1:41:06hell but he's still not perfect he is
1:41:08condemned to fire which burns away the
1:41:11lighter materials so the fire here is
1:41:14actually serving a very positive benefit
1:41:16to you that it will actually burn away
1:41:18your sins from you it will allow you to
1:41:20burn them off don't know why I'm rubbing
1:41:22my ace off blades but there you go and
1:41:24It prepares the soul for the kingdom of
1:41:26God where nothing defiled may enter so
1:41:28you know I'm thinking as well here
1:41:29actually about John hick and the
1:41:31soul-making theodicy uh you know
1:41:33influenced by irenaeus that in order to
1:41:35go to heaven you have to be perfect
1:41:37you have to have your soul mate and so
1:41:40Purgatory is very similar to that that
1:41:41if someone isn't quite ready for heaven
1:41:43they're only 99 there then they're going
1:41:46to spend a bit of time in purgatory this
1:41:48kind of waiting room you know this kind
1:41:50of school for the soul where they will
1:41:52be perfected and as origin says where
1:41:54the fire will actually just burn off the
1:41:56Bad bit so you're then ready to go to
1:41:59heaven so that is the important role of
1:42:01purgatory that there is still hope for
1:42:03those who are 99 in but they're not
1:42:07quite perfect you don't need to be
1:42:09perfect because you can actually go to
1:42:11purgatory and you've got that waiting
1:42:13room where you will be perfected and
1:42:16your sins will be
1:42:17bent off at the bone
1:42:19um and then you'll be able to get in to
1:42:21heaven where of course nothing defailed
1:42:24may enter okay what about 29 then
1:42:27explain the Catholic Church's teaching
1:42:28that hell is eternal separations from
1:42:31God and this is interesting isn't it as
1:42:33well comparing that with the language in
1:42:35um revelation of a fiery local burning
1:42:38sulfur you know comparing that language
1:42:41and you know the contrast between what
1:42:43seems to be on the one hand very
1:42:44physical but then on this hand on the
1:42:47other hand uh quite spiritual could you
1:42:49say so the catechism says to die
1:42:52immortal sin without repenting and
1:42:54accepting God's merciful love means
1:42:56remaining separated from him Forever by
1:42:59our own free choice so remember the
1:43:01church believes nobody sends them no
1:43:03nobody God sends nobody to Hell sorry
1:43:06that's completely come out wrong
1:43:12um he believes no the church believes
1:43:14there we go that God does not
1:43:17intentionally send anyone to hell it is
1:43:19the result of our own choices we are
1:43:22separated from him and remember that
1:43:24idea of separation is a very unique way
1:43:27of understanding hell is next but we are
1:43:29then separated from God forever through
1:43:31our own choices and it is the definitive
1:43:34self-exclusion it is a state of
1:43:36definitive self-exclusion from communion
1:43:38with God and the blessed is called hell
1:43:42there is a state of definitive
1:43:44self-exclusion very important for
1:43:47understanding what the church believes
1:43:49about health that it is this state of
1:43:52self-exclusion but again that language
1:43:54of it being a um state is very
1:43:57significant isn't it in terms of
1:43:58understanding whether it is a physical
1:44:01place or a spiritual State for the soul
1:44:03and so the church said that hell is
1:44:06self-imposed that God does not predestin
1:44:09anybody to hell it is the result of our
1:44:11own free choice so again thinking about
1:44:13the nature of God there thinking about
1:44:15his only benevolence and how we
1:44:17understand him you know he wants us to
1:44:19go to heaven but if you turn your back
1:44:21on him you know you misuse your free
1:44:23will that is going to have consequences
1:44:26um it is therefore Eternal separation
1:44:28from God it's an absence of God which of
1:44:31course where Christian is the worst
1:44:32thing imaginable isn't it a distance
1:44:34from his presence and love now here's
1:44:36the important bit in terms of whether
1:44:38hell is physical or spiritual because
1:44:40whilst Revelation is saying that you are
1:44:42going going to be punished by burning in
1:44:43the fire and the catechism said the
1:44:46chief punishment of hell is eternal
1:44:48separation and for me separation of
1:44:51course I understand that can be a
1:44:52physical thing but in this case I think
1:44:54separation can very much be seen as a
1:44:56spiritual thing in whom alone man can
1:44:59possess the life and happiness which he
1:45:01was created and for which he lost so
1:45:03again hell is it physical is it
1:45:05spiritual this for me is suggesting a
1:45:07very spiritual place a state of
1:45:10definitive self-exclusion
1:45:12so just to Deep dive a bit more on that
1:45:15specific teaching that God predestines
1:45:17no one to go to hell for this a willful
1:45:19turning away from God is necessary and
1:45:21persistence in it until the end the
1:45:24Catholic church this tells us rejects
1:45:25the idea that God predestines anybody to
1:45:28hell and of course very important when
1:45:30we do talk about justification uh you
1:45:32know of course we can link this to
1:45:33Augustine and the belief that God is
1:45:35lovingly given humans free will because
1:45:37the runaway horse is better than a stone
1:45:39somebody would therefore only ever end
1:45:41up in hell if they have willfully turned
1:45:43away from God and refused to repent for
1:45:46their sins despite opportunity to do so
1:45:49so you know it really is the last resort
1:45:50God has continuously tried to help you
1:45:53and you really have to slammed that door
1:45:55in his face multiple multiple multiple
1:45:57times and then actually walk yourself
1:46:00into hell yeah so it's self-imposed
1:46:02Exile
1:46:03um from God which is imposed on yourself
1:46:06by you the individual now of course a
1:46:09really great quote actually is from John
1:46:11Paul II he said he believes he'll exist
1:46:14but nobody is there that nobody actually
1:46:16ends up there because you have to
1:46:18willfully turn away from God and then
1:46:20persist in that until the very end
1:46:23because there will be opportunities for
1:46:25repentance and for change again I think
1:46:28reflecting God's mercy he's you know
1:46:30forgiveness and of course his
1:46:33omnibenevolence okay two contrasting
1:46:36beliefs for question 31 nearly there
1:46:37guys about when judgment takes place so
1:46:40the church the Catholic Church believes
1:46:42in both types on the one hand particular
1:46:44judgment that judgment occurs
1:46:46immediately after death whereas we also
1:46:48have General judgment which is Judgment
1:46:50that occurs at the end of time again
1:46:52when Christ returns to judge all people
1:46:55his second coming and we see this in the
1:46:5719 Creed that he will come again in
1:46:59glory to judge the living and the dead
1:47:01and his kingdom will have no end so I
1:47:05want to talk now for question 32 about
1:47:07the difference between Heaven of the
1:47:10physical place and then as a spiritual
1:47:12state so Heaven has a physical place
1:47:15it's the idea it is a physical location
1:47:17where we have a physical body either the
1:47:20one we have now is resurrected or as
1:47:22they say it's given a bit of Botox it's
1:47:24given a bit of a clean up and it's made
1:47:26brand new we have a brand new body the
1:47:28key example of this is of course Saint
1:47:30Augustine and his belief in the
1:47:32resurrection of the flesh wear it Heaven
1:47:34is a spiritual state is the idea that it
1:47:37is a state as the church says of supreme
1:47:40definitive happiness and very much
1:47:42detecting Aristotelian and eudemonia
1:47:45influences there modern Catholic thing
1:47:47thinking today understands Heaven is
1:47:49spiritual interesting that the church
1:47:51still accepts Augustine's teaching on
1:47:53original sin but then now they've moved
1:47:55on in terms of seeing Heaven as a
1:47:57spiritual state heaven is a spiritual
1:47:59state of Eternal happiness peace and
1:48:02therefore closeness to God and of course
1:48:04your key synoptic link here is
1:48:06self-death and afterlife isn't it you're
1:48:08going to be thinking about Plato and
1:48:10Aristotle is there dualism immortality
1:48:13of the Soul or is that complete
1:48:16connection the interconnectedness
1:48:18between our body and our soul key to our
1:48:20identity and what happens after death
1:48:23what do they tell us then what do you
1:48:25have in hell and judgment tell us about
1:48:26the nature of God well they tell us he
1:48:29is a just judge that there will be
1:48:30consequences to actions and that he is
1:48:33concerned with righteousness because he
1:48:34rewards those who do the right thing and
1:48:37that he is the God of Justice teachers
1:48:39that Justice is ultimately done and I
1:48:41think a great synoptic link here is to
1:48:43Count's ethics actually because one of
1:48:45his postulates of morality is God he
1:48:48says in order to have perfect morality
1:48:50we need to have a system that involves
1:48:52the God who can then be that Divine
1:48:55um judge who ultimately exercises
1:48:57Justice
1:48:58also could tell us that God has only
1:49:00benevolent because he sacrifices his son
1:49:02so that humans can still go to heaven
1:49:04despite their sinfulness of course and
1:49:07also you know we know that he is very
1:49:09much like that loving father who allows
1:49:12you to make your own choice that he has
1:49:14given human Free Will and therefore
1:49:16according to the church does not
1:49:18predestin anyone to hell and we will
1:49:20talk about this more when we talk about
1:49:22justification so make sure you do check
1:49:24that video as well okay just the final
1:49:27few bit then you need to know about
1:49:29heaven Helen Judgment of physical
1:49:31spiritual and psychological so the
1:49:35psychological idea is that some
1:49:37Christians and this would be I think
1:49:38probably a minority believe that life
1:49:41after death
1:49:42is not actually a thing in itself and
1:49:45that is because there is no empirical
1:49:47evidence for it so there is no actual
1:49:49evidence instead they think of judgment
1:49:52Heaven and Hell as products of our own
1:49:54mind so this is quite like conscience I
1:49:57always think you know this really does
1:49:59make me think of Freud for example so
1:50:01for example Heaven is a feeling it's a
1:50:04feeling when we're talking about them is
1:50:06psychological we're talking about them
1:50:07with feelings and as ideas uh the heaven
1:50:10is the feeling of fulfillment
1:50:11contentment and deep happiness that is
1:50:14the result of living a good life and
1:50:16then hell is again a feeling of guilt
1:50:19and dissatisfaction that is the result
1:50:22of causing harm to others and not living
1:50:24a good life so judgment is therefore
1:50:27exercised within your own mind isn't it
1:50:30we hold ourselves accountable to the you
1:50:32know the choices we make for the choices
1:50:34we make for the things that we do and
1:50:37that then leads to feelings it either
1:50:38leads to a feeling of fulfillment
1:50:40contentment and a happiness and inner
1:50:42peace or it leads to a feeling of guilt
1:50:44dissatisfaction and you know unhappiness
1:50:47with what you've done so this is very
1:50:49much you know unique shall we say it's
1:50:52very much a minority view within
1:50:54Christianity because it's saying that
1:50:56heaven help and judgment aren't actually
1:50:58things that exist or will happen they
1:51:01are creations of our own minds they are
1:51:03feelings that we produce ourselves so
1:51:06they are psychological realities and of
1:51:09course that raises big questions about
1:51:11well what is the Bible going on about
1:51:13then you know if you believe that
1:51:15they're just products of the mind you
1:51:17know what would the gospel writers doing
1:51:18were they eyewitnesses or were these
1:51:21things that they just produced in their
1:51:23own minds as well so interesting you
1:51:25know great to think of well about
1:51:27science and how you know the development
1:51:29in science might have influenced these
1:51:32views because there is no empirical
1:51:33evidence is this then how people have
1:51:36started to believe in heaven hell and uh
1:51:39judgment as a result
1:51:40and then you might think about
1:51:41falsification is this going to lead to
1:51:44the death of God by a thousand
1:51:45qualifications if you now just say that
1:51:48heaven hell and judgment are products of
1:51:49the mind you know what is the point of
1:51:51believing in them at all and so just
1:51:53something to think about and I want you
1:51:55to think is that understanding
1:51:57compatible with Christian tradition and
1:51:59scripture so again thinking of your uh
1:52:01evaluation your ao2 so scripture as we
1:52:04now know does speak of Heaven and Hell
1:52:05as existing outside the human mind
1:52:07whether that's physical or spiritual
1:52:10yeah but it's certainly more than
1:52:12psychological for example Jesus
1:52:14describes Heaven as his father's house
1:52:16which as we've said could suggest it is
1:52:18a physical location to be lived in and
1:52:20say Augustine speaks of a resurrection
1:52:22of the flesh as we know and that is from
1:52:25City of God if you want a key book for
1:52:27example as well the Book of Revelation
1:52:29describes how Earth we know as the fiery
1:52:31Lake of burning sulfur which suggests it
1:52:34is a physical location where physical
1:52:35pain will be experienced so again it is
1:52:38much more than just a feeling of active
1:52:41faction if the Jazz you are going to be
1:52:43subjected to physical torture although
1:52:45of course you could then think well
1:52:46which is more compatible with belief in
1:52:48an omnibenevolent God Christian
1:52:50condition is taught that judgment by God
1:52:52actually happens of course rather than
1:52:55just being your own judgment of yourself
1:52:57for example the power of the sheep and
1:52:59the goats is not saying that you hold
1:53:01yourself to account it's saying that God
1:53:03will hold you to account that there will
1:53:06actually be a day of judgment you know
1:53:08it's not just sheep and goats in your
1:53:10head and they are representative of
1:53:12something real that will happen
1:53:13nevertheless
1:53:15of course they're always looking at both
1:53:17sides it could be argued that scripture
1:53:19is not supposed to be taken literally of
1:53:21course it is you could argue meant to be
1:53:24metaphorical and representative it's
1:53:25meant to encourage you you know and it's
1:53:28meant to give you something to think
1:53:29about but it's not meant to be a
1:53:31scientific textbook it's not meant to be
1:53:33a historical document and we've said
1:53:34this about the Genesis creation accounts
1:53:36before haven't they we've talked about
1:53:38what is their spiritual truth and the
1:53:40metaphorical meaning and we could apply
1:53:42that to the Bible as a whole including
1:53:44our New Testaments so we could say
1:53:45scripture reflects the thoughts of its
1:53:47writers whose intention it was to shape
1:53:50and influence and inspire people
1:53:53and so you could say that actually you
1:53:55know things such as the power of the
1:53:57sheep and the goats could be compatible
1:53:59with this idea that they are
1:54:00psychological because it's meant to
1:54:02represent you know and internal
1:54:05self-judgment maybe you could be arguing
1:54:07okay and then what is objective
1:54:10immortality and I've said to refer to
1:54:12process Theology and a reminder process
1:54:14theology is from Griffin and it's the
1:54:17idea that God is Not omnipotent and God
1:54:19did not create the world at Canelo uh
1:54:21it's the belief God has this
1:54:22panentheistic relationship with the
1:54:24world he is the soul of the universe and
1:54:26that he influences and persuades at the
1:54:28sub-atomic level much more on this of
1:54:31course in The God video previously now
1:54:33process theologians believe in something
1:54:35called objective immortality this is the
1:54:38belief that after death all individual
1:54:40beings will exist eternally so you will
1:54:43still have eternal existence which is of
1:54:45course at the core of this belief as
1:54:47objects in the mind of God and it is in
1:54:50that sense that you would never die
1:54:51because you would exist in the mind of
1:54:54God
1:54:54some process theologians then believe in
1:54:57subjective immortality
1:54:59um this is the belief that after death
1:55:02human beings exist our thinking subjects
1:55:06themselves with continued experiences
1:55:09now in my head that then just looks like
1:55:12brains floating in heaven not in heaven
1:55:14in the sky but you know there we go
1:55:16that's just where my brain's instantly
1:55:18taking me but yes for process
1:55:20theologians they then have another
1:55:22radically different understanding
1:55:23unsurprisingly of a key Christian belief
1:55:26they think that heaven is objective
1:55:28immortality that we exist eternally as
1:55:31an object in the mind of God and again
1:55:35we then have to critique this of course
1:55:36so we can talk about it you know be more
1:55:39compatible with modern thinking and
1:55:40science for example and you know
1:55:42answering a lot of questions about lack
1:55:44of empirical evidence you know and
1:55:46physical punishments and where would
1:55:49Heaven actually be but then we have to
1:55:51think is it compatible with Christian
1:55:53tradition and of course with Christian
1:55:55scripture so we could say process
1:55:58Theology and of course we've spoken
1:55:59about process theology a lot for paper
1:56:01one and two it's seeneth incompatible
1:56:03because it you know it contradicts key
1:56:05fundamental Christian beliefs about God
1:56:07you know the denial of God's omnipotence
1:56:10for example and the denial of creation X
1:56:12nilo leads to many people saying this is
1:56:14not Christianity wrath for example
1:56:17you'll remember from the evil and
1:56:19suffering video describes Griffin's God
1:56:21as too small and not worthy of worship
1:56:23for example if God cannot do anything
1:56:25about evil and suffering and because
1:56:28he's not omnipotent then he is weak
1:56:30pathetic and not worthy of worship so
1:56:32you know a really great criticism of
1:56:34process theology as a whole that
1:56:36um the idea that heaven does not
1:56:38actually exist but that we just live on
1:56:40in the mind of God we could say it's
1:56:41also inconsistent with scripture which
1:56:43talks Of Heaven as we've mentioned as an
1:56:46actual place for example my father's
1:56:48house has many rooms objective
1:56:50immortality also raises big questions
1:56:52doesn't it about many other key teaching
1:56:55from scripture and tradition such as
1:56:57Resurrection Judgment Day and the second
1:57:00coming of Jesus Christ are they just all
1:57:02happening in the mind of God as well
1:57:03however you could say it does not
1:57:05necessarily contradict the Catholic view
1:57:07of Heaven as a state of supreme
1:57:09definitive happiness
1:57:11um in the presence of God we could also
1:57:13say that it avoids and this is helpful
1:57:16anthropomorphism and the dangers of
1:57:18interpreting the language of scripture
1:57:20as literally true which of course is a
1:57:22great synoptic link to religious
1:57:24language and and through all the
1:57:26problems that do come from
1:57:27anthropomorphic language you know and
1:57:29how modern understandings of the
1:57:31universe tell us that you know there
1:57:32isn't this um Heaven just above the
1:57:35cloud so could it reconcile some things
1:57:37or does it cause more problems than it
1:57:40provides the solutions to with regards
1:57:42to Christian beliefs on self-death and
1:57:44afterlife and on that note I want to
1:57:47thank you for joining me please let me
1:57:49know any of your thoughts comments
1:57:51feedback or suggestions for these videos
1:57:53in the comments below but yeah thank you
1:57:55so much for joining me do take care have
1:57:57a great day and I hope to see you very
1:57:59soon bye for now

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