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The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. [1]
Ascension Rock, inside the Chapel of the Ascension (Jerusalem), is said to bear the imprint of Jesus' right foot as he left Earth and ascended into heaven.. The Christian Old Testament, which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible, follows the Jewish narrative and mentions that Enoch was "taken" by God, and that Elijah was bodily assumed into Heaven on a chariot of fire.
Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife is a book by American New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman.Published in 2020 by Simon & Schuster, the book examines the historical development of the concepts of the afterlife throughout Greek, Jewish, and early Christian cultures, and how they eventually converged into the concepts of Heaven and Hell, that modern Christians believe in. [1] [2]
Plato, most of the time, says that there is a distinct reward-and-punishment phase of the afterlife between reincarnations. Only in the Timaeus and Laws does the reward-and-punishment phase disappear; in these two texts, the punishment is said to be the reincarnation itself. [20]
The Book of Revelation states that the New Jerusalem will be transported from Heaven to Earth, rather than people from Earth going to Heaven. [5] The description of the gates of New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:21 inspired the idea of the Pearly gates, which is the informal name for the gateway to heaven according to some Christian denominations. [6]
The Western Church goes differently by defining the intermediate state, with evidence from as far back as the Passion of Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions (203) of the belief that sins can be purged by suffering in an afterlife, and that purgation can be expedited by the intercession of the living.
[10] The Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible on the other hand, contends that "the nature of eternal life is only sketched in its essential elements in the New Testament". [9] John W. Ritenbaugh says that eternal life is knowing God, and that Jesus implies an intimate relationship with God that matures over time. [11] Ostromir Gospel of John, 1056
Thus in the afterlife one encounters the prophets of old and other historical people. While the individual experiences dramatic changes from birth and the stages of life in this world then death and life beyond, Baháʼís hold it is the same soul, the same sense of identity, through the dramatic changes of circumstances.