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Life After Death

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Ellen Wilkie, Christian poet

What do you think Ellen Wilkie meant?

Death is a comma

Death is a comma not a full stop. If you look at

the whole of life, death is an activity in the middle,

it is not the end.


Which do you think death is?

Comma Full stop Question mark

People say we do not actually know what will happen when we die. It is a mystery we all have to face.

Why are questions about life after death unanswerable?

, . ?


This new life is one in which there is no pain or suffering. Christians believe in the resurrection of the body and eternal life.

Key idea: Christians believe that there is life after death.

Life after death

Christians believe that there is life after death. Jesus rose from the dead and promised that anyone who believed in him would do the same. There is new life beyond the grave which is called resurrection.


The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual…the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will all be changed.

Write a message from a new spiritual body to an old earthly one. What would it say?

Resurrection

St Paul describes resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:


Opinions about life and death


How does a churchyard reflect ideas of resurrection?


Do not be worried and upset…there are many rooms in my Father’s house and I am going to prepare a place for you.

I am the resurrection and I am life. If a man has faith in me, even though he die, he shall come to life.

Why would these words bring hope?

Where do people find hope for the future?

Jesus told his disciples not to worry about death because there was life after death.


A service is held in a church before the body is taken to the crematorium for cremation or buried in the graveyard.

At the graveside a handful of earth is thrown over the coffin to show that we return to the earth from where we came. A gravestone is placed on the spot later.

These words are spoken as the coffin is lowered into the grave.

What ideas about life after death can you identify?

The burial

We therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.


A crucifix shows Jesus on a cross. It symbolizes the suffering of Christ.

An empty cross symbolizes the resurrection of Christ.

Which would you find on a gravestone? Why?

Crucifix and cross


Wordsearch


Abide with me, Fast falls the eventide The darkness deepens

Lord with me abide

Many Christians today believe that heaven is being with God while hell is where God is absent. They are states of mind rather then actual places.

This is part of a hymn that is often sung at funerals. It is asking God to ‘abide’ or stay with the person who is entering the darkness of death.

Why is this a suitable hymn for funerals?

Heaven and hell


Afterwards, discuss whether your views have changed. Are there any ‘right’ answers or not?

Survey of opinions about life after death

!   Choose a group of people and collect a range of different views (parents, friends, members of a local church).

!   Plan some questions, remembering to be sensitive to people’s feelings.

!   Present your findings and conclusions to the class. !   Decide whether the responses are religious or non-

religious.

life after death - paigntononline.com · this new life is one in which there is no pain or...

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