The concept of an afterlife that there is an immortal future, which might either be a lamentable half-existence or a place that includes physical survival, rewards, and punishments, has been central in Western thought. By understanding different conceptions of what happens to us after we die, we explore how the culture engages in continuous conscious reflection upon ethics, identity, the nature of good and evil, repentance, and forgiveness.
In this presentation, we will explore various visions of the afterlife, starting with Ancient Egypt, India, and Greece. From there, we will move onto classical Christianity and will examine Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant doctrines about life after death. In the final part of the presentation, we will discuss modern religious movements – Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Bahá’í Faith – in light of their reinterpretation of the notions of the apocalypse and posthumous existence.
