Christianity-Afterlife

Overview
In Christianity, upon the death of someone, his or her soul is judged. They will be sent to heaven or hell based on the way they lived their life. This belief in a final judgment is based off of that in Zoroastrianism. The God of light and darkness will battle and then all people will be forced through “a river of molten metal” where the good will be rid of all sins and remain eternally youthful and the bad will be punished with endless suffering.

Influence from Other Religions
Christian beliefs of afterlife are a combination of beliefs from the cultures where it was founded. For instance, The idea in Christianity of a resurrection and Judgment Day is almost identical to that of Judaism; though this belief originated from Zoroastrianism. From a culmination of many cultures beliefs came the Christian notion that the everlasting soul unites with a body at the end of time. The Christian belief in Hell began with the Jewish idea of She'ol, as a way to punish those who did bad things in their earthly life.

Michaelangelo's Last Judgment This shows the bad souls being carted to hell and good souls clinging to crosses and going to heaven.

"Christian Beliefs about the Afterlife." Religion Facts. 2007. Religion Facts. 18 Dec 2007 <[|http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/beliefs/afterlife.htm>.]

Lewis, James R.. Afterlife Beliefs and Phenomena. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1994.