This final reflection paper is to articulate how my thinking of soul and afterlife has been enlarged in light of three different religions, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. So, this paper consists of two sections dealing with soul and afterlife. In each section, I elaborate how other religions can be integrated with my Christian belief.
1. Soul As an indispensable element, soul is constitutive of a human being. Surely, there is no explicit mention of soul at the beginning of creation in the Old Testament. A human being seems to be composed of flesh and liveliness in that the first man was not only formed from the dust of the ground but also given the breath of life from God (Gen.2:7). Yet, the Bible says to us that human beings are created in God’s image (Gen.1:27). Here, God’s image may imply that human beings have a similar nature just as God who is spirit. In this regard, the New Testament clarifies that human beings have three components: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thess.5:23; Heb.4:12). The soul is distinctly one of main elements of a human being, and the spirit …show more content…
At the last day, God of righteousness will judge everyone according to their works (Rev.21:13). Here, people first will be raised as a full human being. And, God assesses not just outward behaviors but also hearts of human beings. As a result, the righteous will be sent to heaven and the unjust to the lake of fire (Rev.20:15). In this regard, there is no one to be confident of their afterlife because everyone is a sinner. Yet, the reason why Christians confess that they have eternal life is that Jesus Christ promises eternal life for those who believe in God (Jn.3:16, 5:24). So, the person reconciled with God can enjoy eternal life in the presence of the Holy Spirit while the eternal life will be fully achieved after
1. Soul As an indispensable element, soul is constitutive of a human being. Surely, there is no explicit mention of soul at the beginning of creation in the Old Testament. A human being seems to be composed of flesh and liveliness in that the first man was not only formed from the dust of the ground but also given the breath of life from God (Gen.2:7). Yet, the Bible says to us that human beings are created in God’s image (Gen.1:27). Here, God’s image may imply that human beings have a similar nature just as God who is spirit. In this regard, the New Testament clarifies that human beings have three components: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thess.5:23; Heb.4:12). The soul is distinctly one of main elements of a human being, and the spirit …show more content…
At the last day, God of righteousness will judge everyone according to their works (Rev.21:13). Here, people first will be raised as a full human being. And, God assesses not just outward behaviors but also hearts of human beings. As a result, the righteous will be sent to heaven and the unjust to the lake of fire (Rev.20:15). In this regard, there is no one to be confident of their afterlife because everyone is a sinner. Yet, the reason why Christians confess that they have eternal life is that Jesus Christ promises eternal life for those who believe in God (Jn.3:16, 5:24). So, the person reconciled with God can enjoy eternal life in the presence of the Holy Spirit while the eternal life will be fully achieved after