Comparison of Two Beliefs of Life after Death
Compare and Contrast two beliefs of Life after Death?
Resurrection and reincarnation both have the same basic belief, that there is life after death, but the concept of the two beliefs are very different in several ways. Reincarnation is a Dualist belief and is a rebirth into a new form of existence that may be totally different from the first form of existence. For example, a human could get reincarnated as an animal such as a cow. The cow is a totally different form than a human. On the other hand, resurrection is a Monist belief, and the human stays as a human, as its same psychical body.
Furthermore in Reincarnation Hinduism specifies exactly what the soul is, they call it atman and it is part of the divine spirit Brahman and lives in human and animal bodies and eventually it will be reunited with Brahman when perfection of the soul is achieved. Only in the human body can the soul be perfected and the deeds of the human will be weighed upon death and the karma will be judged which will determine the next body for that soul to live. As the Bhagvad Gita states about Karma ““Those who perform good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come”.
Resurrection however is different it is believed that depending on whether one has had faith in Jesus Christ we will be resurrected and either go to heaven or to hell. Despite Jesus’ own example of physical resurrection, it would appear that for the rest of us as St Paul said, it is the soul which “is raised in incorruption”. Some doctrines do teach that there is a bodily resurrection but it is mostly unclear whether that body is spiritual or physical, but whichever we will not be resurrected to live a life like which is lived on earth.
Conversely the modern philosopher John Hick believes that resurrection is the divine recreation of an
Resurrection and reincarnation both have the same basic belief, that there is life after death, but the concept of the two beliefs are very different in several ways. Reincarnation is a Dualist belief and is a rebirth into a new form of existence that may be totally different from the first form of existence. For example, a human could get reincarnated as an animal such as a cow. The cow is a totally different form than a human. On the other hand, resurrection is a Monist belief, and the human stays as a human, as its same psychical body.
Furthermore in Reincarnation Hinduism specifies exactly what the soul is, they call it atman and it is part of the divine spirit Brahman and lives in human and animal bodies and eventually it will be reunited with Brahman when perfection of the soul is achieved. Only in the human body can the soul be perfected and the deeds of the human will be weighed upon death and the karma will be judged which will determine the next body for that soul to live. As the Bhagvad Gita states about Karma ““Those who perform good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come”.
Resurrection however is different it is believed that depending on whether one has had faith in Jesus Christ we will be resurrected and either go to heaven or to hell. Despite Jesus’ own example of physical resurrection, it would appear that for the rest of us as St Paul said, it is the soul which “is raised in incorruption”. Some doctrines do teach that there is a bodily resurrection but it is mostly unclear whether that body is spiritual or physical, but whichever we will not be resurrected to live a life like which is lived on earth.
Conversely the modern philosopher John Hick believes that resurrection is the divine recreation of an