Death and Afterlife

Introduction

Each people make the experience of death within a culture, with the help of a language, in reference to anthropology and cosmology, with the help of which are ordering all symbolic data. Israel also faced with death and with the life from a particular condition to be detailed below. But before be interested in this reflection on the death of the Jewish people to better understand from within your itinerary, I believe it to seek the dynamic principle that will to encourage their experience (Gillingham, 212-225).

At Sinai begins an unfailing covenant between God and his people, alliance for life and death. If we understand something of the question asked on Israel life and death, we must always put your relationship with God (Crenshaw, 21-29). There are three claims well established since the starting point in its history, and these will present whenever Israel is faced with the enigma of life and death: first, their God is the living God, and second, to ally with him is to choose life, third, the life he gives men the accents always keep land out of Egypt and the promise of a land he had given (Coogan, 96-101).

Discussion

Formerly, the Hebrews were not even worried about the problem of life after death. The issue of what happens at death did not care, because their hopes were centered and concrete things: the land have a prosperous and peaceful, and in the offspring. Before it was enough to think that the dead went to a "kingdom of oblivion" (the Sheol ) (G, 43).

Several centuries later, when Israel's political hopes collapsed, it was becoming clear that not always going to have a land to possess, and the offspring are not always persisted or even came in times of war. On the other hand, more and more starkly experienced the reality that was not always good to fair, while the unjust he should go wrong and actually prospered (see Book of Job ) (G, 43).

Thus, began to be born in the consciousness of the Jewish people the idea about what would happen after death, as the earthly realities were not insured, and if in fact God is just, he would necessarily good to fair but this would be a reality if not in life, then at least after death. Apocalyptic literature is exemplary in this case, and an abundance of images on the resurrection of the dead on the day of the Lord, when God intervenes in history to finally end the evil.

In Jesus, the theme of resurrection was still much discussed: the current of the Pharisees claimed that there was a resurrection, while that of the Sadducees (aristocrats, conservative political allies of the dominant power) adhered to the ancient tradition not believe in the resurrection (nor at the coming of the Messiah). Jesus for his part, was in favor of the resurrection, and believed in it saying:

“God is a God of the living, not dead” (Crenshaw, 21-29)

When did the resurrection happen?

Since resurrect means to have ...