What is death? In your notes write a definition of the word death. The medical dictionary says: The cessation of all vital functions, demonstrated by an absence of spontaneous respiratory and cardiac functions. Why isn’t this definition enough for us??

Key Question: What happens after we die?

Come up with as many theories to answer the key question as possible 1.Mind map as many as you can individually. 2.Discuss and create a mind map together.

Enquire and Reflect in Groups 1.Why are we sometimes scared to talk about death? 2.Where have our ideas about death come from? 3.Why do some people believe that a part of us lives on after we die? 4.Does the fact that we even question death make us unique from other animals? What questions do you have about death? Under your discussion notes.

People have wondered about the afterlife since ancient times. 150,000 years ago people were burying people who had died and appear to have believed in life after death. Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti was buried with 6,000 terracotta soldiers to protect him in his next life.

Many people believe that there are ghosts of dead people who haven’t been able to go to Heaven or Hell. They are said to be ‘spirit apparitions’ through which souls of dead people are said to show themselves. Some houses appear to be haunted and exorcists are sometimes called to remove spirits. People claim that they have been visited by dead relations. Thousands of people have claimed to have seen or felt the presence of a dead ancestor or friend. Patients who are near to death have reported seeing visions of near relations who have died. Mediums claim to be able to communicate with dead loved ones.

Can you think of reasons why someone may choose to believe in afterlife and why they may not? For Against e.g I have seen a ghost Use the card sort to help you Number these 1 to _ in to which you find the most compelling reasons for/against your belief in the afterlife. A02Me Write a paragraph to answer the following question: What do you believe happens when we die and what reasons can you give to support? Be prepared to read out your answer.

Richard Dawkins Dawkins, as a strong atheist, is also a materialist. DNA is all a person is, according to him, a soul cannot exist, it is a mythical concept invented by primitive people. “Life is just bytes and bytes of information” – River out of Eden. However, he still believes humans are great, not because they are created by God, but because of the evolutionary process they are able to undertake. Dawkins believes that humans are the universe, as they are so great and they are what keeps going in the evolutionary time space. Dawkins, therefore, does not believe in life after death. He thinks humans are just put on this Earth to be survival machines and reproduce, the ultimate reason for their existence, and then die. This is what life is and it’s purpose has been fulfilled.

Christianity and Resurrection Christians believe that death is the end of physical life and the beginning of a new stage. The NT talks of the after life as a paradise, a state of continued existence with God. The resurrection is interpreted as a sign that death is not the end and that god doesn’t abandon people: ‘But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)

The resurrection is the most important and significant even in Christianity. Jesus not only dies for people but rises again. – Jesus is somehow changed and different His followers don’t recognise him – Jesus is not described as a ghost or vision He is physical but transformed Physical resurrection makes Christianity distinctive Geach suggests that resurrection is the only meaningful way to talk about life after death. – A person couldn’t be meaningfully identified with only a spiritual existence. – Souls must be reunified: ‘to such a body as would reconstitute a man identifiable with the man who died.’ Paul (1 Corinthians 15) states the Christian belief in resurrection but this has not always been clearly stated. The Catholic church clears it up: ‘We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day.’ (Catechism of the Catholic church) Christianity does sometimes sound dualistic. At death the soul is separated and awaits the final resurrection. At death, each person is judged by God- ‘The particular judgement’ Whether resurrection happens at the point of death is unclear.