The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, which carries with it one's personal identity.
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughout history in all forms of art to illustrate or convey complex ideas and concepts in ways that are comprehensible or striking to its viewers, readers, or listeners.
Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. The term encompasses a broad variety of legends and narratives, especially those considered sacred narratives. Mythological themes and elements occur throughout Christian literature, including recurring myths such as ascending a mountain, the axis mundi, myths of combat, descent into the Underworld, accounts of a dying-and-rising god, a flood myth, stories about the founding of a tribe or city, and myths about great heroes of the past, paradises, and self-sacrifice.
Heaven, or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to Earth or incarnate and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife or, in exceptional cases, enter Heaven without dying.
Jewish eschatology is the area of Jewish theology concerned with events that will happen in the end of days and related concepts. This includes the ingathering of the exiled diaspora, the coming of the Jewish Messiah, the afterlife, and the resurrection of the dead. In Judaism, the end times are usually called the "end of days", a phrase that appears several times in the Tanakh.
Hungry ghost is a term in Buddhism, and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way. The terms 餓鬼èguǐ literally "hungry ghost", are the Chinese translation of the term preta in Buddhism and is a Sanskrit word. "Hungry ghosts" play a role in Chinese Buddhism and Taoism as well as in Chinese folk religion. The term is not to be confused with the generic term for "ghost" or damnation, 鬼guǐ. The understanding is that all people become such a regular ghost when they die, and would then slowly weaken and eventually die a second time.
In Islam, Jannah is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Qur'an. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of faith in Sunni and Twelver Shi'ism and is a place in which "believers" (Mumin) will enjoy pleasure, while the unbelievers (Kafir) will suffer in Jahannam. Both Jannah and Jahannam are believed to have several levels. In the case of Jannah, the higher levels are more desirable, and in the case of Jahannam, the lower levels have a higher level of punishments. — in Jannah the higher the prestige and pleasure, in Jahannam the severity of the suffering. The afterlife experiences are described as physical, psychic and spiritual.
The Apocalypse of Peter, also called the Revelation of Peter, is an early Christian text of the 2nd century and a work of apocalyptic literature. It is not included in the standard canon of the New Testament, but is classed as part of New Testament apocrypha. The Apocalypse of Peter is mentioned in the Muratorian fragment, a 2nd-century list list of books thought to be canonical in Christianity. The Muratorian fragment expresses some hesitation on the work, saying that some authorities would not have it read in church. The text is extant in two incomplete versions based on a lost Koine Greek original: an edited Greek version and an Ethiopic version, which diverge considerably. It is influenced by both Jewish apocalyptic literature and Hellenistic ideas from Greek philosophy. The Apocalypse of Peter is the earliest-written extant document depicting a Christian version of heaven and hell in detail.
In Islam, Jahannam is the place of punishment for unbelievers and evildoers in the afterlife, or hell. This notion is an integral part of Islamic theology, and has occupied an important place in the Muslim belief. It is often called by the proper name Jahannam. However, "Jahannam" is simultaneously a term specifically for the uppermost layer of Hell.
The rich man and Lazarus is a parable of Jesus from the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Speaking to his disciples and some Pharisees, Jesus tells of an unnamed rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. When both die, the rich man goes to Hades and implores Abraham to send Lazarus from his bosom to warn the rich man's family from sharing his fate. Abraham replies, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."
The four senses of Scripture is a four-level method of interpreting the Bible.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins, also known as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins or the Parable of the ten bridesmaids, is one of the parables of Jesus. According to Matthew 25:1–13, ten virgins await a bridegroom; five have brought enough oil for their lamps for the wait, while the oil of the other five runs out. The five virgins who are prepared for the bridegroom's arrival are rewarded, while the five who went to buy further oil miss the bridegroom's arrival and are disowned.
The parables of Jesus are found in the Synoptic Gospels and some of the non-canonical gospels. They form approximately one third of his recorded teachings. Christians place great emphasis on these parables, which they generally regard as the words of Jesus.
The parable of drawing in the net, also known as the parable of the dragnet, is a Christian parable that appears in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 47–52. The parable refers to the Last Judgment. This parable is the seventh and last in Matthew 13, which began with the parable of the Sower. It directly follows the Parable of the Pearl, which is about the Kingdom of God. Thus, it links the Kingdom of God with the final judgment—the separation for hell and heaven.
In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as eternal destinations, the biggest examples of which are Christianity and Islam, whereas religions with reincarnation usually depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations, as is the case in the Dharmic religions. Religions typically locate hell in another dimension or under Earth's surface. Other afterlife destinations include heaven, paradise, purgatory, limbo, and the underworld.
The parable of the blind men and an elephant is a story of a group of blind men who have never come across an elephant before and who learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the animal's body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the animal based on their limited experience and their descriptions of the elephant are different from each other. In some versions, they come to suspect that the other person is dishonest and they come to blows. The moral of the parable is that humans have a tendency to claim absolute truth based on their limited, subjective experience as they ignore other people's limited, subjective experiences which may be equally true. The parable originated in the ancient Indian subcontinent, from where it has been widely diffused.
What Dreams May Come is a 1978 novel by Richard Matheson. The plot centers on Chris, a man who dies then goes to Heaven, but descends into Hell to rescue his wife. It was adapted in 1998 into the Academy Award-winning film What Dreams May Come starring Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Annabella Sciorra.
Crab mentality, also known as crab theory, crabs in a bucket mentality, or the crab-bucket effect, is a way of thinking usually described by the phrase "if I can't have it, neither can you".
The Dark Carnival is a series of concept albums described by hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse in much of their discography. The concept, similar to the "heaven and hell" language of monotheistic religions, is the primary source of inspiration for Insane Clown Posse's two series of albums called Joker's Cards, each containing six albums.
Death in Islam is the termination of worldly life and the beginning of afterlife. Death is seen as the separation of the soul from the human body, and its transfer from this world to the afterlife.
