The Afterlife: Judgement, Heaven and Hell
Christian teaching on the afterlife covers what happens to a person after death: the particular judgement each soul is believed to face, the general (final) judgement at Christ's second coming (the parousia), and the destinations of heaven and hell. Christians agree death is not the end, but differ over how literally to read images such as fire and a physical resurrection body, and Catholic teaching adds a third state, purgatory, for final purification before heaven.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the difference between particular judgement (each soul judged immediately after death) and general judgement (all humanity judged together at Christ's second coming).
- Learn the two named destinations, heaven and hell, and what each is believed to involve: eternal life in God's presence, or eternal separation from God.
- Learn a key scripture for the criteria of judgement, e.g. Matthew 25:31-46, where people are judged on how they treated 'the least of these'.
- Learn that Christians disagree over how literally to take hell: some read fire and torment literally, others read hell as a symbolic description of total separation from God.
- Learn Paul's teaching on the resurrection body in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, sown as a 'natural body' and raised as a 'spiritual body', and why this matters for what a resurrected person is believed to be like.
- Learn that Catholic teaching includes purgatory, a state of final purification for those who die imperfect but not condemned, which most Protestant traditions reject.
- Practise linking a belief about judgement to how it might affect a Christian's behaviour or motivation in this life, not just what they think happens after death.
Worked example
Explain two Christian beliefs about the general judgement.
- Identify a first belief: the general judgement is believed to take place at Christ's second coming, when all people who have ever lived will be judged together, not only individually as at death.
- Develop it with a reference: this is supported by Matthew 25:31-46, where the Son of Man separates 'all the nations' before him 'as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats', judging people on how they treated others.
- Identify a second belief: the general judgement is linked to the resurrection of the body, since Christians believe the dead will be raised, in a transformed 'spiritual body', to be judged.
- Develop it with a reference: this is supported by 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, where Paul writes that what 'is sown perishable is raised imperishable'.
- Combine both points into a complete answer: at the general judgement, Christians believe Christ will judge all people together at his second coming, on the basis of how they lived, particularly how they treated others, and that this judgement follows the resurrection of the body in a new, transformed form.
Practice questions
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Q1State the difference between particular judgement and general judgement.Show answer
Answer: Particular judgement happens to each soul immediately after death; general judgement happens to all humanity together at Christ's second coming.
Q2According to Matthew 25:31-46, on what basis are people judged?Show answer
Answer: On how they treated other people, especially 'the least of these', such as the hungry, the stranger and the prisoner.
Q3What extra state does Catholic teaching include, beyond heaven and hell, for those who die imperfect but not condemned?Show answer
Answer: Purgatory.
Q4According to 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, what kind of body is a person raised with?Show answer
Answer: A 'spiritual body', transformed from the 'natural body' that died, described as imperishable.
Q5Give one way some Christians interpret hell non-literally.Show answer
Answer: As a state of total separation from God's presence, rather than a literal place of physical fire.
Q6According to Hebrews 9:27, what are people destined to do once, followed by judgement?Show answer
Answer: Die: 'people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement.'
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Religious Studies exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two reasons why belief in judgement after death might affect how a Christian lives now.
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Assess the view that most Christians today should understand hell symbolically rather than as a literal place of fire.
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See real GCSE Religious Studies past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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