The afterlife
Life after death is a fundamental belief in most religions.
What form life after death takes is different in each religion, and sometimes there is a difference of belief between members of the same religion.
Some people who are not religious also believe in life after death, while others believe that there is no existence after death.
Ways of thinking about life after death include:
- reincarnationThe religious belief that existence is a cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth, and that the soul survives physical death and is reborn in a new body.
- resurrectionThe Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after the crucifixion. The rising from the dead of believers on the Last Day in a new, or risen, life.
- rebirthThe belief that some part of a person (perhaps their energy) passes into a new life form after death.
- immortality as a legacyThe belief that there is no actual life after death, and that we will only exist in what we leave behind.
- immortality as a memory of othersThe belief that there is no actual life after death, and that we will only exist in the memories of family and friends.
- nothing
Evidence of life after death
There is no scientific evidence for life after death, but the belief in an afterlife is strong among religious and also some non-religious people.
Belief in life after death in religions
For most religious people, belief in life after death is based on teachings in their scriptures or traditions.
The sacred texts in Christianity, Judaism and Islam talk of an afterlife - so for followers of these faiths life after death has been promised by God. For Buddhists, belief in reincarnation is based on the tradition that the Buddha remembered his past lives when he reached enlightenment.