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Religions and the Meaning of Life

Religions have differing views of the meaning of life and of the idea of reward for good and moral living. Some form of afterlife is often described in religious belief, but what form that takes differs according to the theology involved. The degree of emphasis placed on the afterlife will also vary. The idea of the afterlife may change through the history of a given religions as well, and different theological interpretations will be offered through that history and shape how the afterlife is viewed by followers. Judaism is an ancient religion that has been shaped by numerous commentators and historical events, and the idea of the afterlife in Judaism has undergone a transformation as well.

In general, Judaism is differentiated from Christianity on this issue in terms of where the emphasis is placed, as Abba Hillel Silver notes when he writes,

The Kingdom of God--which mankind with the help of God is to build--is in Judaism's view definitely of this world, and all of man's tasks are centered here. In Judaism, the Kingdom of God means the Good Society. In Christianity, it means the Future World--the Hereafter (Silver 268).

Jesus stated that His Kingdom "is not of this world" (John 18:36), and in doing so he correctly defined his gospel. For Judaism, though, the Kingdom of God refers to the reign of God on earth, "to the conversion of all peoples to faith in Him alone, and to the establishment of universal justice and peace" (Silver 268).

However, the idea of the resurrection gained ground among Jewish people toward the beginning of the common era, once Christianity had established itself, and at this time an otherworldly interpretation of the kingdom of God spread. It included the idea of the resurrected dead. However, this interpretation never displaced the original prophetic element in Judaism's vision of the Kingdom of God. Rabbis used the term Kingdom of God as a metaphor for "the true religion" (Silver 2...

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Religions and the Meaning of Life. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:30, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1707174.html