ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Shared Religious Foundations of Education: Islam & Christianity Anthropology As the study of mankind, or humankind, anthropology could encompass many studies that ordinarily fall under some other academic discipline. In theological discourse, anthropology often refers to the doctrine of man, or human beings, as created, fallen, and redeemed (Childress, 2001).

Christians have always believed that it is their soul that makes human beings different from the rest of creation. Human beings are a body and a soul. Animals are only a body. This is how the Bible describes the spiritual nature of human beings: “…The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became living beings” (Genesis 2.7). The Apostles’ Creed clearly states Christian belief in the resurrection of the body.

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer (the defining book of the Church of England) states that Christians expect this body resurrection to occur followed by everlasting life. There are also Biblical passages that support the idea: “The tombs broken open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They come out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared too many people” (Matthew 27:52-53).

Some thinkers reject the idea that there is any continuation of individual psychological or physical identity. Other theologians have argued that only God is eternal, and any concept of eternal life should be connected to that fact. Fundamentalists maintain a belief in a bodily resurrection, based on Biblical authority, and some Christians have rejected the idea of life after death completely, seeing it a mythological construction seeking validation of the virtuous life.

The Christian view is that the body will be resurrected after death – this is a reward for the righteous. St Paul speaks of a recreation – a resurrection with a glorified body: “so will it be with the resurrection of the death. The body that is shown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is shown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is shown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is shown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Corinthans 15:42-44) (cited from Dewar, 2002). The Christian view of life after death involves separate beliefs: 1. the resurrection of the body.