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 Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:32 pm
You gentiles are going to think this is so weird...
but Judaism actually doesn't have an official afterlife. The whole Torah, G-d talks to Moses a million times, and never ever mentions it.
Ergo, different branches of Judaism have come to develop different beliefs about the afterlife.
Some of the big ones:
- Gan Eden and Gehenna: All people's souls go to Gan Eden, which is the Garden of Eden, but Bad people have to go to Gehenna for punishment first for a sentence length that varies by the person.
- Gan Eden and Sheol: Good People's souls go to Gan Eden, and the bad people's souls go to Sheol. Sheol is a horrible place where souls are not only punished but cease to exist, actually being erased from the world.
- Heaven and Hell: Believe it or not, some Jews take the Christian afterlife on this one.
- Reincarnation: A whole lot of Jews take the Hindu afterlife on this one.
-Nothing: Some Jews believe that there will be nothing after death, at least until the Messiah comes.
Different Jews believe different things based on the traditions of their denomination and their rabbi.
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 8:31 pm
From what I've learned about Judaism, originally it was that there was no afterlife. That I find quite interesting actually, because one of the main purposes religion serves is the promise of some sort of afterlife regardless of whether the afterlife is good or not.
I'm not surprised that many Jews have taken on the Christian belief in an afterlife. Gan Eden, Sheol, and Gehenna, from what you've described sounds to me that it is based on the Christian belief in Heaven and Hell. It's interesting how the influence of religious beliefs went the other way around in this case (as Christianity was based on Judaism for the most part).
It is somewhat surprising, but not too much, that some Jews would believe in reincarnation. After all, Jerusalem is in the Middle East and is quite close to Western Asia. It makes sense that Jews in-between these areas would have combined some of the beliefs of the two areas together.
Thanks for teaching me something new about Judaism. smile
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 9:14 am
cwilder725 From what I've learned about Judaism, originally it was that there was no afterlife. That I find quite interesting actually, because one of the main purposes religion serves is the promise of some sort of afterlife regardless of whether the afterlife is good or not. I'm not surprised that many Jews have taken on the Christian belief in an afterlife. Gan Eden, Sheol, and Gehenna, from what you've described sounds to me that it is based on the Christian belief in Heaven and Hell. It's interesting how the influence of religious beliefs went the other way around in this case (as Christianity was based on Judaism for the most part). It is somewhat surprising, but not too much, that some Jews would believe in reincarnation. After all, Jerusalem is in the Middle East and is quite close to Western Asia. It makes sense that Jews in-between these areas would have combined some of the beliefs of the two areas together. Thanks for teaching me something new about Judaism. smile Judaism was around for thousands of years before Christianity evolved as an offshoot. What makes you think that Gan Eden-Gehenna was based on Heaven-Hell insted of the opposite?
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 10:06 am
Lumanny the Space Jew Judaism was around for thousands of years before Christianity evolved as an offshoot. What makes you think that Gan Eden-Gehenna was based on Heaven-Hell insted of the opposite? Well, it's not really that strange. Judaism has evolved over all this time and most likely adopted stuff from other religions, too. Doesn't really matter if it was created before christianity. But I don't really know if that is the case with Gan Eden - Gehenna and haven't been able to find anything conclusive. Would you happen to know more about it?
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 11:27 am
I have read in certain books and research that I have done that some Jews believe that Sheol was only a temporary place of punishment.
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 1:14 pm
Lumanny the Space Jew cwilder725 From what I've learned about Judaism, originally it was that there was no afterlife. That I find quite interesting actually, because one of the main purposes religion serves is the promise of some sort of afterlife regardless of whether the afterlife is good or not. I'm not surprised that many Jews have taken on the Christian belief in an afterlife. Gan Eden, Sheol, and Gehenna, from what you've described sounds to me that it is based on the Christian belief in Heaven and Hell. It's interesting how the influence of religious beliefs went the other way around in this case (as Christianity was based on Judaism for the most part). It is somewhat surprising, but not too much, that some Jews would believe in reincarnation. After all, Jerusalem is in the Middle East and is quite close to Western Asia. It makes sense that Jews in-between these areas would have combined some of the beliefs of the two areas together. Thanks for teaching me something new about Judaism. smile Judaism was around for thousands of years before Christianity evolved as an offshoot. What makes you think that Gan Eden-Gehenna was based on Heaven-Hell insted of the opposite? Same reasoning Artto had. Even though Judaism has been around long before Christianity, that doesn't necessarily mean that it hasn't been influenced by Christianity after all these years.
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 5:06 pm
oh? I was under the impression that Jews generally believed everyone went to Sheol, save for the few Righteous Men whom God takes away to Gan Eden.
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