Lesson video

Hi, my name is Ms. Minton, and welcome to this Christianity beliefs lesson on beliefs about the afterlife judgement.

Now by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain Christian beliefs about judgement and how these beliefs can influence Christians.

Now, lots of today's learning might be new to you, but please don't worry because I'll be here to guide you through each step of your learning, and I'm confident that by the end, you'll achieve this outcome.

So let's make a start and take a look at the keywords for today.

We have afterlife, Day of Judgement , and judgement.

The word afterlife refers to what follows the physical life on earth.

So, life after death.

The Day of Judgement refers to a day at the end of time where each person will be judged by God and they will be rewarded or punished.

And the word judgement refers to the belief that God will decide whether each person should receive eternal life or eternal punishment, and this will be based on their earthly life.

Now our lesson today will have two parts.

We'll start by looking at Christian beliefs about judgement , and we'll then move on to look at how the belief in judgement influences Christians.

So let's make a start and take a look at the belief in judgement.

Now, for most Christians, death is not seen as the end, and that's because many Christians believe that when humans die, there is hope of eternal life with God.

And this belief that there is something after the physical life is known as the afterlife.

And for most Christians, the afterlife consists of heaven and hell.

Now heaven is believed to be either a place or a state for those who have believed in God and lived a good life, and hell is believed to be a place or state for those who have sinned and rejected God.

And most Christians agree that God decides who enters heaven and who goes to hell.

And this belief that God decides is known as judgement.

So let's check your understanding.

Which of the following refers to the belief that God decides whether a person goes to heaven or hell? Is it A, decision, B, judgement , C, verdict, or D, ruling? Well done.

The correct answer is B, judgement.

Now, within Christianity there are differing beliefs and teachings about how and when judgement occurs.

One belief is that judgement occurs immediately after a person dies, and this belief is known as individual or particular judgement.

Another belief is that judgement will happen at the end of time on what's known as the Day of Judgement , and sometimes, this is referred to as final judgement.

Now, Christian beliefs about judgement come from the Bible.

And "The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus" is a teaching that's used by many Christians to demonstrate the belief in individual judgement.

So this idea that a person is judged immediately after death.

In "The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus," the rich man has everything that he could want and need, whereas Lazarus doesn't have anything.

He doesn't even have food to eat.

So he has to beg outside of the rich man's gates to try and get leftover food.

Now the parable describes what happens when both the rich man and Lazarus die.

And it says this, "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side.

The rich man also died and was buried.

In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side." Now this passage says that Lazarus went to Abraham's side, which many Christians interpret as being heaven, whereas the rich man went to Hades, which is another name for hell.

I'd like you to pause the video now and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

How does this passage suggest immediate and individual judgement after death? Off you go.

So this passage suggests immediate and individual judgement because it suggests that Lazarus and the rich man were sent immediately to the afterlife.

The passage also suggests that Lazarus' afterlife was a reward, whereas the rich man's afterlife was a punishment of torment.

So let's check your understanding.

Which of the following parables suggests that judgement takes place immediately after death? A, The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

B, The Parable of the Lost Son.

C, The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

Or D, The Parable of the Mustard Seed.

Fantastic.

The correct answer is C.

It's "The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus" that suggests that judgement takes place immediately after death.

Well done.

Now, the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is another parable that can be used by Christians to support judgement , but The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is often used to support the belief in final judgement and the Day of Judgement.

And The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats goes like this, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will on his glorious throne.

All nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, "Come, you are blessed by my father.

Take your inheritance.

The kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, and I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothed you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" The king will reply, "Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, and I was a stranger and you did not invite me in.

I needed clothes and you did not clothed me.

I was sick and in prison, and you did not look after me." They will also answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger or needing clothes, or sick or in prison, and didn't help you?" He will reply, "Truly, I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me," then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

So as we've seen The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats begins by implying that judgement will take place when Jesus returns.

And many Christians believe that this will happen at the end of time.

And for this reason, many Christians believe that The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is describing what will happen on the Day of Judgement.

Now this parable describes Jesus separating those who followed his teachings from those who didn't.

And those who followed his teachings, they get rewarded, but the people who didn't, they are punished.

Now I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

According to this parable, what behaviour will be rewarded in the afterlife? Off you go.

So according to this parable, behaviour like feeding the hungry or being welcoming towards people that we might not know, caring for the sick, and providing clothes or other essentials for people who are in need are the kinds of behaviours that will be rewarded by God in the afterlife.

Now, although these examples are quite specific, each of the examples given in The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats are examples of serving others.

And this parable makes it really clear that when humans serve other people and help another person, they're also serving God.

And this parable teaches Christians that this behaviour is needed in order to be saved when the time of judgement comes.

So let's check your understanding.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats teaches Christians that, A, God is the creator and the sustainer, B, God will pass judgement on their behaviour and actions, C, God is an omnipotent creator, or D, God will show mercy and forgiveness.

Fantastic.

The correct answer is B.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats teaches Christians that God will pass judgement on their behaviour and their actions.

Well done.

It's now time for you to have a go at a task.

Considering what parables teach Christians about judgement , I'd like you to complete this table to develop each point that's given, and I'd like you to refer to a parable as a source in at least one of your developments.

So the points are, parables teach Christians that they'll be judged after death and parables teach Christians that God will decide their afterlife on the Day of Judgement.

So pause the video and have a go at developing each point and including at least one source.

Off you go.

Well done for your work on that task.

So you were asked to complete the table to develop each point that was given, and you were asked to include a source in at least one of your developments.

Now your responses might look something like this.

For parables teach that Christians will be judged after death.

You may have said that The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus teaches Christians that each individual will be judged after death, and that they will be either rewarded or punished based on their life on earth.

For parables teach Christians that God will decide their afterlife on the Day of Judgement.

You may have said that The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats teaches Christians that there will be a Day of Judgement where humans will be judged for how they've behaved and how they've served God.

If they've followed the teachings of Jesus and helped people in need, they'll be rewarded with heaven.

But if they've not followed the teachings of Jesus, they'll be punished with hell.

So well done for your work developing each point and making sure you included at least one source in your answer.

We're now moving on to the second part of our lesson, which is to look at how the belief in judgement influences Christians.

Now, Lucas and Jacob are discussing how the belief in judgement might influence a Christian's thoughts, beliefs, or actions.

Lucas says, "I don't think beliefs about judgement would influence Christians' thoughts or actions in this life.

This is because judgement takes place after death, so Christians don't need to worry about it during this life." Jacob replies and he says, "I disagree with you.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats teaches Christians that they'll be judged based on their actions in this life, which means Christians should ensure that they're following the teachings of Jesus in preparation of judgement ." Jacob then goes on to use an example to try and help Lucas understand his point.

Jacob says, "At school, we are given rules that we should follow, and at the end of the year, our teachers will write a report to tell our guardians how well we followed those rules.

If we haven't followed them, there will be consequences for our actions.

And just because the end of the year might seem a long time away, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't care about the report and its consequences." Lucas responds, "Now I see that Christians might try and behave well, and follow Jesus' teachings because they want to be rewarded when they're judged." So Lucas now understands that the belief about judgement is still important for many Christians in this life, even though it impacts the afterlife.

Now, just like Jacob highlighted, many Christians believe that their thoughts, beliefs, and actions in this life will have an impact on their afterlife.

But that doesn't mean that Christians only try to live a good life because of fear of the consequences.

And actually, for many Christians, the desire to live a good life is actually rooted in their faith in God and Jesus as the saviour, rather than a fear of consequences.

However, teachings from the Bible on judgement do still make it clear that there are consequences in the afterlife if humans do not behave well during this life.

I'd now like us to think about how beliefs about judgement might influence a Christian's thoughts and actions.

I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

Can you think of any practical examples of how belief in judgement might influence a Christian's life? Off you go.

So as part of your discussions or your thinking time, you might have considered that belief about judgement can influence Christians to follow the teachings of Jesus.

For example, love your neighbour as yourself.

It might also influence Christians to help people who are in need, and they might do this by doing things like giving to charity.

It can also influence Christians to be compassionate and considerate towards others.

So showing care for those who are in need.

And it may also influence Christians to have faith in God and follow the laws that God has given.

So let's check your understanding.

True or false? Christians believe that they should do whatever they want in this life and not worry about judgement or the afterlife.

Fantastic.

That statement is false.

But how do we know that this statement is false? Well, it's because most Christians believe that they should try to follow God's laws and the teachings of Jesus, and that this behaviour will be rewarded during God's judgement.

Having said this though, it is important that we remember that this is not the only reason a Christian would try to live a good life.

Many Christians try to live good lives because they have faith in God and Jesus as the saviour.

Grace and Danielle are both Roman Catholic Christians and they discuss how beliefs about judgement influence them.

Grace says, "My belief that God will judge me influences me to follow the teachings and examples of Jesus.

Stories from Jesus' life teach me what sort of behaviour will be rewarded.

So I try to follow these examples wherever possible.

I don't do this just so I can be rewarded, but because the Bible teaches that God will reward this kind of behaviour, I know it's a positive example to follow and a good way to behave." Now Danielle responds and she says, "My beliefs about judgement also influence me to follow the examples of behaviour from the Bible.

However, my belief about judgement also influences my attitude towards forgiveness.

For example, I know that God will judge each person based on their behaviour because in the Catechism of the Catholic church, it says that each person will receive their eternal retribution.

So when someone wrongs me, I always show forgiveness rather than passing judgement because I believe that this is for God to do." So what we've seen here is an example of two Christians who belong to the same denomination, but each of them is influenced by their belief in a slightly different way.

Now as well as influencing behaviour, the belief in judgement can also influence a Christian's belief and faith in God.

Now, Fiona, who is an Anglican Christian, says this, "The 39 Articles of Religion teach me that judgement will take place on the last day when Jesus returns, and that both faith and good works are necessary for God to reward a person when they're judged.

Article 12 teaches me that good works are the fruit of faith, so I must first have faith in God and this will lead to me doing good things." So let's check your understanding.

Which of the following is not an example of how beliefs about judgement can influence Christians? A, holding grudges, B, letting God pass judgement , C, following Jesus' examples and teachings, or D, helping those who are in need.

Fantastic.

The correct answer is A.

Holding grudges is not an example of how beliefs about judgement can influence Christians.

Well done.

It's now time for you to have a go at a task.

I would like you to explain two ways in which the belief in judgement influences Christians today.

Now a good technique when responding to this task would be to offer a point, develop that point by expanding and explaining, and then repeat that process by giving a second point, and then develop your second point as well.

So pause the video and have a go.

Well done for your work during that task.

So you were asked to explain two ways in which the belief in judgement influences Christians today.

And your answer might be similar to this.

Beliefs about judgement can influence Christians to follow the teachings and examples of Jesus.

This is because The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats makes it clear that God will judge humans based on their actions in this life.

And following the teachings and examples of Jesus can lead to the reward of heaven after judgement.

Beliefs about judgement may also influence Christians to show forgiveness to others.

This is because Christians believe that God will reward and punish humans fairly and according to their actions, and that means that they can forgive those who've wronged them and feel reassured that God will judge that person fairly.

So well done for your work during that task and explaining two ways belief in judgement influences Christians today.

We've now reached the end of our lesson on beliefs about the afterlife judgement.

But before we finish, let's just take a look over some of the key things that we've learned today.

So we've learned that most Christians agree that there is life after death, and that this is known as the afterlife.

And that judgement refers to the belief that God decides whether a person is eternally rewarded with heaven or punished with hell.

We've looked at how for most Christians, God's judgement is based on how each person has behaved during their physical life.

We've also seen that there are two types of judgement , individual or particular, and final judgement , which is also known as the Day of Judgement.

We've seen how parables can be used to support the Christian belief in both types of judgement and how the belief in judgement can influence Christians to follow the teachings and examples of Jesus, and to have faith in God's judgement.

So finally, a huge well done for all of your work this lesson.

It's been wonderful learning with you today.