Year 7 RE Knowledge Organiser: Unit 5&6- Why are some people afraid of death?
Lesson 1- Lesson Introduction
What do some people believe happens when we die?
There is no such thing as life after death
You will be judged on the way you live your life after your die
Everyone has a soul which lives on after death
The soul is reincarnated (reborn) when you die
Heaven is a place of good. Hell is a place of evil and suffering
The afterlife can be whatever you want it to be
Lesson 2- Muslim beliefs about death
Allah (God) has full control over all that happens. Nothing can happen
unless permitted by Allah. Allah has also given humans free will; people
are able to choose between right and wrong, and are responsible for
their actions. This life is a preparation for the eternal life to come
(Akhirah). Humans have one life and it is up to them how they choose to
live it.
Lesson 3- Muslim beliefs about Heaven and Hell
Muslims believe the soul lives on after we die. Islam teaches that there
will be a day of judgment when all humans will be divided between the
eternal destinations of Paradise and Hell. Until the Day of Judgment,
deceased souls remain in their graves awaiting the resurrection.
However, they begin to feel immediately a taste of their destiny to
come. Those bound for hell will suffer in their graves, while those bound
for heaven will be in peace until that time.
Lesson 4- Hindu beliefs about death
Hinduism teaches that any attempt to find permanent happiness
in this world is maya (an illusion). Hindus believe that a person's
atman (spirit) is permanent and cannot change while the physical
body is not permanent and can change. The atman is reborn
many times, this is samsara (reincarnation).
Death is a natural event so that the atman can move nearer the
ultimate release from rebirth, moksha. Each group in society
(varna) has its own dharma or duties which must be followed.
The speed with which a person can be freed from samsara is
dependent on karma, which is the law of cause and effect which
teaches that all actions have corresponding results. When the
atman finally reaches moksha it can rest.
Lesson 5- Christian beliefs about death
Christians believe that their unique soul lives on and is raised to
new life by God. Their belief that Jesus rose from the dead three
days after his crucifixion (a Roman method of execution) gives
Christians hope that if they follow Jesus’ teaching then they can
have an afterlife. Christians believe that God is fair, and so
cannot let evil go unpunished. Most believe in the idea of
judgement after death, and that God will treat people in the
afterlife according to how they lived their life on earth (Heaven
or Hell or Purgatory if you are Catholic)
Lesson 6- Sikh beliefs about life after death
Sikhs believe in reincarnation. This means that a person’s soul may be
reborn many times as a human or an animal. Therefore, for Sikhs, death
is not the end. Sikhs believe that there are 8,400,000 forms of life and
that many souls have to travel though a number of these before they
can reach Waheguru. When something dies their soul is reborn. Only
humans know the difference between right and wrong and so it is only
when the soul is in a human being that there is a chance of the cycle
being broken. Sikhs believe in karma. This belief says that actions and
the consequences of these actions decide whether a soul can be set
loose from the cycle. Freedom from the cycle of rebirth is called mukti.
Lesson 7- Ancient Egyptian beliefs about life after death
The Egyptians believed that when they died, they would make a journey
to another world where they would lead a new life. Egyptians paid vast
amounts of money to have their bodies properly preserved ready for
the afterlife. Egyptians who were poor were buried in the sand whilst
the rich ones were buried in a tomb. Rich Egyptians were preserved
properly. This process was called mummification. Mummification took
70 days. The body was washed with water from the Nile and taken to a
place called per nefer where the mummies were made. The chief
embalmer would make a cut on the left side of the abdomen and
remove the internal organs. He would placed these in canopic jars. This
is so that these organs would be preserved for the afterlife.
Lesson 8&9- The weighing of the heart ceremony
Ancient Egyptians believed that there was a life after death
called the 'afterlife.' They believed that the afterlife was a 'Field
of Reeds' where people would live forever without sickness or
death.
But not everybody was able to reach the afterlife. Only people
who were good were allowed into the afterlife. And so, to prove
they were good, the dead were put on trial.
The God Anubis (who had the head of a jackal) brought the dead
person to the Hall of the Dead. There, Anubis weighed the dead
person's heart to see if it was heavier than the 'Feather of Truth.'
If a person was good then their heart was lighter than the
feather.
However, if a person had done many evil things, their heart was
heavier. In that case, the demon Ammit (who had the head of a
crocodile and body of a hippo and lion) ate the heart and the
person could not enter the afterlife.
Finally, if a person had a light heart, they were brought before
the gods and had to declare that they had done no evil in life.
They had to swear they had killed nobody or committed no evil.
Only then could they enter the afterlife.