Death and Destiny

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Death and Destiny

For centuries religion has provided structure and a guiding purpose in the lives of follows. Religious beliefs have a significant impact on people’s meaning to life. They give an insight to many ultimate questions and aid in understanding why the human race exists, what purpose they have on this earth and lastly, what happens after life. Catholics and Jews share similar beliefs about death, destiny and the life of the world to come. However, while Catholics and Orthodox Jews have a high degree of similarity, the beliefs of Reformed Jews are dissimilar hence labelling it divergent to both. Throughout the course of time, sources of the selected religions have provided religious roots and given a sense of direction to followers providing answers to death and destiny.

Before analysing anything, it must be taken into account the roots of chosen religions. This highly relates to history and events that has happened in the past and whether they have been recorded or not. These are also known as sources. In Catholicism official sources of the church include: The Bible, The Catechism of the Catholic Church and Encyclicals (letters from the Pope). Whereas sources from Jewish teachings include: The Tanak, the Torah and the Talmud.  Although when digging deeper and analysing the scripture within the Old Testament of the Bible and the Torah, similarities can be seen, hence giving one of the biggest hints of resemblance amongst Judaism and Catholicism.

Shared beliefs between Catholicism and Judaism reflect one another when speaking on terms of death. As stated previously the Torah and The Old Testament share the Books of Moses (Law) including the creation story Genesis. “By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19). This quotes that the body is inevitably going to decompose but then the soul shall live eternally. A common belief amongst these two religions is the fact that at death, the soul will immediately be judged, either deemed to Heaven, Gah Eden, Purgatory, Gehinnon or Hell.

When asked, people will refer heaven to God’s Kingdom without second guessing it. When contrasting Catholicism and Judaism, they both seem to form a general idea around “heaven”. They speak of a mythical place where they will walk humbly alongside their God. Another similarity is the fact that to enter into this mythical place obedience and loyalty to commandments set by God must be upheld. When analysing the two religions it can be positively said that the only diverse concept between them is the place in which the pure soul enters. As for Catholicism a pure soul will go straight to heaven and be with their God. As for Jewish beliefs, the pure soul goes to a place called “Gah Eden” – different to the Garden of Eden – but in Judaism still holding a similar purpose as a place of spiritual perfection due to the fact Judaism rejects Original Sin.

On the opposite end of the spectrum lies hell. Catholicism and Judaism share similar beliefs in a place of exile. This is described in within both religions as “a pit of darkness”. A comparable aspect within the religions is the pure fact that the exile is a reflection of their human life on earth. Meaning their actions reflect their destiny. In The Old Testament hell is known “Sheol” which is seen within both religions. Unlike Catholicism Judaism refers to hell as Gehinnom. Although, a soul that descends to Gehinnom is not deemed their forever as it serves as more a purgatory than a hell from a Jewish perspective. It is said that during time in Gehinnom, they reflect on their time on earth, the opportunities that could have been taken and the experience remorse for the actions. As stated, this reflects Catholicism’s purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states “it is believed to be for those who find themselves in a state of believing in God, yet have not acquired full beatitude and require purification” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Page 1030-1032). It can be said that they uphold the same general concept: a place of purification and time to reflect on what mistakes were made in life.