What happens when we die?
Exploring Christianity
Christians believe in three persons in one God, the Father almighty, Jesus, the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus was born as a man, the Messiah (Christ), to save humanity from sin and death. Crucified in 33AD and rose from the dead three days later, and ascended into heaven after appearing to many witnesses. The Holy Spirit comes from God and lives inside those Baptised, to guide and comfort and strengthen, while humanity awaits the second coming of Jesus at the end of the age. Written under the direction or dictation of God, the Bible is ‘The Word of God’ and contains teachings on how Christians should live their lives as well as a historical timeline of events that have occurred and still to happen in the future. Salvation is possible for those who accept Jesus and what he did for us via his death and resurrection, repent of their sins and cultivate a relationship with God through reading the Bible, prayer and receiving communion regularly.
The Torah, also referred to as the Jewish Bible, covers significant historical events such as world creation, the flood of Noah and the Israelites exodus from Egypt, plus it details the relationship that Abraham and Moses had with God in the early Church. It contains the laws and teachings of Judaism, and is the first five books of the Old Testament in the Bible. Although Jesus was born a Jew, Christians believe The New Testament teachings of Jesus, replaces the old covenant laws, for the forgiveness of sins and the way we live our lives. Many Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah and do not accept the teachings of the New Testament, but continued to follow the Torah and the Talmud, which is an interpretation of the Torah to aid understanding of Jewish laws.
It was decided by church authorities and scholars in a council of Rome in 382 AD, led by Pope Damascus the books included in the canon of the Bible, as not all texts written were chosen. Christians claim that God guided those who chose which texts to omit since they consider the Bible to be the word of God. Since translators interpreted the original Hebrew and Greek texts with slight variations, there are numerous versions of the Bible available today.
It was decided by church authorities and scholars in a council of Rome in 382 AD, led by Pope Damascus the books included in the canon of the Bible, as not all texts written were chosen. Christians claim that God guided those who chose which texts to omit since they consider the Bible to be the word of God. Since translators interpreted the original Hebrew and Greek texts differently, there are many translations of the Bible available today, with small variations.
Satan was once a high-ranking angel, called Lucifer who led a third of the angels in rebellion against God, in an attempt to gain power for himself. In a battle of angels led by Archangel Michael, Lucifer was defeated and expelled from Heaven with his fallen angels. According to the Bible, a race of giants known as the Nephilim were created when fallen angels mated with mortal women. Even though the true origin of demons is unknown, in Christianity it is largely accepted that the Nephilim and fallen angels are what the Bible calls demons, even if some of our ancestors, such as the ancient Egyptians, believed them to be gods. Although the Bible describes the great flood of Noah as the demise of the Nephilim race, it also describes demons as malevolent spirits without a body. Despite the fact that hell was never meant for humanity, the Bible says that it is our permanent fate, along with Satan and his demons unless we accept what Jesus did for us, turn from our sins, forgive others, and seek God every day.
