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THE BODY MAY
DIE BUT THE SOUL
WILL LIVE ON
IMMORTALITY IN CHRISTIANITY
W
hat happens when we
die? Do we continue
to exist in some form or
does our entire being disintegrate
like our bodies? Many thinkers in
the ancient world considered these
questions and the issues arising
from them. Greek thought was
influential in the Roman Empire,
and Plato’s ideas on these subjects
gained widespread support in the
centuries before Jesus’s birth,
death, and resurrection.
Plato’s thinking was dualist.
He believed there were two parts
to human life: the physical body,
which constantly changes and
eventually dies; and the thinking
soul, which exists eternally.
In the third century CE, the
theologian Origen of Alexandria
explained elements of the Christian
message using terms from Greek
philosophy. In particular, he
developed Plato’s thinking into
a Christian understanding of the
soul that would last for centuries.Only souls matter
Like Plato, Origen believed that
while human bodies are mortal
and die, souls are immortal. For
Origen, however, the immortality
of the soul is a direct implicationIN CONTEXT
KEY FIGURE
OrigenWHEN AND WHERE
3rd century CE, Egypt and
PalestineBEFORE
4th century BCE The Greek
philosopher Plato popularizes
Socratic teaching that death is
the separation of the immortal
soul from the mortal body.c.30 CE At the time of Jesus’s
death, Jewish thought is
divided: the Pharisees believe
in an actual, bodily resurrection
after death for God’s faithful,
while the Sadducee sect
denies any form of afterlife.AFTER
13th century Dante’s Divine
Comedy encapsulates the
medieval view of the soul’s
journey after death.1513 The Fifth Lateran
Council of the Church declares
the immortality of the soul to
be orthodox Christian belief.God does not change.Human bodies die, so God’s
unchanging relationship
cannot be with them.God’s relationship
with humans therefore
will not change.Humans must have
immortal souls, so that
their relationship with
God can go on.The body may
die but the soul
will live on.