Do Jews and Christians Truly Believe in the Afterlife?

Written by Dr. Wadi’ Ahmed, a former deacon in the Orthodox Church who was guided by Allah to Islam and died as a Muslim. May Allah grant him abundant mercy.

Do Jews and Christians Truly Believe in the Afterlife?

The afterlife, or the Day of Judgement, is primarily about the accountability of people for their beliefs and deeds.

Jews believe that they will not be subjected to judgement, except for those who worshipped the calf; they will enter the fire in a designated place for forty days, endure light punishment, and then proceed to paradise.

As for Christians, or more specifically the followers of Paul, they believe that they will not be judged at all, as Paul taught them. They believe they have the Holy Spirit as their Lord through baptism, and the body, blood, and divinity of their Christ as their Lord through the Eucharist. Their sins are also forgiven through the priest’s prayer after confession to him.

They claim that there will be two judgments: the first for the righteous, meaning Christians, where there will be no reckoning, but an eternal kingdom with Christ. The second judgement is for the wicked, which includes Muslims and pagans, who will enter Hell directly without reckoning.

Paul told them, and they believed, that the resurrection will occur while people are alive. Angels will come and rapture the Christians, and the Christian dead will rise first before others.

These will take on imperishable spiritual bodies, and the angels will carry them to meet Christ in the air, where they will remain (paradise in the air). Then, the resurrection of the disbelievers and Muslims will occur in a dreadful manner.

Before all this, Christ will reign on earth for a thousand years, followed by Satan reigning on earth for a thousand years!

So, do these people truly believe in the Day of Resurrection and Judgement, or is it merely an extension of the beliefs of the Pharaohs? Praise be to Allah for the blessing of Islam and reason.