Eternal life (Christianity)
Encyclopedia
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
the term eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, rather than immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
. While scholars such as John H. Leith
John H. Leith
John Haddon Leith was an important Presbyterian theologian and ordained minister who was the Pemberton Professor of Theology at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia from 1959 to 1990...
assert that
eternal life is never described in detail in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
(though assurances are provided that the faithful will receive it), others such as D. A. Carson suggest that eternal life is explicitly defined in John 17:3, where Jesus says in his High Priestly Prayer
High Priestly Prayer
The High Priestly Prayer or Jesus' prayer to the one true God is the final prayer of Jesus, from the Gospel of John in John 17. In many ways similar to the Lord's Prayer, and other prayers of Jesus.- John 17 :...
, "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Carson says of this verse that "Eternal life turns on nothing more and nothing less than knowledge of the true God" and that it is "not so much everlasting life as personal knowledge of the Everlasting One." The Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible on the other hand, contends that "the nature of eternal life is only sketched in its essential elements in the New Testament".
While the Synoptic Gospels are seen as focusing on the proclamation of the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
, some scholars see eternal life as the central theme of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' preaching in the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
, where receiving eternal life is seen to be synonymous with entering the Kingdom. In Christian teachings, eternal life is not an inherent part of human existence, and
is a unique gift from God, based on the model of the Resurrection of Jesus
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
, viewed as a unique event through which death was conquered "once for all", permitting Christians to experience eternal life. This spiritual and eternal life is provided to believers, generally assumed to be at the resurrection of the dead
Resurrection of the dead
Resurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
.
The Johannine concept of eternal life differs from the synoptic view
Synoptic Gospels
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...
. Johannine writings specifically present the view of eternal life as not simply futuristic, but also pertaining to the present
Realized eschatology
Realized eschatology is a Christian eschatological theory popularized by C. H. Dodd that holds that the eschatological passages in the New Testament do not refer to the future, but instead refer to the ministry of Jesus and his lasting legacy...
, so those who accept Christ can possess life "here and now" as well as in eternity, for they have "passed from death to life", as in John 5:24. Overall, the New Testament balances the present and future with respect to eternal life: the believer has passed from death to eternal life, but this remains to be totally realized in the future.
In the Pauline epistles
Pauline epistles
The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle. Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents...
(e.g. Romans 3:25: "unto eternal life through Jesus Christ"), eternal life becomes possible in the person of Christ, where by the grace of God and through faith in Christ humans can receive the gift of eternal life. For Paul (as in Galatians 6:8) future eternal life arrives as a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit (Christianity)
For the majority of Christians, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and is Almighty God...
during the present life. Paul views sin as an obstacle to attaining eternal life, as in Romans 6:23, just as in Johannine writings the possibility of eternal life and avoiding the wrath of God
Divine retribution
Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or all humanity by a deity in response to some human action.Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing their doom.An example of divine retribution is the...
is dependent on believing in Jesus, the Son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
.
Overview
In New Testament theologyTheology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
in addition to life (zoe, i.e. ζωὴ in Greek), there is also a promised spiritual life sometimes described by the adjective eternal (aionios i.e. αἰώνιος in Greek) but other times simply referred to as life.
In the New Testament, life is not an inherent part of human existence, but is a unique gift from God, based on the model of the Resurrection of Jesus
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
. In Christian teachings, the Resurrection of Jesus is a unique event through which death was conquered "once for all". As a consequence of the death and Resurrection of Jesus, Christians can experience eternal life both at the present as well as the future. The possibility of attaining eternal life and avoiding the wrath of God is dependent on believing in Jesus, the Son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
.
In the Synoptic Gospels and the Pauline Letters, eternal life is generally regarded as a future experience, but the Gospel of John differs from them in its emphasis on eternal life as a "present possession". Raymond E. Brown
Raymond E. Brown
The Reverend Raymond Edward Brown, S.S. , was an American Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Sulpician Fathers and a major Biblical scholar of his era...
points out that in the synoptic gospels eternal life is something received at the final judgment, or a future age (Mark 10:30, Matthew 18:8-9 ) but the Gospel of John positions eternal life as a present possibility, as in John 5:24.
Thus, unlike the synoptics, in the Gospel of John eternal life is not only futuristic, but also pertains to the present. In John, those who accept Christ can possess life "here and now" as well as in eternity, for they have "passed from death to life", as in John 5:24: "He who hears my word, and believes him that sent me, has eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." In John, the purpose for the incarnation
Incarnation (Christianity)
The Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos , "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos .The Incarnation is a fundamental theological...
, death, resurrection
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
and glorification of The Word was to provide eternal life to humanity.
D. A. Carson sees John 5:24 as giving the "strongest affirmation of inaugurated eschatology
Inaugurated eschatology
Inaugurated eschatology is the belief in Christian theology that the end times were inaugurated in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and thus there are both "already" and "not yet" aspects to the Kingdom of God....
in the Fourth Gospel
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
": it is not necessary for the believer to "wait until the last day to experience something of resurrection life." George Eldon Ladd
George Eldon Ladd
George Eldon Ladd was a Baptist minister and professor of New Testament exegesis and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California....
points out that, like the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
, eternal life is "not only an eschatological gift belonging to the Age to Come; it is also a gift to be received in the old aeon". In this context, the gift of eternal life in the old aeon
Aeon
The word aeon, also spelled eon or æon , originally means "life", and/or "being", though it then tended to mean "age", "forever" or "for eternity". It is a Latin transliteration from the koine Greek word , from the archaic . In Homer it typically refers to life or lifespan...
in which sin and death are still present is contrasted with eternal life in the new aeon of life and righteousness, the World to Come
World to Come
The World to Come is an eschatological phrase reflecting the belief that the "current world" is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world or a paradise. The concept is similar to the concepts of Heaven and the afterlife, but Heaven is another place generally seen as...
to which the faithful will belong.
However, although as in John 3:16 God has provided the gift of eternal life to believers, the possibility of perishing (απόληται) remains if one rejects Jesus. In fact, John 3:36 describes this in this manner:
- "He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
In both John and Paul the possibility of attaining eternal life and avoiding the wrath of God is dependent on believing in Jesus, the Son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
. For John abiding in Christ involves love for one another, as in John 15:9–17, and John 5:24. The existence of divine love in believers, then facilitates the influence of the gospel on the world, and lead to widespread salvation. 1 John 3:14 then manifests "the already but not yet" acquisition of eternal life by referring to the acquisition of eternal life as a once for all (ephapax) event, and the role of love in attaining it: "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death."
As in John 6:51, the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the official text of the teachings of the Catholic Church. A provisional, "reference text" was issued by Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1992 — "the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council" — with his apostolic...
(item 1212) teaches that Christians are born through the sacrament of Baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
and receive the "food of eternal life" in the Eucharist.
Synoptic Gospels
The Synoptic GospelsSynoptic Gospels
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...
include fifteen occurrences of the word life, eight of these including the adjective eternal.
There are parallels in how the synoptics refer to "being saved" and John refers to eternal life, as in the table below:
| Matthew 16:25 | Mark 16:35 | Luke 9:24 | John 12:25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ... whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. | ... whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's shall save it. | ... whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. | ... he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. |
In the Gospel of Luke, the Parable of the Good Samaritan
Parable of the Good Samaritan
The parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable told by Jesus and is mentioned in only one of the Canonical gospels. According to the Gospel of Luke a traveller is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a...
begins with a question about eternal life in 10:25 when a lawyer asks Jesus what he needs to do to "inherit eternal life".
The Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
includes references to eternal life, in 19:16, 19:29 and 25:46. The reference in Matthew 19:16 is within the parable of Jesus and the rich young man
Jesus and the rich young man
Jesus and the rich young man is an episode in the life of Jesus in the New Testament that deals with eternal life. It appears in the Gospel of Matthew , the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke ....
which also appears in Mark 10:17–31 and Luke 18:18–30. This parable relates the term "eternal life" to entry into the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
. The parable starts by a question to Jesus from the young man: "what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" and Jesus advises him to keep the commandments, and then refers to entry into the "Kingdom of God" in the same context.
Johannine literature
There are about 37 uses of the word life in the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
of which about half refer to eternal life. There are six appearances in 1 John. The concept so permeates Johannine writings that in many cases one may just read life as eternal life.
Towards the end of the Gospel of John (20:31), the purpose of writing the Fourth Gospel is stated as: "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name". This is often correlated to 1 John 5:13: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."
John's Gospel positions eternal life around the person of Jesus, the Christ. In the Johannine view Christ can reveal life to humans because he is life himself. 1 John 1:2: "proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us" is compared to John 1:1: "and the Word was with God", referring to the pre-existence of Christ
Pre-existence of Christ
The pre-existence of Christ refers to the doctrine of the ontological or personal existence of Christ before his conception. One of the relevant Bible passages is where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word...
.
John's view of eternal life is not simply futuristic, but also pertains to the present. In John, those who accept Christ can possess life "here and now" as well as in eternity, for they have "passed from death to life", as in John 5:24: "He who hears my word, and believes him that sent me, has eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." In John, the purpose for the incarnation
Incarnation (Christianity)
The Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos , "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos .The Incarnation is a fundamental theological...
of The Word was to provide eternal life to humanity. But sin remains the main obstacle to achieving eternal life, and salvation is achieved through the avoidance of sin and belief in Christ.
The term is used in the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
in the context of the Water of Life
Water of Life (Christianity)
In Christianity the term Water of Life is used in the context of living water, specific references appearing in the Book of Revelation , as well as the Gospel of John. In these references, the term Water of Life refers the Holy Spirit....
and John 4:14 states: "the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life."
Another use is in John 17:3: "And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, Jesus Christ", this usage relating to the "theme of life" in the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
.
In John 6:51 Jesus states that: "he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." This has been transposed, not only into a relationship with Jesus in common with Christian Theology
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
but also into the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
as an element of obtaining eternal life.
In John 10:27–28 Jesus states that: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." This refers to the personal, heart to heart relationship the Christian is expected to have with Jesus.
Pauline letters
In the Pauline epistlesPauline epistles
The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle. Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents...
, as in Romans 3:25, life becomes possible in the person of Jesus Christ. And by the grace of God and through faith in Christ humans can receive the gift of eternal life.
For Paul eternal life is a future possession and "the eschatological
Christian eschatology
Christian eschatology is a major branch of study within Christian theology. Eschatology, from two Greek words meaning last and study , is the study of the end of things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end of the world...
goal towards which believers strive." Paul emphasizes that eternal life is not merely something to be earned, but a gift from God, as in Romans 6:23: "wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 thus also counter-positions sin and eternal life: while sin results in death, those who are "in Christ" will reap eternal life.
Paul also discusses the relationship of eternal life to the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit (Christianity)
For the majority of Christians, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and is Almighty God...
, stating that to be with the Spirit and to think with the Spirit leads to eternal life, e.g. Galatians 6:8: :"he who sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life." For Paul future eternal life arrives as a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit during the present life, and the inter-related statements about the present life, the Spirit and future life form a key element of the teachings on the topic in Galatians.