Spiritualists believed that after shedding the body in death, the spirit would continue on a celestial journey and help those on Earth create a more just world.
The National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini in Chicago recently offered indulgences.
Myriam Renaud
The Catholic Church practice of granting indulgences, criticized by Martin Luther in the 16th century, still exists, as part of the doctrine – but in a different form.
A replica of Noah’s Ark at the Ark Encounter theme park in Williamstown, Ky.
AP Photo/John Minchillo, File
Ancient Christian and Jewish texts threatened women with hellfire if they stepped out of line – and those terrifying visions still resonate in U.S. society today.
Luca Signorelli, The Damned Cast into Hell, 1499-1504, a, fresco in Orvieto Cathedral, Italy.
Wikimedia Commons
In the Bible, heaven is where God resides, rather than a place of eternal life. But over time it has become conflated with ideas of paradise and eternal salvation.
Hell is a complicated idea- and most Christians do not believe it has anything to do with fire and brimstone.
Wes Mountain/The Conversation
“Hell” in the Bible is a highly symbolic idea designed to persuade people to stay faithful to their God, not to set out a precise agenda for the afterlife.
It might appear to many that atheism is a modern idea. However, in parts of Asia, particularly in India, atheism has been part of beliefs for thousands of years.
What might have motivated the young missionary killed on a remote island in India?
AP Photo/Sarah Prince
In their zeal to evangelize the world, at the end of 19th century, young families were sent overseas with little to no training in anything beyond the Bible and no promise of funding.
Tok Thompson, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Ghost stories are often about the departed seeking justice for an earthly wrong. Their sightings are a reminder that ethics and morality transcend our lives.
What was behind early depictions of hell?
Erica Zabowski/Flickr.com
Different cultural groups respond with numerous, often conflicting, answers to questions about life after death. An expert explains the Christian idea of heaven.
Surrounded by Angels, by Carl Schweninger der Jungere, 1912.
Wikimedia Commons
Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity