FROM
The Jewish Afterlife? I was always confused what the deal was, Post 23. The rest of the thread is also very educational reading for anyone interested in beliefs and theology of the various religions, ancient and current.
Vomit Comet wrote:
Abraham's Bosom, Paradise, Sheol, and whatever else.
Also, Jesus mentions "hell" when he talked about the man who begged Abraham to directly warn his brothers, and Abraham said "if Moses and the prophets aren't enough..."
.... What did the Israelites believe then and what do Jews believe now?
It seems the Quranic and biblical record disagree re what the ancient Jews believed about the afterlife. In the Quran Chapter 26:82-105, Abraham talks about the afterlife. With reference to Allah, he says in verse 82: And Who will cause me to die, and then bring me to life again.
He also speaks of the Judgment (v. 83) and of the Garden of Bliss (v. 86). In verse 92 he says: And Hell shall be opened to those who have gone astray.
They will not have intercessors (v. 101) or any loving friend (v. 102). They will wish that they could return to the earth and be among the believers (v. 103).
I guess Abraham wasn't exactly a Jew, but the father of them. Also, the Quran was written long after the writing of the NT. Verse 104 tells us that this desire of the unbelievers to return to earth and be among the believers, their distress at finding themselves at the mouth of hell, is a Sign. Verse 105 pronounces Allah as the "Mighty, the Merciful."
What I get from these last two verses is that Allah is giving this Sign out of mercy so that readers can avoid finding themselves in the same desperate situation as the people of whom Abraham speaks.
DISCLAIMER: I have done no studies or reading whatsoever in Islamic theology. So this is my own thinking.
If we take Abraham as a historical figure who lived about five thousand years ago (I'm not quite sure where on the timeline he is normally placed; some take him as a mythical figure), and if we take the conventional theory that the concept of hell in Judaism (and Christianity by extension) evolved after the Babylonian captivity, then this account in the Quran is achronistic. In other words, it is taken out of historical context. Abraham would not have believed in an afterlife, nor would he have held such sophisticated theories regarding what happened in the afterlife.
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