Immortality

===Abrahamic religion===

The viewpoints of [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], and [[Judaism]] regarding the concept of immortality diverge as each [[faith]] system encapsulates unique [[theological]] interpretations and doctrines on the enduring [[human nature]] [[soul]] or [[Spirituality|spirit]].

====Christianity====
{{main|Eternal life (Christianity)|Christian conditionalism|Christian mortalism|Universal resurrection}}
[[File:Holbein Danse Macabre 3.jpg|thumb|Adam and Eve condemned to mortality. [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], ''Danse Macabre'', 16th century]]

[[Christianity|Christian theology]] holds that [[Adam and Eve]] lost physical immortality for themselves and all their descendants through [[Fall of man|the Fall]], although this initial "imperishability of the bodily frame of man" was "a preternatural condition".<ref name="Syntopicon I 784">{{cite book |title=The Great Ideas: A Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western World |author=Adler, Mortimer J., ed. |author-link=Mortimer Adler |display-authors=etal |date=1952 |page=784 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |location=Chicago|title-link=Syntopicon }}</ref>

Christians who profess the [[Nicene Creed]] believe that every dead person (whether they believed in Christ or not) will be resurrected from the dead at the [[Second Coming]]; this belief is known as [[universal resurrection]].{{sfn|Perkins|1984|pp=17–18}} [[Paul the Apostle]], in following his past life as a [[Pharisees|Pharisee]] (a Jewish social movement that held to a future physical resurrection<ref>{{Bibleref|Acts|23:6–8|ESV}}</ref>), proclaims an amalgamated view of resurrected believers where both the physical and the spiritual are rebuilt in the likeness of post-resurrection Christ, who "will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (ESV).<ref>{{Bibleref|Philippians|3:20–21|ESV}}</ref> This thought mirrors Paul's depiction of believers having been "buried therefore with him [that is, Christ] by baptism into death" (ESV).<ref>{{Bibleref|Romans|6:4|ESV}}</ref>

[[N.T. Wright]], a theologian and former [[Bishop of Durham]], has said many people forget the physical aspect of what Jesus promised. He told [[Time (magazine)|Time]]: "Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon [[Second Coming of Christ|his return]]. Part of this will be the [[Universal resurrection|resurrection of all the dead]], who will 'awake', be embodied and participate in the renewal. Wright says [[John Polkinghorne]], a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: 'God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves.' That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death (the [[Intermediate state (Christianity)|Intermediate state]]) is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering [[World to Come|Christ's kingdom]]."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1710844,00.html|magazine=Time |title=Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop |date=7 February 2008 |access-date=5 May 2010 |first=David |last=Van Biema|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209101034/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1710844,00.html |archive-date=9 February 2008 }}</ref> This kingdom will consist of [[World to Come|Heaven and Earth "joined together in a new creation"]], he said.

Christian apocrypha include immortal human figures such as [[Cartaphilus]]<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Wendover|first1=Roger of|title=Roger of Wendover's Flowers of history, Comprising the history of England from the descent of the Saxons to A.D. 1235; formerly ascribed to Matthew Paris.|series=Bohn's antiquarian library|date=1849|publisher=London|hdl=2027/yale.39002013002903}}</ref> who were cursed with physical immortality for various transgressions against Christ during the Passion. The medieval [[Waldensians]] believed in the immortality of the soul.<ref name="Taylor & Francis 2021 p. 5-PA48">{{cite book | title=Routledge Library Editions: Sociology of Religion | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2021 | isbn=978-0-429-65793-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMeEEAAAQBAJ&pg=RA5-PA48 | access-date=2023-05-04 | page=5-PA48}}</ref> Leaders of sects such as [[John Asgill]] and [[John Wroe]] taught followers that physical immortality was possible.<ref name="Coleridge Coburn Winer 2019 p. 233">{{cite book | last1=Coleridge | first1=S.T. | last2=Coburn | first2=K. | last3=Winer | first3=B. | title=The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Volume 14: Table Talk, Part I | publisher=Princeton University Press | series=Bollingen Series | year=2019 | isbn=978-0-691-20069-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCCmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA233 | access-date=2023-01-23 | page=233}}</ref><ref name="Newport Gribben 2006 p. 222">{{cite book | last1=Newport | first1=K.G.C. | last2=Gribben | first2=C. | title=Expecting the End: Millennialism in Social and Historical Context | publisher=Baylor University Press | series=Millennium (Eschatology) | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-932792-38-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3lsZkm6qxcC&pg=PA222 | access-date=2023-01-23 | page=222}}</ref>

Many Patristic writers have connected the immortal rational soul to the image of God found in Genesis 1:26. Among them is Athanasius of Alexandria and Clement of Alexandria, who say that the immortal rational soul itself is the image of God.<ref name=":0">Zakhary, Beniamin (2023). "Imago Dei in Early Christian Anaphoras". ''Studia Liturgica''. '''53''' (1): 24–36. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]: [[doi:10.1177/00393207221144062|10.1177/00393207221144062]] [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] 0039-3207.</ref> Even Early Christian Liturgies exhibit this connection between the immortal rational soul and the creation of humanity in the image of God.<ref name=":0" />

====Islam====

Islamic beliefs bears the concept of spiritual immortality within it; following the death of a certain individual, it will be arbitrated consistent with its beliefs as well as actions and will embark on the ever-lasting place where they will abate.
The [[Muslim]] who holds the [[five pillars of Islam]] will make an entrance into the [[Jannah]], where they will inhabit indefinitely.

''[[Al-Baqarah]]'' (2:25):
"But give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion is gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say, 'Why, this is what we were fed with before,' for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions pure (and holy); and they abide therein forever."

In contrast, the [[kafir|''kafir'']] hold the contradictory notion that they abide in ''[[Jahannam]]'' perpetually.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.myreligionislam.com/detail.asp?Aid=5972 | title=Disbelievers Will Go to Hell - My Religion Islam }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/27075/degrees-and-levels-of-paradise-and-hell | title=Degrees and Levels of Paradise and Hell - Islam Question & Answer }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/45804/the-people-of-hell-will-abide-therein-forever | title=The people of Hell will abide therein forever - Islam Question & Answer }}</ref>

[[Angels in Islam]] are reckoned as immortals from the perspective of Islam but most people believe is that the angels will die and that the Angel of Death will die, but there is no clear text concerning this. Rather there are texts which may indicate this, and there is the well known ''hadeeth'' (narration) about the "trumpet", which is a ''munkar hadeeth'' (rejected report).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/96306/gender-of-angels-and-do-they-die | title=Gender of Angels and do They Die? - Islam Question & Answer }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zdxdqhv/revision/4# | title=Angels - Key beliefs in Islam - GCSE Religious Studies Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize }}</ref> alternatively, ''[[Jinn]]'' have a long lifespan between 1000 and 1500.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ahmedhulusi.org/en/article/the-make-up-of-the-jinn-and-their-common-attributes | title=The Make-Up of the Jinn and Their Common Attributes }}</ref> In some Muslim [[Sufi]] mystics, ''[[Khidr]]'' is given a long life but not immortality or there is more than a little argument stated about the demise of ''khidr''; however, it is the matter of debate,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/20505/is-al-kihdr-living-on-the-face-of-the-earth | title=Is al-Kihdr living on the face of the earth? - Islam Question & Answer }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://fiqh.islamonline.net/en/who-was-al-khadir/ | title=Who Was Al-Khadir? - Fiqh | date=30 August 2022 }}</ref> and there is a fabrication point that goes around the Khidr drank from the [[fountain of Life]], which is thoroughly invalid. [[Jesus in Islam]] was summoned to the sky by Allah's sanction to preserve him from the cross<ref>{{cite web | url=https://quran.com/4/157?translations=17,19,20,21,85,18,22,95,84,101 | title=Surah An-Nisa - 157 }}</ref> and endow him with long life until the advent of the ''[[Dajjal]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://aboutislam.net/counseling/ask-about-islam/jesus-return-born-virgin-sky/ | title=How Will Jesus Return? Born of a Virgin or from the Sky? }}</ref> ''Dajjal'' is, additionally, given a long life. Jesus Christ dispatches the ''Dajjal'' as he stays after 40 days, one like a year, one like a month, one like a week, and the rest of his days like normal days.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/8806/who-is-the-dajjal-comprehensive-answer | title=Who is the Dajjal? (Comprehensive Answer) - Islam Question & Answer }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://whatisquran.com/1095-how-long-will-dajjal-live-on-earth.html | title=How long will Dajjal live on earth? – Your Guide to get to know the Quran | date=31 December 2015 }}</ref> The [[holy Qur'an|Qur'an]] states that it is the ultimate fate of all life, [[Ultimate fate of humanity|including humans]], to die eventually.
{{Block quote|text=كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ (Every soul will taste death)|author=[[Quran]] 3:185}}<blockquote></blockquote>[[File:Kullu nafsin ja lekatul maut new ringtone 2023 Arabic ringtone Arabic Allah sa daro virl arabic.wav|thumb|It symbolize the transient nature of life and challenge the concept of immortality in the physical world. This phrase reflects the impermanence of all things.]]

====Judaism====
{{primary sources|date=June 2015}}
The traditional concept of an immaterial and immortal soul distinct from the body was not found in Judaism before the [[Babylonian exile]], but developed as a result of interaction with [[Persian philosophy|Persian]] and [[Hellenistic philosophy|Hellenistic philosophies]]. Accordingly, the Hebrew word ''[[nephesh]]'', although translated as ''"soul"'' in some older English-language Bibles, actually has a meaning closer to "living being".<ref>{{cite book |publisher=Biblical Studies Press |year=2006 |title=New English Translation |section=Notes |at=Note 23, for {{bibleverse||Gen|2:7}} }}</ref>{{request quotation|date=February 2020}} ''Nephesh'' was rendered in the [[Septuagint]] as {{mvar| {{lang|grc|ψυχή}} }} (''psūchê''), the Greek word for 'soul'.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}

The only Hebrew word traditionally translated "soul" (''nephesh'') in English language Bibles refers to a living, breathing conscious body, rather than to an immortal soul.{{efn|
"Even as we are conscious of the broad and very common biblical usage of the term ''"soul"'', we must be clear that scripture does not present even a rudimentarily developed theology of the soul. The creation narrative is clear that all life originates with God. Yet the Hebrew scripture offers no specific understanding of the origin of individual souls, of when and how they become attached to specific bodies, or of their potential existence, apart from the body, after death. The reason for this is that, as we noted at the beginning, the Hebrew Bible does not present a theory of the soul developed much beyond the simple concept of a force associated with respiration, hence, a life-force."<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia 
 |last = Avery-Peck  |first = Alan J.
 |year = 2000
 |title = Soul
 |editor = Neusner
 |display-editors = etal 
 |encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Judaism
 |page=1343
}}
</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2021|reason=full editors' names, publisher, etc.; ISBN would be nice}}
}}
In the New Testament, the Greek word traditionally translated "soul" ({{lang|grc|ψυχή}}) has substantially the same meaning as the Hebrew, without reference to an immortal soul.{{efn|
In the ''[[New Testament]]'', "soul" (orig. {{mvar| {{lang|grc|ψυχή}} }}) retains its basic Hebrew sense of meaning. "Soul" refers to one's life: Herod sought Jesus' ''soul'' ({{bibleverse||Matt.|2:20}}); one might save a ''soul'' or take it ({{bibleverse||Mark|3:4}}); death occurs when God "requires your ''soul''" ({{bibleverse||Luke|12:20}}).
}}
''"Soul"'' may refer either to the whole person, the self, as in "three thousand ''souls''" were converted in {{bibleverse||Acts|2:41}} (see {{bibleverse||Acts|3:23}}).

The [[Hebrew Bible]] speaks about ''[[Sheol]]'' (שאול), originally a synonym of the grave – the repository of the dead or the cessation of existence, until the [[Techiyat hamaysim|resurrection of the dead]]. This doctrine of resurrection is mentioned explicitly only in {{bibleverse||Daniel|12:1–4|ESV}} although it may be implied in several other texts. New theories arose concerning Sheol during the [[intertestamental period]].

The views about immortality in Judaism is perhaps best exemplified by the various references to this in [[Second Temple period]]. The concept of resurrection of the physical body is found in {{nobr|[[2 Maccabees]]}}, according to which it will happen through recreation of the flesh.<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Maccabees|7.11, 28}}</ref> Resurrection of the dead is specified in detail in the extra-canonical books of [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]],<ref>{{cite book |title=1&nbsp;Enoch |title-link=Book of Enoch |at=61.2, 5}}</ref> and in [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch|Apocalypse of Baruch]].<ref>{{cite book |title=2&nbsp;Baruch |title-link=Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch |at=50.2, 51.5}}</ref> According to the British scholar in ancient Judaism [[Philip R. Davies|P.R. Davies]], there is "little or no clear reference ... either to immortality or to resurrection from the dead" in the [[Dead Sea scrolls]] texts.<ref>
{{cite book
 |first=P.R. |last=Davies  |author-link=Philip R. Davies
 |year=2000
 |section=Death, resurrection and life after death in the Qumran Scrolls
 |editor1-first=Alan J. |editor1-last=Avery-Peck
 |editor2-first=Jacob   |editor2-last=Neusner
 |title=Judaism in Late Antiquity
 |volume=Part Four: Death, life-after-death, resurrection, and the World-to-Come in the Judaisms of antiquity
 |page=209
 |place=Leiden
}}
</ref>
Both [[Josephus]] and the [[New Testament]] record that the [[Sadducees]] did not believe in an [[afterlife]],<ref>
{{cite book |author=[[Josephus]] |title=[[Antiquities of the Jews]] |at=18.16 |postscript=;}}
{{bibleverse||Matthew|22.23}}; {{bibleverse||Mark|12.18}}; {{bibleverse||Luke|20.27}}; {{bibleverse||Acts|23.8}}
</ref>
but the sources vary on the beliefs of the [[Pharisees]]. The New Testament claims that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but does not specify whether this included the flesh or not.<ref>{{bibleverse||Acts|23.8}}</ref> According to [[Josephus]], who himself was a Pharisee, the Pharisees held that only the soul was immortal and the souls of good people will be [[reincarnation|reincarnated]] and "pass into other bodies", while "the souls of the wicked will suffer eternal punishment."<ref>
{{cite book |author=[[Josephus]] |title=[[The Jewish War|Jewish War]] |at=2.8.14 |postscript=;}} cf.<br/>
{{cite book |author=[[Josephus]] |title=[[Antiquities of the Jews]] |at=8.14–15}}
</ref>
The [[Book of Jubilees]] seems to refer to the resurrection of the soul only, or to a more general idea of an immortal soul.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Book of Jubilees]] |at=23.31}}</ref>

[[Rabbinic Judaism]] claims that the righteous dead will be resurrected in the [[Messianic Age]], with the coming of the [[messiah in Judaism|messiah]]. They will then be granted immortality in a perfect world. The wicked dead, on the other hand, will not be resurrected at all. This is not the only Jewish belief about the afterlife. The [[Tanakh]] is not specific about the afterlife, so there are wide differences in views and explanations among believers.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}