Judaism
This sacred text contains the laws and teachings that shape Jewish beliefs and practices.
What is the Torah?
This Christian belief describes one God existing as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
What is the Trinity?
This Islamic belief refers to the absolute oneness and uniqueness of Allah.
What is Tawhid?
This term refers to the eternal spiritual self within a person.
What is atman?
These teachings identify suffering, its cause, its cessation and the path leading beyond it.
What are the Four Noble Truths?
This sacred relationship connects G-d and the Jewish people and is particularly associated with Abraham and Moses.
What is the covenant?
This refers to Jesus rising from the dead and is the foundation of Christian hope that death is not final.
What is the Resurrection?
This Islamic term refers to life after death, resurrection, judgment and a person’s final destination.
What is Akhirah?
This belief teaches that actions produce moral consequences that influence a person’s present and future existence.
What is karma?
This Buddhist belief teaches that all conditioned things are temporary and constantly changing.
What is anicca?
Members of this sacred Jewish burial society respectfully prepare and watch over the body of the deceased.
Who are the Chevra Kadisha?
These sacred writings record Jesus’s death and resurrection.
What are the Gospels?
This is the ritual washing of a Muslim’s body before burial.
What is ghusl?
Cremation reflects the belief that the physical body is temporary, while the atman continues through samsara and ultimately seeks liberation from rebirth through moksha.
Why is cremation significant in Hindu death rituals?
Chanting, giving to monks and making offerings may generate this spiritual benefit, which can be dedicated to the deceased.
What is merit making?
Respectful burial reflects the belief that each person is created in the image of G-d.
How do Jewish burial practices express belief in the dignity of human life?
Christians treat the body respectfully because they believe it was created by God and will share in the promised resurrection.
How does the Christian treatment of the body reflect belief in creation and resurrection?
Simple burial practices reflect submission to Allah and equality before judgment.
How do Muslim burial practices express belief in Allah and the afterlife?
This Hindu sacred text describes the atman passing from one body to another.
What is the Bhagavad Gita?
This teaching rejects the existence of a permanent and unchanging soul or self.
What is anatta?
The body is treated with great care because Judaism teaches that human beings are created in the image of G-d and therefore retain dignity even after death.
How do Jewish funeral practices express the belief that humans are created in the image of G-d?
Funeral prayers acknowledge suffering and death but also proclaim that Jesus’s resurrection offers hope of salvation and eternal life.
How do Christian funeral prayers connect the death of Jesus with hope for the deceased?
Muslims will avoid elaborate displays of wealth because all people will stand equally before Allah on the Day of Judgment.
How do Islamic funeral rituals connect equality with belief in divine judgment?
Death is understood as one stage within a continuing cycle shaped by karma rather than as the complete end of a person’s existence.
How do Hindu death rituals express beliefs about karma and samsara?
Buddhists avoid treating death as the release of a permanent soul because the teaching of anatta rejects an eternal, unchanging self.
How does the Buddhist belief in anatta shape understandings of death and rebirth?