Eternal life (Christianity)
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In Christianity the term eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, rather than immortality. While scholars such as John H. Leith assert that eternal life is never described in detail in the New 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, "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".
See also
- Abundant life
- Eternal sin
- Kingdom of God
- Salvation (Christianity)
- Water of Life (Christianity)
- Oblivion (eternal)
