Editing Christian mythology (section)

====Immediate afterlife (heaven and hell)====
[[File:Good shepherd 02b close.jpg|thumb|right|''Jesus as the Good Shepherd'', painting on ceiling of S. Callisto catacomb, early Christian art, mid 3rd century A.D.. Example of earliest Christian art showing a pastoral scene in the afterlife.]]

Most Christian denominations hold some belief in an immediate afterlife when people die. Christian scripture gives a few descriptions of an immediate afterlife and a heaven and hell; however, for the most part, both New and Old Testaments focus much more on the myth of a final bodily resurrection than any beliefs about a purely spiritual afterlife away from the body.

Much of the Old Testament does not express a belief in a personal afterlife of reward or punishment:<blockquote>"All the dead go down to Sheol, and there they lie in sleep together–whether good or evil, rich or poor, slave or free (Job 3:11–19). It is described as a region "dark and deep," "the Pit," and "the land of forgetfulness," cut off from both God and human life above (Psalms 6:5; 88:3–12). Though in some texts Yahweh's power can reach down to Sheol (Psalms 139:8), the dominant idea is that the dead are abandoned forever. This idea of Sheol is negative in contrast to the world of life and light above, but there is no idea of judgment or of reward and punishment."<ref>Tabor</ref></blockquote>

Later Old Testament writings, particularly the works of the Hebrew prophets, describe a final resurrection of the dead, often accompanied by spiritual rewards and punishments:<blockquote>"Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some shall live forever; others shall be in everlasting contempt. But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever" (Daniel 12:2).</blockquote>
However, even here, the emphasis is not on an immediate afterlife in heaven or hell, but rather on a future bodily resurrection.

The New Testament also devotes little attention to an immediate afterlife. Its primary focus is the resurrection of the dead. Some New Testament passages seem to mention the (non-resurrected) dead experiencing some sort of afterlife (for example, the parable of [[rich man and Lazarus]]); yet the New Testament includes only a few myths about heaven and hell. Specifically, heaven is a place of peaceful residence, where Jesus goes to "prepare a home" or room for his disciples (John 14:2).<ref>"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you" – Jesus. John 14:2 NASB 1995.</ref> Drawing on scriptural imagery (John 10:7, John 10:11–14), many Christian narratives of heaven include a nice green pasture land and a meeting with a benevolent God. Some of the earliest Christian art depicts heaven as a green pasture where people are sheep led by Jesus as "the good shepherd" as in interpretation of heaven.

As the [[doctrines]] of heaven and hell (and also Catholic [[purgatory]]) developed, non-canonical Christian literature began to develop an elaborate mythology about these locations. Dante's three-part ''Divine Comedy'' is a prime example of such afterlife mythology, describing Hell (in ''Inferno''), Purgatory (in ''Purgatorio''), and Heaven (in ''Paradiso''). Nowadays, conceptualizations of hell differ quite widely across various denominations.