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Glite Dictionary
⏳ All time exists 🕊️ Life after death
eternalism

eternalism

1 9.9
The idea that a person's soul lives on forever after death
  • noun
  • /ɪˈtɜrnəlɪzəm/
  • Specialized
: inmortalismo
  • In Buddhist terms, this is a false and unattainable wish, as is its opposite—eternalism in the idea of a soul.

Examples

  • Many religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, reject the concept of eternalism regarding the permanence of the soul.

  • In some spiritual traditions, eternalism is closely linked to beliefs in the afterlife and the continuity of existence beyond death.

  • The philosophical debate over eternalism and the immortality of the soul has intrigued thinkers for centuries.

Synonyms

afterlife
vseternalism
92 5.1

A life people believe exists after a person dies

is a doctrine framing personal survival as belief rather than the general term
immortality
vseternalism
79 7.2

A life that never ends

is a doctrine about postdeath personal survival rather than the broader condition
eternal life
vseternalism
53 7.4

Life that continues forever after death

is a doctrine presented as belief about that state rather than the state itself
life eternal
vseternalism
  • Literature
8 7.9

An endless state of being after death

is a doctrine asserting that idea rather than simply naming the condition
timeless existence
vseternalism
  • Literature
1 9.3

A state with no beginning or end, like life after death

is a doctrine asserting personal continuation rather than a term for the state
deathlessness
vseternalism
  • Literature
1 9.6

A state of never dying or being remembered forever

is a doctrine about personal continuation after death rather than metaphorical survival

Antonyms

mortality
47 5.7

The fact that living things must die

annihilation
  • NSFW
43 8.1

Complete destruction so nothing is left

Surface Forms

eternalism singular
eternalisms plural

Morphology

eternalism = eternal (transparent) = eternal + ism

Formed by the adjective 'eternal' plus the noun-forming suffix '-ism', indicating a doctrine or belief about eternity.

Etymology

The word eternalism comes from the Latin root aeternus meaning 'everlasting', the same root as eternal and eternity. So eternalism in religion is the belief that the soul lives on 'forever' after death.