אחרית האדם בפילוסופיה הקראית: ראשי פרקים לעיון

While the Karaites were often identified as Sadducees, they rejected this attribution because of their own strong beliefs in the existence of an afterlife. Though there is no unanimity among Karaite thinkers on all details, their major beliefs about the afterlife can be summarized as 1) eternity of reward and punishment; 2) the body and soul are rewarded or punished together; 3) there is no reincarnation; 4) there will be a resurrection. An examination of these four points shows that the Karaites were greatly influenced by Muslim Kalam. Rabbanite philosophical influence entered Kariasm at a later stage and can be seen in the theories if Aaron ben Elijah (d. 1369) and Elijah Bashyazi (d. 1490). The treatment here contains a short discussion of the various Karaite approaches.