What about death?
Death seems to be part of human living. Is it only natural? Is it destructive? Is it in the plans of the Creator?
For life to exist there has to be death. It is only natural, when we are born we start dying, our cells are dying our hair is dying ect.
Death is not destructive in the sense that it is a natural process of life. The thing that is destructive is people on this earth that are prone to war and violence.
If we did not die then we would not really truly appreciate life and all the beauty around us.
Is it in the plans of the Creator, I am sure the Creator has plans for everything and yes us dying is one of his plans to make us live our lives fully and to cherish each day because we never do know when it will be our last.
This post was edited on: 2011-02-27 at 06:34 PM by: Jacquie Curtis (Moderator)
15 Replies
Death is definitely a part of human living. I believe that death can be natural and destructive. From my point of view death from natural causes, such as certain diseases or old age, are in the plans of the Creator because they are unintentional and inevitable. We are all going to die and that is a fact. On the other hand, death from a cause like intentional murder is extremely destructive and I don't think this type of death is in the plan of the Creator. I think if people have a relationship with God or some higher Faith then they know right from wrong and would learn other ways to cope or deal with a situation rather then resorting to something such as murder. I believe the Creators plan for humans is not destruction and therefore I find it difficult to understand human events such as war were people willingly kill other human beings.
In my opinion death is completely natural. Without natural death I don't see how civilizations and cultures would have ever advanced. People would be ambition-less. One of our greatest traits as a race is that we try to accomplish as much as possible in the limited time we have. If we had unlimited time I think humanity would lose it's sense of urgency and fall into a state of sloth. More importantly though by dying we are closer to God. We spend time contemplating our mortality. We see our short time on Earth as a gift from God and each moment can become precious.
However death can also be unnatural and very destructive. Murder, suicide and other similar ways are unnatural deaths. I believe these would never fall into the Creator's plan. But our greatest gift from God is our free will. He let's us make these choices and enact our will upon ourselves and others even if they go against his plan.
Death is the one thing that makes everyone equal. Everyone will experience it in their lifetime, whether it be the loss of a family member, friend, or acquaintance. Death is the ultimate end for every human. In this sense, it is only natural. Media and various television shows depict death to the world everyday, it is inescapable because it is a natural part of human life. As for death being destructive, it is and it isn't. Technically death is destructive because it ends human life on earth. However, Christian belief is that there is life after death, so in that sense it is not destructive. Thus it is in the plans of the Creator, death is the next step for us humans.
I'm curious about some of these answers. It seems like some of you are saying that death is necessary for progress. If that's true, how will Heaven work? What's going to happen when people stop dying?
I agree somewhat with some of these posts; while death certainly is a part of God's plan, murder/suicide/etc -- or in other words, sin -- is not part of God's plan.
What God wishes most of all is to be in relationship with us. This relationship is initiated by Him, and it is completed by our resopnse in faith. Our very creation is an example of God initiating the relationship (or *creating* the relationship), and our life is an opportunity to respond to Him.
However, because of our sin, we introduce death into the equation. Meaning, when one of us sins, we separate ourselves from God, and if we are separated from God, then we will suffer death in all senses of the word (physical, spiritual) when our lives come to an end. But if we remain close to God through His mercy, then even though our bodies die, we are able to take part in an everlasting life of the soul.
So to reiterate my initial statement, a physical death is an inevitable component of being created, so yes, that is part of God's plan. But "death" in its fullest sense (brought about by sin) is not part of God's plan, but rather, eternal life of the most significant part of the person (the soul) *is* part of His plan.
Death can be a really scary thing for some people. It is the constant reminder of the finality of our existence here on Earth. it is so easy to just 'live our lives', without giving death any thought. It is because people don't confront it on a daily basis that when it smacks them in the face, they're terrified.
However within the context of religion, death does not have to be the end. The shedding of the mortal coil is not something to fear, but for believers is something to be celebrated. Yes we mourn the loss, but who are mourning for? Our loved ones who are now with God? Or ourselves because we are without them?
I agree completely Tynnel’s post. Death can be seen as both natural and destructive. When approaching the concept of death from a natural point of view the idea of old age, disease, and natural disasters comes to mind. However, if you were to look at the concept of death from a natural biological perspective one could emphasise cellular processes and discuss how cell life is regulated by telomeres and the amount of DNA to be degraded. This may sound familiar to Lamoureux’s book. Contrastingly, I believe death can also be destructive in instances of murder, suicide, and even careless accidents or behaviours that result in death. Furthermore, death can be destructive to those that are still living and this can be seen by how society copes with death.
Death is something we must all accept and confront throughout our lives but by no means should it been seen as the end. In cases when death is natural it is completely in the hands of the Creator. However, when death is destructive it is only occasionally in His hands, in my opinion.
Hey guys I’m not sure if this thread was suppose to be lock or not but I unlocked it. You’ll have to forgive me if that was the wrong thing to do. Or is could just be on my computer acting up.
I am super impressed by this forum. Distinguishing the difference between natural death (apart of life and creation) and destructive death (stemming form sin) really makes sense to me. I herd a statistic recently “If every insect on earth died, life on earth would die out in 50 years. If every human on earth died out, in fifty years time the rest of life on earth would flourish.” I think this is a good example of how in regards to humanity we have a particular ability to destroy above and beyond that of the rest of nature. Showing the effects of sin.
kirsten-h wrote:
I'm curious about some of these answers. It seems like some of you are saying that death is necessary for progress. If that's true, how will Heaven work? What's going to happen when people stop dying?
This is a question I have stuggled with in my beliefs concerning origins and the fall of man. It was my Dad who pointed out to me that it was the fall of the creation accounts that lead to death in scripture.
The idea of Heaven beling a place of no death suggests to me that death is not a natural state if our natural state is to be with God (which is what Heaven is). So, death isn't a question I have reconciled yet.
I like this discussion. Some really intelligent answers.
I prefer to see death as word to describe change.
I think death gets conflated with ideas of permanent ending, finale, oblivion, non-existence.
I think death only means a change, a change of state. Physically, when we die we dissolve back into simpler molecules, we return into the basic building blocks of life and in-turn get consumed into other earthly process or beings. So we never ever will become non-existent even in a physical sense.
In his book, Sacred Balance, David Suzuki talks about how the same air and water have been on this earth since its formation 4.5 billions years ago. The same water Jesus drank and the same air Jesus breathed is the same water and air we consume today. We share that physical link from the past and will share it into the future.
So death doesn't mean anything negative to me. How we can cause pain and suffering in the way people live their lives is an issue we need to address. Sin, here, is a death in a spiritual sense that we cause to ourselves.
And when I do die my physical death I am confident I will live on in some way whether spiritually and/or physically. I resign the the mystery of it all.
Death to me is a natural part of life. Every living being dies eventually.
Daniel says “I think death only means a change, a change of state. Physically, when we die we dissolve back into simpler molecules; we return into the basic building blocks of life and in-turn get consumed into other earthly process or beings. So we never ever will become non-existent even in a physical sense.
I’ve never thought of death that way but I really appreciate how you describe it as just a simple change. To me death is simple; death is inevitable. I feel that death is in the plan of the Creator and it is natural. Natural in the way that God has a plan for everyone. The plan may involve some not so pleasant things, like murder, but death happens. I see diseases like cancer just as devastating as murder and causing just as much pain. It’s hard for me to distinguish between destructive and natural because all death causes pain but death is always going to be a part of life.
I too think that death is something natural, in the sense that we experience it everyday.
But I think that it is much more. From personal experience, I can say that death is heart wrenching and horrific. It makes one depressed and anxious. Its effects extend beyond an individual death to an understanding of death as something that happens at a social level (eg, nuclear holocaust).
Death as experienced on earth is awful. I see the Christian tradition supporting the idea that death is terrible--most vividly revealed by Jesus' own experience of the separation of death on the cross.
Perhaps this is a bit of a downer posting, but I'm just being real. I personally think it's too optimistic to think of death and not be fearful.
Belief in the resurrection, of course, offers a great sense of hope. But, nonetheless, death is an experience of separation from those we love.
With regards to these posts I agree with most of them. A certain quote from the bible has also helped me understand death more clearly. “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).
I agree with Tynell’s post about the difference between natural and destructive death. I think that is a great perspective of viewing death.
Matt,
I really appreciate your post. I think we, culturally, have a hard time dealing with death. We use terms like, passed on, went to heaven, isn't here with us anymore...
We have hard time consoling someone who has a loved one who has died. We use language to try to minimize the reality of it.
I think being so frank about death helps to enforce the beauty and preciousness of life.
This post was edited on: 2011-03-01 at 07:48 PM by: Daniel Filiatreault
I really appreciate Matt's post on the reality of death and the effects it has. I believe that Death is a natural part of life and that obviously everyone eventually has to die. I find that death is incredibly destructive for the survivors. Like Matt said it's perceived to be a horrific event and it brings out the worst feelings in people. When a death occurs in someone's life it can shake all they know and their religious beliefs. Death can change a person and destroy who they are. The feelings associated with someone losing a loved one can seem horrific and unnatural and it causes the concept of death to feel unnatural as well.
Tynell Peeke
Feb 24, 2011 at 4:00 PM