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DEATH AS GOOD AND EVIL

Author(s): Magdalena Święs
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II - Wydział Teologii
Keywords: death; death in the history; death in the Bible; theology of death; perfidy of phenomenon of death.

Summary/Abstract: The reality of death, from which the human beings cannot escape, is seen mostly as their biggest enemy. This is also claimed in the Hole Bible (1 Kor 15,26). People try to defeat this enemy. But when they do not manage to do this, they try to forget about it, to throw it out of their consciousness. Then, death is treated as an evil, that is dangerous for human beings. Death can also be a real, tangible evil, when a person inflicts death on other people. Then, the treachery of this kind of death is not only evil against other people (abortion, euthanasia) but mostly evil against God, our Lord Creator. So, can we talk about death as a good thing? Yes, death is the highest good for a person, if they do not reject their relation with God as our Creator and will deepen their relation with Christ as our Redeemer in faith. Then, the people may have hope to fulfil their life in the Holy Spirit, for eternal life in God. The longing of this eternal life had been manifesting itself throughout the history of mankind and reached its reality and apogee in the Occurrence of Christ. This is how the Holy Bible and the christian theology show other aspects of death: Although it is still a biological event itself, death is not a physical defeat, but it is the God’s decision understood as “constant ruining of the old, so that it can be the beginning of something new” (J. Ratzinger). That God’s new act is the birth of new Adam, which is shown by the baptism, and in the future will be fulfilled with the Resurrection.

  • Issue Year: 8/2014
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 167-178
  • Page Count: 12