Kissing cousins (2)
and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. Revelation 21:4 NASB
Death – Inevitability! The quip “death and taxes” isn’t always true, but “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and “the wages of sin is death” are certainties. This truth raises inescapable questions about dying. When John writes, “there will no longer be any death,” what precisely does that imply? Perhaps we should start by asking what the Christian view of death really is. Here are some citations from an African Christian who attempts to answer:
In the Old Testament thought, death is simply the separation of the soul from the body. The Old Testament holds that the principle of life is the spirit or breath given by God. Death is the giving up of the spirit or soul. Without the spirit, the body is dead. Death is characterized by the absence of breath;[1]
Notice immediately that this idea of death is not Hebraic. The “separation of the soul from the body” is thoroughly Greek. Adoption of the Christian Greek theological paradigm causes the author to interpret Hebraic thought as if it were written by Plato, but this, unfortunately, is typical.
Let’s continue. Chukwuedo cites Erickson:
Erickson (1985) pictures some of the scriptural passages which have been offered as evidence that physical death is the result of man’s sin as proving no such thing. A case in point is Ezekiel 18:4, 20: “the soul that sins shall die”. The reference here is to spiritual or eternal death, for the text goes on to say that if the sinner turns from his wicked ways, he shall live and not die (vv.21-22). Since both believer and unbeliever experience physical death, the reference here cannot be physical death. Since physical death is a result of sin, it seems probable that man was created with the possibility of living forever. He was not inherently immortal, however; he would not by virtue of his nature have lived on forever. Rather, if he had not sinned, he could have partaken of the tree of life and thus have received everlasting life. Erickson (1985) on this note asserts that death is not something natural to man. It is something foreign and hostile.[2]
In Matthew 10: 28, for example, Jesus contrasts death of the body with death of both body and soul. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” The same idea appears in Luke 12:4-5: “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell. Yes; I tell you, fear him!” Here the body is considered as a living organism, and the psyche is evidently the pneuma of man, the spiritual element which is the principle of his natural life. This view of natural death also underlies the language of Peter in 1Pet. 3: 14-18. In other passages, it is described as the termination of the psyche, that is, of animal life or living, or as the loss of this, Matthew 2: 20, Mk. 3: 4; Luke 6:9; 14: 26; John 12:25; 13:37, 38; Acts 15:26.
James 2:26 also speaks of death as separation of body and spirit: “for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.”[3]
Did you notice that the Platonic dualism between body and soul is incorporated consistently in this analysis of death? As far as the author is concerned, physical death and spiritual death are two separate things. The adoption of a Pythagorean idea of the eternal soul slides easily into Platonic dualism, giving us the odd juxtaposition of two kinds of death, one in this world, and one supposedly in the next, whatever that might mean.
Chukwuedo concludes with an interesting justification for death.
Our experience of death completes our union with Christ. Another reason why God allows us to experience death, rather than taking us to heaven immediately we become Christians, is that through death, we imitate Christ in what he did and thereby experience closer union with him. Paul can say that we are fellow heirs with Christ “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8: 17). Union with Christ in suffering therefore means union with him in death. On this note, the New Testament encourages us to view death not with fear but with joy at the prospect of going to be with Christ.[4]
According to Chukwuedo, God wants us to suffer in order that we will be more like Him, so He allows us to die because it’s good for us. I’m not so sure I could legitimately proclaim this to those at the funeral, but it certainly follows if his next thought is true:
“All forms of oppression and domination should stop because the world indeed is not our home.”[5]
There you have the real reason. We don’t really belong here on earth. Earth is corrupt, temporary, filled with temptations. We really belong in Heaven and the sooner we get there, the better. Death is just the door to eternal bliss. I hear Plato applauding from the wings. Oh, and by the way, if this world is not really our home, then why should we even be concerned about oppression and domination? Who cares? We’re leaving.
I’m sorry, but I don’t believe any of this. Death is not some escape hatch. It isn’t justifiable as a necessary spiritual step to draw closer to God. It’s not the separation of the soul from the body. It’s the end! There’s nothing good about it. Those who have died aren’t waiting in the wings as bodiless souls. They’re gone—until God raises them again, which He promises to do. Plato was brilliant but he wasn’t right. I’ll stick with Moses, if you don’t mind.
Topical Index: death, thanatos, eternal life, soul, Plato, Revelation 21:4
[1] Mercy Uwaezuoke Chukwuedo, THE PARADOX OF LIFE AND DEATH: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE , Mgbakoigba, Journal of African Studies. Vol. 8, No. 1. June 2019 , p. 44.
[2] Ibid., p. 45
[3] Ibid., p. 47.
[4] Ibid., p. 48.
[5] Ibid., p. 49.
