Theists - why are humans afraid of death?

[Sandra Craft]

By rights, if the Christians beleived in eternal happyness and joy in heaven they ought to either be happy for, or jealous of the person dying.
The person dying ought to be bloody excited.

Maybe they are happy and/or jealous, but the point they still have to live without that person for awhile and that's where the sadness comes in.

[DeterminedJuliet]

Personally, I fear dying way more than I fear death. If I knew my death was going to be quick and painless, I don't think the prospect would bother me so much. You know, once I get a few more big "life goals" out of the way.

[Tom62]

Btw Tom, your new icon is ace! <3

Thanx.

[xm1]

I absolutely do not want to be dead under any condition ever.  If they open up a singularity clinic tomorrow I will be camped there waiting first person in line.  I will be happy to do whatever craziness medicine comes up with in the coming years to preserve my consciousness and memories.  If it means changing bodies, or floating my head in a vat, or transplanting into an animal or whatever, im down for it.  I do not just fear the ways there are to die i fear death as well.  And when the time comes I do not intend to be at peace or accepting.  I will be stubborn and angry.  I'm not sure how to think about this otherwise. 



I always thought that a religious person who fears for their own mortality despite their religious upbringing is someone still open to reason, compassion, could possibly be swayed away from religion, or at least be easier to coexist with in society.


Its the ones who are no longer afraid of death that can be a serious problem.

[Asmodean]

Its the ones who are no longer afraid of death that can be a serious problem.

Being unafraid of death need not make one actively seek it.

There are many things that people are generally unafraid of, yet try to avoid. Rain comes to mind... Head aches... Jehova's Witnesses...

[xm1]

Its the ones who are no longer afraid of death that can be a serious problem.

Being unafraid of death need not make one actively seek it.

There are many things that people are generally unafraid of, yet try to avoid. Rain comes to mind... Head aches... Jehova's Witnesses...

Really not what i was getting at but thats cool.  Atheists who are unafraid of death are definitely not on my oh shit radar.

[SuperiorEd]

Just a simple question really - if we take the teachings of christianity to be true, you go to heaven if you have been good and promise to suck up to god for eternity.

If this is the case, why is there anything to fear from death and why do we have an inbuilt biological urge to avoid dying at any cost? Surely this does not stack up?

Duplicity is the reason.  We know our own hearts.  When we seek God for reward, what are we really after?  If we seek God to avoid punishment, what do we really seek.  The answer is self.  God cuts pride with His consuming fire.  A cut will heal and a lesson is learned.  Confucius said, "I hear and I forget.  I see and I learn.  I do and I understand."  Doing is the point.  

You might ask the question, "Why one life."  This is harsh.  I say what Jesus said:  "You must be born again."  It's not an option.  You can say, WAIT just one cotton pikin' minute.  I know Hebrews 9:27, and I'm not afraid to use it.  I say, "Go ahead."  While you are at it, read the next verse as well.

Hebrews 9:27

27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Do you know about the final judgment of mankind at the end of the age?  This is a final judgment.  In other words, it implies other judgments.  God is long-suffering and the entire Bible is written to all generations.  Salvation comes when Christ returns and we are ALL waiting.  We are the temple and the veil keeps us living by faith and not the facts of our past.  Faith requires us to find union, as all life finds union.  How is that?

We must love to find union with a partner.  Ultimately, the union with God is in love for Him.  Until we find this, we are bound to the law as our master.  Union with the spirit is revealed in John 3.  

God created the sun and the moon.  This union causes all life on earth.  Sperm and egg; left and right; up and down; and so on.  We are in the land of opposites by degree, all finding union to collapse the indeterminate wave of infinity.  God is infinity at rest.  We are mortal and in motion.  Our soul cannot die.  It lives again and must be born again.  Proof?

John 3.

5 Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

This is in relation to John the Baptist and baptism in the same chapter.  Context is important.  A mystery is being revealed by Jesus.  Baptism is our birth into the water of reality.  Spirit is the next union (only by faith and love or back to the water you go).  This makes our body the placenta (archatype) and the earth the womb.  Does the earth care for us?  Does it provide for our needs?  Did you or I have anything to do with this process?  Do you make your hair grow?  Do you make your eyes see?  Do you make the sun shine or the earth turn one degree around the galaxy every 72.22222 years?  No.  God makes you live one generation, give or take, as you make one degree around the galaxy.  Imagine a year for God in degrees and you live 100 generations.  

When did Israel become a nation?  1948  What doth we get when we add the numbers betwixt 1948 and one generation?  2018.  What time is it now?  2011.  How many years between 2012 and 2018?  

Matthew 24

 32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

This generation will see 2018 come.  Israel is the fig tree.

As you wait to find out why death is no big deal, consider this:

Epistle of Barnabas

Barnabas 15:3
Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; And
God made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the
seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it.

Barnabas 15:4
Give heed, children, what this meaneth; He ended in six days. He
meaneth this, that in six thousand years the Lord shall bring all
things to an end; for the day with Him signifyeth a thousand years;
and this He himself beareth me witness, saying; Behold, the day of
the Lord shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six
days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end.

Why is this important to death?

Adam to Abraham 2000 years (2 Days)
Abraham to Noah 2000 years (2 Days)
Noah to Jesus 2000 years (2 Days)

Day of rest 1000 years.  2018ish.

You question these mere coincidences?

Consider this:

Enoch 1

And the Lord said unto Michael: 'Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves 12 with them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is 13 for ever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and 14 to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all 15 generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because 16 they have wronged mankind.

These were the divine beings form Genesis 6 that deceived mankind.  Enoch lived 365 years and was taken.  We normally see judgment committed at the end of the life of the prophet.  Consider this.  70 generations to the doom of the angels.  70*70.2222 = 5055 years.  Enoch died in 987.  Depending on when the prophecy was engaged, we get 6000.  That's now.

One more consideration.

The Prophecy ... Ezekiel 4:4-6

"Then God said to Ezekiel,
'Now lie on your left side for 390 days
to show Israel will be punished for 390 years
by captivity and doom.
Each day you lie there represents
a year of punishment ahead for Israel.
Afterwards, turn over and lay on your right side
for 40 days, to signify the years of Judah's punishment.
Each day will represent one year . . .'"
(Ezekiel 4:4-6)

390 days Judgment against the 10 northern tribes 'Israel'
+ 40 days Judgment against the 2 southern tribes 'Judah'
= 430 years Judgment against the nation of Israel

Fulfillment

430 years of judgment determined against nation Israel
- 70 years fulfilled during the Babylonian captivity
= 360 years remaining in judgment against the nation of Israel

Where are the 360 years?

"And after all this, if you do not obey Me,
then I (God) will punish you seven times more for your sins."
(Leviticus 26:18)

"Then, if you walk contrary to Me,
and are not willing to obey Me,
I (God) will bring on you seven times more plagues,
according to your sins."
(Leviticus 26:21)

"And after all this,
if you do not obey Me,
but walk contrary to Me,
then I (God) also will walk contrary to you in fury;
and I, even I will chastise you seven times for your sins.:
(Leviticus 26:27-28)

"I (God) will scatter you among the nations
and draw a sword after you;
your Land shall be desolate
and your cities waste."
(Leviticus 26:33)

This is a factor of 7 (7X)

360 Remaining years of judgment
x 7 The prophetic '7X' factor
= 2,520 Years of judgment remained against nation Israel

360 day years for prophecies, then add the appropriate 'leap months' to the schedule. So, the easiest way to unravel this prophecy is to first convert this prophecy into days ...

2,520 years
x 360 days
= 907,200 days of judgment remained against nation Israel after the Babylonian captivity

907,200 days ÷ 365.25 days = 2,483.78 years of God's judgment remained


Now have another look.

606 B.C Israel taken into Babylonian captivity
- 70 Years for 70 years
= 536 B.C. End of first 70 years of judgment
+ 2483 Years Now add the 2,483 years remaining in this judgment
+ 1 Year Add 1 year because there is no "0" B.C. or A.D.
= 1948 AD! End of judgment against nation Israel

Your answer:  If God can do this, why is death important?  "You must be born again."  It's not an option.  Stick around and see what happens next.  God is good and worthy of love.  To treat Him as a vending machine only reveals our duplicity.  If we seek God for reward, what do we seek?  If we seek Him to avoid punishment, what's the aim?  We seek God as His own reward.  He proves Himself with evidence we can verify.  Death is rebirth.  No fears unless your master is sin and death.  According to the Jubilee laws, a kinsmen must redeem us.  God is our kinsmen.  Faith is the transfer of our debt to a new master.  We are bond-servants again to God by choice.  

[Siz]

Yay, Soups is back

Could you expand on that, Soups?

[not your typical...]

Just a simple question really - if we take the teachings of Christianity to be true, you go to heaven if you have been good and promise to suck up to god for eternity.

If this is the case, why is there anything to fear from death and why do we have an inbuilt biological urge to avoid dying at any cost? Surely this does not stack up?

Christian, but I can only answer this from a non-Theists pov. It is simply the fear of the unknown. Have you ever died? Can you say for a fact that there is a Heaven or a Hell? Did you see God and live to tell about it? Was He wrathful and angry, like so many Atheist believe, or was He loving and kind like the Theists say? And then on a bit of a broader scale, is the Christian God real? Or is it the teaching of Allah that we should be following? What about Buddha? Reincarnation? Am I gonna get turned into a flower, or will I be a lowly rat? All are questions that can't be answered until met head on, but without knowing the end results, people are afraid to test it since death is so... permanent. And the most frightening one of all, what if there is nothing after death? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, what if we are nothing at all once we are done on earth? Not a pleasant thing to think about. The only person to have ever been said to  have conquered the beast that is death has been long gone, never to answer the questions of this era. So I guess what I'm really saying is that while people may believe in God, in some cases it's really just their safety blanket. Some people never grow too old for their blankie.

[Sweetdeath]

Uh, not speaking for all atheists, but since I don't believe in a God, there is no reason for me to believe said non-exiestant being is angry/wrathful.

Btw, in the bible myths, it has the temper tantrums of a child.

Also, i'm pretty sure it's most theists that believe it is angry, hence why they love to threaten people with 'eternal damnation.' e__e

[not your typical...]

Uh, not speaking for all atheists, but since I don't believe in a God, there is no reason for me to believe said non-exiestant being is angry/wrathful.

Btw, in the bible myths, it has the temper tantrums of a child.

Also, i'm pretty sure it's most theists that believe it is angry, hence why they love to threaten people with 'eternal damnation.' e__e

Inward belief that he is wrathful when you sin or displease him, but go to a church and they'll constantly preach about his love and compassion, like about how hard it must have been for him so give his only son to save all of humanity. I know, polar-opposite from what you're probably used to, but most theists don't take very well to people that don't share their beliefs.

[Sweetdeath]

Welp, most theists are idiots who dance at the sky, never questioning common logic. Perhaps they think victims or kidnapping and human trafficking just didn't pray hard enough? e__e

[OldGit]

SuperiorEd missed out a carry-one and let the decimal point slip back there.  This means uncertainty - jebus could come back any time and send us all to hell, or even Mexico.   Great floods may come and uproot the seal of the third temple.  Ezekiel's closed door may be flung open, and the double glazing units could then get condensation between the panes.  Satan shall walk abroad and there may be scattered showers in the afternoon.

This worries me; I think I'd rather live for ever.

[not your typical...]

I think I'd rather live for ever.

This thought has crossed my mind numerous times. But in the end I always decide to face whatever torment death has awaiting my coming. With living forever, wouldn't you also age forever? Becoming more and more likely to contract illness, but never perishing from it? Losing the ability to do the things you love, like reading, writing, and whatever other hobbies you may have? That halts me from the choice of eternal life, and yet, that is what's promised with Christianity. Anything that last forever, is ultimately a frightening thing. Maybe it's just me, but the thought of forever seems far too long. Being dead forever, being completely non-existent, that is a comforting thought, not having to deal day in and day out with any horrid thought that could pop into my mind and potentially spill out of my mouth. Non-existence is my comfort.

[xSilverPhinx]

Personally I think that those who find comfort in the idea of living forever don't really know what 'forever' means. Forever. For ever and ever and ever as in never ending, permanent, eternal and infinite.

Not the kind of 'forever' used in everyday language.