MEANING OF DEATH/ LIFE ACCORDING TO:

 Socrates
 Philosophy itself is, in fact, a kind of “training for dying” (67e), a
purification of the philosopher's soul from its bodily attachment.
Thus, Socrates concludes, it would be unreasonable for a
philosopher to fear death, since upon dying he is most likely to obtain
the wisdom which he has been seeking his whole life.
 "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Ancient Greek: ὁ ...
ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ) is a famous dictum apparently
uttered by Socrates at his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, for
which he was subsequently sentenced to death, as described in
Plato's Apology (38a5–6).

 Plato
 His theory on justice in the soul relates to the idea of happiness
relevant to the question of the meaning of life. In Platonism,
the meaning of life is in attaining the highest form of knowledge,
which is the Idea (Form) of the Good, from which all good and just
things derive utility and value.
 Plato and Socrates define death as the ultimate separation of the
soul and body. They regard the body as a prison for the soul and
view death as the means of freedom for the soul.
Considering Plato and Socrates definition of death, in the life of a
true philosopher, death does not occur when bodily functions cease.

 Aristotle
 It was not correct of him to regard death as something that might be
imposed artificially, or regarded as an extrinsic requirement, but it
was correct for him to liken the elderly (at least as regards their
nutritive soul) to withering leaves. One might quibble as to
whether Aristotle never says that death is bad.
 Aristotle teaches that each man's life has a purpose and that the
function of one'slife is to attain that purpose. He explains that the
purpose of life is earthly happiness or flourishing that can be
achieved via reason and the acquisition of virtue.

 Friedrich Nietzsche
 For Nietzsche, life didn’t have an automatic inherited meaning, or an “universal truth”
but rather, he believed, it was up to you to work and find a meaning of life. To find a
meaning that aligned with your own reason and aspirations.
 And just because someone else had a different meaning from you, that didn’t mean that
their meaning or your meaning was invalid or less just because it was different. He
accepted that all human minds had different ways to cope with the world.
 The meaning of the phrase is often misunderstood — many have interpereted that
Nietzsche believed in a literal death or end of God. Instead, the line points to the western
world’s reliance on religion as a moral compass and source of meaning. As he explains
in The Gay Science (Section 125, The Madman):
 “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort
ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all
that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe
this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of
atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this
deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear
worthy of it?”
 Nietzsche’s works express a fear that the decline of religion, the rise of atheism, and the
abscense of a higher moral authority would plunge the world into chaos. The western
world had depended on the rule of God for thousands of years — it gave order to society
and meaning to life. Without it, Nietzsche writes, society will move into an age
of nihilism. Although Nietzsche may have been considered a nihilist by definition, he was
critical of it and warned that accepting nihilism would be dangerous.
 Nietzsche’s statement prompted several replies from his more religious opponents, and
from later existentialists. Albert Camus, for example, considered the human need for
higher order absurd. He argued that the “death” of God was inconsequential—that
humanity had no need of a higher authority or the threat of divine wrath to live a good
and moral life. Some other philosophers were less prepared to part with the concept of
higher authority and instead tried to imagine an absolute morality that didn’t depend on a
supreme being.

 Arthur Schopenhauer
 For at every step, in great things and small, we are bound to experience that the world
and life are certainly not arranged for the purpose of being content. That's why the faces
of almost all elderly people are etched with such disappointment.” Schopenhauer offers
two solutions to deal with the problems of existence.

 Humans face a unique situation—they are driven by the will to live, like all other
creatures, but are also aware of the certainty of death. In Schopenhauer's view, all
religions have been motivated by the desire to find some way of coping with this
dilemma. His own conclusion is, "Only small and limited minds fear death"
(Schopenhauer 1957, vol. 1, p. 27). Humans have death as their destiny, their completion.
Individuality ceases with death, but the essence of being is indestructible and remains
part of the cosmic process.

 Martin Heidegger
 Heidegger understands death as the ability of Existence to die at any moment. Existence
means that any moment could be its own. “Death is a self-possibility of Existence; if one
is able to Exist, he can absolutely own it.

 His answer is that to live a meaningful life is to live a life of authenticity. To live a life
authenticity is to live a life that one oneself chooses, not the life that is prescribed for one
by one's social situation.

 Jean Paul Sartre

 Jean-Paul Sartre believed that human beings live in constant anguish, not solely
because life is miserable, but because we are 'condemned to be free'. Sartre's theory of
existentialism states that “existence precedes essence”, that is only by existing and acting
a certain way do we give meaning to our lives.
 Those who are living are responsible that the deeds and words of the dead —indeed, their
freedom—will not pass into oblivion. Sartre indicates that this responsibility is ontic; it
is linked to the distinctiveness of a dead life. And he is also be believe that life is an
unqualified harm.

 Karl Jasper
  It is the all-embracing out of which all comes to exist, but it is also the vast
consciousness within. First is the truth of “being-there” (living), which is a function of
staying alive and expanding life.

 Jaspers says that when the death of the person one loved occurs life may become a lonely
worldly existence for the one who stays behind. The grief and pain we feel lead us to
hopelessness and may take us into the boundary situation of death. Although death
destroys the loved one phenomenally, existential communication is preserved, it is
eternal.

 Jaspers goes on to say that human beings understand the inevitability of their future
deaths and the concept of nonbeing. Man thinks that as long as he is alive he cannot
experience his own death, and once he ceases to be alive he cannot experience it either –
a typical Epicurean argument!. So, the experience of one’s own death seems an
impossibility. As a result, he does not perceive death as cause for concern. He ignores his
possible Existenz and clings on to his worldly activities. Alternatively, Dasein may ignore
its everyday existence entirely and hide within its nihilistic or mystical realm. This would
be another way of avoiding boundary situations. Thus, if man cannot face up to death
existentially, he either preoccupies himself with worldly things or escapes into a mystical
realm.

 Gabriel Marcel
 a death of the martyr is death for a cause, for an ideal, in which Marcel says he
“identifies himself with that for which he gives his life.” Even in its highest
form, deathfor the Absolute Thou, God, he “fancies that he will be associated with the
victory.” 24 In every case, the martyr acts “as if he believed.”
 Marcel describes presence experienced in varying intersubjective situations and in one's
own inner world.  It is an internal quality that paradoxically tends toward the other: it is a
“being with and for others”

 Bible
 Although people have struggled for the purpose of their existence throughout history, the
answer for the meaning of life is relatively simple and the same for everyone; it is to
love God by choosing to have a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the simple and accurate truth about the meaning of life. There are many other
ideas, definitions, theories and religions about the meaning of life that differ; however, if
they do not include the above definition as the core truth, then they will ultimately be
 proven inaccurate and disappointing to anyone who accepts them. Skeptics that are apart
from God throughout history have failed with their falsehoods of the meaning of life.
However, knowing the truth is a very clear and easy answer. But, accepting and adopting
the truth into your life is the ultimate life defining challenge that God wants to help you
fulfill. The guide to helping you understand how to do this is the Holy Bible. The Bible
clearly gives tangible examples and practical rules for living in accordance with God's
plan for your life.


The Sleep of Death

Death is a sleep. The New Testament speaks of them “that are fallen asleep in Jesus” (1 Thes.
4:14). The term “sleep” is used in the Scriptures to describe the state of the body in death.

Only the body of man sleeps in death. This is revealed in Daniel 12:2 where the dead are
described as those who “sleep in the dust of the earth.” Here, it is obvious that:

1. The part of man that is placed in the dust of the earth is that which sleeps.
2. But it is man’s body that is placed in the earth.
3. Thus, it is the body that sleeps in death, not the spirit.

In the New Testament the word “asleep” is the Greek koimaomai, which is from keimai, literally
meaning “to lie down.” The Greeks used the word koimeterion of a place where traveling
strangers could stop for sleep (i.e. an inn). From that word derives our term “cemetery,” a place
where the bodies of the dead lie sleeping.

Some scholars suggest that the use of “sleep” for death conveys this idea:

“[A]s the sleeper does not cease to exist while his body sleeps, so the dead person continues to
exist despite his absence from the region in which those who remain can communicate with him,
and that, as sleep is known to be temporary, so the death of the body will be found to be” (Vine
& Hogg 1997, 95).
Also, death is a state of rest from the toils and cares of the world. There, “the wicked cease from
troubling; and the weary are at rest” (Job 3:17; cf. Rev. 14:13).

Back to the Dust

The Bible also realistically speaks of the decomposition of the body. When Adam and Eve
sinned, they were deprived of the tree of life and hence of physical immortality (Gen. 3:22; Rom.
5:12). It is, therefore, man’s lot to return to the dust of the ground (Gen. 3:19; Eccl. 12:7).

Paul speaks of the earthly house of our tabernacle being dissolved by death (2 Cor. 5:1). The
Greek term for “dissolved” is kataluo, literally meaning to “loose down,” a vivid expression for
fleshly decomposition.
It is sad that some refuse to acknowledge the fate of the body, spending vast sums of money in
attempting to preserve their mortal remains in hope of resuscitation. In spite of claims to the
contrary, physical immortality will never be achieved by the medical profession.

The Sentimental Journey

Death is a departure. Death occurs when the spirit leaves the body (Jas. 2:26). When Dorcas
died, Christian widows stood near her body and showed the garments she had made “while she
was with them” (Acts 9:39). Her body was there, but “she” (i.e., her spirit or personality) was
gone!

Paul thought of death as a departure (Phil. 1:23). Interestingly, the apostle here uses the
term analuo (loosed up). At death, though the body is “loosed down” (see above on 2 Cor. 5:1),
the spirit of man is “loosed up.” When Lazarus died, his spirit “was carried away by the angels
into Abraham’s bosom” (Lk. 16:22).

These passages, and a host of others, are devastating to the materialistic theories that assert that
man is a wholly physical being.

Another interesting word that reveals death as a journey is the term exodus. On the mount of
transfiguration, the Lord talked of his impending “decease” (Grk. exodus, Lk. 9:31), and Peter
wanted his brethren to remember his words after his “departure” (Grk. exodus, 2 Pet. 1:15).

This is the very word used of the Israelites’ departure from Egypt (cf. Heb. 11:22, and the title of
the Book of Exodus in the Septuagint). As the Hebrews continued to consciously exist while
passing from Egypt into the wilderness of Sinai, even so, we continue to consciously exist when
our departure is made from earthly regions to the realm of disembodied spirits.

Blissful Reunions

Death is a reunion with righteous loved ones. It is written of the patriarch Abraham, “Abraham
gave up the ghost, and died ... and was gathered to his people” (Gen. 25:8).

This cannot refer to the interment of Abraham’s body. He was buried near Mamre in Palestine.
Yet his ancestors had been entombed hundreds of miles away in distant lands!

The expressions “gathered to his people,” and “going to his fathers” (Judg. 2:10), are constantly
distinguished from being buried and denote reunion with loved ones in Sheol, the sphere of
departed spirits (Keil & Delitzsch 1980, 263).

When Jesus suggested that many would sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven (Mt. 8:11), he certainly implied a reunion among those three.

Face-to-face with Christ

For those who die in Christ, death is union with the Lord. Jesus informed the dying thief, “Today
you shall be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43). And as previously observed, Paul longed to depart
to be “with Christ” (Phil. 1:23).

In a passage brimming with comfort, the apostle affirms that “to be absent from the body” (i.e.,
be dead) is, in reality, “to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). The expression “to be at home”
is used in Greek of “one among his own people” in contrast to “one away from home.”
(Robertson 1931, 229).

Additionally, the phrase “with pros the Lord,” as here used, means to be in the presence of the
Lord! Alford Plummer says it implies “that at death there is immediate entrance into closer
fellowship with Christ” (1925, 153).

Yes, at death the spirit “returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7), and he will assign it its final
disposition.

The Agony of Defeat

For the wicked, death begins an eternity of suffering.

Though it is not a popular theme in contemporary society, the doctrine of hell is still a vital part
of the Bible. At death, all who have lived in rebellion to God will enter a spirit state
characterized by pains, trouble, and sorrow (Psa. 116:3).

They will be immersed in shame and contempt (Dan. 12:2). It will be a realm of anguish,
suffering, and torment (Mt. 22:13; 25:46; Mk. 9:48; Lk. 16:24; 2 Thes. 1:9; Rev. 20:10).

Prepare for Your Death

One cannot live wrong and die right! After death there is no opportunity for repentance or
salvation. Such concepts as “a second chance after death,” “baptism for the dead,” and
“purgatory,” are totally without basis in the Scriptures. While it is still “today,” therefore, let us
resolve to learn the will of Christ and to obey the same (Heb. 5:8-9).

One must believe in Christ (Jn. 8:24), turn from sin (Lk. 13:3), and unite with the Lord in the
likeness of his death through immersion in water (Rom. 6:3-4). Then, as a newborn babe, long
for the word and grow thereby (1 Pet. 2:2; cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).