IDEOLOGIES ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH
By Chidimma Placid Nwaka
INTRODUCTION
Life and death have remained a mystery, leaving people with many assumptions about what will or might come next.
Many books, articles, and archives have debated the mystery behind life and death, the beginning of being, and what led to the breaking down of man. According to the historical book of Genesis, the author presents a profound ideology about the beginning of man and other living beings when compared to scientific knowledge. Man was created from dust as highlighted in Genesis, and based on this truth, man is indeed dust.
Genesis also recorded the fall of the first man, which led to the fall of other creations made by God. Man’s disobedience brought about this fall, and the consequence became a trait passed on to all mankind and to every air-breathing organism on Earth. Man was originally meant to grow old and die, but in contemporary society, many die before reaching old age.
WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?
According to the biblical story, humanity continued to do worse in the sight of God, and He cut short the long life that man once enjoyed.
These explanations remain significant because the story in Genesis corresponds with the reality of how life is today.
Moreover, the new statement aligns with the old books of proverbs, that lives are wasted through disobedience. Therefore, disobedience should be the railway that drives life to death before old age.
However, with the ongoing statement “Life is too short to be wasted,” it is quite a good phenomenon to explain why it is necessary for us to value life by living in peace with everyone.
WHAT IS DEATH LIKE?
Many people are afraid to hear the word “death.” Everyone is meant to die, but some people are scared of dying despite hardship and uncomfortable circumstances they face in life.
However, death is the eldest brother to sleep. You go into a deep sleep and do not wake up again to the living world. While everyone else is weeping, you are already far in your sleep, encountering many things you would love to share with the living once you are awake. Unfortunately, it becomes endless, and your mind will keep telling you that dawn has not yet come.
Death is the final bus stop of man, where sufferings, accidents, pains, and fears are gone. It is a time when preparing one’s way is over and time for judgment begins.
God did not create death for man, but the disobedience of man awakened it, shortening the forever to never and the unlimited to limited. However, there is a condition, and it is being obedient.
IDEOLOGIES ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH
The concepts of life and death have fascinated and puzzled humanity since the dawn of existence. Across cultures, philosophies, and religions, people have tried to understand their meanings, purposes, and connections. While life is often viewed as a journey or a test, death is perceived as either an end, a transition, or a continuation into another realm. Below are certain ideologies that tend to explain this mystery between life and death.
1. Philosophical Perspectives
Socrates (469–399 BC), as recorded by Plato, saw death not as something to be feared but as a release of the soul from the body. In Phaedo, he stated, “To fear death is nothing other than to think oneself wise when one is not, for it is to think that one knows what one does not know.” Socrates believed that death might be a blessing, a passage to another state of existence where the soul attains wisdom.
Aristotle (384–322 BC), in contrast, viewed life in terms of purpose, or telos. In Nicomachean Ethics, he wrote that the purpose of life is to achieve eudaimonia (flourishing or happiness) through virtuous living. Death, to Aristotle, signifies the cessation of that potential, but life’s value is found in how well one fulfills one’s purpose.
Jean Paul Sartre (1905–1980), a modern existentialist, saw life as meaningless unless individuals create meaning for themselves. In Being and Nothingness (1943), Sartre emphasized that since death is inevitable, humans must live authentically and define their own essence through actions, not external beliefs.
2. Religious and Spiritual Ideologies
a. In Christian ideology, life is a divine gift and death is a gateway to eternal life. According to St. Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). This reflects the belief that death is not the end but the beginning of eternal communion with God. Life is the divine way to prepare for the meeting with Christ at the end, which is the everlasting sleep on earth and facing judgment thereafter.
b. In Buddhism, as taught by Gautama Buddha (563–483 BC), life and death are parts of a continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara). One’s actions (karma) determine future rebirths, and enlightenment (nirvana) ends this cycle by freeing the soul from suffering.
c. Hinduism shares a similar cyclical view. The Bhagavad Gita teaches that the soul (atman) is immortal, merely changing bodies as one changes garments. Krishna tells Arjuna, “For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time… he is not slain when the body is slain” (Gita 2:20).
d. Islam teaches that life is a test, and death marks the beginning of eternal judgment. According to the Qur’an (67:2), “He who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deed.” Thus, death is not the end but the beginning of accountability and ultimate reunion with the Creator.
3. Literary and Humanist Views
a. William Shakespeare (1564–1616) reflected deeply on life and death in his works. In Hamlet, he wrote, “To be or not to be, that is the question.” This soliloquy captures humanity’s struggle with the fear of death and the pain of existence, suggesting that while life is full of suffering, death remains an unknown mystery.
b. Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), in The Death of Ivan Ilyich, explores how awareness of death forces one to confront the authenticity of life. He implies that a meaningful life is not measured by material success but by moral and spiritual growth.
c. Albert Camus (1913–1960), in The Myth of Sisyphus, calls life “absurd” because humans constantly seek meaning in a meaningless universe. Yet, he argues that the awareness of death should not lead to despair but to defiance, to live fully despite the inevitability of death.
However, ideologies about life and death differ across time, culture, and belief, yet all share a common curiosity about what lies beyond existence. For some, life’s meaning is anchored in virtue or faith; for others, it is a personal creation of meaning despite mortality. Whether seen as an end, a transition, or a transformation, death continues to define how humans value and understand life itself.
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