Those who are wise must finally die, just like the foolish and senseless, leaving all their wealth behind

Philosophically, logically, the meaning of life carries great weight.  Scientism says there is no meaning to life, but philosophically, if there was anything beyond scientism, then there is meaning to life (and also then to death).  In other words, the exploration of answers to death goes beyond just trying to find comfort to my fear of and my desire for eternal life.  Logically, it makes sense to explore other options, too.  Let me explain.  

People always ask questions about the meaning of life, but let's look at it from the opposite viewpoint.  After all, the meaning of life could mean a lot of different things depending upon the person, their personality, their experiences, and their position in society.  But none of those factors impact the meaning of death.   Rich or poor, educated or illiterate, Indian or Icelander, young or old, they all experience death in similar manners.  

The manner of death changes from different individuals.  Some people live life with such gusto that they finally lose the odds.  Other people want to die for a cause and place themselves in harm's way.  Others always choose the safest options possible to extend their life as long as possible.  In all of these cases, people are still trying to live their life a certain way.  

The manner people treat other people's death varies greatly, too.  Some bodies are burned up, others buried, some tossed into the sea.  There are elaborate funerals and great pyramids, while others die namelessly in the streets.  But again, this is about how the living treat death, not the actual facts of our own deaths.  

In addition, the question of death leads many other questions about a loving God and the suffering of man.  Why would a loving Creator or Universe allow suffering and death?  Suffering's answer is a complex one because of the variety of ways people experience suffering.  What often happens is the answer to the meaning of death are simple and we  are told to just trust in God's love and power.  

The question of meaning is also a loaded question.   

It starts with the assumption that there is a creator who created it with purpose.  This is significantly different than scientism and it is different than someone finding particular meaning in a specific death.  The flip side is true, too.  If someone asks, is there meaning to life, then they have made an assumption that the universe was set up with meaning.  If you are an atheist and everything occurred by chance, there really isn't any meaning and you are driven by your own desires.  Many atheists learn the rewards of self-control and delayed gratification so they might appear "godly", but in the end, it is still just chasing after you own self good in the life you have.

The follow-on question is the creator must be powerful enough to have the ability to give eternal life but did not?  The Bible records a God who can give eternal life.  This truth is rather scary because it questions if God is good and loving then why is there death at all?

To start this out, let's first look at the facts.

 What we can say about death is that it impacts everyone equally and it is final.  

If there is a creator and created death with a purpose, this purpose is meant for every single person from the beginning of time.  Death is very humbling as it is no respecter of position or wealth or fame or any trapping of life.  The Pharoah in Egypt ends up in the same state as the Jew in the Nazi gas chamber.  

Is there anything in life that has had a such a singular impact throughout all of history?

Death occurs to animals and plants, but in this discussion, I am only really concerned about human death.  I don't believe other life has a real ability to comprehend death.  They can understand the loss of capability and energy in their lives, and they can adjust to it, but they don't really understand it's inevitable circumstance like a human does.

Secondly, death is final.   It is the door that everyone passes through and very few come back.  Currently, there are several books about people who have gone through near death experiences, but this is not the same.  It gives the moment of life's passing a level of mystery and loss unlike anything else.  

Unquestionably, there is great significance to death.  Human society puts great importance on funerals and the associated grief.  If there is a creator and if death is intentional, then it would probably be key to unlocking truth.   

The standard Christian answer is death entered the world because sin entered the world.  Sin's basic definition is "missing the mark".  It is often described as an arrow that misses the bullseye.  The idea behind sin is that humans have a basic issue inside of us that causes us to not be in perfect relationship with God.  Sin causes something that was made to be perfect (humans) into something that is marred.  And a human that is disconnected from God, is like the Salton Sea, a lake with no inflowing water.  Eventually the lake will dry up and disappear.  This answer is good, it gives a how.  But why would God continue the experiment if it was marred.  Why not start all over?

Existentialism is a 20th century philosophy which states that death gives life fuller meaning.  It forces each human to consider their existence and motivates us to make something more valuable out of our lives.  It is the time budget of life, that helps us to make the most of our time.  It is the last minute of a deal that convinces us to buy.  

Compare this to many Christians view of heaven as a place where people lounge around, maybe playing harps or just hanging out.  This would be the antithesis of existentialism.  This grows out of the idea that a loving God would give us life forever and everything is provided to us.  It is very self-centered.  

In existentialism we are pushed to be better because we find value in every moment.  In the view of heaven, we have nothing needed because we are pampered in every way.  For me, I would rather be pushed.  I find so much meaning in life in my personal development and achievements.  So even if I am "marred", death helps me to be more perfect in this world.  

Could there be more to the meaning of death?  Death also forces humans to look beyond our materialistic existence.  Most people probably would just become caught up in their little worlds and never look beyond them without the interruption of death.  You probably wouldn't have gone this far into this website, if death hadn't motivated you!

Death is the great hiccup upon each of our own perceptions of reality.  Whether this death comes from a great war or from dying in our sleep, it impacts the people around the dead in monumental ways.  Death forces the rich to look beyond their money, the powerful to look beyond their power, the downtrodden to look beyond their suffering.  It is a shared experience unlike any other in life that we all have to face eventually. 

Death helps us to make the most of life and motivates us to consider other realities beyond our own.  It also exposes our weaknesses in a way that humbles us greatly.  Death makes every human being to concede that they are not superman, that there are some battles which cannot be won. 

If there is something beyond this universe that created everything, then death provides a door which individuals can consider opening.  Many people ignore or run away from that door, but at least they were challenged to consider something more.  

Bottom line, there is a real logical reason to explore death that are worthy of exploration. 

 So where does the trail of thought crumbs take us......look at the page Truth Crumbs.