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listorically people hae always died ,except or a couple o instances
1
,. loweer,
throughout history, people hae not always thought the same way about death. 1he understanding o
and implications o death hae changed oer the ages. 1he progression o thought concerning death
rom ancient times to the times o the New 1estament will help us better grasp the context or
Paul's understanding o death.
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Anyone who has read much o the Old 1estament will likely hae noticed the laconic
recording o deaths. 1here are long chapters and een whole books illed with narraties about the
lies o men, but their deaths are recorded in a single erse. lor example: Abraham, Moses, and
Daid, the three most ormatie igures o the Old 1estament, each hae deaths described in a
single sentence ,Genesis 25:8, Deuteronomy 34:5-, 1 Kings 2:10,. Abraham has 12 chapters
deoted to him, Moses is the central character o three books o the Bible, and Daid appears in
three dierent books, yet each o them die in only a sentence. 1his succinct description o deaths in
the Old 1estament is almost certainly because o the cultural understanding o death at the time.
1he weight put upon death in a culture relects what that culture beliees about the eents
ollowing death. In Old 1estament literature, the aterlie is simply Sheol. Sheol is a realm o the
dead. All mankind ends up in Sheol, both wicked and righteous. 1his ancient near-eastern ,ANL,
idea o the aterlie is similar to the ancient Greco-Roman iew o the aterlie. \hat ANL culture
reers to as Sheol, ancient Greco-Roman culture calls lades. In ancient mythology, lades is not a
place o punishment but rather a realm o the dead. 1he similarity o these ancient iews o death
1 Lnoch ,Gen 5:21-24, and Llijah ,2 Ki 2:1,11,
1
is highlighted by the act that lades is actually the Greek translation o Sheol in the Septuagint.
Jewish thought about the aterlie began to shit ater the exile. Ater Daniel's apocalyptic
literature and the writings o the later prophets, an idea o resurrection began to deelop and spread
through the culture. \ith resurrection came the question o who would be resurrected \ould it be
only the righteous \hat would happen to the wicked During this time the ater-lie becomes
heaen and hell, one or the righteous, the one or the unrighteous. 1his is idea o the ater-lie
continues to deelop and orm into the time o the New 1estament. 1hese ideas are what Jesus, the
apostles, and the writers o the New 1estament were learning, thinking through, and deining.
2
!"#$%&#'()(**+(**%,#%!(-"
Shiting perspecties on the ater-lie hae shaped cultures' iews o death or millennia.
luneral rituals and mourning traditions are incredibly spiritual and result rom the spirituality,
theology, and eschatology o a culture. Not only are responses to death shaped by these things, but
also, perhaps een more, are the preceding attitudes we hae toward death as we approach it.
lrom the ANL,Greco-Roman iews o Sheol and lades comes hopelessness. \hen the
perading thought o the ater-lie is simply nothingness-an abyss which !"!#$%&!'is destined or-
there is no hope or the uture. Death is simply a acuum. \hat purpose is there 1his is why the
author o Lcclesiastes writes,
\hat happens to the children o man and what happens to the
beasts is the same, as one dies, so dies the other. 1hey all hae the
same breath, and man has no adantage oer the beasts, or all is
anity. All go to one place. All are rom the dust, and to dust all
return.` ,Lcclesiastes 3:19-20,
1his hopeless attitude toward death is all throughout ancient cultures. It is why the psalmist cries out
or God to keep him rom Sheol and why the records o death are so short in the Old 1estament.
2 Kittel, Gerhard, Georey \illiam Bromiley, and Gerhard lriedrich. ()!%*%+,-.*'/,-0,%&.#$'%1 '0)!'2!3'(!40.5!&0.
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Lerdmans, 1964196.
2
Death is a hopeless abyss into which all will someday all.
lrom the later perspectie on the ater-lie comes a ear o hell. \hile mankind was once
rendered hopeless because o death, he is now crippled with ear. 1his is why the iery preaching o
John the Baptist was so eectie ,Matthew 3:11-12,. 1he people eared death because they eared
the oretold ire that would await them.
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1hese are the contexts rom which Paul comes and into which he speaks. Paul critiques these
perspecties on death and creates a new one by allowing the gospel o Jesus Christ to bear witness
against death.
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A notable element o Paul's rhetoric about death is how he sees death as something
unnatural. Anchor Bible Dictionary claims that, death does not appear to be a part o God's
original plan or the race
3
.` Ater all, Paul writes that death only exists as a result o sin ,Romans
6:23,. le also claims that is came not rom the hand o God, but rather through a man, Adam
,Romans 5:12, 1 Corinthians 15:21,. 1hereore, death was neer intended to be part o the world.
Lloyd Bailey describes this a dierent way. le writes that in contrast with the O1 and much
o Rabbinic Judaism, |Paul reads| Genesis 2-3 so that mortality is a consequence o sin rather than
the Creators design
4
.` Again, death is not within the natural created order. It is an intruder. It is
something to be done away with. Paul belieed that death was an intrusion and that the gospel
would ultimately banish it once again. 1hat is why he writes, Death reigned through one man, |but|
lie through the one man Jesus Christ` ,Romans 5:1,. Jesus Christ will banish death rom the earth.
3 lreedman, Daid Noel. "ol 2." In !"#$%&'"()$*+,-#$.+'/+(&0)1, 110-111. New \ork: Doubleday, 1992.
4 Bailey, Lloyd R.. "1he New 1estament." In *+,-+'0-$2#)32#'/+4#3$(&$.#0/", 88. Philadelphia: lortress Press, 199.
3
!"#$%&#'&#&($#$"&)*&+",-.
Another element o Paul's understanding o death is how he speaks o death primarily as a
state o being. 1his is, perhaps, his most counter-cultural understanding o death. Until now, people
hae mostly spoken o death as a physical moment when the body ceases to be alie. It is merely a
moment and it is passie. Death happens to us. loweer, Paul does not speak o death as a physical
moment, or him it is a state o being. Death is present and it is actie. Death is not the end o
liing, it is a way o liing.
Again, the Anchor Bible Dictionary claims that death is more than a terminus to lie... one
can experience a liing death, or a 'body o death` ,Rom :24,
5
. Paul also writes about being dead
in sin` ,Lph 2:1, Col 2:13,, meaning that death is ar more than a moment, it is a way that people
lie.
1homas Barrosse characterized this kind o death as progressie.` le describes that death
is not static, it is not a mere moment, but rather, Death's ruit grows and increases. Man sinks
deeper into ,spiritual, death, or his debt o ,eternal, death steadily mounts. Death goes on extending
and consolidating its domain, its control, reign, rights oer the sinner
6
.` 1his language shows that
death is clearly not passie. It is moing, growing, een liing. It is this kind o death which Paul
speaks o with urgency.
Ater a closer look at Paul's words about death, one will realize that Paul hardly speaks o
physical death and when he does he tends to brush oer it rather quickly. lor example, in the irst
chapter o Philippians Paul writes about his struggle with lie and death.
lor to me to lie is Christ, and to die is gain... I am hard pressed
between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, or
that is ar better. But to remain in the lesh is more necessary on
5 lreedman, !"#
6 Barrosse, 1homas . "Death and sin in Saint Paul's Lpistle to the Romans." $%&'()*+,"*-)*+%),./%0&10)2 15, no. 4
,1953,: 438-459.
4
your account.` ,Philippians 1:21, 23-24,
In this passage, Paul thinks so little o physical death that he een desires to die. Paul has no
ear o death. 1he gospel transorms his perception o death. \hile many lay crippled in ear, Paul
waits expectantly, while some ear death because o hell, Paul awaits death because o Jesus.
Another passage that displays Paul's near dismissal o physical death is ound in his irst
letter to the 1hessalonians.
But we do not want you to be uninormed, brothers, about those
who are asleep, that you may not griee as others do who hae no
hope. lor since we beliee that Jesus died and rose again, een so,
through Jesus, God will bring with him those who hae allen
asleep.` ,1 1hessalonians 4:13-14,
Paul does not want the 1hessalonians to be araid or those who hae died. le does not
want them to be without hope, so he writes to gie them courage amidst their doubts. Again, the
gospel has completely transormed the way to iew death. \hile many lie without hope, Paul writes
to them that they might not griee as other do who hae no hope.`
\hile the world sits in hopelessness and ear, Paul declares the gospel and pleads with them
to trust Jesus. 1he gospel, Jesus' death and resurrection, has turned death on its head. \here there
was once hopelessness and ear there is now hope and conidence! 1he gospel o Jesus has changed
eerything!
!"#$%&#'&#(&)("*+
A inal way that Paul speaks o death is as an enemy. Paul directly says this in 1 Corinthians
when he writes about Christ's coming.
1hen comes the end, when he deliers the kingdom to God the
lather ater destroying eery rule and eery authority and power.
lor he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his eet.
1he last enemy to be destroyed is death.` ,1 Corinthians 15:24-26,
5
Paul personiies death as an enemy. 1his is similar to the way he writes about death as an
intrusion, except that this time instead o banishing an intruder Jesus destroys the enemy. In Jesus'
death on the cross he bore sin and subjected it's eects under him. In his resurrection he conquered
death and broke its power. At his coming he will destroy death or all time. Just as Paul wrote, death
truly is the last enemy to be destroyed! \e await his return and the inal deeat o death!
!"#$%&'(&)'('*$+,
Understanding Paul's theology and eschatology about death is surely a stimulating academic
and theological exercise, but what does it hae to do with ministry \hat kinds o things should we
consider about death in ministry low can Paul's writings help us with this 1here are a ew areas to
consider.
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Most o the content o this paper has dealt with death in a merely abstract way. But the truth
o the matter is that death is ery real. Our culture has pushed death away rom us because o how
we ear it. Ministers, howeer, will deal with death oten. It is easy to think that ministry is all
teaching and counseling, but it is much more than that. It is walking with people through the muck
o lie, through sickness, death, and pain.
Bailey obsered a ew ways that our society has separated itsel rom death. A couple o
ways is due to the adances o medical technology. le writes that recent adances in medical
knowledge and technology hae...increased the lie span with the result that death is less requent
and thus is unamiliar and earsome. |It has also| isolated the ill and the dying in special acilities so
that they are not part o our social interaction

.` \e hae contained death in hospital rooms because

Bailey, Lloyd R.. "1he Modern Situation." In !"#$"%&$'()*+()%,"-)+'./'0)&,1, 3. Philadelphia: lortress Press, 199.
6
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on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
"Death is swallowed up in ictory."
"O death, where is your ictory
O death, where is your sting"
,1 Corinthians 15:54-55,
\hile it is true that the sting o death will be taken away, this does not come to pass` until the
perishable puts on the imperishable.` In other words, death does not lose its sting until the coming
o Jesus when death is inally deeated! So, where is the sting o death Now. 1he sting o death is
present and the destruction o death will be when Jesus returns to subject eerything under his eet
,1 Corinthians 15:25,. So we must lie with the sting o death and loe those who are hurting.
!"#$%#&#'($)&$%#'("
\hile we must not orget the !"#$%&'()* (+"#&, or the -&%./()* (+"#&,0 it is incredibly important that
we, as ministers, remember the coming +"*"#&()* (+"#&,1 lorgetting the irst two would make us
ignorant, oolish, and insensitie. lorgetting the inal one would ultimately mean orgetting the
gospel.
\es, ministers are called to counsel and comort the hurting and the broken, but in and
amidst all o that we are called to proclaim good news. Just like Paul we are to conront the pain o
reality with the good news o the gospel. 1he gospel is een more real and Jesus is coming to deeat
death at last!
2,"(34%!%&()* (&,"(5)!+(6)+(%-(74).(8"0
&)(4!)9$#%8(/))+(.":-;
&)(<%.+(74(&,"(<!)=".,"#!&"+0
&)(9)8*)!&(#$$(:,)(8)7!.;
&)(/%>"(&,"8(#(<"#7&%*7$(,"#++!"--(%.-&"#+()* (#-,"-0
&,"()%$()* (/$#+."--(%.-&"#+()* (8)7!.%./0
&,"(/#!8".&()* (4!#%-"(%.-&"#+()* (#(*#%.&(-4%!%&?
,Isaiah 61:1-3,
8
Bibliography
Bailey, Lloyd R.. !"#$"%&$'()*+()%,"-)+'./'0)&,1. Philadelphia: lortress Press, 199.
Barrosse, 1homas . "Death and sin in Saint Paul's Lpistle to the Romans." 2&,1.$"%'!"#$"%&$ '
34&*,)*$5 15, no. 4 ,1953,: 438-459.
lreedman, Daid Noel. "ol 2." In 61)'7/%1.*'!"#$)'0"%,"./&*5, 110-111. New \ork:
Doubleday, 1992.
lawthorne, Gerald l., Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid. 8"%,"./&*5'.9 ':&4$'&/0'1"+'$),,)*+.
Downers Groe, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Kittel, Gerhard, Georey \illiam Bromiley, and Gerhard lriedrich. 61).$.;"%&$'0"%,"./&*5'.9 ',1) '
<)='6)+,&>)/,. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Lerdmans, 1964196.
Sakeneld, Katharine Doob. 61)'/)='"/,)*(*),)*?+'0"%,"./&*5'.9 ',1)'!"#$)@'<A!. Nashille:
Abingdon, 2006.