www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology The Fear of Death

Dear djs,

I'm not a huge follower of Fr. Romanides. He has some interesting ideas and insights though. I use him here not for innovation but because I think he expresses the view succinctly.

p.s. I'm glad you enjoyed your... I mean my post. At least I gave you credit. Btw, who are you in the other forum?

Yes, the words you used in the crediting brought a smile to me. I read what's up there (and the Indiana list) but am not registered. Not nearly enough time for that.

Hey, I try to give credit where credit is due. Your anonymity prevents me from giving any further credit. I'm sure you prefer it that way.

I appreciate that, while we may disagree, you would nevertheless cite the links as from a friend.

Likewise, I appreciate that, while we may disagree, you still took the time to help me find the answer to my question. If that's not being a friend, I don't know what is. After all, we can't agree on everything. My wife and I don't even do that!

Take care, brother.

"Song of Solomon 8:6-7: "Love is as Strong as Death"

Today people have their dead bodies entombed in cryogenic freezing units in the hope that future scientific breakthroughs will be able to restore their bodies back to life. How do you restore a body back to life when the spirit has returned to God who has determined its final destination? Obviously it is not possible. Only God can resurrect a dead human being.

God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power -2 Tim 1:7.
Jesus has delivered us from the fear and slavish dread of death so let's act on it and enjoy quality of life and not be consumed with quanity of life - Hebrews 2:15.

In His great mercy,
+Fr. Gregory

Good advice, Fr. Gregory. Thank you.

Dear Brethren,

Here are some teachings by St. John Chrysostom on the fear of death. Its no wonder they call him "golden-mouthed."

THE FEAR OF DEATH

A. In a homily given when the people of Antioch were afraid of a punitive strike by the emperor, St. John Chrysostom gets down to the reasons we fear death and goes on from there to deal with sin, sorrow and grief in a most enlightening manner. He writes:

"Would you have me say why it is we are afraid of death? The love of the Kingdom of God has not penetrated us, nor the desire of things to come excited us. Otherwise we would despise all things of the present just as St. Paul did. Add to this also that we are not in awe of hell - therefore, death is terrible. We are not alert to the unbearable nature of the punishment there, so we fear death instead of sin. Believe me, if the fear of sin possessed our souls, it would be impossible for the fear of death to enter therein....

"Remember the words of St. Paul: 'Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature' (1 Cor. 14:20). Our fear of death, coupled with a lack of fear of sin, is childish. Little children are, for example, afraid of masks, but do not fear fire. On the contrary, if they are accidentally carried near a lighted candle, they stretch forth their hand toward the candle without fear. Yet a simple mask terrifies them. Our fear of death is on the same level, fear of a mask that might well be despised. We fear death, but do not fear sin, which is truly dreadful and devours the conscience just as surely as fire bums.

"Our fear is not because of the truth, but because of our own foolishness. If we should even once consider what death truly is, we should never again be afraid of it. What, after all, is death? Just what it is to take off a garment. For the body encloses the soul as a garment, and after laying it aside for a short time, we shall once more put it on - and this time with far more splendor. What is death at most? A time of travel, a sleep longer than usual. So, if you fear death, you should also fear sleep! If you are distressed for those who are dying, grieve also for those who are eating and drinking, for the one is as natural as the other. Do not let natural things sadden you. Rather let things which originate in an evil choice make you sorrowful. Do not grieve for the dying man, but rather for the one who is living in sin!

"Would you have me mention another reason we fear death? We do not live righteously, nor keep a clear conscience. If we did, nothing would alarm us, neither death nor famine, neither the loss of wealth nor anything else of this kind. He who lives uprightly cannot be harmed by any of these things or be deprived of any inner pleasure. Being supported by promising hopes, he will not be thrown into dejection by anything. What is there anyone can possibly do to make the virtuously-minded person grieve? Take away his riches? He still has wealth in the heavens! Throw him out his country? He will set out for that city which is above! Imprison him in chains? He still has his conscience free and is indifferent to the external chain! Put his body to death? He shall still rise again! Just as he who fights with a shadow, beating the air, will be unable to hit anyone, so also he who is at war with the righteous man is only flailing away at a shadow, wasting his own strength without being able to hurt the righteous one. Grant me this then: to be sure of the kingdom of heaven. Then, if you wish, kill me today. I shall thank you for it - for you will send me quickly to the possession of those good things!

But this, someone says, is what we especially lament: that hindered as we are by our many sins, we shall not attain to that kingdom. If that is the case, stop mourning death and mourn your sins, so you may be freed from them. Grief exists, not that we should mourn the loss of wealth, nor for death, nor for anything else of that kind, but that we use grief to get rid of our sins. I will illustrate this by an example. Healing medicines are made only for those diseases they can cure, not for those which are in no way improved by them. For example, to make the matter still plainer, the medicine which can cure an eye ailment alone and no other disease, was, we can say, made only for the sake of the eyes - not for the stomach, nor for the hands, nor for any other member. Now, let us transfer this argument to the subject of grief, and we shall find that grief does not help with anything that happens to us except to cure sin. Therefore we see it exists only for the destruction of sin. Let us take a survey of each of the evils befalling us, and apply gloom as a remedy and see what we gain from it.

"Someone is defrauded of property, and he becomes sad, but this does not make good his loss. Someone has lost a son, and he grieves, but he cannot thereby raise the dead nor benefit the departed. Someone has been whipped, beaten and insulted, and he becomes sorrowful, but this does not recall the insult. Someone falls sick, a serious illness, and he is dejected. This does not remove his disease, but makes it worse. Do you see that sadness serves no useful purpose in any of these cases?

"Suppose, however, that someone has sinned and is sad. He blots out the sin and becomes free from the transgression. How is this shown? By the proclamation of the Lord, for speaking of a certain one who had sinned, He said, 'Because of his iniquity, I made him sad for a while; and I saw that he was grieved, and he went on heavily; and I healed his ways' (Isaiah 57: 17, LXX). In the same vein, Paul also says, 'Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted' (2 Cor. 7:10). What I have said clearly shows that neither the loss of riches, nor insult, nor abuse, nor stripes, nor sickness, nor death, nor anything of that kind can possibly be relieved by the application of grief. Only sin can be wiped away and done away with by grief. Therefore it is evident that the destruction of sin is the only reason for the existence of grief.

"Therefore, let us not grieve anymore for the loss of wealth, but rather only when we commit sin. In this case and this one alone there is great profit in sorrow. Have you been cheated? Don�t be dejected, for that will not help. Have you sinned? Then be sorry, for it is profitable - and consider the skill and wisdom of God. Sin brings forth two things: sorrow and death. For in the day that you eat of it, He said, you shall surely die (Gen. 2:17). And to the woman, He said, In sorrow you shall bring forth children (Gen. 3:16). By both of these things (death and sorrow) He took away sin and provided that the mother (sin) should be destroyed by her offspring (death and sorrow). The martyrs prove death and grief take away sin [note: for martyrdom is a kind of second baptism - or substitute for baptism in the case of those martyred before they can be baptized]. It is also plain from what Paul said to those who had sinned, 'For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep (1 Cor. 11 :30). Thus, he observes, because you sin, you die, so you are freed from sin by death. He goes on to add, For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:31-32). Just as a worm hatched in wood devours the wood, and a moth devours the wood in which it is born, so grief and death were born of sin and devour sin.
"Let us, therefore, not fear death, but fear only sin - and grieve because of it. I do not say these things anticipating anything fearful. God forbid! I speak then wishing you to be always influenced in this manner, and to fulfill the law of Christ in very deed." (4)

B. St. Athanasios summarizes the universality of the fear of death:

"Before the divine advent of the Savior, even the holiest of men were afraid of death, and mourned the dead as those who perish. That is, everyone mourned those who died as entirely lost - as if they were never to meet them again.� (5)

4. Homilies on the Statues, 5:10-14
5. On the Incarnation, 27

Texts from "The Fathers Speak" prepared by Fr. Jank N. Sparks