HW 54 - Independent Research B

[For my research, I consulted the Bible and interviewed a Polish priest, Richard Wtorek]

I was born a Catholic Christian. I go to church, where reciting the Nicene Creed (first adopted in Nicaea in year 325) is one of the main parts of the mass. In the statement of creed, death is mentioned twice: "For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again" and "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come". Because this creed is what the Catholic faith is characterized by, it means that my religion is actually based on death, and the life of a soul afterwards. If this is the case, do we have to die in order to live?

"Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:20-33). This line quite literally means that a seed has potential, but only when it stops existing as an actual grain (i.e. dies) is it able to live its full life and bear fruit. One of the jobs of a priest when dealing with a family whose loved one has passed away is helping them realize that death is not the final part of a person's life, and that "it is the love of Jesus Christ that will save a person from death" (Wtorek). This makes sense; the grain of wheat is an analogy to our lives - we can live fully and eternally only after death.

This eternal life, however, does not come for free. We need to believe in Jesus in order for our souls to be resurrected, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?' " (John 11:25-26). This is also mentioned in the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom 10:9). I compared this to the answer of Father Richard: "if the relatives of the dead person have strong faith, it helps them". Indeed, if a person believes that their dead relative believed in Jesus, then they can be assured that he, the dead, will be resurrected. In conclusion, according to the Bible, people of other religions who do not believe in Jesus and his resurrection will simply die with no hope of any form of afterlife. This isn't really fair, now is it?

Resurrection is what every Christian believes, or should believe, is the greatest triumph. If we believe in Jesus and his resurrection, we will be rewarded with the resurrection of our own spirit, which will then live forever. 

"The Word of God about the promise of Resurrection is also what shows that we will be able to meet our relatives once again on the Final Day" (Wtorek). Despite appearances, death is not the end of our lives; it is just the beginning.

A body does not play a great role in eternal life - it is the soul that is important. This could be one of the main reasons why the Catholic Church "allows this form of burial" (Wtorek). This is fortunate, taking into account that we will, one day, face the inevitable lack of burial space. Cremation will be the best solution, allowing the soul to rest and wait for its resurrection "dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return", quotes Father Richard.

Based on the Bible and its references to life after death, every single one of us is like a small plant seed. Over the course of our lives and existence, we are simply waiting for our souls to bloom from our bodies, which happens after our physical form disappears "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection" (Rom 6:5).