Category Archives: Death
The Bible doesn’t say
Thought, Sola Panel
A few weeks ago, Bobby died. It happened quite quickly. On Thursday, he was sitting merrily on his perch. On Friday, he was shivering and looking pretty unimpressed with life. On Saturday morning, he was standing on the floor of the cage with his eyes half open, rocking back and forth. At lunchtime, when the kids and I took him to the vet, he had decided it would be best to have a little lie down. The vet was kind but decisive.
We took Bobby home in a very small plastic bag. There were tears. My wife’s former history teacher (that’s a whole other story) dug a hole in the backyard, and another friend of ours found a little mournful-looking stone dog to act as headstone. Family, friends and the former history teacher prayed together that God would comfort us in our loss.
Then came the inevitable question from the 6-year-old: “Is Bobby in heaven now?” Hmm. I know that there will be a new, physical creation (Isa 65:17), and it seems like the new creation will contain, at the very least, contented wolves, baby sheep, lions, cattle and humiliated snakes (Isa 65:25). But will there be a spiritual continuity of identity between the Bobby we knew and a particular budgie in the hereafter? There didn’t seem to be enough biblical data to form a meaningful answer. So I answered as I only could: “The Bible doesn’t say”.
When life’s Donne
Up front
These famous words reflect life in another time. Death was announced to all by the clanging of the local church bell. Without knowing who had died, you were reminded that you belonged to the race of Adam—the inheritors of death. (more…)
Responding to the fires
Life, Sola Panel
Every morning I wake up and it’s okay—until, with a dull thud, it comes back to me: image after image of people who died in the fires; rows of army tents with homeless people staying in them; entire communities that have been wiped out; my friend whose parents lost their house; a family known to me who died in their car in their driveway; a 12-year-old girl, badly burned, whose parents and sister died. (more…)
Virtues we dislike: mortification
Up front, Sola Panel
The story of the Bible can be summarized in two words: death and resurrection. Ultimately, the story of the Bible is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is the core of the story we call the ‘gospel’. But this basic story also finds its expression in many different and complementary ways throughout the Scriptures. To take just a few examples:
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The stinger of death
Con Campbell contemplates a pointed little part of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
“The sting of death is sin”: that’s what 1 Corinthians 15:56 tells us. Appearing at the end of a wonderful discussion about the resurrection of Christ and the hope of resurrection for those who trust in him, this little phrase can cause Christians much confusion. In what sense is the sting of death sin? (more…)
A hitchhiker’s guide to the underworld
Thought, Sola Panel
What is the underworld? What are evil spirits and demons? Should we fear death and the devil, and does Jesus really make a difference with these things? Tony Payne talks to Peter Bolt, author of Living with the Underworld, to get some answers.
Living with the Underworld
I like to think of the city of Melbourne as being a nice place to live—more predictable and safer than its cousin Sydney, full of cul-de-sacs, footy carnivals, Neighbours and cappuccinos. But apparently it too has a dark underbelly—a monstrous flipside peopled by drug dealers, crime gangs and hit men engaged in a bitter, deadly war. It turns out this other Melbourne was there all along—imperceptible to its more decent citizens until it was shockingly revealed. (more…)
Podcast: A hitchhiker’s guide to the underworld
Audio
Tony Payne interviews Peter Bolt, author of ‘Living with the Underworld’, about demons, death, the devil and the difference Jesus makes (MP3).
Dying alone
Couldn't Help Noticing
A recent news item was profoundly sad and troubling. A man who had died in his bed possibly as long as a year ago, has only just been discovered. (more…)