Spiritual death

The concept of spiritual death has varying meanings in various uses and contexts.

Christianity

In Christian theology, spiritual death is separation from God caused by sin.^[1]

Buddhism

Buddhadasa called duḥkha spiritual death.^[2] Sangharakshita uses the term "spiritual death" to describe one stage in a system of meditation, where insight is gained into delusions about our existence.^[3]

Other views

Followers of Ascended Master movements such as the Theosophical Society, I AM Foundation, and Elizabeth Clare Prophet have a different definition of the second death, the final extinguishing of the identity of a soul deemed by God to be beyond redemption. In this theology, people are believed to continue to reincarnate for many lifetimes on Earth with one of two final outcomes: 1) Reunion with God in the ritual of the Ascension, like Jesus, or 2) Final judgment at the "court of the sacred fire," where the soul would be destroyed forever.^{[citation needed]}

The Unification Church teaches that spiritual death is the state of separation from God, but that it is not ever irreversible.^{[citation needed]}

Secular usage

Social science

John B. Calhoun saw the social breakdown of a population of mice given ample resources as a second death. He saw this as a metaphor for the potential fate of man in an overcrowded but resource rich environment and made reference to the second death of the Book of Revelation.^[4] Conservative Christian writers, such as Bill Perkins, have echoed this warning.^[5]

Famous quotes

In his famous anti-war address "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence," delivered 4 April 1967 at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City, Martin Luther King Jr. observed that "[a] nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

References

^ Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Zondervan, 1994): 810.
^ Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, "Happiness and Hunger", 1986 Archived 6 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^ [1]
^ John B. Calhoun, "Death Squared: The Explosive Growth and Demise of a Mouse Population" Proc. roy. Soc. Med. Volume 66 January 1973, pp80-88
^ Bill Perkins, "Six Battles Every Man Must Win", Tyndale Press, 1993, p 10

External links

Happiness & Hunger

[Grudem-1] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Zondervan, 1994): 810.

[2] Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, "Happiness and Hunger", 1986 Archived 6 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[3] [1]

[mice-4] John B. Calhoun, "Death Squared: The Explosive Growth and Demise of a Mouse Population" Proc. roy. Soc. Med. Volume 66 January 1973, pp80-88

[5] Bill Perkins, "Six Battles Every Man Must Win", Tyndale Press, 1993, p 10

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