What's the point of death? (in a religious viewpoint)

[ArandomTheorist]

So all things die, thats a given. There are also people who believe in a god, which is ok. But if there is a higher being we call god, then what's the point of death? Death stops humans from thinking, learning, sharing that knowledge, and possibly sharing their belief in god. There is the point of a afterlife, but why need a afterlife if you just don't die in the first place? Some would say that the afterlife is there to get closer to god, but then why doesn't god just communicate with humans in the physical plane. Whereabout science teaches that currently death is just there, and hopefully we can overcome death someday. Believers and non-believers alike can reply with your take, and maybe find a reasonable answer. 🙂

[iNow]

The afterlife strikes me as a story manufactured to ease the anxiety so often caused by not knowing what (if anything) happens when we die, also to soften the pain of survivors. 

Edited April 10, 2020 by iNow

[swansont]

1 hour ago, iNow said:

The afterlife strikes me as a story manufactured to ease the anxiety so often caused by not knowing what (if anything) happens when we die, also to soften the pain of survivors. 

Also a way of controlling people. “Follow the rules now and things will be better when you die” 

[Curious layman]

2 hours ago, ArandomTheorist said:

Death stops humans from thinking, learning, sharing that knowledge, and possibly sharing their belief in god. 🙂

I disagree with this. To me knowing death is unavoidable helps me put things in perspective, what's important and what's not. It makes me curious about life, makes me ask questions. It's a motivator to do something with your life, to not waste it.

Knowing the people you love will one day not be there brings you closer together I think. As I get older the thought of my mother dying is quite humbling to me, it stops me from taking her for granted. 

 

[Phi for All]

2 hours ago, ArandomTheorist said:

Whereabout science teaches that currently death is just there, and hopefully we can overcome death someday.

Prolonging life doesn't equal overcoming death. I don't think anybody in science is teaching that death might be avoided.

Perhaps if we look at life as more efficient than non-life in terms of using energy from the sun? Then death can be seen as a recycling of the mechanisms that make future life possible. Or considering that all the bits that actually create a new life are alive themselves, perhaps evolution shows us that life is a continuous process that death is part of.

[ArandomTheorist]

3 hours ago, Curious layman said:

I disagree with this. To me knowing death is unavoidable helps me put things in perspective, what's important and what's not. It makes me curious about life, makes me ask questions. It's a motivator to do something with your life, to not waste it.

Knowing the people you love will one day not be there brings you closer together I think. As I get older the thought of my mother dying is quite humbling to me, it stops me from taking her for granted. 

 

Thank you for bringing this up. So I guess death can be beneficial in some ways, other than the fact that corpses bring nutrients to decomposers. 

3 hours ago, Phi for All said:

Prolonging life doesn't equal overcoming death. I don't think anybody in science is teaching that death might be avoided.

Perhaps if we look at life as more efficient than non-life in terms of using energy from the sun? Then death can be seen as a recycling of the mechanisms that make future life possible. Or considering that all the bits that actually create a new life are alive themselves, perhaps evolution shows us that life is a continuous process that death is part of.

You are right on that, because I doubt anything can last forever. And I agree with you on the "death is apart of life" and that the sooner we accept that, the better we will be.