Just a small break from our regularly scheduled travel programming to consider death on All Saints Day. It’s one of the most difficult subjects to face, but an important one.
All Saints Day – We Are All Traveling Down The Road To Death
Yesterday was Halloween, formally called All Hallows Eve, the day before All Hallows Day, which is more commonly known as All Saints Day on the Christian calendar. Hallowed comes from the old English word meaning holy or sanctified.
I grew up loving trick-or treating. My father would purchase our collected Halloween candy at $5/pound which saved me from cavities (and still allowed me to set aside my favorite treats) and taught me how to save money.
But (and not to sound like an angry old man), I’m really not into the glorification of the underworld (real or imagined), death, and the close link to Samhain (though so many of the Christian holidays conveniently fall upon pagan holidays). In this culture, I’m also not into the mass-market consumerism of another holiday…isn’t it bad enough that we have Valentine’s Day and Christmas to waste money on things we don’t need?
We did not go trick-or-treating last night. So yeah, I’m a scrooge when it comes to Halloween.
But not when it comes to All Saints Day, which occurs today, November 1st. It has given me a chance to reflect upon and speak about death, even to five-year-old Augustine. There’s one thing sure in life: we’re going to die. And embracing that pending death, particularly though a Christian worldview, is something that gives me great peace.
All Saints Day dates back to the 4th century and Protestants (me) generally commemorate all Christians, living and deceased.
The pandemic has showed us the fragility of life…a microscopic virus has ran through the world and led to millions of premature deaths.
We mourn the loss of loved ones and we miss them. But on this day, whatever your faith, ponder that death is coming, reflect upon those that have passed away, and always remember that we know not the day we will die, so cherish the moments you have with those that you love.
I love visiting cemeteries when I travel the world, not because I’m morbid, but because they provide links to the past and tell a story of humanity that leads to greater understanding…what else unites the human family more than the fact that we will all die?
Rather than celebrate goblins and ghouls, I celebrate the remarkable bond between humans that makes death so painful to us, and at least for me, the hope that through death there will be life in abundance.
image: The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs by Far Angelico (circa 1395-1455)
God’s eternal truths that we know of can give us wonderful comfort while in our mortal frame. He loves us and allows us to experience death and pain so we can better appreciate life and goodness.
Thanks for sharing your feelings!
Thank you for these thoughts Matthew. Very helpful!
Amen
Lovely sentiments and I’m sure we can all relate – since we’re all going to die! However I’m an atheist and I’m of the belief that after death, there is nothing. Just as there was, before we were born. I’d love nothing more than to imagine that I will go to this wonderful place called Heaven and meet up again with all the people on Earth that I have loved and who have passed from this life into death. But as Jodie Foster’s character in the film “Contact” declared, I am a person of science. I cannot put faith in something that I cannot see, therefore I cannot live my life according to the beliefs of many who follow a deity that they too, have never seen.
However, I still live my life according to the same beliefs that religious people do. I don’t hurt others. I give where I can. I strive to make other people happy. I’ve worked as a nurse for over twenty years, so I have done A LOT of caring for my fellow man. I don’t steal or intentionally do harm to others. And I don’t kill. I try my hardest to make those around me comfortable and I help them to be their best in this existence called “life” until it ends.
Yet even as a non believer, I don’t fear death. I don’t believe that I will go to some place called Hell. I just think that when I die, it’s all over. I’d like to be proved wrong and God knows, I hope I can be. Because Heaven and all the beliefs regarding life after death sound great! But until somebody returns from being dead like Jesus Christ (and excluding near death experiences in a hospital ER when somebody is resuscitated after a time of being clinically dead), I will keep believing what I believe. I’ve probably opened Pandora’s box now with this comment because I know from travelling around the US so many times in my life, that there are many people in many regions of the USA that are deeply religious. I don’t mean to offend them, and I always accept their beliefs. It’s just that my belief is very different…
Hi Andrew, thank you for sharing your perspective. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I wanted to share the following with you for your consideration (taken from GotQuestions.org – A Christian website that gives Biblical answers to life’s questions):
If you consider yourself an atheist with a sincere interest in truth, there are several things about Christianity we feel are critical to understand. Also, please note that, as a Christian ministry, we have no reason to defend other religious beliefs; so this article deals solely with the biblical Christian faith.
Truth matters, regardless of beliefs.
Integrity is a most important point. You as an individual should be able to explain why you accept or reject some particular view of the world. And your explanation should reflect the actual beliefs in question. This requirement applies universally, even if you prefer to define your atheism as merely “a lack of belief.” We mention this because distortions of religious belief tend to drown out the real thing. It’s common to hear descriptions of Christianity that are profoundly divergent from what Christians actually believe.
In other words, you can’t honestly say you’ve considered the message of Christianity unless you actually know what that message is. Dismissing the existence of George Washington on the basis that stories about him throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac are myths isn’t good reasoning. We cannot allow a caricature to crowd out actual facts and then make a judgment based on the caricature.
We are not suggesting that all atheists are uninformed. On the contrary, we acknowledge that many atheists can articulate the Christian position accurately. However, in our experience, many more self-professed atheists, when asked to give an explanation of Christianity, present a cartoonish view. If we are belaboring this point, it’s only because misrepresentations of Christianity are so often a key component of atheists’ arguments.
Christianity rejects “blind faith.”
Many atheists struggle with the idea of “blind faith,” but the claim that Christians are called to “blind faith” is simply untrue. There is no place in the Bible where human beings are told, “Believe this, just because.” This misunderstanding is due to a mistaken definition of faith. The Bible’s view of faith is best described as “trust.” This is certainly different from “proof,” but faith is never presented as belief without evidence or against all evidence. In fact, the Bible consistently points to historical events as the basis for our faith (Numbers 14:11; John 14:11).
Consider that “absolute proof” is actually rare in human experience. There are virtually no circumstances where anyone has the ability to prove—mathematically, logically, infallibly—anything before he acts. Does this mean we cannot act? No, but it does mean we are constantly acting when we have good reasons but not absolute proof. That, in a nutshell, is the “faith” that the Bible calls for. Rather than calling us to place faith—trust—in the world or other people, Christianity calls on us to place faith—reasonable trust—in God and His message to us.
As an atheist, you exhibit “faith” of this kind every day. The difference is in the object of that faith, not in the substance. You exhibit faith—reasoned trust—every time you sit on a chair without first checking it for stability. You exhibit faith every time you ride in a car without performing an exhaustive inspection. You act on faith whenever you eat food cooked by other people or take medicines provided by a doctor. You cannot have absolute proof that any of these things are reliable, each and every time. But you can have good reasons to trust in them.
Ultimately, you place the same “faith” in your view of the world, atheism. We ask you to consider the fact that, no matter what you believe—or do not believe—you cannot claim to have “proof.” Not in an absolute sense. The reality of human experience is that we cannot know everything. We have no choice but to act in trust—faith—based on what we have good reason to believe, even if we can’t prove it. Christianity is not an escape from reason or a freefall into blind faith. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite: a truth that draws even unwilling converts on the strength of evidence.
Christianity is uniquely tied to reason and evidence.
The Bible is unique in its approach to reason and evidence. Even Jesus Christ appealed to evidence when He was challenged. In John 5, Jesus acknowledges that others won’t—or can’t—believe what He says on blind faith. So He offers three lines of evidence as reasons to trust Him: human testimony, observations, and written records (John 5:30–47). The earliest believers constantly referred to facts and evidence as support for their message (1 Corinthians 15:13–14; 2 Peter 1:16; Luke 1:1–4).
God doesn’t ask us to follow Him blindly (1 Thessalonians 5:21) or ignorantly (Acts 17:11) or without doubts (Jude 1:22). Rather, Christianity offers reasons to believe: evidence in nature (Psalm 19:1), in science (Genesis 1:1), in logic (Isaiah 1:18), in history (Luke 1:1–4), and in human experience (Romans 1:20–21; 1 Peter 5:1). Our website has a large amount of material on each of these areas of evidence.
Modern atheists frequently point to “science” as a catch-all counter to religion. It should be noted that, without a Christian worldview, what we call “modern science” would be impossible. It wasn’t until a culture approached the universe from a Christian perspective that the modern scientific method was born. Science as we know it assumes that the universe is rule-bound, repeatable, knowable, and subject to human manipulation—all of which are uniquely theistic (particularly Judeo-Christian) concepts. Atheism, like modern science, can co-opt those tenets, but they all flow from a theistic worldview.
Also, it bears mentioning that interpretation is not always the same as fact. This is as true in religion as in science. Rejecting or disproving one particular facet of a belief system doesn’t necessarily mean the entire idea is wrong. It might only be that particular idea that is in error. Non-fundamental doctrines, such as the age of the earth, are ultimately secondary to the core message of Christianity. The so-called war between science and religion is truly a myth.
Christianity has the support of experience.
It’s important, at least for the sake of argument, to consider what happens when people actually apply a particular philosophy in the real world. Naturally, no two people have exactly the same understanding of how to live out a specific idea. And people often do things completely contradictory to their stated beliefs. Yet it’s possible to look at world history and see which ideas seem to work and which do not.
Beliefs have consequences. Atheism, like most worldviews, has no particular reason to consider human beings valuable, equal, or meaningful. Just as modern science owes its existence to theism, so too do the concepts of morality, democracy, and human rights. The positive impact of Christianity is clearly seen in history and in current events. The ideas of equality, self-governance, social welfare, and so forth are all rooted in Christian heritage. Even today, cultures with a Christian background are overwhelmingly ahead of non-Christian cultures in the various moral issues most atheists find meaningful.
Popular culture frequently takes the position that Christianity is a philosophy of abuse. Consider the claim that “religion causes war.” According to secular scholars such as Charles Phillips, Gordon Martel, and Alan Axelrod, religious motivations only factor into about 6 or 7 percent of all the wars in human history. Remove Islam from consideration, and that number drops by more than half. In truth, Christianity’s emphasis on compassion and peace has done far more to prevent and soften violence than it has to inspire it.
If you’re an atheist who rejects Christianity on the grounds that it’s anti-science, blind faith, or abusive, please reconsider the evidence. Those accusations are based on false narratives and caricatures. Comedians and celebrities can repeat them ad nauseam, but that doesn’t make them true.
Atheism means Christianity is worth consideration.
If the practical effects of a belief system matter in a culture, then they also matter in one’s personal life. Atheists of all stripes throughout history have pointed out a major problem with atheistic thinking: nihilism. Belief in pure naturalism or the complete lack of any deity has logical implications.
Force of logic leads atheists to reject objective morality, meaning, purpose, and so forth. This is a dominant struggle in atheistic philosophy: how to stave off nihilism or cope with its implications. This is the reason atheism, more than any other worldview, has lent itself as justification of the atrocities of dictators.
Ironically, this means that atheism itself presents good reasons to at least consider the Christian worldview. Why? If there is no meaning, purpose, or ultimate plan, then we might as well choose the worldview that leads to the best results: one that provides intellectual satisfaction, personal fulfillment, meaning, order, and morality.
The best possible option—the one that leads to the best results—is Christianity. Not that this makes Christianity true by default or that anyone can convince himself against his own will. But it’s at least a reason to take the claims of the Bible seriously. And, of course, Christianity deserves better than a shallow, meme-driven, or cartoonish approach. Atheist pundits have sometimes spoken of acting “as if” there is meaning when they “know” there is none. In that context, it’s hardly unreasonable to nominate the Bible as a reasonable option for voluntary belief.
Christianity offers hope and meaning.
As you’ve seen, our view of Christianity is in no sense driven by “wishful thinking.” We firmly believe that reason, logic, and evidence are important aspects of a vibrant faith. At the same time, we acknowledge that intellect and reason are not the complete picture of human experience.
Every person has his own reasons for his beliefs or lack thereof. Often, these reasons are more emotionally driven than we’d like to admit. The message of the gospel is not one human beings instinctively prefer. But, once a person truly understands the biblical Christian worldview, the caricatures and myths fall away, and what’s left is compelling and powerful.
To you, the atheist, we’d respectfully like to summarize that biblical message as follows:
God loves you so much that He made a way to be forgiven for every sin, so you can spend eternity with Him. The Bible says that each person needs to be saved (Romans 3:23), each person can be saved (Romans 1:16), and God wants each person to be saved (2 Peter 3:9).
What separates us from God is sin. No matter how good we think we are, we are all guilty of sin (1 John 1:10). Since God is absolutely perfect, everyone deserves to be separated from Him forever (Romans 5:16). No amount of effort, good deeds, money, talent, or achievement is enough to take away this guilt (Isaiah 64:6). Fortunately, God doesn’t want us to be separated from Him, so He made a way to fix what’s broken (John 3:16–17).
That one and only way is through faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6). God Himself came to earth as a human, living a perfect and sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). He willingly died as a sacrifice to pay the debt for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). According to the Scriptures, anyone can be “saved”—forgiven by God and guaranteed heaven—through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13). This isn’t a call for blind, ignorant belief (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1). It’s an invitation from God to submission and trust (James 4:7). It’s a choice to let go of everything else in order to rely entirely on God.
Christianity still has more to offer.
We fully understand that no single article, answer, or conversation can completely cover every possible detail. There are thousands of legitimate questions and concerns related to the Christian faith. We respect all people, including atheists, who are willing to seek truth in depth.
Even if you don’t think that Christianity is true, we sincerely hope you’ll continue to learn more about it. You have nothing to lose. At the worst, you’ll have a more accurate understanding. At best, you’ll come to realize what so many other skeptics have: that Jesus is, in fact, the truth.
Have you made a decision for Christ because of what you have read here? If so, please click on the “I have accepted Christ today” button below.
Sir, this is an Arby’s.
A atheist nurse who ” has done A LOT of caring for my fellow man” … sounds like he may work at a hospital in West Hollywood!
Yeah, except I live in Sydney, Australia…..
What is wrong with you?
Preach
Wow! Way too much to digest for Halloween. Besides, I come to Matthew’s “Live and Lets Fly” page every day to read about airline news, especially the airline reviews. Not to deal with religion. Can we please just leave it at that, so that I can go back to reading about Matthew’s next adventure in the world of travel??
I’ve never heard of this day.