Death, or something like him

[ProdglArchitect]

So, I’ve been watching a lot of The Twilight Zone recently, and there are several episodes in the series that dea with death. In many of these, they make Death and entity, a being that interacts with people. In some he lets them know they are dying, in others he is secretive about it.

My question is, how do we, as Catholics, approach the topic of Death as an entity? Is there anything in scripture or tradition to support the notion that death is an actual entity, or do we treat it as an abstract?

 

[aspirant]

Is there anything in scripture or tradition to support the notion that death is an actual entity, or do we treat it as an abstract?

There is a lot of traditional material in which death is personified. This is not understood in a literalistic manner, however.

 

[GEddie]

Death is simply the law of entropy taking command of our human bodies, thus disrupting our being, as a divine punishment.

There is no scripture or other Church teaching concerning the existence a “Death being.” There is, however, an angel of death in the Exodus.

ICXC NIKA.

 

[Least]

If you die spectacularly, as in an X-games event, sometimes St. Peter says “that was precious, you get to play again”.

 

[aspirant]

One example of death personified appears in the popular “Canticle of Brother Sun”:

“Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Death, from whom no-one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.”

 

[Least]

I don’t mean to suggest re-incarnation, I just mean GOD lets them put humpty-dumpty back together.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

Hmm, alright. Thank you for the responses. This is something I’ve wondered about before, but never really had a place to ask ^^

 

[SonCatcher]

One example of death personified appears in the popular “Canticle of Brother Sun”:

“Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Death, from whom no-one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.”

 

[Aelred_Minor]

As others have suggested, death often gets personified in a literary sense, including in the Bible, but this does not mean it is a personal being.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

As others have suggested, death often gets personified in a literary sense, including in the Bible, but this does not mean it is a personal being.

Not going to lie, this sort of makes me sad. I always liked the idea of someone coming to let me know my time was coming up so I could take the opportunity to get my affairs in order and give my wife one last kiss goodbye.

 

[GEddie]

Not going to lie, this sort of makes me sad. I always liked the idea of someone coming to let me know my time was coming up so I could take the opportunity to get my affairs in order and give my wife one last kiss goodbye.

No goodbyes for me, I hope.

And, in any case, if such a warning were the norm in human life, the Church would not need to warn everybody about an unprepared death!

The only warning we can probably count on is waking up unable to breathe.

ICXC NIKA

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Not going to lie, this sort of makes me sad. I always liked the idea of someone coming to let me know my time was coming up so I could take the opportunity to get my affairs in order and give my wife one last kiss goodbye.

If the biblical Death was a real person he would probably not be a wholesome one to meet, since he’s cast into the lake of fire and sulfur near the end of the book of Revelation.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

If the biblical Death was a real person he would probably not be a wholesome one to meet, since he’s cast into the lake of fire and sulfur near the end of the book of Revelation.

You raise a valid point… I guess in my mind, those who receive God’s mercy were visited by one manifestation of death, while those who rejected God’s mercy were visited by another. There was nothing Biblical about this, just my personal conception.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

This we speak to death as if it were an entity or could at least receive a message, but it isn’t so clearly personified in adjacent verses.

1 Cor 15:55
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”