Why is death not accepted among men, why are we surprised to think that one day we will die, what is there after death?Would existentialists be right to say that man is one?To be dying?”
The above questions concern us. These are important and relevant existential issues. Men have always thought of death and have always longed for eternity. There are several cultural productions that deal with immortality. From Greek culture, to the Nordic countries and reaching the Middle Ages, are several stories tell about it?Elixir of life? Whether it’s the delicacy of the Olympic gods or something drawn from the philosopher’s stone by alchemists, or even a source of youth, all relationships convey the desire for eternity.
- Ad Vitam.
- A French series available on Netflix.
- Has as its premise a company that “beat death”.
- Through a procedure called ‘regeneration’.
- People retain their youthful appearance and physiology.
- The oldest woman in the world is 169 years old and her birthday is a big world party.
- Her appearance is that of a young woman in her thirties.
- Another one in the series reveals that she is over 80 years old can get pregnant and is trying to have a child with her husband?-Old cop.
- Everything’s perfect.
- Will it be?.
No! There is no perfection in society in Ad Vitam. There’s a problem of overcrowding, because people don’t die. Is there a conflict between un regenerated youth and their regenerated parents?In the plot, it is only possible to regenerate after 30 years, what prolongs the age of majority?And not all are compatible with the regeneration procedure. There is also the weight of the accumulation of memories, which leads to addiction. And finally, the insignificance experienced by those who believe that all this is artificial. In the midst of so many dysfunctions, parricide and suicide are routine threats in this idyllic future where people shouldn’t die.
But why, in a society that prolongs life and grants lasting youth, cannot live without such conflicts?CS Lewis, in the first book of your famous Chronicles of Narnia, the sorcerer’s nephew gives us a good clue. Speaking of the golden tree that is a good that narnians must keep, the children interrupt Aslam’s speech and say that the witch had already eaten this fruit, the girl Polly wants to know if something is wrong and if the witch will not. be young to eat the fruit out of time. The creator of Narnia then replies:
? Unfortunately, he’ll be young and all that. Things work the way they are. She possesses the power and endurance of a goddess. But eternity with an evil heart is the end of unhappiness. Everyone gets what they want, but they’re not always satisfied with it. [1]
The scriptures tell us that this world is evil (1 John 5:19). And this is because man has sinned and his sin has had bad consequences that have affected all that God has created (Genesis 3). effects of sin. ” Therefore, even if he longs for the eternal, man will find no satisfaction in this evil world. However, this was not the beginning of creation (Genesis 1), including the principle of human life. God created man to share with them the eternal communion that exists in the Godhead. Man’s creation is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost inviting him to be part of the eternal joy that exists in the Trinitarian relationship. The Trinitarian God makes an alliance with humanity and is the relational basis of the creature with the Creator. Sin is the breaking of this covenant.
The biblical narrative begins with creation and immediately reports the fall, but it is not the whole story. There is a redemptive plan that is also presented in the account of the entry of sin into the world (Genesis 3. 15). It is the drama of redemption that has Christ as the protagonist and the highlight of the plot is in the proxy sacrifice where the innocent die for the guilty and free them from their notic effects. Redeemed man can enjoy eternity not as “the perpetuity of unhappiness”but as a just person whose heart has been regenerated by the person and work of Christ Jesus. How perfect is the narrative arc of the Bible!
When man fell into sin, he was cast out of the garden for not eating from the tree of life and for having lived eternity with the burden of sinful condition on his shoulders; God keeps the tree with cherubs and a sword of fire, rather than a punishment, We have here an act of divine mercy: the Lord not only forbade man to have access to eternity, but he provided the means to bring down the wicked condition of man in righteousness and thus guaranteed access to life: anyone who has ears hears what the Spirit says to the people Churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise (Revelation 2:7). And this victory is not achieved by the merit of every human being: they have earned it by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of the testimony which they have given; in the face of death, they did not love life itself (Revelation 12:11).
Eternity without redemption is not a path ad vitam, it is ad mortem! Eternal life in fullness only in Jesus. Humanity can never live alone forever. And this is latent in every human heart, it is so much that even in cultural productions we can see the frustrated path of the entire human race trusting in itself to achieve perfection in this wicked world. May our hope and faith be based on that of Christ. words: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14: 6).
[1] The Chronicles of Narnia? Single volume. Martins Fontes, p. 92.