Time&Eternity

Biblical and Theological Conceptions of Time 115
of time in the last section of this chapter, I would like to conclude this
analysis of death by providing a sketch of some criteria for a Christian understanding
of death.
Theological Criteria of a Christian Understanding of Death
First: Death is death—nothing more, nothing less. That death is not less
than death means that death cannot be avoided by postulating an immortal
soul. Death is the collapse of all relations; it is the beginning and the event
of absolute non-relationality, 405 and, as such, it must be taken seriously 406
and suffered as the “anthropological passive.” 407 That death is not more than
death, however, means that it has to be reduced to that limit which humans
cannot set, for humans cannot abolish it. 408 Thus, death must be and become
what Jesus Christ made of it: the limit to human beings that is set by
God alone, who, in our total powerlessness, never abuses divine power. 409
Second: Space, time, and language as the factors limiting human existence
prevent us from knowing what is in and after death. Liberation from
these boundaries can be achieved only by paying the price of death. 410 In
the condition of not knowing, images fulfill a function; they are the mythological
fruit of human fantasy, however, and, as such, should not be used as
“signposts in a supernatural geography.” 411
Third: Because death is death and because not knowing shrouds human
existence prior to death, death is the radical collapse in which God becomes
all in all (1 Cor. 15:28). A new, eternal order of relations is established on
God’s ultimate faithfulness and God’s eternal will to establish lasting relationships
with human beings. 412 Talk of eternal life that has already begun is
possible only in light of God’s desire to relate.
Fourth: Collapse and transformation must be understood in light of the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christian faith in the resurrection of
the dead can therefore be proclaimed “as a new beginning out of the devastating
nothingness of death.” 413
Fifth: The connection of human beings–time–relation/communication–history
needs to be related to an Other in order not to fall apart. For a
theology of time, this means: The lifetime of a person becomes genuinely
historical only when it is understood as a moment of God’s history with all
people. 414 An understanding of eternity as the effective Other of time is in
the offing here.
Sixth: A Christian conception of death cannot be limited to reflections
upon the death of human beings. The anthropocentric boundary should be
abolished by applying a cosmic perspective.
The criteria that have been briefly discussed here elicit questions that we
must pursue: How can something be radical discontinuity and a complete