Death and Human Destiny | PDF

The concept of human destiny and life after death 1
THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN DESTINY AND LIFE AFTER DEATH
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The concept of human destiny and life after death 2
The concept of human destiny and life after death
Introduction
The composers of various songs do that with the main aim of conveying a certain
message to its audience. Also, songs are very key in fostering values and principles to the
members of the society because they are a specific message or information. For a long time even
today, there are several questions asked concerning the destiny of humankind and what happens
after death and whether there is still a continuity of life or not. Destiny here involves the future
of the members of the society more so after death. In this essay, will discuss an example of a
secular song which tries to talk about life after death and later link it to one of the religious
belief, Christianity.
Example of a song that conveys human destiny and afterlife
For a long period of time, there has been a big question and debate on whether there is
life after death, that is, whether there is a continuation of life after life. Religious groups and
even the singers have tried to provide information on the destiny of humankind. One of the
secular song done by Evanessence called ‘my immortal' tries to explain and convey the message
that there is life after death and that life still continues even after the person had died. In the
song, Evanessance mourns her father but she says that she is happy because she is hoping to see
her father again in the other world that people go after death (Kadar, et al, 2015).
The teaching of Christianity on the afterlife and human destiny
Many people kept on asking what really happens when one dies and whether there is a
destiny for those who die. All these questions according to Christians were answered when Jesus
in the Bible resurrected the dead and also said that those who believe in him (Jesus Christ) will

The concept of human destiny and life after death 3
not die and that they will have an eternal life. Christians believe that there is an eternal life
awaiting those who believe in Jesus Christ (Burns and Jensen, 2014). They believe that this
world is not their home. Their eternal home is in heaven and that those who die as Christians
leave the mourners with a hope that one day they will reconcile and share their moments which
they used to do while on earth. Christians believe that there is a great destiny for them that have
received Jesus (Bowers, 2016).
They believe that in the new world after death, there will be no working, getting sick,
getting tired among others. The song by Evanessance called ‘my immortal' though secular tries
to convey the information to the members of the society that there is life after death and that the
destiny of the humankind is safe (Richards and Bergin, 2014). The tradition of Christianity holds
that God's indention of the creation of a man was to live eternally. After committing the first sin,
sin covered the world but God gave out his only son to restore us to God and give us eternal life
which when people dies belief that shall resurrect and reunite with fellow saints. The theme and
concept of having a destiny afterlife make life worthy of living (Barker, 2018).
The effectiveness of the song in conveying the message of what happens afterlife
Songs across the world have very strong values and information that the listeners want to
hear and help in answering the question of what happens after life. Moreover, the song is very
effective and relevant to the theme of human destiny and afterlife because it tries to educate the
people that life goes not end after death instead there is a continuation of life and people are able
to meet again in future after death has separated them. The song tries to make people understand
that Evanessence's father has not died eternally but that they will meet again. She says, "One day
I hope to see you again". People want to live forever. No one wants to hear that he or she will
permanently disappear from the face of the earth (Kim and Kim, 2016). This song, therefore,

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tries to give meaning to life and give people hope that once they disappear from the face of the
earth, they will still reunion one day. This makes people live in hope and expecting to meet their
loved ones one day (Hamilton, 2015).
Christians believe that the spirit of the dead still remains and it is still watching the
people left on earth. This message is well articulated in this song where Evanessence says that
her father is still watching over her. Moreover, Christian beliefs that death is one of relieving a
person from pain. In the song, Evanessence says that her father had a lot of pain but he is no
longer in pain because death took it away. She says," I'm glad you let go now you're no longer in
pain"(Flannelly, 2017).
Conclusion
In conclusion, therefore, the question and worries of human destiny and what happens
afterlife becomes very crucial and also a mystery to most individuals. Christianity as one of the
regions has tried to help in finding a solution to the question of the afterlife. It emphasizes the
belief of life after death and that people will live eternally. It holds that individual will get
reunited one day when Jesus will come for his people. This belief is still emphasized in the song
‘my immortal' by Evanessence. She outlines that she is hoping to meet her father one day. This is
to mean that her beliefs that her father did not die forever but his death was a continuation in the
other world awaiting reunion makes it be same compared to the Christianity belief of human
destiny and afterlife. This belief has given meaning and purpose to life because people know that
when death separates them here, there is a great hope of reunion and meeting each other one day.

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References
Barker, E., 2018. The scientific study of religion? You must be joking!. In Cults in Context (pp.
5-28). Routledge.
Bowers, J.E., 2016. One Priest's Wondering Beliefs: Progressive Christianity: a Critical Review
of Christian Doctrines. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 80(4), pp. 1484-1515.
Burns, J.P. and Jensen, R.M., 2014. Christianity in Roman Africa: the development of its
practices and beliefs. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 38(7), pp. 34-46.
Flannelly, K.J., 2017. Religion and Death Anxiety. In Religious Beliefs, Evolutionary
Psychiatry, and Mental Health in America (pp. 153-164). Springer, Cham.
Hamilton, T., 2015. Immortal longings: FWH Myers and the Victorian search for life after
death. Andrews UK Limited, 106(5), pp. 581-585.
Kadar, J.L., Scott, A.B., Hipp, K., Belavich, T.G., Butfer, E.M., Rye, M.S., Cole, B., Pargament,
K.I. and Zinnbauer, B.J., 2015. Religion and spirituality: Unfuzzying the fuzzy. In Sociology of
Religion (pp. 29-34). Routledge.
Kim, S. and Kim, K., 2016. Christianity as a World Religion: An Introduction. Bloomsbury
Publishing, 12(5), pp. 1240-1289.
Richards, P. and Bergin, A.E., 2014. Handbook of psychotherapy and religious diversity.
American Psychological Association.