March 2014: Even unto death

Why is talking about death so difficult? How can we think about our own mortality in a way that is life-giving? Join us on March 8th, 8pm, with refreshments in the cafe afterwards.

Vitam Venturi Saeculi – The Life of the World to Come

The above words are taken from the Nicene Creed, in Latin and English. A creed is an expression of belief, and life after death is necessarily a belief – nobody knows what will happen after death. As Shakespeare put it in Hamlet's soliloquy, death is "The undiscover'd country from whose bourn /No traveller returns…"

To think about: What do you believe about life after death? What informs your beliefs (or otherwise)? Your faith, Scripture, Christian tradition, the beliefs of other people?

Some examples of the beliefs of other people appear below. CS Lewis, in Mere Christianity, asserts belief in everlasting life and gives some indication of what he expects it to be like. Two Christian ministers, both dying of cancer, provide contrasting beliefs.

Extracts from Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, and articles by David Goodbourn and Mark Ashton.