Ghosts are a particular manifestation of a belief in life after death. Though the specifics vary among groups, a ghost is generally understood to be the disembodied spirit or soul of a once-living person.
There is some truth to the old saying, “There are only two things you can count on in life: death and taxes.”
Regardless of race, religion, geographical area, or time period, every human has wondered about the one fact of life that unifies us all: What is death?
Have you ever wondered what it is like in the “valley of death?” It doesn’t sound like a fun place to be. In reality, there is no such place as the valley of death. The phrase is a popularized misquotation of the Judeo-Christian Bible.
Is there an afterlife? If so, is it immediate? Is it bodily or spiritual? How is it different than the life we know now? Is everything bigger and better? Do we gain more wisdom? More power?
Knowing the circumstances of your death, would you try to avoid those circumstances? If your death was from heart disease, would you quit smoking? Become vegetarian? Try your hardest to avoid your predicted death and circumvent the prophecy in any way possible?
So what, exactly, happens when we die? Heaven? Hell? Reincarnation? Nothing?
The subjects of death and religion are inherently linked. If something does await us after we die, a supernatural being like a god must be involved.
Death is nearly as old as life itself on this planet, and its roots are from even earlier.
Any study of the nature of death begs an important foundational question: Why must things die in the first place?
Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, came to earth to live a sinless life and die bearing the sins of every man, woman, and child throughout time, thus redeeming the fallen race from the plague of death and offering eternal life to anyone who is willing to accept it. But how, exactly, will this solution come about?