- Spiritual death
In
Christian theology , Spiritual Death is defined as a spiritual separation from God, usually brought on bysin . Christians believe that both spiritual death and physical death (defined in this context to be the separation of the body and the soul) were brought into the world through theThe Fall of Man .Some Christians believe that whereas a man only suffers physical death once, he can suffer spiritual death every time he sins. Others believe that once made alive through Christ, a believer is no longer subject to spiritual death (although he loses a state of fellowship with God when he sins, and must confess to regain this state of fellowship).
Some Christian religions define
Hell as the ultimate spiritual death; being completely removed from the presence of God both physically and spiritually. This is also called the Second Death.Followers of
Ascended Master movements such as theTheosophical Society ,I AM Foundation , andElizabeth Clare Prophet have a different definition of the second death: The final extinguishing of the identity of a soul deemed by God to be beyond redemption. In this theology, people are believed to continue to reincarnate for many lifetimes on Earth with one of two final outcomes: 1) Reunion with God in the ritual of the Ascension, likeJesus , or 2) Final judgment at the "court of the sacred fire," where the soul would be destroyed forever.The
Unification Church teaches that spiritual death is the state of separation from God, but that it is not ever irreversible.Famous Quotes
In his famous
anti-war address " [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence] ," delivered 4 April 1967 at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned atRiverside Church inNew York City ,Dr. Martin Luther King observed that " [a] nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
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