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8
FOREWORD
thenbyshowingstrongsupporttothosewhohavelosttheirdearone.
Nowadays,deathandallthatisrelatedtoittakeplaceinsecret.Ithas
becomethedomainofspecialists.Ithasbeenappropriatedbymedi-
cineasapowerfulandde-individualizedsocialforce.Suchsubordina-
tionofindividualstotherightsofthesocialgroup,includingthemed-
icalcircles,isdirectlyrelatedtotheexcessivemedicalizationofdeath
characteristicofthemodelof“barbarian”deathwhichcametostay
forgoodatthebeginningofourcentury.
„Barbarian”deathistheresultof„barbarian”lifewhichhasbe-
comeidentifiedbycontemporarymanwithvitalityandunlimitedsat-
isfactionofone’sownbiologicalneeds,andthusdeprivedofitstran-
scendentalvalue.Awayofrestoringthephenomenonofdeathtoits
properplacewithinthesphereofhumanexperienceshouldtherefore
besoughtinsuchwayofexperiencinghumanexistenceinwhichthere
isplaceforboththelaughterofjoyandthetearsofsorrow.Itappears,
however,thiscannotbeachievedwithoutconsideringtheissueofthe
essenceofdeath.
Thispublicationisdevotedtoanimportantanddifficultissue.Im-
portantbecausedeathis,inaway,theendofourlife;difficultbe-
causethefearoftheideaofevolutionhasnotbeenfullyovercomeyet.
Theauthorhasundertakenadiscussionoftheevolutionaryconceptof
man’sdeathanditsimplications,andanextensionofthatdiscussion
toincludethecreativeactofGodunderstoodinevolutionaryterms.
Thusoutlined,theprojectrequiresrelevantanthropologicalknowl-
edgeinbothnaturalsciencesandphilosophy.Itisthereforeimportant
toemphasizetherelevanceofissuesdiscussedinthisbook,bothfrom
thescientificandphilosophicalpointofview,andintermsofaccepted
worldviews.ThispublicationintroducestheReadertoapeacefulway
ofgoingthroughuntimelydeath,whetherinflictedononeselforon
others.
Itappearsthattheissueofhumandeathisoneofthoseproblemsof
Christiananthropologyandeschatologywhicharemorefullyillumi-
natedbythenewinterpretationoftheessenceofhumandeathafforded
byphilosophicalreflection.Suchreflectionjustasisthecasewith
theevolutionaryconceptofhumandeathshouldtakeintoaccount