“It is in the face of death that the riddle of a human existence grows most acute”

President Trump announced on Truth Social yesterday that he had “a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia” as they discussed ending the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later said he had also spoken with Mr. Trump about a “lasting, reliable peace.”

According to Mr. Trump, a meeting is being set up for tomorrow at an annual security conference in Munich, with talks led by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

If a just end could be found to this horrific war, millions in Ukraine and Russia would obviously be spared further violence. However, unless you live in those nations, you are probably reading this news more out of general interest than existential engagement.

By contrast, this ABC News headline is guaranteed to catch everyone’s eye: “Chances of asteroid striking Earth in the next decade has nearly doubled, NASA says.” The asteroid, discovered just after Christmas, could strike our planet on December 22, 2032. The rock measures as much as a football field in diameter. If it were to directly hit a city, millions could die. There’s no way to be sure you and I won’t be in that number.

Here’s the part the headline leaves out, however: the odds of being impacted by the asteroid have only risen from 1.3 percent to 2.1 percent. But still, you’d rather they be 0 percent, as would I.

Why our unconscious “behaves as if immortal”

Over the next seven years, we’ll have plenty more to worry about, from the threat of a bird flu pandemic to fears of nuclear war, annihilation by AI, and who knows what threats we don’t yet know. We didn’t know about the COVID-19 pandemic until we did, and it caused life expectancy to drop across the US.

According to Sigmund Freud, “Our unconscious does not believe in its own death; it behaves as if immortal.” Tragically, the COVID-19 pandemic made the fact of our mortality both real and terrifying for millions. “Death anxiety” rose significantly during this time, which is understandable given the horrific way many victims died alone in isolation wards, separated from family and friends.

However, according to researchers, humans fear the way we die less than what happens when we die: “The origin of death anxiety is fear of annihilation, the struggle of a living being with nothingness.” I would have thought that our death anxiety would be related to the pain of physical death, separation from loved ones, or grief that our earthly lives are coming to an end too soon. But studies clearly indicate that “humans are afraid of losing themselves and becoming nothing.” This is why, in Freud’s words, our unconscious “behaves as if immortal.”

“He bears in himself an eternal seed”

A perceptive essay produced by the Second Vatican Council in 1965 agrees with the research I cited:

It is in the face of death that the riddle of a human existence grows most acute. Not only is man tormented by pain and the advancing deterioration of his body, but even more so by a dread of perpetual extinction. He rightly follows the intuition of his heart when he abhors and repudiates the utter ruin and total disappearance of his own person.

The essay explains why this is so:

He rebels against death because he bears in himself an eternal seed which cannot be reduced to sheer matter. All the endeavors of technology, though useful in the extreme, cannot calm his anxiety; for prolongation of biological life is unable to satisfy that desire for higher life which is inescapably lodged in his breast.

This longing for a “higher life” is an example of what sociologist Peter Berger called “signals of transcendence,” which are dimensions of our lives that point to realities that transcend us. C. S. Lewis observed, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

And so, paradoxically, the death anxiety that prompts us to read about a potential asteroid collision, the possibility of a bird flu pandemic, or the threats of nuclear war or AI annihilation is itself evidence that this fallen and fearful world is not all there is. We instinctively do not want our lives to end because, unlike every other species in creation, we were made for endless life.

Here’s the good news: For followers of Jesus, that life has already begun.

The part of John 3:16 people miss

Christians often say that a person who trusts in Christ will receive eternal life when they die, but this is not so. The most famous verse in the Bible contains an often-overlooked dimension: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, my emphasis).

Christians receive “eternal life” the moment we trust Christ as our Savior. His eternal Spirit moves into our lives in that instant (1 Corinthians 3:16), making us the children of God (John 1:12), “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

This is why Jesus could say so adamantly, “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26, my emphasis). Physical death for us is merely the door through which we step into the eternal presence of God. When we take our last breath here, we take our first breath there. When we close our eyes here, we open them there.

The fact that we already have eternal life is the antidote to the fear of annihilation that is instinctual to our fallen natures. It empowers us to serve Jesus at any cost to ourselves, knowing that the worst that can happen to us leads instantly to the best that can happen to us: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

This assurance infuses us with peace in the face of peril, constituting a powerful witness to those without such peace. For example, John Wesley was so impressed by Moravian missionaries who sang in worship through a terrifying storm that their astounding calm became a significant step on the path to his own conversion.

Ronald Reagan observed,

“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.”

Will you be “unafraid” today?

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Quote for the day:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” —Winston Churchill

Denison Forum

Three viewpoints and “the core truth of our existence”

Hamas stated Monday that it would postpone the release of three hostages scheduled to be freed this weekend to protest delays in deliveries of humanitarian goods. President Trump then warned Hamas to release all its Gaza hostages by Saturday or “all hell is going to break out.”

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined Mr. Trump’s demand: “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the cease-fire will end and the IDF will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas.”

Yesterday, I was privileged to meet one of my longtime Israeli friends for lunch. He and I have led more than thirty study tours in the Holy Land together over the years and have been together often in the States. He is currently in the US on a speaking tour. I asked him for his thoughts on the hostage crisis and, as usual, his perspective was both brilliant and enlightening.

What’s more, I found his thoughts relevant to an even larger context that touches us all. To make this point, let’s put my friend’s response into a larger cultural context.

How Hamas views the hostages

What we have learned about Hamas from the hostages that have been released thus far confirms US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assessment: “This is an evil organization. Hamas is evil. It’s pure evil. These are monsters. These are savages. That’s a group that needs to be eradicated.”

Making his point, last Saturday Hamas released what the Associated Press describes as “three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages.” Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, said they “look like Holocaust survivors.” A doctor reported that one was returned “in a severe nutritional state.”

A mother whose son is still being held by Hamas learned from military sources that he is receiving very little food and no medical care for multiple injuries, including an eye injury that has left him partially blinded. He has been bound for much of the time and tortured.

“It was not easy to hear,” she said. “I must say that I even fainted.”

How Hamas views the Palestinians

Twelve days after Hamas’ October 7 invasion, their leader Khaled Mashal suggested that to achieve the dream of Israel’s destruction, millions of Palestinians might have to die. They use their schools to radicalize the people, turning them into terrorists against the Jewish state. They steal humanitarian aid, sell it to the population, then use the money to finance terrorist recruitment.

According to NATO, Hamas has been using the Palestinians in Gaza as human shields since 2007. They fire rockets, artillery, and mortars from civilian areas, locate military infrastructures in schools, hospitals, and mosques, and use civilians and hostages to protect themselves. The terrorists have built hundreds of miles of tunnels under civilian structures to hide, transport, and shield their soldiers and munitions while refusing to allow civilians to use them for protection.

As I have written, Hamas exists not to serve Palestinians in Gaza but to eradicate Israel. In its view, the deaths of Palestinian civilians are a means to this end. They view Muslim casualties as “martyrs” who will be rewarded in heaven and use their plight to marshal Arab nations and the larger world against Israel.

How Israelis view the hostages

By contrast, as my friend explained yesterday, Israelis view the hostages as vital to their nation and its future for three reasons.

First, many of them know some of the hostages or someone in their extended families. Israel is a tiny country. In my many visits over the years, I have been consistently surprised at how interconnected their society is. For many, the hostages’ plight is deeply personal.

Second, some of the hostages are Israeli military personnel. For Israel to abandon them would say to the entire IDF, “If you fight for us and you are captured, we won’t come for you.” As my friend noted, this would undermine the viability of the army. For a small nation surrounded by enemies that seek its destruction, the IDF is vital to its survival and its future.

Third, many of the hostages are Israeli civilians. For Israel to abandon them would say to the rest of the population, “If terrorists take you hostage in the future, we won’t try to get you back.” Such a threat would understandably cause many to abandon the nation.

This is why Israel has historically been willing to trade huge numbers of Palestinian prisoners for a few hostages, and why they are doing the same again now. And it is why the IDF has been so careful to protect the hostages while trying to eradicate the terrorists who hide behind them.

Such an approach to the hostages severely restricts Israel’s military and its governmental leaders. But it is foundational to the nation’s ethos and future.

How God views you

Here’s why I found my friend’s explanation to be relevant even beyond Israel: Our Father loves us even more passionately than Israel loves its hostages (1 John 4:8). In fact, he loves us even though we treat Jesus as Hamas treats the Jews. Our sins tortured and murdered God’s Son (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 5:8). Even when we trust him as our Savior, our sins grieve his Spirit deeply (Ephesians 4:30).

And yet, as St. Augustine famously observed, God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

If you were the only person who had ever sinned, the only soul held hostage by Satan, Jesus would have died just to liberate you. His Father loves you right now as much as he loved you when he sent his Son to die in your place (John 17:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21). As Timothy Keller observed, “The gospel is that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived the life we should have lived, and died the death we should have died.”

Henri Nouwen therefore claimed:

“Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.”

Do you agree?

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Quote for the day:

“Come and see the victories of the cross. Christ’s wounds are your healings, his agonies your repose, his conflicts your conquests, his groans your songs, his pains your ease, his shame your glory, his death your life, his sufferings your salvation.” —Matthew Henry

Denison Forum

A reflection on Super Bowl LIX and life’s ultimate purpose

Trey Howard, age ten, shielded his toddler sister when a medical jet crashed in northeast Philadelphia on January 31, killing seven and injuring twenty-four others. His bravery landed him in the hospital with a severe head injury.

When he woke up after emergency brain surgery, the die-hard Eagles fan’s first words were, “We didn’t play yesterday, did we?” When he was assured that he had not missed the Super Bowl, he then asked, “Daddy, did I save my sister?”

Eagles star wide receiver A. J. Brown, when he heard about Trey’s bravery, responded: “Speedy recovery! You are a Hero young man! I’m going to come see you when I get back. Hopefully with some hardware. Playing for you on Sunday my man.” Two Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders also visited him in his hospital room to bring him team paraphernalia for the big game.

Trey must be a happy young man this morning after Brown and his teammates scored a decisive victory in last night’s Super Bowl. His love for the Eagles and their support for him will hopefully expedite his quick and full recovery.

Watching the game with fifty friends

More than 119 million people were expected to watch last night’s contest. In a listing of the one hundred most-watched primetime television shows in 2024, the top eleven are all NFL games. By a wide margin, Americans say football is “America’s sport.”

Cognitive psychologists at Cornell University would not be surprised. They explain the continuing popularity of the league by noting that professional football is engrained in popular culture, the league’s parity keeps things interesting, and fantasy football and betting on games make the outcomes highly personal for fans.

Their explanation that most resonated with me, however, was the fact that “relationships are built through the love of the NFL.” Families and friends gather to watch games; fans rejoice or grieve together with their teams as they win or lose.

My wife and I witnessed this personally last night as we watched the game along with fifty friends from our Sunday school class. I cannot think of another event that would have brought so many of us together.

Eating what our friends are eating

There’s another aspect to the popularity of the Super Bowl that the Cornell psychologists did not note. For this, we turn to one of history’s most influential philosophers.

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche identified the “will to power” as an innate drive in all humans. He was right: from Satan’s appeal to the first humans to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5) to today, each temptation and decision we face is a variation on the same theme (cf. James 1:14–15).

Even now, I am tempted to exercise my “will to power” by impressing you with what I am writing. You are perhaps hoping that what I write will somehow empower you as you go about your day.

In Nietzsche’s view, this is as things should be. He wanted us to strive to be an Ũbermensch, an “overcomer” in life. But he lamented that most choose to be what he called the “last man”—passive nihilists who are tired of life, take no risks, and seek only security and comfort. Such a way of life brings humanity’s progress to a grinding halt, making us the “last” of the race.

Imagining Nietzsche watching last night’s game, I think he would identify the players on the field as “overcomers” and the fans in the stands and on their couches at home as the “last men.” We express our innate “will to power” vicariously by watching athletes do what we cannot do, but this brings us no closer to being an Übermensch in reality. Nietzsche would add that the community by which we experienced the game together only adds to our largesse as it endorses and encourages conformity to the collective.

For example, studies show that we consume more food when we eat with overweight people as we conform to the dietary norms around us. You can try this for yourself: If you watched the Super Bowl with friends, did you tend to eat and drink what they ate and drank, even if you wouldn’t do so on your own?

Is there a third option?

Where does this leave us?

It would seem we have a binary choice between being a self-driven “overcomer” and a passive “last man.” There were only two kinds of people in the New Orleans Superdome last night: the world-class athletes who played in the game and those who watched them.

But perhaps there’s a third option.

Perhaps there’s a larger purpose behind our existence, a cause so great that no human, not even an “overcomer,” can achieve it. This higher calling would necessarily require an Übermensch greater than humans who calls us to submit our lives to him (Romans 12:1) and then to “toil . . . with all his energy that he powerfully works within [us]” (Colossians 1:29).

Perhaps this “energy” is given to us in community with others as we labor collectively to accomplish a larger purpose than any individual can fulfill (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27). Perhaps this larger purpose is so eternally significant that it is worth all temporal sacrifice.

If we commit ourselves to this purpose by loving our Lord and our neighbor unconditionally (Matthew 22:37–39), we will serve others as sacrificially as Trey Howard protected his little sister. And long after the Eagles’ historic win last night, our lives will make an impact that changes souls and echoes in eternity.

Rick Warren observed,

“You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”

Will your life “make sense” today?

Our latest website articles:

• “Is DeepSeek AI a ‘Sputnik moment’? How pressure leads to growth”
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Quote for the day:

“There is no one insignificant in the purposes of God.” —Alistair Begg

Denison Forum