Death in contemporary Western culture

As a Christian priest and minister, I have inevitably taken responsibility for getting to know a wide variety of families as they faced the dying or death of a relative, and in the majority of cases I have not previously known the family. Unlike many other occasions for pastoral contact, the encount...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Woods, Timothy J. (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge 2007
In: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Year: 2007, Volume: 18, Issue: 3, Pages: 333-343
Further subjects:B concept of life
B Lebensbegriff
B concept of death
B Death
B Christianity
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:As a Christian priest and minister, I have inevitably taken responsibility for getting to know a wide variety of families as they faced the dying or death of a relative, and in the majority of cases I have not previously known the family. Unlike many other occasions for pastoral contact, the encounter with death has meant that I have met families when they are ready to be very open and honest about their feelings. In this paper, beginning with reference to a contemporary film, I explore the question of the concept of death in Western culture today. I am particularly indebted to Grace Jantzen for shaping a key question: Is it necrophilia or necrophobia that best describes the attitude of Western culture to death? I shall examine these two particular lines of thinking prior to offering some reflections on ways in which the Christian tradition approaches the subject.
ISSN:0959-6410
Contains:In: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/09596410701396071