What is the relation between altruism, God, death, and the meaning of life?

Jennifer Baranowski

PHCC-104-SF3

Professor Nachum Turetzky, PhD.

February 21, 2012

What is the relation between altruism, God, death, and the meaning of life?

Altruism, God, death, and the meaning of life are all tangled together. In reflecting on the meaning of life, we often think about our actions, about how we’ve impacted the lives of others, and if we've lived the way our personal God mandated. A family member once told me that she believed the meaning of life could probably be summed up on what she would want on her headstone – living a life worthy of the epitaph 'SHE WAS A GOOD AND KIND PERSON' – we have to be good to one another, be happy with ourselves, continue to evolve, be open to opportunities for growth, and be at peace with what we’ve learned in our time here. The meaning of life is the purpose for our lives - it is something that continually evolves and becomes clearer as we grow older, and thus closer to death. Through death, it is promised, that we meet our God if we have abided by His law. Our personal God and holy books provide us with guidelines on how to live. The major religions advocate for altruism. Synonyms of altruism are selflessness and philanthropy – and arguably charity, one of the four natural loves. Charity is classified as a divine and supernatural love (Schrynemakers) that we received from God. God promotes goodness and altruism is good. In order to earn our place with God, in Heaven, after death, we have to be altruistic.

In a simple summary, through God and His teachings we learn to be altruistic. Through altruism, we modify our actions to be selfless and act with charity (divine love) towards others. Through an altruistic way of living, we live with purpose (and therefore achieve the meaning of life) – we earn a fulsome epitaph and are rewarded with a connection with God when we die. We get to live an eternal afterlife in God’s glory as He promised.

Work Cited:
Schrynemakers, Michael. CS Lewis on Love. n.d. Web. http://prezi.com/l5lzi6utix2y/cs-lewis-on-love/.