What do you think would happen if everyone stopped dying?

[URAVIP2ME]

What makes death an enemy?

What an interesting question ^above^. I would think a normal healthy person would Not want to choose their day of death.
If death was a friend then why should people bother to go to the doctor or hospital.

In Scripture, I find Adam was offered 'everlasting life on a beautiful paradisical Earth' without death in view.
In other words, Adam could live forever on Earth in perfect health if he did Not break God's Law.
Through Jesus, we are offered the same offer to be humble meek if we want to inherit (Not death) but life on Earth.
Jesus was Not death oriented, but taught us about gaining ' everlasting life '.
Jesus offered those of Luke 22:28-30 to live in heaven with him, but the majority of mankind is offered life on Earth.
Since Jesus taught the dead are in a sleep-like state at John 11:11-14 then the dead do Not enjoy life.
The dead know nothing according to Ecclesiastes 9:5. Nothing but sleep as per Psalms 115:17; Psalms 146:4.
So, just as we are Not aware of the passing of time while deep asleep, the dead are Not aware of anything.
So, the only way to enjoy life again would be to get rid of death. ( be awakened from death's sleep/resurrected )
According to Scripture, Jesus can and will do away with enemy death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-26.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I find what the Bible defines as "wicked people" to be very appalling. "Destroying forever" those who simply didn't have faith is very tyrannical, and is in-and-of itself very wicked. Life under any such totalitarian dictator would be unbearable and intolerable.

I am wondering what verses or passages you have in mind.
I find the God of the Bible to be a Benevolent Benefactor which is Not a dictator.
God will bring to ruin those ruining the Earth according to Revelation 11:18 B.
Just as rats could ruin your beautiful house, only rat-like or wicked people will be brought to ruin.
Jesus will come to the rescue of the oppressed (Not oppressed by God but by wicked men) see Psalms 72:12-14.
As King Solomon observed at Ecclesiastes 8:9 that it is 'man' who dominates 'man' to 'man's' hurt or injury.
If wickedness and violence would be allowed to increase then No upright person would be left on Earth.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

If wickedness and violence would be allowed to increase then No upright person would be left on Earth.

And yet we see those things decrease as societies are becoming increasingly secularized.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Well, I guess Valhalla would need to be built bigger.

 

[Brickjectivity]

if you woke up tomorrow and everyone on the entire planet was immune to death(only from age, people can still die from murderer, accidents, suicide, etc), what do you think would happen and what are your thoughts on it as a religious person?

I might consider it to be a miracle, however it would not change my thinking. I should try to draw lessons from it or maybe a moral lesson. A miracle does not change people, and I think if everyone turned immortal you would see that. People would talk about it for centuries, but we would not change a lot.

 

[Segev Moran]

if you woke up tomorrow and everyone on the entire planet was immune to death(only from age, people can still die from murderer, accidents, suicide, etc), what do you think would happen and what are your thoughts on it as a religious person?

Earth, based on the latest predictions, can support around 11 Billion people.
So assuming the rate of natural death drops, it is obvious that the number of "artificial" death will rise.

At some point, when our resources are gone, we can either find a new place to populate humans (mars is on the target nowadays), or find a way to support all humans here on earth.

There are many books, movies and tv shows dealing with such questions.

"The handmaids tale" is a rather interesting one that shows what might be the implications of such a scenario

In my POV we will find a way to produce more energy in "less cost" and it is probable we will be populating mars (It is predicted that by 2027 first "citizens" will already live on mars)

No matter what happens, it is an intriguing question

 

[Ponder This]

if you woke up tomorrow and everyone on the entire planet was immune to death(only from age, people can still die from murderer, accidents, suicide, etc), what do you think would happen and what are your thoughts on it as a religious person?

A point of clarification here:

People don't 'die from old age' Natural Causes: What Does It Mean to 'Die from Old Age'
People succumb to one of various ailments associated with aging, but they don't die of old age itself.

So... if people continue to die of various ailments, then nothing would change.

I find many of the responses to your question in this thread to be not so well-thought out (despite their upvotes) because many of the problems posed are problems we face anyways regardless of the supposed life-span of humans. Resources, overpopulation, etc, etc, are not exclusive to people generally living longer lives.

 

[WalterTrull]

A point of clarification here:

People don't 'die from old age' Natural Causes: What Does It Mean to 'Die from Old Age'
People succumb to one of various ailments associated with aging, but they don't die of old age itself.

So... if people continue to die of various ailments, then nothing would change.

I find many of the responses to your question in this thread to be not so well-thought out (despite their upvotes) because many of the problems posed are problems we face anyways regardless of the supposed life-span of humans. Resources, overpopulation, etc, etc, are not exclusive to people generally living longer lives.

From your link: "To “die of old age” means that someone has died naturally from an ailment associated with aging." Uh... how is that not the same thing?

 

[Shiranui117]

if you woke up tomorrow and everyone on the entire planet was immune to death(only from age, people can still die from murderer, accidents, suicide, etc), what do you think would happen and what are your thoughts on it as a religious person?

People would start having wars for the heck of it. Also environmental conservation and limited childbearing would become far, far more prevalent. You might have to get a license just to have one child. Operations to sterilize people (tube-tying, vasectomies) may become commonplace and even mandatory in certain instances. Having children would be seen as something selfish and arrogant.

 

[Shad]

Perhaps a decline in marriage as the dreaded mother-in-law could be around forever.

 

[Ponder This]

From your link: "To “die of old age” means that someone has died naturally from an ailment associated with aging." Uh... how is that not the same thing?

For example, cancer is an ailment 'associated with old age'.

death from ailments associated with old age aren't exclusive to old age. 'Death due to old age' is more like 'death due to deteriorating health'.

Another ailment associated with old age includes osteoporosis. But old age isn't what kills a person and even osteoporosis doesn't 'kill' people. But, of course, a person with weak bones is more prone to break them after a fall.

So it should be clear that there is a problem in discussing 'death from old age' in that it really needs to be defined well to hold a proper discussion about it. The OP says what if we didn't have death from old age, but people could still die from accidents and things. Well... that doesn't make sense. The ways in which people die are from accidents and things. People don't ever technically 'die' from old age itself. So what about cancer? Is the OP saying people don't die from cancer? What about heart attacks? What about strokes? What about losing your grip on a railing and falling to your death?

If there really is a death from old age, then we don't really understand it yet. There are some theories, but that's about it.

So I suppose that if people no longer 'died from old age' (assuming we can really define that properly), then we would be living in an incredible age where people maintained robust health indefinitely. So, people wouldn't ever need to retire from their jobs! What people would become might be truly incredible. It would be possible to have a benevolent dictatorship that lasted indefinitely. People could build space ships and make the million year treks across outer space to explore other galaxies. The possibilities within each person would have literally unending potential. For example, a person could literally devote himself to calculating the digits of pi for thousands of years if he wanted. The sorts of things that would become possible with immortality are mind boggling.

But when people make posts about overpopulation , I just wonder if they really stopped to think it out. Because old age isn't the only limiting factor on overpopulation. If we reached a point where there wasn't enough food to feed everybody, then the population can't continue to grow without bound. It just wouldn't be possible. Someone would have to starve to death. There are always going to be ways for people to die.

 

[Kapalika]

We could make a barren wasteland, say Montana, or Mississippi, into a battle royale. You get a thousand bucks for every person you kill, then if you kill someone you get all their money. we keep doing this but no one realizes that you never get the money you just keep fighting until you die.

Then the rest of us watch this on TV.

We could also have gladiator battles. IDK.

Maybe we could send them all to Mars. Or, we could all get less children or start forcibly sterilizing people.

I still like the idea of turning Mississippi into a battleground though.

 

[Deeje]

If there really is a death from old age, then we don't really understand it yet. There are some theories, but that's about it.

This is true. The human body appears to be designed to continue the natural cycle of cell renewal indefinitely. No one truly understands why we reach a point when our cells no longer do what they were programmed to do. The aging process is felt when cell renewal begins to break down. Science can tell us how we age...but not why.

So I suppose that if people no longer 'died from old age' (assuming we can really define that properly), then we would be living in an incredible age where people maintained robust health indefinitely. So, people wouldn't ever need to retire from their jobs!

Suppose that the Creator originally designed for cell renewal to perpetually function optimally forever? If no one got old, or sick or had accidents from which they could not recover, then what would become of the earth's ability to sustain lives that do not end?

I see in Genesis that God told the humans to "become many and fill the earth"....what does that command imply? What would happen once the earth was "filled" to capacity?

It is understood that about a third of the earth's landmass is at present uninhabitable....what would happen if all those places became habitable? How much more of a population could the earth sustain?

And what if we had no commercial system to corrupt people or to keep them enslaved? What if people were self sustaining and didn't need jobs? What if we grew our own food and shared with one another and with the creatures that share the planet with us?

This is actually what the Bible predicts for the future......

"No more will there be heard in her the sound of weeping or a cry of distress.”
20 “No more will there be an infant from that place who lives but a few days,
Nor an old man who fails to live out his days.....
21 They will build houses and live in them,
And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage.
22 They will not build for someone else to inhabit,
Nor will they plant for others to eat.
For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,
And the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full.
23 They will not toil for nothing,
Nor will they bear children for distress,
Because they are the offspring made up of those blessed by Jehovah,
And their descendants with them.
24 Even before they call out, I will answer;
While they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
The lion will eat straw just like the bull,
And the serpent’s food will be dust.
They will do no harm nor cause any ruin in all my holy mountain,” says Jehovah." (Isaiah 65)

Now, that is something to look forward to.

What people would become might be truly incredible.

Imagine the knowledge and experience that could be accumulated with an unending life? Some people spend their whole lives in pursuit of knowledge only to have it disappear in death. What a waste!

It would be possible to have a benevolent dictatorship that lasted indefinitely.

What if the benevolent dictator was the Creator himself? What better ruler could we have than one appointed by him and given infinite power over the elements and natural forces. Remember that Jesus calmed a storm with a word. What else could be tamed if he was ruling? There would never be natural disasters or freak elements of nature to cause harm or damage.

People could build space ships and make the million year treks across outer space to explore other galaxies. The possibilities within each person would have literally unending potential. For example, a person could literally devote himself to calculating the digits of pi for thousands of years if he wanted. The sorts of things that would become possible with immortality are mind boggling.

The possibilities are endless......the Universe is vast and we don't really believe that this tiny planet is the only one that the Creator planned to have inhabited......though I believe we are just the beginning, and once things get sorted out here, there is no limit to what the future holds.

 

[Ponder This]

This is true. The human body appears to be designed to continue the natural cycle of cell renewal indefinitely. No one truly understands why we reach a point when our cells no longer do what they were programmed to do. The aging process is felt when cell renewal begins to break down. Science can tell us how we age...but not why.

Indeed.

Suppose that the Creator originally designed for cell renewal to perpetually function optimally forever? If no one got old, or sick or had accidents from which they could not recover, then what would become of the earth's ability to sustain lives that do not end?

I see in Genesis that God told the humans to "become many and fill the earth"....what does that command imply? What would happen once the earth was "filled" to capacity?

It is understood that about a third of the earth's landmass is at present uninhabitable....what would happen if all those places became habitable? How much more of a population could the earth sustain?

And what if we had no commercial system to corrupt people or to keep them enslaved? What if people were self sustaining and didn't need jobs? What if we grew our own food and shared with one another and with the creatures that share the planet with us?

This is actually what the Bible predicts for the future......

"No more will there be heard in her the sound of weeping or a cry of distress.”
20 “No more will there be an infant from that place who lives but a few days,
Nor an old man who fails to live out his days.....
21 They will build houses and live in them,
And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage.
22 They will not build for someone else to inhabit,
Nor will they plant for others to eat.
For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,
And the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full.
23 They will not toil for nothing,
Nor will they bear children for distress,
Because they are the offspring made up of those blessed by Jehovah,
And their descendants with them.
24 Even before they call out, I will answer;
While they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
The lion will eat straw just like the bull,
And the serpent’s food will be dust.
They will do no harm nor cause any ruin in all my holy mountain,” says Jehovah." (Isaiah 65)

Now, that is something to look forward to.

The Bible does say that God denied man the fruit of the tree of eternal life.

Genesis 2:9

The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.​

Genesis 2:16-17

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."​

Genesis 2:22-24

And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.​

So it seems that the Bible suggests that God had a reason for denying eternal life and it has to do with the acquisition of knowledge of good and evil. If people seem skeptical that any good can come of people living forever, then perhaps it is the potential for unending evil that they are considering.

Imagine the knowledge and experience that could be accumulated with an unending life? Some people spend their whole lives in pursuit of knowledge only to have it disappear in death. What a waste!

What if the benevolent dictator was the Creator himself? What better ruler could we have than one appointed by him and given infinite power over the elements and natural forces. Remember that Jesus calmed a storm with a word. What else could be tamed if he was ruling? There would never be natural disasters or freak elements of nature to cause harm or damage.

The possibilities are endless......the Universe is vast and we don't really believe that this tiny planet is the only one that the Creator planned to have inhabited......though I believe we are just the beginning, and once things get sorted out here, there is no limit to what the future holds.

And in Revelations 2:7

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.​

Also 2 Esdras 2:12-14

The tree of life will fill the air around them with its fragrance. They will never have to work; they will never grow tired.
Ask, and you will receive. Pray that the number of the days you have to wait will be reduced. Even now the kingdom has been prepared for you, so stay alert.
Call heaven and earth to witness that I, the living God, have abolished evil and created good.​

So various scriptures suggest that the tree of life will become available and that the availability is contingent upon overcoming evil. So perhaps greater things than we have yet imagined would occur.

 

[WalterTrull]

Science can tell us how we age...but not why

My guess is that it's just a small part of the big picture that we just can't seem to see. "Forest for the trees" stuff.

 

[WalterTrull]

'Death due to old age' is more like 'death due to deteriorating health'.

OK, so we get old and our health deteriorates. Death due to old age.

 

[LuisDantas]

if you woke up tomorrow and everyone on the entire planet was immune to death(only from age, people can still die from murderer, accidents, suicide, etc), what do you think would happen and what are your thoughts on it as a religious person?

I don't think that could happen.

But if it did, there would be an immediate need to campaign for serious birth planning in order to keep population levels tolerable.

And unless you are proposing that somehow infirmity would become much less of an issue than it currently is, we would have to plan how to deal euthanasia routinely as well.

 

[Samantha Rinne]

Go online, and try to get a hold of the anime Log Horizon. They had a fairly bleak picture of a world where people were revived to the temple immediately on death. That, plus the fact that food was basically tasteless unless homemade (it was an RPG, and making stuff by menu resulted in junk food that basically tasted like crackers) led people to extreme depression.

I think there could be a way where humans could be able to cope with life without death (in terms of relationships, it's pretty good), but there would have to be accompanying changes to many of the social and economic realities as well.

But if it did, there would be an immediate need to campaign for serious birth planning in order to keep population levels tolerable.

Didn't think that through. No death period would mean no starvation, and no death even underwater, in volcanoes, or in space. Human beings could spread out plenty, and probably manage population by simply being alone. Given that we can now surgically sterilize people, overpopulation would be a pretty easy fix. The bigger problem would be depression and boredom, so you'd need people assigned to explore the universe, or other activities for fun.

On the other hand, poverty would become irrelevant, as would disease. War would become pointless, since human beings could shrug off a nuke. I can see alot of people still being into sadism though (depending on whether you can still feel pain).

 

[WalterTrull]

There will always be another plague, a new disease. There's teachin' goin' on folks.

 

[Samantha Rinne]

Let's do worldbuilding.

Suppose people could die (nix that population control thing) but they got reborn and remembered their previous life to the point where it wasn't significant. As in, what would happen if people could die, but remembered exactly what happened to them after death as well as their previous life (and for the sake of argument, let's say you get to choose what happens after death, so atheists and such can just kinda spend their afterlife being aware of their body becoming worm food). What exactly would the implications of such world?