“Are You Afraid to Think About Death?” is an article from Dr. Gordon H. Clark’s papers. Both the original scan and a transcribed document are here made available. If you notice any typos on the typed document please email the administrator at douglasdouma@yahoo.com.
**Items from the unpublished papers of Dr. Gordon H. Clark should not be considered his definitive statement on the particular topic addressed. These papers are being provided for educational value. For Dr. Clark’s official positions consult his published writings.**
Unpublished 77. Are You Afraid to Think About Death? (original)
Unpublished 77. Are You Afraid to Think About Death? (typed)
Notes: From the papers of Dr. Gordon H. Clark. From “The Home Evangel”, date unknown.
Are you afraid to think about death?
What the world will be like after the war can hardly be guessed. Depression, inflation, worse dictatorships, complete anarchy and new dark ages are all possible. Though there are many proposals, nobody really knows what to do about it.
Our personal lives are a cause for worry. Millions prefer not to think of next week or next year. The casualty list may contain the one name that means all the world to me. Or I may be taken seriously sick, and there is no doctor available. Death is a present reality, and beyond the grave lies the dark unknown. It is easier not to think about it.
At least it used to be easier not to think. But now there is this war, and though death is still an unwelcome subject of conversation, we can hardly avoid thinking of it. Furthermore, death troubles us with a semi-conscious fear of a righteous judgment before God’s throne. We know we have broken God’s laws, we have loved our sins, and we have ignored God. For this reason we are afraid to think of death, of God, and of the judgment.
But it need not be so. In his first epistle, the Apostle Peter, speaking as a Christian and for Christians, says, “Blessed be God who hath begotten us again into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” The non-Christian has no hope, no confidence in the future, but Christ has given those who put their trust in Him a sure hope of life. By His death He has offered a sufficient sacrifice to God on their behalf, and by His resurrection He assured us that we too shall live: not merely live, but live with Him for ever and ever.
G. H. C.