Comparative Study of the Concept of Death according to Seneca and Paul

Bonnarty Silalahi

doi:10.69668/josaprat.v2i2.164

Authors

Bonnarty Silalahi Universitas Pelita Harapan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69668/josaprat.v2i2.164

Keywords:

Seneca, Paul, Death, Comparative study

Abstract

Death holds a central place in philosophical and theological reflection and remains a major source of contemporary anxiety, especially within Christian spirituality and pastoral theology. This article compares Seneca’s Stoic understanding of death with Paul’s early Christian vision, focusing on their conceptual frameworks and consolatory strategies. Using qualitative, library-based research, it analyzes Seneca’s De brevitate vitae, Epistulae morales, and selected tragedies alongside key Pauline texts (1 Corinthians 15; Romans 5–8; Philippians 1:21–23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). The comparison is structured around four themes: the ontology of death, eschatology, the constitution of the subject, and modes of consolation. Seneca presents death as a morally neutral and cosmically necessary reality within the order of logos, functioning as philosophical therapy through meditatio mortis and exemplary deaths. Paul, by contrast, depicts death as the enemy and the “wages of sin,” transformed by Christ’s resurrection and communal eschatological hope. These contrasting models offer distinct resources for addressing death anxiety and pastoral care today.

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