The Slavery of Death

by Richard Beck

“The sting of death is sin.”

in his words to the Corinthians Paul seems to suggest that sin is a consequence of death. If so, death might be our deeper, more significant problem. Sin might be less the disease than a symptom. Death, in this view, is the cause of sin. This is

Romans 6:23—“The wages of sin is death.” And

death, rather than sin, that is considered to be the “last enemy” (1 Cor 15:24–25). In the book of Revelation the last thing to be thrown into the Lake of Fire is death and Hades. And at the end of Romans 7, Paul’s long discussion of his experience in wrestling with sin, he concludes with a peculiar cry: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” The root of Paul’s “sin problem” seems to be that he has, just like the rest of us, a body that is “subject to death.”

Another facet of this perspective worth noting is how the Bible describes the activity of the devil. Throughout the New Testament sin, death, and the devil are at times described as almost interchangeable forces, three facets of an ontological unity—a sort of unholy Trinity.

Throughout the New Testament sin, death, and the devil are at times described as almo...

concerning the work of Jesus—the work he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection—we must pay attention to texts like 1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” What is this “work of the devil”? And how was it destroyed? Most Protestants tend to reduce the role of Satan to that of tempter, and undeniably that is a part of the picture. But the New Testament also describes Satan as holding the power of death. As it says in Hebrews 2:14, the death of Jesus was intended to “destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.” This victory over the devil is reaffirmed in the opening vision of Revelation where the Resurrected Lord is declared to be holding “the keys of death and Hades.” Death, once under the power of Satan, is now under the power of Christ.

John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” What is this “work of the devil”? And

how was it destroyed? Most Protestants tend to reduce the role of Satan to that of tempter, and undeniably that is a part of the picture. But the New Testament also describes Satan as holding the power of death. As it says in Hebrews 2:14, the death of Jesus was intended to “destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.” This victory over the devil is reaffirmed in the opening vision of Revelation where the Resurrected Lord is declared to be holding “the keys of death and Hades.” Death, once under the power of Satan, is now under the power of Christ. While this focus on the devil might seem strange to many modern Christians, particularly liberal Christians, this material in the New Testament continues to highlight the centrality of death in the human predicament. Death is seen as “the power of the devil” in ou...

Death is seen as “the power of the devil” in our lives. And one reason—perhaps even the prima...

on the cross was to rob the devil of this power. The reason Christ appeared was to free those who, in the w...

their lives enslaved to the fea...

The Bible presents us with a dense and complex causal matrix in which sin, death, and the devil all mutually interact. Consequently, an exclusive focus on sin tends to oversimplify the dynamics of our moral struggles. I

Bible presents us with a dense and complex causal matrix in which sin, death, and the devil all mutually interact. Consequently, an exclusive focus on sin tends to oversimplify the dynamics of our moral struggles. I argue

that a fuller analysis is critical as it will present us with a clearer picture of Christian virtue—love in particular. By exposing the dynamics of “the devil’s work” in our lives, works produced by a “slavery to the fear of death,” we will be better positioned to resist the satanic influences in our lives, better equipped to do battle wi...

the biblical notion of Satan wielding “the power of death.” What sort of power is this? How exactly does death have power, a moral power, over

What sort of power is this? How exactly does death have power, a moral power, over us? A text that unpacks this dynamic—the moral power of death—is Hebrews 2:14–15: Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

us? A text that unpacks this dynamic—the moral p...

Hebrews 2:14–15: Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all...

The power of death that the devil wields is characterized here as a slavery to the fear of death. It is not death per se that gives the devil power. It is, rather, the fear of death. It is this fear that creates the satanic influence, a fear that tempts us into sinful practices and lifestyles, a fear that keeps us ...

The power of death that the devil wields is characterized here as a slavery to the fear of death. It is not death per se that gives the devil power. It is, rather, the fear of death. It is this fear that creates the satanic influence, a fear that tempts us into sinful practices and lifestyles, a fear that keeps us ...

Salvation, then, involves liberation from this fear. Salvation is emancipation for those who have been enslaved all of their lives by the fear of death. Salvation is a deliv...

d...

What might be the sign of this liberation? In the biblical imagination the antithesis of fear is love. Freedom from the fear of death makes love possible. As it says in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear . . .” Where fear is a symptom of death, love becomes a sign of resurrection: “Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 J...

Freedom from the fear of death makes love possible. As it says in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear . . .” Where fear is a symptom of death, love becomes a sign of resurrection: “Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:14). Where we ...

anxiety produces “the works of the devil.” There is, however, a great deal of psychological literature—both empirical and theoretical—that has connected death anxiety with a variety of unhealthy outcomes—psychological, social, and moral. This psychological research holds great potential for unpacking what the Bible describes as “slavery to the fear of death.” This psychological research also has something interesting to say about why perfect love must “cast out fear.”

he central contention of this book is that death, not sin, is the primary predicament of the human condition. Death is the cause of sin. More properly, the fear of death produces most of the sin in our lives.

The most obvious objection to this line of argument is an appeal to the sequence recounted in Genesis 3, a sequence Paul later echoes in Romans 5:12. As the Genesis text describes, Adam and Eve’s original disobedience effected a separation from the Tree of Life, and that first sin is what introduced both death and mortality into the world. Clearly, then, sin brings about death and not the other way around. And doesn’t Paul affirm that “the wages of sin is death”? No doubt that in the Genesis story

that account, sin comes first and results...

live in a very different sort of world than the one described in Genesis 1–2. In

We might, then, want to pause and reconsider what exactly we inherited from Adam and Eve in the Genesis story and how that inheritance affects us—morally, spiritually, psychologically, socially, physically, and ecologically. Our particular focus will be on how this inheritance helps us understand the relationship between sin and death. In Western Christianity this inheritance has generally been understood to be what is called “original sin.” Adam and Eve passed on moral brokenness and incapacity, and thus humanity, in this view, is intrinsically sinful. Those who hold to this belief view sin as a congenital moral and spiritual defect that is passed down to us from Adam and Eve, affecting and infecting every living person.1 In many ways the doctrine of original sin preserves and recapitulates the primal ordering of sin and death in the biography of every person. Since each of us is “born in sin,” sin remains the primary predicament, the prime mover and original cause, just as it was with Adam and Eve. And just like Adam and Eve this sinful nature leads us to sin, which then introduces death—both spiritual and physical—into each of our personal biographies. We retrace the story of Genesis 3—sin is our central problem, the causal agent that brings death into our worlds.

Sin might not be intrinsic but it’s inevitable. And death always follows as the consequence.

Yet, despite its ubiquity in the West, we need not take original sin as the authoritative view on what exactly we have inherited from Adam and Eve. Specifically, the Eastern Orthodox tradition does not endorse the Western notion of original sin, but rather espouses a view called ancestral sin. Where original sin sees sin as producing death, ancestral sin tends to flip this sequence and place most of the emphasis upon the power of death.

Yet, despite its ubiquity in the West, we need not take original sin as the authoritative view on what exactly we have inherited from Adam and Eve. Specifically, the Eastern Orthodox tradition does not endorse the Western notion of original sin, but rather espouses a view called ancestral sin. Where original sin sees sin as producing death, ancestral sin tends to flip this sequence and place most of the emphasis upon the power of death.

Why is there death if a perfect and loving God created the world? According to the Orthodox, the real issue at the heart of Genesis 3—the biblical story of “the Fall”—is not focused on establishing a causal model regarding the sin/death relationship and how we inherit a moral stain from our ancestors, but is mostly concerned about the etiology of death and who is to blame for introducing death into the world. In other words, the Eastern Orthodox tradition understands Genesis 3 to be more about theodicy (a story about where death came from) than soteriology (a story about where sin came from).

other words, the Eastern Orthodox tradition understands Genesis 3 to be more about theodicy (a story about where death came from) than soteriology (a story about where sin came from).

addition to the “envy of the devil” introducing death into the world, the words and deeds of the ungodly “summoned” death. We can understand this as being both a historical account and an ongoing reality: Adam and Eve summoned death and we, in word and deed, recapitulate their sin and thus continue to summon death. We live life controlled by a “covenant with death.” In the language of Hebrews 2:15, we are “slaves to the fear of death.”

be sure, human disobedience is a part of this story. But the main impulse of the story, given how the Orthodox follow the framing given in texts like those in Wisdom, is less about how the world became infected by sin than how it became infected by death. And

looking at the Genesis 3 narrative, we see that the root cause of death isn’t sin, as the devil/serpent actually predates sin. It’s the “envy of the devil” that introduces sin and death into the world.

It’s the “envy of the devil” that introduces sin and dea...

These understandings go a fair way in providing context for many New Testament texts, illuminating why Jesus came to “undo the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8) and to “break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14). These texts explain why death is the “last enemy” of Christ, as well as why the...

These understandings go a fair way in providing context for many New Testament texts, illuminating why Jesus came to “undo the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8) and to “break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14). These texts explain why death is the “last enemy” of Christ, as well as why the...

Rather, we inherit the world they have left us. We are exiles from Eden. The world around us is not as God intended it. Death exists, but this was not God’s plan. We were created for incorruption but find ourselves to be, in the words of Paul (Romans 7), possessors of bodies that are “subject to death,” a subjugation that brings about moral “wretchedness.”

Rather, we inherit the world they have left us. We are exiles from Eden. The world around us is not as God intended

it. Death exists, but this was no...

We were created for incorruption but find ourselves to be, in the words of Paul (Romans 7), possessors of bodies that are “subject to death,” a subjugati...

So death wasn’t a part of God’s plan for us. But now that death reigns, brought into creation by the devil and human disobedience, we find ourselves enslaved to the fear of death. And so we, along with all of creation, cry out for rescue. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. (Rom 8:22–23)

death wasn’t a part of God’s plan for us. But now that death reigns, brought into creation by the devil and human disobedience, we find ourselves enslaved to the fear of death. And so we, along with all of creation, cry out for rescue. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. (Rom 8:22–23)

Genesis 3 is a story about the etiology of death, making death the primary predicament in our post-Eden condition, how does death relate to human sinfulness? Again, as we’ve seen in the account above, sin, death, and the devil are deeply intertwined. So the issue here isn’t to displace the importance or role of sin in bringing about death, but to embed our understandings of human moral failure within a richer theological matrix. In the matrix used by the Orthodox, what we have inherited from Adam and Eve is less a moral stain than the mortal condition, a world and a body infected with death. Rather than original sin—a moral depravity and incapacity passed on from generation to generation—we have a death-infected world created by a primal act of disobedience. Thus the Orthodox don’t speak of original sin but of an ancestral sin, a primal event where death was introduced into the world. The condition we inherit from Adam and Eve is less moral than mortal.

Again, as we’ve seen in the account above, sin, death, and the devil are deeply intertwined. So the issue here isn’t to displace the importance or role of sin in bringing