Is there an art of dying well? If human lives have a meaning—and we experience them as profoundly meaningful—then so must our deaths and the deaths of our loved ones. Too often we are tempted to ignore our own mortality and fill our lives with distracting and strenuous activity. Yet, despite all our efforts, death plays an inescapable role in shaping our lives. Whether due to ordinary circumstances, a life-threatening diagnosis, military service, or even religious or ethnic persecution, we are called at times to have the courage to accept the possibility of death. On Christian Dying gathers original texts from the great saints and teachers of the Christian tradition to present 2000 years of theological wisdom on death and dying. Editor Matthew Levering mines the best of classical thought with selections that offer both ancient and contemporary Christians as models for emulation. He includes writings from Ignatius of Antioch, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Thomas More, John Henry Newman, and St. Therese of Liseux, among others. This volume explores the questions: What is a 'good' death? How can we live life to prepare for it? What happens to those who have died? What is 'martyrdom'? How should a Christian understand death in light of Christ's cross? How are those who have died related to the living? Distinguished by its historical scope, accessible appeal for classroom and seminary use, and the spiritually profound accounts of Christian death and dying, On Christian Dying will be of value to anyone interested in the ultimate meanings of life or facing their own death or that of a loved one.

We human beings are mortal. Our lives in this world inevitably terminate in death. This reality, however, need not cause us to despair, since Jesus Christ has gone before us into the far country of death, giving us hope that this defining feature of our earthly lives is not the end, but instead is an entrance into Christ's presence and a path to the fullness of the Spirit's new creation in which God will be all in all. Christian Dying: Witnesses from the Tradition is a collection of essays containing reflections from Christian authors--whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant--on the meaning and appropriation of Christian hope in the face of death in conversation with a number of great voices from the Christian tradition. CONTRIBUTORS: Michel Rene Barnes, John C. Cavadini, Marc Cortez, Brian E. Daley, S.J., Paul L. Gavrilyuk, Matthew Levering, David Luy, Mark McIntosh, Gilbert Meilaender, Cyril O'Regan, Marcus Plested, Brent Waters.

By mining the rich tradition of virtue ethics, Christopher Vogt uses the virtues of patience, compassion, and hope as a framework for specifying the shape of a good death, and for naming the practices Christians should develop to live well and die well. Bringing together historical, biblical, and contemporary sources in Christian ethics, Vogt provides a long-overdue theological analysis of the ars moriendi or "art of dying" literature of four centuries ago. Through a careful analysis of Luke's passion narrative, Vogt uses Jesus as the primary model for being patient in the face of death and for dying well.

A renowned ethicist who himself faced death during a recent life-threatening illness, Allen Verhey in The Christian Art of Dying sets out to recapture dying from the medical world. Seeking to counter the medicalization of death that is so prevalent today, Verhey revisits the fifteenth-century Ars Moriendi, an illustrated spiritual self-help manual on "the art of dying." Finding much wisdom in that little book but rejecting its Stoic and Platonic worldview, Verhey uncovers in the biblical accounts of Jesus' death a truly helpful paradigm for dying well and faithfully.

The Sourcebook series of anthologies gathers prose and poetry, hymns and prayers from various times and traditions, all centered on a particular theme, from the seasons of the church year to the foundational moments in the life of a Christian. Each collection offers a treasury of wisdom for use in homilies, prayer services and personal meditation.

As Catholics, we believe in the resurrection of the body. We profess it in our creed. We’re taught that to bury and pray for the dead are corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We honor the dead in our Liturgy through the Rite of Christian burial. We do all of this, and more, because when Jesus Christ took on flesh for the salvation of our souls he also bestowed great dignity on our bodies. In Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of Death and the Resurrection of the Body, Scott Hahn explores the significance of death and burial from a Catholic perspective. The promise of the bodily resurrection brings into focus the need for the dignified care of our bodies at the hour of death. Unpacking both Scripture and Catholic teaching, Hope to Die reminds us that we are destined for glorification on the last day. Our bodies have been made by a God who loves us. Even in death, those bodies point to the mystery of our salvation.

Owen was a renowned theologian in his day and this work is a piece of theological brilliance in the reformed and protestant tradition. The death of Christ had a wide range of implications on the fate of humanity and the cause of redemption that Christ came to give to us all. This work goes over all the arguments that have been set up against the reality of Christ's death and Owen brilliantly rebukes these arguments and settles it all.