(Tangaza University College, 2016-05) Mwania, Patrick
From whatever perspective one approaches it, death is a mysterious reality that is certain in human existence, though humans battle with its unpredictability and inevitability. This unpredictability and inevitability of death fascinate and frighten the broad range of humanity. There is an ingrained denial of the gruesomeness and finality of death. Despite its ambiguity, it is a phenomenon, conceived differently depending on cultural, ideological, or idiosyncratic orientation. In the medical world, death is defined as a cessation of breath and heartbeat whereas as a philosophical reality, death is seen as the cessation of the integrated functioning of the human organism. In short, death from whatever perspective is hard and challenging project. This study is an attempt to understand death and afterlife according to the African traditional world view and how it relates to the Biblical and Christian traditions