O medo da morte e a fé na ressurreição: por uma antropologia teológica no acompanhamento a pacientes terminais

Abstract

To deal with the theme of death in a scientific paper can lead many people to an attitude of estrangement, since death, in a way, is taboo in contemporary society. The desire is, precisely, through scientific effort, to avoid death, forgetting that death is one of the only certainties of human existence. The Christian faith, on the other hand, does not see death as the end of existence, but overcomes it with faith in the resurrection. Confronted with this, the present analysis seeks to offer resources for a better comprehension of dying as a human experience in an interdisciplinary perspective and in the light of the Christian faith. The approach is done in three distinct moments: a) initially different forms of experiencing the fear of death are described; b) then some contributions of psychology and theology for the accompaniment of terminal patients are listed; c) and, finally, the importance of the faith in the resurrection in theological anthropology is discussed. Methodologically, the analysis is basic in nature, with a qualitative and descriptive approach, and makes use of bibliographic sources. The results permit the conclusion that faith in the resurrection is extremely comforting for the person who is on the border of life and death. Through faith in the resurrection, the person in a terminal state overcomes with greater ease the fear of death and even facing pain and suffering, sings and praises God, since the person knows that he or she is being guided by God's self to the full life at God's side.