For many believers, death is not the end of human existence. But what happens when we die? And to what extent we are the biological endurance of our body? Easter Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and the victory of life against death.

Orthodox Jews and Muslims also believe in the Resurrection. For Hindus and Buddhists in the spotlight lies the redemption from the Renaissance.

In the sadness of the loss of a man, the faithful maintain the hope that death is not the end.

There are not only religious beliefs in modern religions, but also in those dominated by ancient Egypt, Vikings and many other cultures.

Defining death

Our body works biologically for about 120 years to maximum. But decisive is the real life expectancy, which is lengthened over decades and centuries due to the improvement of living and hygiene conditions – in Germany, for example, life expectancy increases by about three months annually.

Most people are not afraid of death itself, but the unknown, what will happen after we die. In medicine there are different types of deaths: the “clinical death”, in which our cardiovascular system stops working, pulse and breathing, resulting in our organs no longer obtaining oxygen and nutrients. However, “clinical death” can sometimes be successfully treated with the recovery method.

Something similar, however, cannot happen when one becomes a “brain dead” because in this case the brain is ceased. But here too, a “brain dead” man can stay artificially alive for some time. Some patients even have the ability to react to limited external stimuli.

What about the dead body?

Our organs can withstand a space without oxygen and nutrients. But gradually the mitosis stops and then the cells die. When we have been excessively dead many cells, our organs cannot produce more. This process occurs faster in the brain, where cells can remain alive for just three to five minutes. The heart can withstand for up to half an hour. When the blood circulation ceases, this decreases and forms dark spots, which can provide forensic experts for the causes and place of death.

After two hours, the rough rigidity begins, because the body no longer creates adenosine triphosphate. Without this source of energy in the cells the muscles harden for a few days and then the stiffness recedes again.

The gastrointestinal tract dies after two to three days and the bacteria found there begin to accelerate the decomposition of the body. The pathogenic microorganisms in the body, however, are still partly dangerous for a period of time. Overall, the process of decomposing the human body lasts about 30 years.

The deadly experiences

An interesting phenomenon is the death experiences, which sometimes arise between clinical death and resuscitation.

Many of those who have experienced a death experience do not remember exactly what they have experienced during it. Others remember scattered moments and scenes from a landscape or bright light in the depth of a tunnel, feeling at the same time as if their bodies are separated. Others experience a great sense of happiness and some a feeling of fear and panic.

Doven experiences appear to occur more frequently in cases where resuscitation lasts long and the brain remains for a longer period without oxygen.

Do we have a soul?

Although death is part of life, we do not want to accept it as the inexorable end of our existence.

In the sense of the “soul” we usually mean intangible, separate from the body and a dying core of a person. In many religions the soul is the essence of a man.

Faith in the immortality of the soul is based on the binary perception that the world consists of two opposing accusations: the good and the evil, the right and the wrong, the body and the soul. Philosophers such as Plato, Socrates or Cartesian believed that the body and the soul are two separate entities.

Neuroscience has found that all spiritual processes are in line with brain function. And so all of our “mental life” can be explained by the function of various neurons, chemicals and networks in our body.

But does it really consist of “is”, the soul of a man, only of measurable brain activities, biochemical processes and socio -cultural stimuli? Or is our soul determined by a complex combination of our physical processes, spirit and environment?

Scientifically has not been proven to have a soul in every human being. But exactly where the boundaries of empirical science end, it is that faith begins.

Curated by: George Passas