Immortality and Pre-Existence

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.’Jeremiah 1:5

The question of immortality is closely connected with the question of human existence before birth. Just as our inner being is not destroyed by death, it does not arise for the first time with the body. Human beings have an individual pre-existence before their earthly life begins. The awakening of body-bound consciousness obscures the memory of this previous existence. What was prepared earlier becomes our destiny. This we continue to fashion. Death brings about a transformation of our earthly consciousness when our immortal part wrests itself free from the mortal.

The goal of religious life is to reawaken and strengthen, through prayer and ritual, those forces of the soul that unite the human being with his or her divine-spiritual origin. Through Christ we can free ourselves from compulsion; through him we can find on earth the power of nonegotistical love.

The sacrament of the Last Anointing helps the soul to cross the threshold into a body-free existence again. The Burial Ritual supports the soul of the deceased in its new abode and strengthens the community's connection with those on the other side. There is also has a burial ritual especially for children.

‘He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.’ John 11:25f