Quo Vadis, Dottore? Religious, Philosophical and Medical Perspectives on the Quest for Immortality

Abstract

In the daily practice of medicine, health care providers oftentimes confront the dilemma of offering ‘maximum care’ based on available technologies and advances versus ethical concerns about futility. Regardless of cultural backgrounds and differences, most human beings aspire to an illness-free life, or better yet, a life lived with utmost quality and longevity. On account on ongoing advances in science and technology, the possibility of achieving “immortality” (a term used as a metaphor for an extremely long and disease-free life) is increasingly perceived as a realistic goal, which is aggressively pursued by some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and corporations. However, this quest is not taking place in a philosophical or religious vacuum, which is why we attempt to evaluate the current state of knowledge on religious beliefs revolving around immortality and their alignments with today’s medical advancements. The literature searches were performed using relevant databases including JSTOR and PubMed, as well as primary religious sources. Most religions present longevity as a blessing and believe in some sort of immortality, afterlife or reincarnation for the immortal soul. The quest for immortality beyond life in a “body of death” remains consistent with access to medical care and the legitimate possibility of achieving longevity—as long as certain ethical and religious parameters are preserved.

Diseases in the Bible and Quran: differences between grace or punishment from the Jerusalem God

“…These findings may help medical scholars better understand the relationship between religiousness and sickening that may alter treatment outcomes (Ahrenfeldt et al, 2019). Moreover, it may shed some light on how patients and society interpret the origin for diseases, either as the result of divine punishment, such as during AIDS era (Kopelman, 2002) or even longevity as a sign of blessing (von Schwarz et al, 2022). On the theological side, the findings of this classification of diseases show how theu reflect the theology of each religion.…”