Christianity is a religion of salvation. Therefore, the question of death is inseparable from the main question of every person – the attainment of eternal bliss in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Word of God speaks of life on earth as a blessing, so longevity is understood as a gift from God. Choose life, that you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may hear His voice, and that you may cleave to Him. for in this is thy life and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell on the earth (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). However, in the Bible, life expectancy is evaluated as a relative good. Life is valuable only when a person fulfills his God-determined purpose on earth. When he, following the will of God and fulfilling His commandments, has turned earthly life into a grace-filled salvific labor and gradually prepares himself for the transition to eternal blessed life. And if he is spiritually mature for the Kingdom of Heaven, then not only does he not look at the length of his life as something desirable, but on the contrary wants to unite with the Lord, for, living in the body, we are like strangers in a foreign land. Our home, our Fatherland, is not on earth, but in Heaven – where the Lord is. St. The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians: "By dwelling in the body, we are separated from the Lord, for we walk by faith, and not by sight, then we are pleased and desire better to leave the body and dwell with the Lord. And therefore we zealously try, whether we are entrenched or going out, to be pleasing to Him; for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive [according to] what he did while living in the body, good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:6-10).

People who live by earthly interests are sometimes tempted by the death of a righteous man, not understanding that his death is good for him. The righteous man dies, and no one takes it to heart; and godly men are raptured [from the earth], and no one thinks that the righteous are raptured by evil. He departs to the world (Isaiah 57:1-2).

In the "Confessions" Blessed Augustine tells about the last conversation with his mother Monica: "The day of her departure from this life is already approaching; this day Thou didst know, we knew not of it. It happened, I think, by Your secret care, that she and I were left alone; leaning on the windowsill, we looked out of the window at the inner garden of the house where we lived in Ostia. Tired from the long journey, at last, alone, we gained strength for swimming. We had a sweet conversation together