Is Memento Mori in the Bible?
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For six years, I was reminded every day I went to work that someday, I would die. I worked at a theme park with a haunted house, whose gift shop had a large sign: “Memento Mori.” This famous Latin phrase means, “Remember you must die.”
That might seem like a morbid thing to consider every day. However, it was also a fitting reminder that my time on this earth will end one day. While people fear or glorify death, the Christian perspective should be very different.
Therefore, we should ask: is the principle behind memento mori biblical? Let’s dig deeper to see what the phrase means and whether it resonates with the Bible's words about death and what lies beyond life.
Where Does Memento Mori Come From?
Like many Latin phrases, memento mori is based on ancient Greek or Roman ideas.
In Plato’s Phaedo, Socrates argues that the sole purpose of philosophy “is to practice for dying and death.” Far from encouraging anyone to live in resignation of life’s meaninglessness, the Greek philosophers believed that an awareness of death and a mastery over the fear it holds heightens one’s focus and inspires the soul to become more intentional with the time we are given.
The Stoic philosophers particularly believed that remembering death provides motivation for life. Contemporary author Ryan Holiday summarizes some well-known Stoic quotes about death:
- “I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it.” — Epictetus
- “Let each thing you would do, say, or intend, be like that of a dying person.” — Marcus Aurelius
- “It is not death that a man should fear, but rather he should fear never beginning to live.” — Marcus Aurelius
- “It’s better to conquer grief than to deceive it.” — Seneca
The phrase memento mori became famous thanks to a Roman custom. As Joe Fassler explains in The Atlantic, we know about the phrase thanks to a story told by ancient Christian apologist Tertullian. In Apologeticus, Tertullian describes a parade to celebrate a renowned Roman general. While the celebrated general traveled down the street to the cheers and adoration of the crowd, a slave was responsible for whispering into his ear, “memento mori” or “Respice post te. Hominem te memento” (“Look behind you. Remember that you are mortal.”)
If one of our first records of memento mori comes from a Christian apologist, we may ask: do we see the concept in the Bible?
Do We See the Phrase Memento Mori in the Bible?
We do see something close to memento mori outside the Protestant biblical canon. One verse in the Book of Sirach, collected in the Apocrypha, says, “In all you do, remember the end of your life, and then you will never sin” (Sirach 7:26). You may also know the book of Sirach as Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach.
As biblical scholars explain, the books included in the Apocrypha were written in the four centuries between the Old and New Testaments. While the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches consider these books canonical Scripture, the Protestant Reformation didn’t follow that direction. The choice has a long, complex history, which we don’t have time to explain fully here. In An Introduction to the Apocrypha, Bruce Metzger argues that some teachers considered these books’ ideas mysterious, “too profound to be communicated to any except the initiated.” Others felt the Apocryphal books communicated ideas that didn’t fit with the 66 scriptural books that all denominations agreed on.
While the Sirach quote may be the closest to a biblical quote that fits memento mori, we do see various verses in the 66 books that discuss:
- how short life is
- how all earthly possessions, pursuits, and pleasures are temporary
- the certainty of the grave
- the ultimate blessing and hope of glorification and eternal life for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ
We will explore some of these passages in a moment.
It is worth noting that not every philosophy featuring memento mori aligns with Scripture. Notably, the apostle Paul debates Stoic and Epicurean philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens (Acts 17:16-34). Reasoning with so-called masters of logic, Paul challenged their misconceptions about Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the elevation of logic to religion, and the reliance on human reason to understand or explain God’s nature.
Therefore, we should consider what canonical Scripture says about death and life to see how closely its ideas fit with memento mori.
Are There Any Bible Verses that Express Memento Mori?
Although memento mori has become associated with many practices and rituals Christians rightly avoid, the contemplation of death in a biblical context can certainly benefit the lives of Christians, young and old.
Many verses in the Bible express memento mori in a profound and encouraging way.
For example, the apostle James reminded his readers that no one is guaranteed tomorrow:
“You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (James 4:13-15)
In his suffering, Job also reflected that “man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain” (Job 14:1-2).
And what did the wise King Solomon conclude in his dissertation on the meaning of life? “death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2).
We see memento mori in the heart of all these verses.
What about when we look at memento mori in past and modern culture?
Where Do We See Memento Mori in Culture?
Beyond the Roman Empire, many societies have incorporated similar philosophies regarding death into festivals and celebrations. Notable among them is the Celtic pagan festival of Samhain, a predecessor to modern-day Halloween, as well as Dia de los Muertos (“Day of the Dead”), which many Latin American countries celebrate.
We also see the emphasis on remembering death in many pieces of artwork.
- Vincent Van Gogh’s Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette depicts a skeleton with a cigarette. While in poor health and studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Van Gogh made the painting a poignant reminder of his own mortality.
- Pablo Picasso created a lithograph entitled Black Jug and Skull, which shows a human skull, wine jug, and open book on a table and illustrates the shortness of worldly pleasures alongside the certainty of death.
- Many medieval paintings of the Danse Macabre by artists like Michael Wolgemut feature a group of skeletons dancing. This is a reminder of the horrors of the Black Death, one of the worst pandemics in human history, which swept across Europe in the mid-14th century.
Not all of these traditions or artworks fit a biblical worldview. Sadly, many traditions that began with contemplating death to challenge fear have morphed into celebrating evil. We should watch out for these problems, particularly since, as the Bible warns us in 1 Corinthians 10:20, some pagan celebrations are demonic in nature.
We also need to consider that every work of art presents a worldview, so we need to consider how entertainment portrays death. The Bible affirms we should reflect on whatever is “right, pure, admirable, and lovely” (Philippians 4:8) but also consider how fleeting life is.
Where Do We See Memento Mori in Christian Art?
Church history teaches that there are ways to balance the extremes: we can contemplate death without being consumed by images and thoughts of destruction. Numerous church-commissioned paintings feature skulls, skeletons, hourglasses, ticking clocks, fruit, flowers, or dying candles to remind people about death’s inevitability. These artworks had a particular point: rather than celebrating death, they encouraged humility, living with purpose, overcoming the fear of death, and keeping an eternal, biblical perspective on life beyond the grave.
We also see a wide variety of art that mentions death while alluding to biblical ideas or themes. William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet features the main character contemplating death in the iconic “to be or not to be” soliloquy, not unlike King Solomon, contemplating the meaning of life in the book of Ecclesiastes.
None of these artistic representations are perfect. However, the many ideas and images created through art and literature have helped everyday individuals consider and overcome the fear of death.
What Can Memento Mori Teach Us Today?
Granting that death is certain, should our response be? The Bible offers a few more insights.
David prayed, “Teach us to number our days that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalms 90:12). The apostle Paul also encouraged the church to “be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).
Also, the Christian who properly contemplates death through an eternal and biblical lens has very little to fear when it comes to life’s end. They will hold tightly to Christ, telling His followers, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26).
To the redeemed, the hope of memento mori is not death. It is glorified, eternal life with Jesus Christ, who promises to “wipe every tear” from our eyes in a time where there will “no longer be any death,” mourning, or crying, or pain, for these things have passed away (Revelation 21:4)
We will still mourn for those who have passed. The Bible instructs us to do so. However, it also reminds us that we “will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).
Ultimately, a biblical perspective on memento mori encourages humility, hope, peace, and purpose in life. It also affirms our identity in Christ: “For if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).
Ultimately, the redeemed in Christ need not fear death because Christ has already conquered sin and the grave through His death and resurrection. For this reason, Paul could confidently ask, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
“Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
To the author of life be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Photo Credit:©GettyImages/Vitezslav Vylicil
