Posted on 09/03/2023 5:29:22 AM PDT by daniel1212
In the United States, women might live to 81.2 years, on average, whereas men have a life expectancy of just 76.4 years....
Social interaction, having a pet, and walking faster have all been recently shown to boost one’s longevity.
Could religion have the same effect on our lifespan? New research suggests so. Researchers led by Laura Wallace, a doctoral researcher in psychology at the Ohio State University in Columbus, have conducted two studies whose results show that religion could give believers a 4-year longevity boost.
The findings were published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science....
Religion boosts lifespan by up to 6.48 years
In the first study, Wallace and colleagues analyzed 505 obituaries published in the Des Moines Register between January and February 2012.
The second study analyzed 1,096 obituaries published online in 42 major cities across the U.S. between August 2010 and August 2011.
In both studies, the researchers accounted for sex and marital status, as well as the number of religious social activities the people had participated in.
The first study showed that religious believers lived 9.45 years longer than those who did not have a religious affiliation in their obituary.
After their sex and marital status had been accounted for, believers lived 6.48 years longer, on average, than non-believers.
In the second study, that gap was 5.64 years at first, then 3.82 years after considering sex and marital status.
The redeemed are those who come to God as sinners knowing their desperate need of salvation - not as souls saved by their works or religious heritage, but as destitute of any means or merit whereby they may find salvation - and with a humble and penitent heart (that at least implicitly wants a new life following Christ) believe on the crucified and risen Lord Jesus - the Divine Son of God - who alone can save them on His account, by His sinless shed blood and righteousness. (Romans 3:9 - 5:1)
For the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world. (1 John 4:14) And which faith is imputed for righteousness, (Romans 4:5)
And who are thus baptized to follow the Lord Jesus with persevering faith (John 10:27-29; Acts 8:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10) - and effectually repent when they find that they failed to do so. (Psalms 32:5, 6; 51:3; Hosea 5:15; 1 John 1:9)
And by which faith the redeemed soul is "accepted in the Beloved" and positionally seated with Him in Heaven, on His account, glory to God. (Ephesians 1:6; 2:6; cf. Phil. 3:21)
And those who die in that obedient faith will go to be forever with Him at death or His return (Phil 1:23; 2Cor. 5:8 [“we”]; Heb, 12:22,23; 1Cor. 15:51ff'; 1Thess. 4:17) In contrast to those who were never born of the Spirit or who terminally fall away. (Gal. 5:1-4; Heb. 3:12; 10:25-39)
Thanks be to God!
Ping
Waiting for the left to discredit this study as racist and homophobic.
Well its interesting, but what if its only the kinds of people who have been doing healthy things like going to Church, which tells you to live well, and the people who don’t obviously don’t live well in general?
Church goers more integrated people in general, whereas those not going are less integrated in general?
Is that a good thing ?
#1 you have to wait 6.5 more years to get the rest you desperately need if you are old and sick,
#2 you are old and sick, maybe stuck in a nursing home with no fami,iy visiting, being treated not so great by overworked nursing home peeps, have to eat cafeteria style food that they serve etc... not sure that will be pleasant.
If one is healthy, sure, that’d be nice, but it still means delaying heaven
Maybe I should take up smoking again to hurry the process a bit lol.
Good points- might be a couple of reasons why they live longer. Their fami,is might be Christian too, and take better care of them than unsaved families in general do- might be that most Christians don’t smoke or drink, or do drugs or engage in high risk thrill things, e5c
It means that, as
researchers at the Mayo Clinic concluded, “Most studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes, including greater longevity, coping skills, and health-related quality of life (even during terminal illness) and less anxiety, depression, and suicide. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolefisher/2019/03/29/science-says-religion-is-good-for-your-health/
I was mostly kidding, but still, it depends on how sick or alone the person is in the last years- im sure not all the people questioned or studied were specimens of perfect health at old ages. Although they will still likely have a better outlook on life than others even if stuck alone and sick.
Not just longer life either. Living under God's curse isn't a life worth living.
since being gay can decrease your lifespan by 20+ years, that alone could account for a good chunk of the life span difference here. I assume most gays are not religious.
It partly relates to the religious in general having better physical health habits, but also that social and spiritual aspects play a part. However, only effectual living faith in the risen Lord and Savior truly gives and ensures real life!
If politically protected status was applied to those claim an "orientation" (toward godlessness) as it is toward LGBTQ+ (based upon feelings), then it could be.
What would be the response if a consensual Christian practice - lets say the Lord's supper - was shown to be responsible for 81% of new HIV cases aged 13 and older among men - - despite only representing approximately 4% of the male population - and 92% of new HIV among youth, and (historically) a greatly increased incidence of other infectious diseases and premature death, and despite decades of attempting to tame it into being "safe," then it would be treated as the plague.
God made man and women distinctively different yet uniquely compatible and complementary, and only joined them together in marriage - as the Lord Jesus Himself specified (Mt. 19:4–6) - and Scripture only condemns homosexual relations wherever they are manifestly dealt with.
Yet there is still room at the cross for all who will come to God in repentance and faith, and trust in the Divine Son of God sent by the Father, the risen Lord Jesus, to save them on His account, by His sinless shed blood, and thus be baptized and live for Him. Acts 10:36-47
Yes.
What exactly does one do with those extra years?
And, as you commented, what about the delay in your transition to heaven/paradise?
Good comments on this thread—one of the major flaws with all “social science” is that they confuse correlation with causation—with no practical way to separate them.
Folks with healthy life practices have a whole list of characteristics—and there is no practical way to tease out which of those characteristics is the most important.
One example—non-Christians are more likely to live in large cities where there is more pollution.
As one gets older it is important to have social interaction. Church is a safe place (usually) to do this
In light of eternity, it doesn't matter...
In light of time, it seems long...
I am just happy to have good news from Medical Express 😃
Or, those who have satisfied the bottom layers on their hierarchy of needs today indulge in a religious community as well?
But I expect the peace of mind, reinforcement toward good choices, and sense of community are all helpful.
It’s like being married. I’d rather die.
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