Resurrection, death and the intermediate state Mind the gap The Bible seems pretty clear on some things about life after death judgment, heaven and hell. When Jesus returns, if we haven t died yet, we will be judged on the basis of our response to him during our lives, resulting in either heaven or hell. But what happens if I die before Jesus returns? Where do I go? What will be my experience while I wait in the gap? This paper seeks to probe the gap between death and judgment. It s conclusion is only tentative because scripture remains shadowy at this point, but that should not prevent us from having something to say on the matter. Background Some Terms Let s begin with some working definitions. Establishing these from scripture is beyond the scope of this little paper, but making my assumptions explicit at this point should help. Heaven: a place where created beings experience everlasting blessing in the presence of God, in intimate relationship with him and other created beings. Rev 2-22 suggests that it is not unlike the garden of Eden since it has many parallels 'no more curse', 'the tree of life' etc. Hell: a place where created beings experience God's wrath in an ongoing and endless way (see 2 Thes :8-9). Judgment Day (the Parousia): the moment at the end of earthly history when Jesus Christ returns from heaven to earth to judge all people from every age, consigning them either to heaven or hell. The Intermediate State: the experience of a person who dies before the return of Jesus Christ for Judgment Day. Sometimes this is called sheol or the underworld. History In the earliest years of the Christian church there was little thought of an intermediate state between physical death and resurrection due to the idea that Jesus would very soon return as Judge. The problem of the intermediate state arose when it became apparent that Jesus would not return at once. The problem for early Church Fathers was how to reconcile individual judgment and retribution at death with the general judgment and retribution at and after the resurrection. To give too much importance to the former would rob the other of its significance, and vice versa. The majority of them sought to solve the difficulty by assuming a distinct intermediate state between death and the resurrection. For many centuries the general conclusion was widely accepted that in a subterranean Hades the righteous enjoy a measure of reward not equal to their future heaven and the wicked suffer a degree of punishment not equal to their future hell. The intermediate state was thus a slightly reduced version of ultimate retribution (Quoted in L.Berkhof Systematic Theology p.680). This section and some of the work that follows has re-worked and refined a study paper written by Tim Booker at Moore Theological College 999. The conclusions of this later paper are somewhat different to those of the original paper and reflect my understanding of the Bible's teaching on this matter some 6 years later. I am also grateful to Bishop Glenn Davies for discussions with him that have been useful in refining my thinking in these matters. Page! of 6!
Varying views of this were held by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Novatian, Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose and Augustine. In the Alexandrian School the idea of the intermediate state passed into that of a gradual purification of the soul, and this paved the way for the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory. Pope Gregory the Great is called the Inventor of Purgatory. This was the place of purification from slight faults before the final judgement. He also propounded the idea of deliverance from this fire by intercessory prayers and oblations (linked to the idea of the re-sacrificing the body of Christ in the Eucharist, which in turn gained merit for the dead person). The medieval Mystics and Scholastics were very explicit in their description of a material fire in purgatory, but the Greek church never accepted these gross fantasies of the western church. The Roman Catholic Church affirmed the doctrine of purgatory in 546 at the Council of Trent, and continue to hold it today. It was in association with this doctrine that the sale of indulgences arose. Indulgences are still granted today from the Pope, although they are not officially sold. The Reformers, one and all, rejected the doctrine of Purgatory, and also the idea of a real intermediate state as a place. Calvin wrote a tract against the Anabaptists who revived the doctrine that the soul of man sleeps from the time of death until the resurrection. The 39 Articles (Doctrinal statement of the Anglican Church) states that purgatory is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture. The nature of human beings The human being is unity, body and soul (Matt 0:28) or body and spirit ( Cor 7:34; Jas 2:26). Both belong together as embodied soul and ensouled body a psycho-somatic unity which bears the image of God. Although it would be wrong to see humans as souls trapped in bodies, awaiting release at death. This is a sub-biblical and Platonic/Gnostic idea. Instead, death brings about a temporary separation between body and soul. Since the NT speaks of souls of men as still existing during the time between death and resurrection, we may also speak of such souls, as long as we remember that this state of existence is provisional, temporary and incomplete. Because man is not totally human apart from the body, the central eschatological (end of time) hope of Scripture with regard to man is not the mere continued existence of the soul but the resurrection of the body. There are at least 3 instances in the NT where the word psyche is used to designate that aspect of man that continues to exist after death: Matt 0:28; Rev 6:9; 20:4. The NT also uses the word spirit (pneuma) to describe this aspect of man: Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59; Hebrews 2:23. What happens to a person immediately after death, before The Judgement? Some Common Views:. Soul Sleep - the body dies while the soul passes out of time (as though asleep). The soul is then re-animated with a new resurrection body at the Judgment Day when Christ returns. 2. Final Judgement is immediate - the earthly body dies, the human soul is immediately judged, and given its resurrection body, being consigned directly either to heaven or hell. 3. Purgatory - personal sins are paid off through a purificatory fire prior to heaven. 4. There is a bodily intermediate state - an arrival lounge with some kind of transitional body until the final Judgement, where the soul is given a resurrection body. No concept of Page! 2 of 6!
purification or paying off sins is attached to this idea judgement is already sealed. Partial experience of retribution, either of joy or punishement. 5. There is a non-bodily intermediate state - same as above, but existing as a disembodied soul. Preliminary Evaluation We can expunge (cross off our list!) purgatory straight away. If such a place exists, for such a person, then Jesus need never have died on the cross. He would not be the ONLY way, truth and life; there would be another way to be saved: a person s sins could be paid off through suffering in purgatory, through the intercessory prayers of others, through merit attained in the Eucharist, and through Papal Indulgences. An immediate final judgement can also be readily discarded. The Judgement is always seen in scripture as a single event in time, experienced by humans and non-humans, the living and the dead, on the one last day (Mat 2:4-42; Cor 4:5; 2 Pet 2:4, 9). It is not an individualistic event, but a corporate event. The State of Man between Death and Resurrection Old Testament Human existence does not end at death; after death man continues to exist in the realm of the dead, commonly called sheol. Louis Berkhof suggests a 3-fold meaning: ) state of death (Gen37:35;42:38; Sam2:6), 2) grave (Ps4:7), or; 3) hell (Ps9:7; 55:5; Prov5:24 are quoted by Berkhof, though Hoekema convincingly shows that they do not establish that Sheol can designate the place of eternal punishment). But there does begin to emerge in the OT the conviction that the lot of the wicked and the lot of the godly after death is not the same, eg. Ps 49:4. The godly will be redeemed from the power of death which suggests the promise of resurrection from the dead. In Acts 2:27,3 Peter quotes Ps 6:0 and applies it to the resurrection of Christ, affirming that David was predicting that resurrection. Read Acts 2:30-3. If Ps6 could be interpreted as a prediction of Christ s resurrection, it could also have meant for David the hope of his own resurrection. A hope of resurrection becomes more clearly enunciated as revelation progresses in the later books of the OT, particularly the prophet Daniel, who describes an individual and personal resurrection to either judgement or blessing: Dan 2:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. New Testament Biblical Data Like the OT, the NT teaches that man is not annihilated at death but continues to exist, either in Hades or in a place of blessedness sometimes called Paradise or Abraham s Bosom. Page! 3 of 6!
Jesus The parable of Lazarus and the Rich man is interesting but problematic because the information is only incidental within a parable. It relies on the commonly held views of first century Jews, also recorded by Philo of Alexandria. 22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side (bosom ko/lpon). The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell (hades aˆ dhø), where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' 25 "But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' 27 "He answered, `Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 30 "`No, father Abraham,' he said, `but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 3 "He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" (Luke 6:9-3, NIV). Hades normally designates the realm of the dead. Acts 2:27,3 where Ps 6:0 is fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus, in Rev :8; 6:8; 20:3; Matt :23;6:8. But in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 6:9-3 the word Hades is used as a description of the place of torment in the intermediate state. Hades is contrasted with Abraham s Bosom. This parable would not be possible if the resurrection had already occurred (Rich Man referring to his 5 brothers still alive). It must be concluded then that both the sufferings associated with Hades and the comforts associated with Abraham s Bosom occur in the intermediate state. Consider also the promise to the thief on the cross: Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43, NIV). The word Paradise is only used here and in 2 Cor 2:4 and Rev. 2:7. In 2 Cor Paul is caught up into Paradise in a vision; the expression Paradise is parallel to third heaven in v.2. Here, therefore, Paradise means the realm of the blessed dead, and the special habitation of God, yet somehow prior to the final state of heaven after judgment. In Revelation we read about the Tree of Life which is in the Paradise of God here again Paradise refers to heaven, but to the final state rather than to the intermediate state. What can we conclude? Not much with certainty, yet Jesus does seem happy to buy into the commonly held view of his times that there is an intermediate state prior to final judgment where humans experience a foretaste of their eternal destiny (either heaven or hell) either in "Abraham's bosom/paradise" or in "Hades". Paul Paul is also convinced of an intermediate state; that is, he believed in it, although on what grounds we are not sure. Page! 4 of 6!
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; (Php :2-23, NIV). aónaluvsai (to depart) is an aorist infinitive, hinting at the momentary experience of death. The infinitives to depart and to be with Christ are to be considered 2 aspects of the same thing the moment he dies, that very same moment he will be with Christ. This condition, he says, will be far better than the present, clearly rejecting the thought of soul-sleep or nonexistence. Once again, the existential argument is not discounted altogether. 3 rd Heaven, revelation and ecstatic experience: I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--god knows. 3 And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-- 4 was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. (2 Cor 2:-4, NIV). It is difficult to draw too many conclusions here, although there is a suggestion of a possible human existence without a body. Paul also speaks of earthly and heavenly dwellings: Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Cor 5:-8, NIV). The earthly tent is the present mode of existence on earth, so temporary that it can be compared to living in a tent. But what does the building from God, a house not made with hands mean? Two main views are possible: ) an intermediate state body between the present body and the body of the resurrection. This argument seems to me to have some problems, but rests on the unity of the human being (an 2 ensouled body). This view tries to bring some kind of completeness to the otherwise transitional nature of the intermediate state by supposing a temporary human body. 2) the resurrection body which we will receive at the Second Coming of Christ for Judgment. This view seems to make much more sense and fit with some of the other texts we have looked at. Paul doesn t tell us how we will experience this closeness with Christ after death; we have no description of the nature of this fellowship. But our glorification will not be complete until the resurrection of the body takes place. Therefore, the condition of the believer during the intermediate state, as Calvin taught, is a condition of incompleteness, of anticipation, of provisional blessedness without a bodily dimension to our existence. 2 See: I. John Hesselink A Case for a Transitional Body in Perspectives 0/4 (995) 0-3. Page! 5 of 6!
Further passages Hebrews is salutary, but does not seem to add or subtract much: Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, (Heb 9:27, NIV). 2 Peter certainly supports an intermediate state most clearly. 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. (2 Peter 2:4-9, NIV). What is described here is not the final punishment of the ungodly, but a punishment that precedes the judgment day. It reinforces Lk 6 that the ungodly undergo continuing punishment (the nature of which is not described) between their death and the Day of Judgment. Another hint comes in the book of Revelation 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 0 They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (Rev 6:9-0, NIV). Here we see the souls of the martyrs in a very holy and special place (under the altar of God) waiting for the return of Christ for final judgment and their vindication. Conclusion The last two passages are the most damaging for the case for soul sleep (nevertheless, I find the idea most attractive somehow!). However the weight of evidence from the Bible does seem to steer us away from the notion of soul sleep. This leaves us with an intermediate state that includes some kind of foretaste (either punishment or paradise) of the judgment that has already been determined at death. Will we have a temporary body 3 during this intermediate state? This seems most unlikely, given the passage from Rev 6. So we conclude, recognizing the limits of our human perspective and knowledge, that there is a conscious disembodied intermediate state between death and physical resurrection at the return of Christ. We look forward to an eternal, glorious existence with Christ after death, an existence which will culminate in the resurrection where we are once again completely human with our souls 'at home' in a body fit for the life of heaven. The Intermediate state and our glorious Resurrection are therefore to be thought of as two aspects of a common Christian expectation. Bibliography: R. C. Doyle Eschatology, the Community and the Shape of Christian Belief: Ch.5 & 6 his notes; Ch.2 his book Hendrikus Berkhof Christian Faith, an introduction to the study of the Faith, 979, pp.482-490, 525-533 (230 BER) Louis Berkhof The History of Christian Doctrines (Edinburgh; Banner of Truth, 949) 259-26 A. A. Hoekema The Bible and The Future, Ch.9,7 I. John Hesselink A Case for a Transitional Body in Perspectives 0/4 (995) 0-3. 3 2 Cor 2 hints that it is possible to exist out of body in this temporary condition. Page! 6 of 6!