What happened to the souls of people who died before Jesus was born?

Question

It would be nice to hear from both Catholics and non-Catholic Christians.

Answer 1

They went to what Jesus called Abraham's bosom. When He was crucified, he went to preach the Gospel to them too. (see: 1 Peter 3. )
Oh: You're hearing from a Catholic. On this subject, the Catholic Church and protestants have no disagreement.

Answer 2

I'm sure the biblical scholars are aware of what it says in 1 Peter 3:19 and 4:6 wherein the Savior, not yet resurrected, went to the spirit world and preached to the spirits there that had waited for Him since the beginning of time.

Modern revelation tells us that the Savior also dispatched righteous priesthood holders to that portion of the spirit world that housed the unrighteous and unrepentant so they, too, could learn of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

From that time when Jesus visited the spirit world the chasm between Paradise and the spirit prison was removed, allowing priesthood messengers to visit and preach to those that had died in their sins.

Answer 3

Hello, MSlater:

The Bible says that "Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world." When God writes prophecies of the future, they are written in past tense, as if they have already happened. Why?

When God speaks something, it is as good as done. So, the saints before Calvary are awaiting the resurrection of the dead, just like David is:

Acts 2:34: "For David is not ascended into the heavens."

According to Jesus, there are two resurrections from the grave. Those who have done good to the resurrection of righteousness and evil to the resurrection of damnation. You see, the reward is yet future--your preacher fooled you, didn't he?

The entire plan of redemption is revealed in a Bible code. You will be amazed. See http://abiblecode.tripod.com

Shalom, peace in Jesus, Ben Yeshua

Answer 4

If they didn't recognize and obey God, their fate was just as the rest of unbelievers. Abraham was the prime example. He was righteous before God even before the Law. It was his faith. God knows the hearts of men. All men have had opportunity to accept or reject God. If there are any who didn't, then God will be the judge, not us. Remember, all men knew of God because the single point of the propagation of man was Noah after the flood. He, and his family passed down the knowledge of God. If men chose not to follow that instruction for themselves or their descendants, then there would've been a price to pay. Sin brings death. But there has always been a knowledge of God because all peoples have always performed some form of religious ritual even if it was in error.

Answer 5

Before Jesus was born people would sacrifice animals, the best of their flock. There were prophets who taught of Jesus before he was born and some choose to believe them and others did not. I believe that all those who didn't have the opportunity to be taught of Christ will get that opportunity in the next life. Then they can choose for themself weather he is real and wheather they accept him as their savior.

Answer 6

The devil captured them on their way to Heaven and placed them in a certain place. They could not be taken to hell because they were righteous, and just. That is why Jesus said, "destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in 3 days". (see MT. 12:40, also see also Mt, 26:61), He went to the place and rescued the souls that the devil had captured. Jesus reappeared to the Disciples after those 3 days. Read the book of St. Matthew, it's very interesting and will fully answer your question.

Answer 7

Ok. Now, if you are talking about righteous people, like Abraham, Noah, King David, etc. then their souls are in Heaven.
Let me explain. In order to get to Heaven, one must be Born Again. In order to be born again, one must accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Now, the people who were righteous before Jesus were born were in a place called "Abraham's Bosom", or "Paradise." Do you remember Jesus telling the theif on the cross "Today you will be with Me in "Paradise?" Well that's where Jesus descended to when He died. That's where all the souls of the righteous were. That's when Jesus preached the Gospel to them, and took them to Heaven. Paradise is not where it used to be. I believe now that it is in Heaven. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." We all know that the Lord is in Heaven.
All the souls who were not righteous are simply in Hell.

Answer 8

The souls of the people who died before Jesus was born went to a place where they waited for Jesus to come.

Answer 9

Luke 16:19-26 (Messsage Version)
19-21"There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man's table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.
22-24"Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, 'Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I'm in agony in this fire.'
25-26"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It's not like that here. Here he's consoled and you're tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.'

Before Jesus, people went to a place the OT calls paradise for those who knew God and the place of torment for those who rebelled against Him. There is, in my opinion, no better explaination of this than when Jesus told of this account. I believe that since Jesus is the truth that this must have been an account that He witnessed Himself, which gave Him the ability to talk about it.

Answer 10

According to Catholicism
After he died before he rose again, for 3 days, He Descended to Hell Freed all the souls that were not able to ascend to Heaven. It is called the Harrowing of Hell. It was in the Nicean Creed but was removed think in 1960's?

http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/harrowing_of_hell.htm