Life After Death—What Does the Bible Say?

Question

The condition of the dead is made clear at Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, where we read: “The dead know nothing . . . There is no pursuit, no plan, no knowledge or intelligence, within the grave.” (Moffatt) Death, therefore, is a state of nonexistence. The psalmist wrote that when a person dies, “he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” (Psalm 146:4) The dead are unconscious, inactive.When pronouncing sentence upon Adam, God stated: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) Before God formed him from the dust of the ground and gave him life, Adam did not exist. When he died, he returned to that state. His punishment was death—not a transfer to another realm. What, then, happened to his soul? Since in the Bible the word “soul” often simply refers to a person, when we say that Adam died, we are saying that the soul named Adam died. This might sound unusual to a person who believes in the immortality of the soul. However, the Bible states: “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4) Leviticus 21:1 speaks of “a deceased soul” (a “corpse,” The Jerusalem Bible). The Bible says that when a person dies, “his spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground.” (Psalm 146:4) Does this mean that a disembodied spirit literally departs and lives on after a person’s death? That could not be, for the psalmist next says: “In that day his thoughts do perish” (“all his thinking ends,” The New English Bible). What, then, does it mean when Ecclesiastes 12:7 states that when a person dies, “the spirit itself returns to the true God who gave it”? Does this mean that the spirit literally travels through space into God’s presence? Nothing of the sort is implied. Since the spirit is the life-force, it “returns to the true God” in the sense that any hope of future life for that person now rests entirely with God. Only God can restore the spirit, or life-force, causing a person to come back to life.

Answer 1

I Agree with you 100 percent! It's nice to see someone else "gets it". It is frustrating to me at funerals when someone starts talking about how the deceased is with God now. It isn't exactly the right time to bring it all up but to hear the preacher go on and on about it.... I sometimes want to scream. I don't want my family and friends led astray by something totally not biblical. I am upset that for so many years I believed it because I was lied to by MY pastor.

Oh, and also the people who say that when Jesus died he told the thief on the cross " I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Arrrrgggg! Do they really believe that Jesus went to paradise that day? If so, why the resurrection and ascension? He ascended into heaven after he was raised from the dead so He wasn't in heaven at the point of his death. The comma was out of place, it was suppose to say "I tell you the truth today, you will be with me in paradise."

Ok, whew... I think my rant has subsided......

Oh yeah,,, what was the question?

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Wow -- that was a lot of material to look through.

If you read the NT, which you obviously have, take notes next time. Or do a search with the word sleep or asleep.

If you do you will see that Christians then considered the dead to be asleep. Also, Paul condemns those that taught that the resurrection had occurred telling the Christians that these were overturning the faith of Christians.

Paul also showed that the first resurrection would happen during his presence. For these reasons and more, it is clear that the spirit is a non-living thing, and that life is restored after a person is resurrected.

For a deeper discussion, read these two links:
http://bythebible.page.tl/1-.--Dead__the-condition-of--.---.---.--.htm
http://bythebible.page.tl/Judgment-%26-Sheol.htm

Answer 4

The book of Ecclesiastes was written at a time when the Jews did not believe in a life after death.
That belief changed in the later books such as the book of Maccabees.

Jesus Christ taught that there was a second life after this one. If there is any contradiction between the Old Testament and the New the latter should prevail because it is the new covenant and fullness of divine revelation.

After death we must all come into the presence of Christ our judge, 'so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done." (2 Corinthians 5,10)

Those who die without perfect love of God will be purified in love in purgatory. We know that there is a purgatory because those who imperfectly love God when they die do not deserve Hell nor are they worthy enough for heaven; we also know from the Church's constant teaching about the value of prayers for those in purgatory.

Those who die in hatred of God will be judged worthy of the eternal punishment of hell.

For more information on this subject please go to this link and look for paragraph 1005 and following.
http://www.scborromeo.org/index2.htm

Answer 5

you have stated what the Bible said so what else are you looking for?
If you are asking what we in the cyber space think then here goes.
I think we are energy and science say that energy never dies. If so I think our soul's are energy and that we move into another phase. It goes back to God and from there who knows.
Lazarus as far as any one knows, never wrote a book on his experience. And the ones that the apostle's resurrected never wrote about it. That any one have found today.
So I assume that we have to have faith in the resurrection. Just as we do in God and his Son Jesus.

Answer 6

judaism has always believed in life after death, but the emphasis has always been on this life. judaism has never devalued this life, or made the body into something sinful, as christianity did.

it was part of the christian strategy to convert the world. the easiest people to convert are those who are having rough lives, because you can tell them they are suffering now to be rewarded later. so christianity did that to the developing countries around the world, and they had to say that this life is terrible and the next will be great.

Answer 7

"Let the dead bury the dead..."

Dead are those whose lives are spent in empty pleasure and toil, and thus they do nothing, and do not think. Solomon was not known as a fool for a reason.

As to the point referring to God being in control of the Spirit, it is as you said.

The soul lies in the principle encompassing of those two things which is not self-contradictory.

God bless.

Answer 8

Martha... for future reference there is a lag of about 2-4 minutes between submitting a question and having it post... You can avoid double posts by simply waiting 5 or so minutes before freaking and reposting...

As for the bible references, believe what you will, I will believe what I will...

Answer 9

Since you seem already to have done the work, why should we answer - and why do you even bother to ask? Pushing an agenda - of ANY ilk - is NOT asking for information.

Answer 10

"Everyone must die once and after that comes judgement" Heb 9:27