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Summary
- Most churches teach that a believer’s soul is with Christ at death and that the body is raised when Christ returns.
- The main texts are Jesus’ promise to the dying man, “today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), and Paul’s “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
- The Catholic Church teaches that those who die in God’s grace but “still imperfectly purified” are purified in purgatory before entering heaven (Catechism 1030).
- The Orthodox Church teaches a judgment at death and a foretaste of blessing or punishment until the final judgment, but rejects purgatory.
- Protestant confessions teach that the souls of the righteous go directly to God, “made perfect in holiness” (Westminster Confession 32.1).
- Seventh-day Adventists teach that “death is an unconscious state” until the resurrection, and Jehovah’s Witnesses that the dead cease to exist.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version: Luke 16:22–23; 23:42–43; John 11:11–14; 20:17; Acts 7:59–60; 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8; 12:2–4; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17; 1 Corinthians 3:15; 15:52; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation 2:7; 6:9–11; 21:27; Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 9:5; Psalm 146:4; Matthew 27:52. 2 Maccabees 12:43–45 from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. Luke 23:43 and Ecclesiastes 9:5 as rendered in the New World Translation.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1005, 1022–1023, 1030–1032, 1472 and 1989. https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_three/article_12/iii_the_final_purification,_or_purgatory.html
- Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336). https://www.vatican.va/content/benedictus-xii/la/documents/constitutio-benedictus-deus-29-ian-1336.html
- “Beatific vision,” Wikipedia, section on Pope John XXII and the beatific vision controversy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatific_vision
- John Paul II, General Audience of 4 August 1999, on purgatory. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_04081999.html
- Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi (2007), paragraph 47. https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi.html
- Catholic Answers, “Purgatory.” https://www.catholic.com/tract/purgatory
- Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, “The Orthodox Faith” (archived 2007). https://web.archive.org/web/20071218141048/http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8029.asp
- Orthodox Church in America, Questions and Answers: “Mary / Prayer / Death,” “Indulgences” and “Prayers for the Departed.” https://www.oca.org/questions/teaching/mary-prayer-death; https://www.oca.org/questions/romancatholicism/indulgences; https://www.oca.org/questions/deathfunerals/prayers-for-the-departed
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapters 10.4, 11.1 and 32.1. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
- Church of England, Articles of Religion, Article XXII, “Of Purgatory.” https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion
- Martin Luther, Smalcald Articles (1537), part II, article II. https://bookofconcord.org/smalcald-articles/part-ii/article-ii/
- “Psychopannychia,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopannychia
- Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fundamental Beliefs 7, “Nature of Humanity,” and 26, “Death and Resurrection.” https://www.nadadventist.org/beliefs/death-and-resurrection/
- Wilson Paroschi, “The Significance of a Comma: An Analysis of Luke 23:43,” Ministry, June 2013. https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2013/06/the-significance-of-a-comma:-an-analysis-of-luke-23:43
- Jehovah’s Witnesses, “What Happens When You Die?”, “Who Goes to Heaven?” and “What Is Hell?”, and the New World Translation study notes on Luke 23:43. https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/when-you-die/; https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/go-to-heaven/; https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/what-is-hell/
- “Christian mortalism,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mortalism
- “Paradise,” Wikipedia, on the origin of the word. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise
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