Christian theology Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Death and afterlife==== {{See also|Afterlife }} Christian anthropology has implications for beliefs about [[death]] and the [[afterlife]]. The Christian church has traditionally taught that the soul of each individual separates from the body at death, to be reunited at the [[resurrection of the dead|resurrection]]. This is closely related to the doctrine of the [[immortality of the soul]]. For example, the [[Westminster Confession]] (chapter XXXII) states: :"The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption: but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them" ;Intermediate state {{Main|Intermediate state (Christianity)}} The question then arises: where exactly does the disembodied soul "go" at death? Theologians refer to this subject as the [[Intermediate state (Christianity)|intermediate state]]. The [[Old Testament]] speaks of a place called ''[[sheol]]'' where the spirits of the dead reside. In the [[New Testament]], ''[[hades]]'', the classical Greek realm of the dead, takes the place of ''sheol''. In particular, Jesus teaches in Luke 16:19β31 ([[Lazarus and Dives]]) that ''hades'' consists of two separate "sections", one for the righteous and one for the unrighteous. His teaching is consistent with [[Intertestamental period|intertestamental]] Jewish thought on the subject.<ref>D. K. Innes, "Sheol" in ''New Bible Dictionary'', IVP 1996.</ref> Fully developed Christian theology goes a step further; on the basis of such texts as Luke 23:43 and Philippians 1:23, it has traditionally been taught that the souls of the dead are received immediately either into heaven or hell, where they will experience a foretaste of their eternal destiny prior to the resurrection. ([[Roman Catholicism]] teaches a third possible location, [[Purgatory]], though this is denied by [[Protestants]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]].) :"the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day." (''Westminster Confession'') Some Christian groups which stress a monistic anthropology deny that the soul can exist consciously apart from the body. For example, the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] teaches that the intermediate state is an [[Unconsciousness|unconscious]] sleep; this teaching is informally known as "[[soul sleep]]". ;Final state In Christian belief, both the righteous and the unrighteous will be resurrected at the [[last judgment]]. The righteous will receive incorruptible, immortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15), while the unrighteous will be sent to [[hell]]. Traditionally, Christians have believed that hell will be a place of eternal physical and psychological punishment. In the last two centuries, [[annihilationism]] has become popular. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page