Do you believe in "soul sleep"? I must say that I do, but I've met very few Christians who have ever heard of it.

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Do you believe in "soul sleep"? I must say that I do, but I've met very few Christians who have ever heard of it.

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Indeed the Bible does picture death as a sleep (Daniel 12:2). There is no consciousness in the grave. Consider what King Solomon wrote. "For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing" (Ecclesiastes 9:5). But God's Word also teaches that there is no such thing as an immortal soul. "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, 20; compare Matthew 10:28). The immortal-soul doctrine is an ancient Greek concept that was superimposed on the Bible rather than found in it. In reality the Bible teaches that God promises to resurrect us and give us new life after we die (John 5:28-29). We realize that some of these biblical concepts brought up in The Good News are entirely new to many readers and perhaps fly in the face of what many have been taught. That is why the United Church of God has prepared a special booklet fully addressing these points and many more.

Please request your copy of What Happens After Death? You will see and, we hope, begin to understand biblical truths that you probably never thought of before while reading this important free booklet.

Comments

  • rwp_47
    The reason "soul sleep" occurs is because soul is immortal. It couldn't occur otherwise. Our physical bodies naturally die at some point. The soul does not. When the body dies we call this death (the first death), Matthew 10:28. The reason soul is immortal is because all soul comes directly from God who shares his immortal soul with us. He takes a portion of his soul and forms a new autonomous, independent, sentient being from it (just as he did with Adam and as he does with us). The autonomy that he has given to that piece of his soul (our right "to be") is however dependent on God's good pleasure. And for that reason, thought the soul itself is immortal, our right to it (which gives us being) is presently conditional. So in that sense our soul (our right of being - our autonomy) is conditionally immortal. While Eze:18:4 states the soul that sins shall die, it doesn't state how, when, or where it happens, nor does it state who kills it (because soul death is not "natural"). Matthew:10:28 does. If our right to exist is terminated, it is terminated by God alone in Gehenna. Even then however the soul itself is not destroyed because it is God's soul (all soul is his soul and ultimately belongs to him). What is destroyed is the algorithm God created that make us that soul (our fingerprint, if you will, is removed from it and it is no longer us)- the autonomy is destroyed. Our being is terminated (meaning our right to God's soul that he has graciously given to us so that we may "be" is terminated). It returns to God (just as our spirit does). All that live - live because God is sharing his own life (his being - his soul) with them. All soul is God's and is immortal. Only our right to our piece of his soul that gives us being (the autonomy) is conditional. If we are not destroyed in Gehenna then our immortality is no longer conditional - we become an immortal soul outright and the autonomy is permanent (for example, Abraham is an immortal soul ... he just hasn't been awakened yet ... he has not been resurrected and provided with his new spirit body yet). When our body dies in this life ... the soul sleeps until God awakens it at a resurrection. But the actual soul is interminable ... because its God's. So when our bodies die - it sleeps - awaiting the resurrection with Abraham.
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