MBR

I though I had heard before that according to the bible that when people die, their souls don't go straight to heaven or hell, but are suspended somehow until "judgement day" or whatever.

Any referenced to passages that confirm or disprove this?

Thanks a lot
MBR

MBR

TAP TAP, Is this thing on.

Come on guys. Gimme a hand.

Toto

I recall something like that, but the question has never interested me that much. You might try doing a search at <a href="http://bible.gospelcom.net" target="_blank">http://bible.gospelcom.net</a>

Search on the keywords "judgment day" (but be sure to spell it correctly.) You'll find a few verses.

MBR

Thanks Toto

Let me explain why I'm asking.

It seems if this is true, all of these near death experiences that so many xians seem to hold up as evidence would be contradictory to scripture.

Peter Kirby

Try reading <a href="http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1+cor+15&version=DARBY" target="_blank">1 Cor 15</a> and <a href="http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=2COR%2B5&version=DARBY" target="_blank">2 Cor 5</a> and see what sense you can make of it.

There is also a lot of secondary literature around, such as this essay by Craig.

<a href="http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/bodily.html" target="_blank">http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/bodily.html</a>
"Paul's doctrine of the nature of the resurrection body now becomes clear. When a Christian dies, his conscious spirit or soul goes to be with Christ until the Parousia, while his body lies in the grave. When Christ returns, in a single instant the remains of the natural body are transformed into a powerful, glorious, and imperishable supernatural body under the complete lordship and direction of the Spirit, and the soul of the departed is simultaneously reunited with the body, and the man is raised to everlasting life. Then those who are alive will be similarly transformed, the old body miraculously changed intro the new without exess, and all believers will go to be with the Lord."

I myself would be cautious about stating that any particular view of the afterlife is "the biblical view," not least because the biblical texts may contain different perspectives.

best,
Peter Kirby

Plebe

Peter Kirby suggested "Try reading 1 Cor 15 and 2 Cor 5 and see what sense you can make of it." And to me there are two different versions of what happens when we die PLUS there's this at vs.29 of 1 Cor 15 that answers my question about why the Mormons have "Baptism for the Dead"[maybe Early Pauline Christians did too?! this is news to me!] and I am not sure what other sects of Christianity do that!Thanks to MBR and Peter Kirby for the topic and information!
29 Since what shall the baptised for the dead do if [those that are] dead rise not at all? why also are they baptised for them?
30 Why do *we* also endanger ourselves every hour?
31 Daily I die, by your boasting which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32 If, [to speak] after the manner of man, I have fought with beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me if [those that are] dead do not rise? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
34 Awake up righteously, and sin not; for some are ignorant of God: I speak to you as a matter of shame.
35 But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what body do they come?
36 Fool; what *thou* sowest is not quickened unless it die.
37 And what thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain: it may be of wheat, or some one of the rest:
38 and God gives to it a body as he has pleased, and to each of the seeds its own body.
39 Every flesh [is] not the same flesh, but one [is] of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another [flesh] of birds, and another of fishes.

HumanisTim

My sister is a 7th Day Adventist. And they hold that view. I'm not sure if any other denominations do as well.

ExChild

I was raised Christian, and the stories of near-death experiences were always looked upon with much skepticism. If anyone uses that as an argument it is a pretty weak one.
Also, the general concensus on the waiting room idea is that there is no general concensus... meaning that few would claim that they know exactly what happens. I've been Baptist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian and the only explanation I've ever heard attempted was that when one dies they're converted over to God's time, wherein 1000 years = 1 day and whatnot...so while it may seem to the dead person that they went directly to heaven, in actuality they were held over till the end of the world when everyone gets raised from the dead together.
The waiting room thing is just a hypothesis, as are many things that "we're just not s'posed to know yet."

WRW Mattfeld

The Primary History (Genesis-2 Kings) apparently makes no statements about a place of limbo for souls awaiting the Judgement Day. In fact, if mamory serves me rightly, there is no mention of a Judgement Day. A righteous Samuel descends after death into Sheol to dwell with an unrighteous King Saul. There is no "Limbo" for Samuel, nor is he "in heaven" with God.

The Mesopotamians believed that the dead were judged by the Sun-god in the underworld, but there was no heaven for the righteous dead to go to. Everyone remained as spirits in the underworld.

I have an article on the Pre-Christian Origins of the Millenium, tracing this notion to Late Hellenistic Greek metaphysics and speculation. It is my understanding the the Early Christians, living in a Hellenistic world, took these notions of a thousand year wait of the unrighteous dead and transformed it into Christ's Millenium rule on earth. If interested, cf. the following url

<a href="http://www.bibleorigins.net/millenium.html" target="_blank">http://www.bibleorigins.net/millenium.html</a>
The Millenium, Christ's Thousand Year Reign on Earth
(The Pre-Christian Origins of)

All the best, Walter

Walter R. Mattfeld, M.A.Ed.
<a href="http://www.bibleorigins.net" target="_blank">www.bibleorigins.net</a>