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When we die,where do we go?To the ground until judgement?To Heaven?To Purgatory
A church I went to taught that we are at rest until the return of Jesus. Using the verse, " the dead know nothing." Ecc 9:5 Niv
The Catholic Church teachs Purgatory-a place to prepare us for heaven-a place to be cleansed from our sins.
Some churchs teach we go directly to Heaven (my favorite).
Initially, our beliefs of the afterlife at the time of death determine where we go. So whatever we "believe" will happen that will be as it appears. (for instance seeing angels, or seeing a loved one, or golden roads or whatever). This cushions the transition from being in physical form to non-physical form so the spirit can "recognize" and accept that it has left the physical body and "death" has taken place. After a time as the spirit adjusts to the "death" or no longer being in physical body then there is transition to another place, which has been described as going to the light, or meeting the creator, or hanging out with other souls also in non-physical form.
The spirits who get "stuck" in the inbetween place and do not move on into the light often occur from violent or unexpected death, or some strong emotional attachment, where there is an unwillingness to accept they have left the body, ie they don't realize they are "dead" and so they stay attached to a location or person, that's when we hear about "haunted houses." or strange occurrences at say where a massacre or other historic event occurred.
These spirits can be released from the inbetween place, or led to the light by those who are skilled in that.
This is an interesting subject, and of course none of us knows for sure! But I tend to think that when we die, we go to a place of "resting" or dreamless sleeping until the judgement. (Think of what Jesus said when He came to the house of the girl that had died: He said, "She is not dead, but sleeping.") Often we hear when people have died "He/she went to heaven", and if you think about a dreamless sleep, you are not conscious of the time in between... so for the people that have died, it would seem like they directly went to their eternal destination or probably to the judgement. I don't know if this "sleep" is reserved for those that are in Christ.. for instance, I'm not sure where the stories of "hauntings" or spirits/ghosts would come in, if these would be souls who did not find spiritual rest.
When we die,where do we go?To the ground until judgement?To Heaven?To Purgatory
A church I went to taught that we are at rest until the return of Jesus. Using the verse, " the dead know nothing." Ecc 9:5 Niv
The Catholic Church teachs Purgatory-a place to prepare us for heaven-a place to be cleansed from our sins.
Some churchs teach we go directly to Heaven (my favorite).
Here's a great article for Protestants on why Catholics believe in Purgatory. Read it if you dare!
This is an interesting subject, and of course none of us knows for sure! But I tend to think that when we die, we go to a place of "resting" or dreamless sleeping until the judgement. (Think of what Jesus said when He came to the house of the girl that had died: He said, "She is not dead, but sleeping.") Often we hear when people have died "He/she went to heaven", and if you think about a dreamless sleep, you are not conscious of the time in between... so for the people that have died, it would seem like they directly went to their eternal destination or probably to the judgement. I don't know if this "sleep" is reserved for those that are in Christ.. for instance, I'm not sure where the stories of "hauntings" or spirits/ghosts would come in, if these would be souls who did not find spiritual rest.
2 Corinthians 5:7-9 (For we walk by faith, not by sight) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
I agree somewhat with the above. I think those that are deemed true saints are present before the Lord directly after the point in which they die. This would include all of the apostles, disciples, and saints listed within the Old and New Testament. The rest of us I believe, will be resurrected to the final judgement seat before Christ and will be judged based upon our works during this lifetime. I think some of the New Testament and Old Testament saints will assist in some of the judging during this time. The saints will not only assist God in judging mankind, but fallen angels who rebelled against God.
What's interesting is the parable of Lazarus and the Rich man though, where the Rich man was sufferring eternal torment and Lazarus was within Abraham's Bossom(A part of Heaven perhaps?) I think this is one of the passages that leads people to believing they either go directly to Heaven or Hell after they die. I think that when Jesus was describing this event, he was giving a prelude to a future time when judgement had already been delivered for both the Rich man and Lazarus.
I don't spend much time wondering or worring about where or even if I go somewhere immediatewly after death..The dead know nothing..I believe that.. I also believe that we shall all be raised incorruptible in Gods due time so maybe in reality the time between death and the resurrection will be "in the twinkling of an eye"..Eyes closed in death, eyes opened to the judgement..Mantime between those could be millions of years or the next hour
I don't spend much time wondering or worring about where or even if I go somewhere immediatewly after death..The dead know nothing..I believe that.. I also believe that we shall all be raised incorruptible in Gods due time so maybe in reality the time between death and the resurrection will be "in the twinkling of an eye"..Eyes closed in death, eyes opened to the judgement..Mantime between those could be millions of years or the next hour
Good points. Kind of interesting to talk about it though. There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding this issue in churches and what not. I myself didn't really have a firm grasp of the concept until roughly an hour or so ago..
Well, there are scriptures which might indicate one thing and scriptures that would seem to indicate another. I personally believe that the Bible teaches that the spirits of believers do go to heaven immediately after death but that our bodies are not resurrected until the last day. I think much of Ecclesiastes represents Solomon's thoughts and opinions. That is the one book of the Bible where it appears to me that he is musing about life and we are privy to his musings. (Hope my interp isn't too controversial for anybody! Nobody faint that kaykay said that, ok?)
The reason I believe otherwise is that other scriptures seem to say differently. There is Paul's statement. Then we have Moses and Elijah appearing on the Mt. of Transfiguration. Then was it Samuel who appeared to Saul when he had the witch of Endor conjure him up? Then we also have a scripture in Revelation in which believers are speaking in heaven about things transpiring on earth. Now the argument could be made, as was above, that this are special "saints" and there is an exception with others. Could be. But then we do have as someone mentioned the story about the Rich Man and Lazarus. It was suggested that maybe this refers to some future time after the judgment but how could it since the man wanted to go back to earth and warn his brothers not to come to such a horrible place?
I'm not inclined to argue the issue, though. You could see it both ways, but yeah, overall, I believe the scriptures teach that the spirit of a believer returns to God upon death. Again, the important thing is to be right with God and He can take care of the details in between, right?
The spirit of everyone returns to god. Not just some. It is not a club where only a select few gain admission!
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