A Paradise With Disembodied Souls

Though Protestants don’t accept purgatory, many nevertheless

believe that the souls of the righteous dead are already enjoying

Paradise in the very presence of God. Some argue that those “souls” are

just disembodied spirits; others believe they are disembodied spirits but

covered by a spiritual body of glory.

Whatever the supposed metaphysical state of the living dead, these

theories undermine the biblical doctrine of the final resurrection and

judgment of the dead. Why is there a resurrection and a judgment (Rev.

20:12–14) if the souls of the righteous are already enjoying Paradise?

Read Acts 2:29, 34, 35 and 1 Corinthians 15:16–18. How do these passages

shed light on the state of the dead and those awaiting resurrection?

The Bible teaches that all human beings who are already in heaven

were either translated alive, as in the case of Enoch (Gen. 5:24) and

Elijah (2 Kings 2:9–11), or resurrected from the dead, as Moses (Jude

9) and those raised with Christ (Matt. 27:51–53).

As we have already seen, the allusion to the souls “under the altar”

crying to God for vengeance (Rev. 6:9–11) is just a metaphor for jus-

tice and does not prove the theory of the natural immortality of the

soul. Otherwise, these folks hardly sound as if they’re enjoying their

eternal reward. In reality, the grave is a place of rest for the dead, who

are unconsciously awaiting the final resurrection, when their conscious

existence will be restored. The dead, even the righteous dead, are not

disembodied souls drifting around heaven, waiting patiently to be

reunited with their bodies at the final resurrection.

Also, what could Paul possibly be talking about in 1 Corinthians

15:18 when he says that if there were no resurrection of the dead, then

“those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” (NKJV)? How

could they have perished if they are already in the bliss of heaven and

have been there for however long since they died? A central and key

doctrine of the New Testament, the resurrection of the dead when Christ

returns, is made null and void by the false teaching that the righteous

dead soar off to their eternal reward right after they die. Nevertheless,

we hear it all the time, especially at funerals.

What are ways in which you could help people understand that

the idea that the dead are asleep in the ground is really “good

news,” in the sense that they truly are at rest and know no pain

and suffering?