The book of Acts is many days after Jesus went upto heaven, and Peter says that king David is dead and buried and is not ascended into the heavens. So here we have good king David, dead, buried, not in heaven--is that clear!
What about the woman Tabitha who died? Read Acts 9:40:
';But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, ';Tabitha, arise.'; And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.';
Why would Peter bring Tabitha back to life if he believed her soul was in paradise? Would Peter pray to bring her down from heaven to raise her from the dead again?
So when do we go to heaven......answer (1 Corinthians 15:22-23)
';For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.';
Is that clear! When are we made alive--those who are Christ's AT HIS COMING!
I could quote so many more scriptures but I don't know how more clear these scriptures can be. If you believe that this is only refering to the body then please show me from the Bible that says man has an immortal soul. If you quote abscent from the body and present with the Lord then you can search the internet to see how many different interpretations people have for this. Do not base your doctrine on just a few scriptures and ignore the mountain of other scriptures.
But I just wanted to talk about the rich man and Lazarus which some people twist to try and prove their doctrine. Is this a parable or is it literal. How many times does Jesus tell a parable starting off, ';a certain man';
Luke 12:16--';The ground of a certain rich man';
Luke 15:22--';A certain man had two sons';
Luke 16:1--';There was a certain rich man';
Luke 18:2--';There was in a certain city';
Now it's quite clear that these were not real events, but parables. So how can people say that the rich man and Lazarus is literal but the other parables are not literal? The parable of the rich man and Lazarus seems to be full of symbolism:
1. Could a person who was literally burning in a pit of fire have a normal conversation with someone else?
2. Would a person in a pit of fire ask for a drop of water to cool their tongue......No, they would ask for the fire-brigade!
I think this parable had something to do with the Pharisees love for money and using their tongue to speak bad about poor people. I think it is something along those lines. But people use this parable literally to try and prove the immortal soul.
Feel free to disagree with me but the truth of God is what matters. God blessA question for Christians about life after death?
? The Resurrection is of the physical body...Yes King Davids body is still in the grave...but His spirit is in Heaven...Don't you recall Moses...He was buried by God and He was in heaven ...came and spoke with Christ along with Elijah....
Paul teaches us that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord.....A question for Christians about life after death?
You know, just because you have an immortal soul and die, it doesn't mean you can't be resurrected.I mean, immortal is immortal. If you're resurrected, you still have an immortal soul.
I won't bother going into the religious side of your argument because that is a fundamental flaw in your question. Please rephrase and come back after you've used your crayon to work it out.
i agree completely , i have just read a book called old souls its a very compelling book written from a skeptical point of view studying reincarnation might or might not be true but makes more sense than heaven and hell , i like your style, not a sheep but searching for the truth without the influence of every one else
Nice question.
No part of the bible does it teach that we have an immortal soul. This is a false teaching by the clergy and now believed by billions of people all around the world.
After Solomon observed that the living know that they will die, he wrote: “As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” He then enlarged on that basic truth by saying that the dead can neither love nor hate and that “there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in [the grave].” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6,?10) Similarly, Psalm 146:4 says that when a man dies, “his thoughts do perish.” We are mortal and do not survive the death of our body. The life we enjoy is like the flame of a candle. When the flame is put out, it does not go anywhere. It is simply gone.
WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT DEATH
Jesus Christ spoke about the condition of the dead. He did so with regard to Lazarus, a man whom he knew well and who had died. Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest.” The disciples thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus was resting in sleep, recovering from an illness. They were wrong. Jesus explained: “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-14) Notice that Jesus compared death to rest and sleep. Lazarus was neither in heaven nor in a burning hell. He was not meeting angels or ancestors. Lazarus was not being reborn as another human. He was at rest in death, as though in a deep sleep without dreams. Other scriptures also compare death to sleep. For example, when the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that he “fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote about some in his day who had “fallen asleep” in death.—1?Corinthians 15:6.
Matt. 10:28: “Do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul [or, “life”]; but rather be in fear of him that can destroy both soul* and body in Gehenna.” (*Greek has the accusative case of psy?khe′. KJ, AS, RS, NE, TEV, Dy, JB, and NAB all render it “soul.”)
The Christian concept of a spiritual soul created by God and infused into the body at conception to make man a living whole is the fruit of a long development in Christian philosophy. Only with Origen [died c. 254?C.E.] in the East and St.?Augustine [died 430?C.E.] in the West was the soul established as a spiritual substance and a philosophical concept formed of its nature. .?.?. His [Augustine’s] doctrine .?.?. owed much (including some shortcomings) to Neoplatonism.”—New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. XIII, pp.?452,?454.
“The concept of immortality is a product of Greek thinking, whereas the hope of a resurrection belongs to Jewish thought. .?.?. Following Alexander’s conquests Judaism gradually absorbed Greek concepts.”—Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de la Bible (Valence, France; 1935), edited by Alexandre Westphal, Vol. 2, p. 557.
“Immortality of the soul is a Greek notion formed in ancient mystery cults and elaborated by the philosopher Plato.”—Presbyterian Life, May?1, 1970, p.?35.
I have a believing friend with whom I have an ongoing argument, when we die one of us is going to be very surprised and one of us will not know their dead, which one is he?
I don't think it's me that will be surprised!
The bible teaches that the dead are asleep awaiting the resurrection. The rapture isnt a secret rapture. It is a rapture that is visible to the whole world.
Psalm 6:5 In death is no rememberance Ps. 13:3 - ';Lest I sleep the sleep of death.';
Ps. 115:17 - ';The dead praise not the Lord.';
Eccl. 9:5 - ';The dead know not anything.';
Matt. 9:24 - ';The girl is not dead but asleep.';
John 11:11 - ';Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.';
So death is a sleep. Most christian churches believe that you die and go straight to heaven but we are resurrected at the second coming.
Luke 17:26-30. As it was in the days of Noah, they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 thess 4:16
satan will be bound for one thousand years. With the wicked in their graves and the righteous in heaven. TThen the wicked will be resurected at the end of the thousand years and satan and his people will prepare a war against god. The holy city will descend from heaven as satan and his people attack the holy city. God will send a fire out of heaven and devour them and sin will be no more.
I have provided a website that will better explain this
Good observation. An immortal need not resurrection. Jesus himself likened the death of his friend Lazarus to a deep sleep (John 11:11-14). Lazarus did not go anywhere. Even the criminal who was impaled beside Jesus did not go to heaven ahead of Jesus. They are in deep sleep waiting to be resurrected (John 5:28-29) For more info you can check the following:
The Hereafter—Where Will It Be?
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20001001/art…
Is There Life After Death?
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20010715/art…
:-)
Hell is a waiting place not the lake of fire.
Tabitha was a Disciple of Christ.... she still carries on the work of Jesus. She is sometimes known as one of Jesus's many disciples.
If you believe in Jesus, in his teachings, then you already have everlasting life.
The human Spirit can die... but if you strongly, completely believe in Jesus Christ.... you will not die... you will live on forever.
