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What is death like? The Scriptures teach that the dead are “asleep,” meaning they are unconscious (Psalm 13:3). The righteous and the wicked all go to the same place until the final judgement (Job 3:11-19). The Old Testament calls the realm of the dead Sheol and the New Testament, Hades. Both refer to an intermediate state between one’s life on earth and the future resurrection when Christ returns. The dead are not praising God (Psalm 6:5) nor are they working (Ecclesiastes 9:5); they are simply “asleep in the dust” (Daniel 12:2). When our Lord returns, those who are in the tombs (not heaven or hell) will hear his voice and awaken to the resurrection of life (John 5:28).

Featured

Dustin Smith breezes through a quick sampling of the dozens of texts in Scripture that describe the dead as sleeping.

The Dead Are Asleep

• Death—Then What? (73m audio) Anthony Buzzard explains that the dead are “asleep” in their graves until the day when Christ returns to “awake” his followers in resurrection.
• What Is Conditional Immortality (2-page article) Glenn Peoples explains that humans are all mortal by birth. However, immortality is available on the condition that God gives it. See also this 4m video by Chris Date.
• Why Is Conditional Immortality Important? (10-page article) David Burge contrasts natural immortality to conditional immortality to show just how much your belief on this subject affects many other doctrines.

Plato’s Philosophy Infiltrating Christian Doctrine

• Platonic Christianity (140m audio) Edward Acton’s teaches about the meaning, origin, and development of the strange but dominating alloyed religion of Plato’s philosophy with biblical Christianity.
• Socrates or Jesus? (48m audio) Sean Finnegan covers the main options for the afterlife, including evacuation, reincarnation, annihilation, and restoration. He shows from Jesus’ example that resurrection is the solution to the problem of death. Notes are available here.
• The Doctrine of Immortality in the Early Church (90-page ebook) John Roller traces the history immortality in early Christians to see who believed in conditional immortality vs. who believed in natural immortality.
• A Little Leaven and We All Go to Heaven (9-page article) Bethany Reise Gaston shows that Plato’s ideas corrupted the biblical understanding of souls, death, and immortality, leaving us with a mutated hybrid.

Misunderstood Texts

• Objections to Conditional Immortality Answered (43m audio) David Burge explains seven texts, including Luke 16:19-31; Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 14:11; and Revelation 20:10.
• Difficult Texts about the Intermediate State (47m audio) Warren Prestidge offers quick explanations to Luke 23:43; John 14:2-3; 2 Corinthians 5:8; and Philippians 1:23 using the context of the passage and basic logic. Get this on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
• Rich Man and Lazarus (13-page article) Sean Finnegan works through the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to explain what it means.

Forge Studies

• Sleep of the Dead (group study) Anna Shoffner Brown provides an interactive study to help show others the key verses related to the sleep of the dead.
• Resurrection of the Saints (group study) Anna Shoffner Brown addresses our future, showing that resurrection is the Bible’s solution to the problem of death.

Recommended Resources

• Life, Death and Destiny (162-page book) Warren Prestidge’s definitive treatment of the intermediate state, clearly and biblically provides the answer to what happens when we die.
• What Happens When We Die? (78-page ebook) Anthony Buzzard lays out the biblical doctrine of humanity before considering the status of the dead as described by scripture. Lastly he offer’s explanations to confusing verses.
• The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, Vol 1 (1144-page ebook) Le Roy Edwin Froom covers the biblical norm as well as the origin, development, and penetration of innate immortality up to the year a.d. 500.
• The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, Vol 2 (1356-page ebook) Le Roy Edwin Froom continues his coverage of conditional immortality history with the medieval period, Reformation, and modern times (up till the 20th century).
• After Life (website) The Conditional Immortality Association of New Zealand has collected dozens of excellent articles and books to promote the biblical doctrines of death and resurrection.
• Evangelical Conditionalism (webpage) This excellent written tool by the people at RethinkingHell helps explorers learn all about conditional immortality and annihilationism.
• Short Radio Programs (65 audio files) Anthony Buzzard talks about death and resurrection in twelve-minute audio snippets.