Intermediate state - Citizendia

In Christian eschatology, the intermediate state or interim state refers to a person's existence between their death and resurrection. Summary of Christian eschatological differencesIn Christian theology, Christian eschatology is the study of its religious Beliefs concerning all Future and This article concerns itself with the belief in the final Resurrection at the End of time, commonly found in the Abrahamic religions. This period is "intermediate" between death and the last judgment. In Christian eschatology, the Last Judgment or Day of the Lord is the judgment by God of every human who ever lived

As long as Christians looked for an imminent end of the world, they had little interest in an interim state between death and resurrection. Later, the Eastern Church came to admit of such an intermediate state, but refrained from defining it, so as not to blur the distinction between the alternative definitive fates of heaven and hell. In the West there was much more curiosity about the intermediate state, with evidence from as far back as the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity (203) of the belief that sins can be purged by suffering in an afterlife, and that the purgation can be speeded up by the prayers of the living. Perpetua redirects here For other uses see Perpetua (disambiguation For the other saint named Felicitas see Felicitas of Rome. Eastern Christians too believed that the dead can be assisted by prayer. ^[1]

Some Protestant theologians have posited "soul sleep", an unconscious state of the dead lasting until the resurrection, thus reducing the intermediate state to practically nothing and eliminating the particular judgment of each soul. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Particular judgment, according to Christian Eschatology, is the judgement given by God a departed Soul undergoes immediately after death in

1 Jewish background
2 Christian teaching
3 References
4 See also

Jewish background

The Hebrew Bible speaks about sheol, the underworld to which the souls of the dead depart. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic Sheol (pronounced "Sheh-ole" in Hebrew שאול (Sh'ol is the "abode of the dead" the " Underworld " "the common The doctrine of resurrection is mentioned explicitly only in Daniel 12:1-4 although it may be implied in several other texts. Later Judaism accepted that there would be a resurrection of all men (cf. Acts 24:14-15) and the intertestamental literature describes in more detail what the dead experience in sheol. The intertestamental period is term that Protestant Christians use to refer to a period of prophetic "silence" between the Old and New Testaments According to the book of Enoch, the righteous and wicked await the resurrection in separate divisions of sheol, a teaching which may have influenced Jesus' parable of Lazarus and Dives. The Book of Enoch is any of several works that attribute themselves to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah and son of Jared ( Dives and Lazarus or Lazarus and Dives is a narrative attributed to Jesus that is reported only in the Gospel of Luke ( ^[2]

Christian teaching

Foretaste of final state

See also: Particular judgment

Some theological traditions, including most Protestants and Eastern Orthodox, teach that the intermediate state is a disembodied foretaste of the final state. Particular judgment, according to Christian Eschatology, is the judgement given by God a departed Soul undergoes immediately after death in Therefore, those who die in Christ go into the presence of God (or the bosom of Abraham) where they experience joy and rest while they await their resurrection (cf. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) See also Intermediate state The phrase " Bosom of Abraham " refers to the place of comfort in Sheol (Greek hades This article concerns itself with the belief in the final Resurrection at the End of time, commonly found in the Abrahamic religions. Luke 23:43). Those who die unrepentant will experience torment (perhaps in hell) while they await final condemnation on the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:9). Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering In Christian eschatology, the Last Judgment or Day of the Lord is the judgment by God of every human who ever lived

I. The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption: but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them: the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. [4] Beside these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges none.
– Westminster Confession 1646, chapter XXXII, Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead

"Soul sleep"

Main article: Soul sleep

A minority of Christians, including Martin Luther^[3] and smaller denominations such as Seventh-day Adventists^[4], deny the conscious existence of the soul after death, believing the intermediate state to be unconscious "sleep". The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed Confession of faith, in the Calvinist theological tradition See also Intermediate state In Christian theology, soul sleep is a belief that the Soul sleeps unconsciously between the Death of the Martin Luther (November 10 1483 February 18 1546 was a German Monk, theologian, university professor Father of Protestantism, and church reformer The Seventh-day Adventist (abbreviated " Adventist " Church is a Christian denomination which is distinguished mainly by its observance In this case, the person is not conscious of any time or activity and would not be aware even if centuries elapsed between their death and their resurrection. They would, upon their death, cease consciousness, and gain it again at the time of the resurrection having experienced no time lapse. For them, time would thus suspended, as if thy moved immediately from death to resurrection and the General Judgment. General judgment is the Christian theological concept of a judgment of the souls of the dead by nation and as a whole

Hades

Main article: Hades in Christianity

The intermediate state is sometimes referred to by the Greek term hades, even in other languages. See also Intermediate state Sheol|Hell in Christianity Hades is "the place or state of departed spirits" Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Hades (from Greek, Hadēs, originally, Haidēs or, Aidēs, probably from Indo-European *n̥-wid- 'unseen' refers both to the ancient The term is equivalent to Hebrew sheol and Latin infernum (meaning "underworld"). Sheol (pronounced "Sheh-ole" in Hebrew שאול (Sh'ol is the "abode of the dead" the " Underworld " "the common Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.

Purgatory

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that all who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, undergo purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven, a final purification to which it gives the name "purgatory"^[5]

Limbo

Main article: Limbo

Roman Catholic theologians have given the name "limbo" to limbo as a hypothetical fate of infants who die without baptism. See also Intermediate state Limbo|Heaven|Sheol|Hades in Christianity|Hell in Christianity Purgatory, in the original sense is the condition or process of purification See also Intermediate state Purgatory|Heaven|Sheol|Hades in Christianity|Hell in Christianity In Roman Catholic theology Limbo (Latin limbus See also Intermediate state Purgatory|Heaven|Sheol|Hades in Christianity|Hell in Christianity In Roman Catholic theology Limbo (Latin limbus The just who died before Jesus Christ are also spoken of as having been in limbo until he had won salvation for them. See also Intermediate state Purgatory|Heaven|Sheol|Hades in Christianity|Hell in Christianity In Roman Catholic theology Limbo (Latin limbus In Theology, salvation can mean three related things being saved from or Liberation from something such as Suffering or the punishment of

References

^ Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article purgatory
^ New Bible Dictionary 3rd edition, IVP Leicester 1996. "Sheol".
^ "Christian Song Latin and German, for Use at Funerals," 1542, in Works of Luther (1932), vol. 6, pp. 287, 288
^ 28 fundamental beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists [1], number 26 "Death and Resurrection". The 28 Fundamentals are a core set of theological beliefs held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
^ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030-1031

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