#869 Is There Consciousness after Death?

Dr. craig’s response

In studying the theological locus De homine (Doctrine of Man), I’ve recently been working through biblical materials on this question. It seems to me that the answer is clearly and unequivocally “Yes.”

Ancient Israelites believed in some sort of ghostly existence after death in a place called Sheol. The inhabitants of Sheol are not called “souls” or “spirits” in the Old Testament but “shades” (rephaim) (Job 26.5; Psalm 88.10; Proverbs 2.18; 9.18; Isaiah 14.9; 26.14, 19). They have a sort of shadowy existence as wraiths, diminished versions of themselves. Cut off from God, they cannot be said to be alive, physically or spiritually, but they nonetheless exist. Although some descriptions of Sheol, such as the one you cite, seem to preclude a conscious life of the rephaim, other passages give a fuller description. An especially dramatic portrayal of the state of the denizens of Sheol is given in Isaiah’s taunt of the King of Babylon:

In this portrayal the dead are described as active and communicative. Of course, the portrayal is figurative rather than literal. Though their bodies lie rotting in the grave (v 11), the shades are described in bodily terms. Indeed, they are doubtless clothed; when Samuel is recalled from Sheol by the witch of Endor he is, of course, robed (I Samuel 28.14)--it would have been unthinkable in Jewish culture to picture the dead running about stark naked (cf. Gen 9.22-23). Such descriptions of Sheol “should be understood as imaginative and figurative accounts of the way the people actually pictured the structure of the universe.”[1]

Moreover, we must not remain fixated on the Old Testament. By the time we get to Second Temple Judaism (the intertestamental period), Sheol, though inevitably still figuratively described, is clearly taken ontologically seriously, having become Hades and eventually differentiated from the abiding place of the righteous dead. I Enoch 22.3-11 gives an especially vivid account. Here the dead are described as “spirits” or “souls” who experience refreshment or torment as they await the final judgement.

In the New Testament the most colorful passage concerning Hades is doubtless Luke 16.19-31, where Jesus describes in typical Jewish fashion the fate of the rich man in Hades and of Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom. Clearly, the dead are pictured as conscious. Since the purpose of Jesus’ parable is not to teach about the interim state of the dead, but to offer a moral lesson about wealth and love of neighbor, we should not draw a conclusion about the intermediate state of the dead from this parable taken in isolation, but consider it in light of Luke’s account of Jesus’ saying to the thief on the cross, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23.43). The thief hoped to see Jesus’ eventual kingdom, but Jesus assures him that that very day he would be with Jesus in Paradise. In light of Luke 23.43, Jesus’ parable about the rich man and Lazarus cannot be dismissed as irrelevant window-dressing.

II Corinthians 5.1-10 is the most important passage bearing on the intermediate state of the dead between death and eventual resurrection. Although there are mysterious passages in the New Testament referring to the state of “spirits in prison” or in “the abyss,” awaiting final judgment (I Peter 3.18-20; 4.6; Acts 2.27; Romans 10.7; Ephesians 4.8–9), in this passage Paul describes a state of disembodied existence for deceased believers until the resurrection. Despite his aversion to disembodiment, Paul says, “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Christ makes all the difference; for Paul the souls of the departed righteous are not kept in chambers or treasuries until the end time, as in Jewish intertestamental literature; rather they go to be with Jesus and enjoy a nearer and deeper fellowship with him until he comes again to claim his kingdom. Hence, Paul could write, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1.21). Paul's desire, despite his distaste for the nakedness of the soul without a body, was "to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better" (Philippians 1.23).

From this it follows that the intermediate state of believers is conscious, blissful communion with Christ. When Jesus returns again to Earth, he brings with him the souls of the departed believers, and they are reunited with their resurrected, transformed bodies, whereupon those alive at his return are similarly transformed, and together they all go to be with the Lord (I Thessalonians 4.14, 16-17). Paul's hope was to live to see the second coming; nevertheless, his comfort was that should he die, he would go to be with Jesus.

Now for your specific questions, Matthew: as for life’s being found “through Christ,” you need to keep in mind that those who are in Sheol or Hades are not alive, either physically or spiritually. They are dead. Nonetheless, they exist and are conscious. In any case, this is not their final state but just an intermediate condition prior to their final judgement.

Yes, our hope should be in the resurrection of the body. At death we shall not be “instantaneously transferred to heaven or hell,” but to an intermediate state of disembodied existence, as we await the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. The intermediate state of fellowship with Christ is better than our present state, but it is a pale shadow of the resurrection life to come.

Whether it is “more satisfying” to think of the unrighteous dead as unconscious, rather than in torment, is ultimately irrelevant; the question is what scripture teaches. But even taken on its own merits, if the unrighteous dead simply become unconscious, never to re-awaken, then they have cheated justice and escaped their just desert. They thus avoid the punishment that God’s justice requires. I’m sure that they would find such an outcome very satisfying!