God’s Gracious Gift of an Intermediate Body in Between Death & Final Resurrection

Article by Keith Sherlin, ThD; PhD; © Christicommunity

TOPIC: A NEW BODY AT DEATH AND A NEW RESURRECTION BODY FOR THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH (ESCHATOLOGY)

QUESTIONS: “At death, do we have any kind of body prior to the resurrection at the end of the age when Christ returns?” This question has perplexed many saints over the years. Thank you for asking this question. People think about this regularly it seems. That is normal and natural though as we have a desire to know what will happen to us after we experience earthly death. A prevalent philosophy that exists today teaches that at death we have no body and exist only a spirit that has no physical or spirit body properties to it. In some case, though probably not all, this idea arises from Greek philosophical ideology that teaches the body is bad while the spirit is good. Sometimes this develops from gnostic ideas that surface very often in and through asceticism. Gnostic ideas (flesh is bad & spirit is good) also flourish in and through ascetic practices. Asceticism is a belief that we should reject, ignore, or as much as possible minimize the awareness and/or appreciation of normal physical pleasures. This ideology has been common among the monastic traditions and to a degree beyond even into various conservative circles of Christianity. As one author described it, “asceticism” is the “discipline of self-denial for the purpose of refining the soul by denying the flesh” (Nelson’s New Christian Dictionary, p. 56). Though the Bible does teach one form of healthy ascetic virtues such as fasting (Matt. 9:15), the willingness and act of giving away material possessions to follow Christ (Mark 10:28), self-denial in order to follow Christ (Mark 8:34), and self-discipline for good stewardship of one’s life in kingdom service (1 Cor. 9:24-27), the Bible also condemns the ascetic ideas that flow from the gnostic root that the body is bad and the spirit is good. Gnostic style ascetical ideas teach we should deny our flesh because the flesh is unholy and not valuable. In Gnostic doctrine “the material creation is viewed as evil” (Edwin M. Yamauchi, Gnosticism, in The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 417). The soul, however, remains trapped in the evil body and through knowledge the good soul can experience deliverance in salvation “from their fleshly bodies at death” (Ibid.). Because of those ideas one form of Gnostic ideology expresses itself through “ascetic attitudes” (Ibid.). Consequently, physical and natural aspects of the body, sex, normal physical pleasures, and similar related matters are shunned and denied as much as possible in order to experience more of the divine. Gnostic type ascetics live in a world governed by their lens of dualism, i.e., the spirit world is holy and the material wold is unholy and to be shunned as much as possible. Dr. Randy Alcorn has created a new term to describe these Gnostic and ascetic ideas that have been brought over and intertwined into Christian doctrine. The Greek and Platonic ideas of Gnostic thought that have been blended into forms of Christianity has been termed by him “Christoplatonism” (Randy Alcorn, Heaven, p. 459).These ideas that developed through philosophers like Plato were adopted by leaders like the Alexandrian Jew Philo (20 BC-AD 50) whose ideas in turn were received by the disciples living in Alexandria. Two of those disciples, Clement of Alexandria (150-215) and Origen (185-254), spread widely these ideas into the body of Christ. “Clement embraced Greek philosophy and maintained that Scripture must be understood allegorically. Origen developed an entire system of allegorizing Scripture” (Ibid., 460-461). These Greek philosophical assumptions brought into Christianity influence Bible interpreters to read Scripture texts that pertain to the physical in ways that discredit the goodness of God’s created physical world. As Dr. Alcorn states, “judged by Christoplatonic presuppositions, anytime the Bible speaks about heaven in plain, ordinary, or straightforward ways, the assumption is that it doesn’t actually mean what it says. For example, the plain meaning of living as resurrected beings in a resurrected society in a resurrected city on a resurrected Earth cannot be real, because it doesn’t jibe with the Platonic assumption that the body is bad and the spirit good . . . . There could not be bodies, nations, kings, buildings, streets, gates, water, trees, and fruit, because these are physical, and what’s physical is not spiritual” (Ibid., p. 461). This Gnostic thought leads people to assume that “spiritual people should shun physical pleasures” as well as it impairs “our ability to interpret Scriptures that deal with the afterlife” (Ibid., p. 463, 468). Of course, Gnostic thought is probably not the only reason why people reject the idea of a body in between death and the final resurrection. Another reason is simply because some adopt a dualistic ideology and from that they reason that since the resurrection is still future at Christ’s coming that upon death a person’s soul goes to be with the Lord while the body returns to the dust of the earth. They conclude, therefore, that the soul in this in between period has no body. They reason that a person obtains the new body only at the resurrection at Christ’s return. This idea does not have so much to do with Gnostic thought as much as it has to do with the dualism ideology that allows for a split between the material and the non-material world at death. Those in this category do not per se read the Bible through a lens that the body is bad. They, however, just conclude that since the resurrection is future that until that time we experience life without a body from the point of death until the resurrection. But, as will be shown further, this does not seem to take into account very seriously the most plain and straightforward biblical texts that speak to this matter. Several texts of Scripture seem to strongly suggest that at our earthly death we experience a translation into some type of spirit body that we exist as until the resurrection when God gives to us a new body that he prepares for both the New Earth and New Heavens. The first text to set the boundaries for this discussion helps to explain the hope that Paul had himself as he thought about his earthly death. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 this: “For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked. For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (NET). This first text seems to strongly suggest several points about the afterlife in between earthly death and the final resurrection. (1) If this physical body (tent) is dismantled (destroyed in the ESV), we have some type of building from God (a new physical structure). (2) We groan to put away this earthly house (this earthly body) in order to put on another heavenly body (old body gone new body obtained). (3) Paul addressed the concern of us not having a body through the terms “we will not be found naked” (without a body). (4) Instead of being naked (without a body; unclothed), we will at that moment be “clothed” in the new life there. We must ask ourselves now this question. Do other texts of Scripture teach us this? Can we verify those conclusions by other texts of Scripture? It seems indeed that we can. Those ideas surface through various others texts throughout Scripture. We will examine four sets of texts that seem to clearly teach us that souls upon departure from this earth experience some type of intermediate spirit-body that they live and function as until the final resurrection at Christ’s return. Luke 16:19-21: A True Story of Two People in the Afterlife Sometimes people read this story in Luke and teach on it as if it were a parable. Sadly, that has led to some confusion. Christ does not specifically introduce this text as a parable, which he does do regularly when teaching through a parable. Too, in none of the parables that Jesus shared did he ever mention a name for the people in the stories. The Baptist fundamentalist, Oliver B. Greene, noted this in his discussion of this text. As he said, “in the parables from the New Testament mentioned, there is not a proper name used . . . not one” (Why Does the Devil Desire to Damn You, p. 48). William MacDonald concurs that we should not read this text as a parable. He says, It should be noted that this is not spoken of as a parable” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, p. 1433). Likewise, Dr. H.A. Ironside stated that “Jesus uses the expression, ‘there was a certain rich man.’ Was there, or was there not? He definitely declared that there was. He did not introduce the story by saying, ‘Hear a parable,’ as on some other occasions” (Luke, p. 510). The famous Bible scholar, Methodist, and commentator Arno C. Gaebelein like Ironside noted that we should “avoid the use of the word ‘parable’ in connection with these verses. The Lord said, ‘There was a certain rich man.’ It is history and not a parable” (Gaebelein’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, p. 826). However, some think it is a parable. For example, J. Vernon McGee accepted this story as a parable. But, as he notes, if you accept it as a parable you should do so through the lens of seeing this as a real story (Thru The Bible, Vol. IV, p. 320). As he said, Jesus “drew this story from real life” as he uses “the name of one of the individuals involved in this parable; the Lord would not have given the name of someone who did not exist” (Ibid.). Therefore, even if a parable, so long as one recognizes it as a true real to life story, that does not discredit the doctrinal point of life in some type of body beyond earthly life. As the Ralph Earle in the Wesleyan Bible Commentary says, “Some object that to treat it as {a parable} would weaken its doctrinal force. But that is illogical. A parable has to be true to life, or it is a fable, not a parable” (The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Vol. IV, Matthew – Acts, p. 300-301). Dr. Randy Alcorn, who describes this story as a parable, rightly states too that “this is the only parable Jesus told in which he gave a specific name to someone in the story” (Heaven, p. 62). It seems best to conclude from this that this story, or parable, was truly about a real set of people (Ibid.). So what can we learn from this story concerning the afterlife? In Luke 16:23 the rich man in hell is said to “have eyes” and these eyes could see because through those eyes he “saw Abraham far off.” This rich man in hell also wanted something to cool his tongue from the agony he experienced in hell (16:24). Also, it is worth noting that this rich man in hell could see with his eyes both Abraham and Lazarus who was at the side of Abraham (16:23). From this some proper questions to ask are as follows: why would the text speak of eyes and a tongue if God did not want us to visualize the rich man in some type of spirit-body in hell? Also, how could he see with his eyes two people who had and shared spatial location if those two people did not also have some type of spirit-body that took up space and location? How could Lazarus be at Abraham’s side if he has no spirit-body or some type of structure he dwells in that relates to spatial dimensions? Dr. Alcorn states that “the rich man and Lazarus are depicted as having physical forms” (Heaven, p. 63). Luke 9:28-36: Moses and Elijah with Spirit-Bodies in the Transfiguration This text seems to also confirm that those in the intermediate heaven right now have some type of spirit-body. the Lord takes his disciples up on a mountain and the heavens open so that they can see the glory of the eternal kingdom. Notice that in this text the physical type words used to describe Moses and Elijah. The text says, “two men were talking with him” (9:30). Furthermore, we see that the test also reads these two men “stood with him” (9:32). Again, these physical terms describe that these two men were in some type of body, maybe a spirit-body, and in that body they functioned. They talked and walked or stood. How would you stand without legs to stand? Would you not have a mouth in order to talk? The rich man in hell in the text above spoke of his eyes and tongue. Does not the burden of proof rest on those who say otherwise? If the text specifically asserts some type of bodily features on these beings in the afterlife, does it not logically mean that to negate that simple and straightforward assertion someone has the burden to overcome the biblical assertion? And if so, what text of Scripture denies that this is not possible? In the absence of a text denying this assertion, or illuminating a definite way to read it otherwise, there seems not to exist any solid reason for rejecting those descriptions as valid ways to view the afterlife. Furthermore, why is it so hard for some to accept that in the afterlife, in this in between state, people have some sort of physical like structure that they live and dwell within until the final resurrection? Would that view undermine any other truth in Scripture so long as one still affirms a future resurrection at Christ’s coming? I struggle to understand why anyone would be so staunchly set against this idea. If the future resurrection is affirmed, an essential non-negotiable truth (see 1 Cor. 15), what harm or doctrinal problem does it cause to affirm an intermediate body? I must admit that the reactions I receive from some who consider this tends to make me believe some with such strong reactions against the idea have drank from the Gnostic and ascetic well. It seems in their minds that the physical is bad and the spirit is good so they gravitate towards the idea that being freed from a physical body is somehow more spiritual. Thus, because of that strong attachment to that presupposition any interpretation that conflicts with that lens through which they build their theology leads to strong emotional reactions against anything pertaining to the physical. Again, not all who reject these views do so because of Gnostic and ascetic ideologies. But it sure does seem that some do for those very reasons. Revelation 6:9-11: Souls in Heaven Wearing Clothes In this text we discover that those who have been killed during the tribulation period were talking to the Lord in heaven. Interestingly in this text we read that each of these souls were “given a white robe.” Dr. John Walvoord weighs in on this discussion and debate about people living in the in between state of life after earthly death yet prior to final resurrection. Of this text he says, “The martyred dead here pictured have not been raised from the dead and have not received their resurrection bodies. Yet it is declared that they are given robes. The fact that they are given robes would almost demand that they have a body of some kind. A robe could not hang upon an immaterial soul or spirit . . . . it is a temporary body suited for their presence in heaven but replaced in turn by their everlasting resurrection body given at the time of Christ’s return” (John Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 134-135). Dr. Alcorn also concurs with that line of thought stating, “disembodied spirits don’t wear clothes” (Heaven, p. 58). The idea that we depart this body without any type of form or spirit-body seems to run counter to the witness of Scripture. In my view, the best answer remains that at earthly death we exist from that point until the resurrection in some type of spirit-body. This spirit-body is suited for the intermediate heaven but not for the New Heavens and New Earth. Therefore, when Christ returns to earth he will in that resurrection grant us bodies that are in the final form. That final form will be a body suited both for heaven and earth. I agree with Dr. Alcorn that there “was never a moment when a human being existed without a body. Neurophysiological studies reveal an intimate connection between the body and what has historically been referred to as the soul–which includes the mind, emotions, will, intentionalality, and capacity to worship. It appears that we are not essentially spirits who inhabit bodies, but we are essentially as much physical as we are spiritual. We cannot be fully human without both a spirit and a body” (Heaven, p. 57). In accepting this idea we ought to also reject dualism models of theology. The body is not evil while the spirit is good. That idea can influence how one reads texts on the afterlife and in matters pertaining to heaven, hell, the millennium, and the final eternal states. As humans we are, as Dr. Millard J. Erickson says, a “conditional unity” (Christian Theology, p. 537). We are not called to “flee or escape from the body, as if it were somehow inherently evil” (Ibid.). Though Erickson and I might not agree exactly on the intermediate spirit-body, his foundation for which this intermediate body theology rests has merit to it.In this conditional unity our soul/body remains intricately intertwined. At death, upon that condition, a new development takes place. Our immaterial aspect joins another building God has for us in that new dwelling place (2 Cor. 5:1-2). At Christ’s coming we take another step forward in that we then experience the final resurrected body that functions in all spheres, the heavenly realms as well as the earthly realms. Though not exactly my style of eschatological terminology, it might work here to say the intermediate body is the already but not yet form of the final body to come just like we are already saved yet not yet glorified. We seem to experience in this progressive work of salvation that God works out in his providence an incremental development. That seems to apply to our spirit-body as well. we receive our first body here, at death we receive our second type of structure or spirit-body, and then at the next phase of God’s providential work when he returns to usher in the consummation of all things we experience another and final development in the spirit-body continuum. I hope this helps. Dr. Sherlin