14
votes
According to adherents of 'soul sleep', how did Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus, Peter, James, and John?
Let the Bible interpret itself.
A few verses later:
And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. —...
- 8,302
10
votes
Accepted
What is the biblical basis for the belief that people do not go to heaven or hell immediately when they die?
Introduction
I intend to show that the concept of a universal realm for all, outside Heaven, where all await the resurrection (Waiting in the Grave, WitG hereafter) is united against other beliefs ...
- 2,134
6
votes
Accepted
According to soul sleep adherents, what's wrong with an "Occam's razor" interpretation of 1 Samuel 28 (Saul and the Medium of En-dor)?
Occam's Razor is often expressed as "the simplest explanation is usually the best one", but that is a misleading oversimplification unless one properly defines what "simplest" ...
- 8,302
5
votes
What are the biblical arguments against soul sleep?
The Bible never described someone else's soul sleeping only to be awaken at the last judgment.
Rather, what the Bible records show is that in the New Testament all of God's people who are in the ...
- 6,433
4
votes
Did Jesus's rational soul or His spirit descend into hell?
Article 5 of the Catechism of the Council of Trent says:
We are not to imagine that His power and virtue only, and not also His soul, descended into hell; but we are firmly to believe that His soul ...
- 38.5k
4
votes
What is the biblical basis for the belief that people do not go to heaven or hell immediately when they die?
Ecclesiastes 3 eloquently frames the problem:
I said to myself,
“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity,
a time ...
- 11.4k
4
votes
According to adherents of 'soul sleep', how did Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus, Peter, James, and John?
The Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-13; cp. Mar 9:2-13) is a vision, an eschatological vision, that Jesus gave the privilege of enjoying to the "inner circle" of his Apostles, Peter, James and ...
- 496
4
votes
How do 'soul sleep' adherents explain reports of astral projection, out-of-body experiences (OBE) and near-death experiences (NDE)?
How do atheists and other skeptics explain reports of astral projection, etc.?
Given that there is no scientific evidence of the reality of such events other than as a neurological effect, why should ...
- 8,302
3
votes
What Verses did Ellen White use to support Soul Sleep?
Seventh Day Adventists [SDAs] say that "the dead remain in their graves and there is no spirit, nor soul, which goes to Heaven (or hell) when we die." This, in a nutshell, is their doctrine ...
- 26.8k
3
votes
Accepted
How do soul sleep adherents explain Lk 23:43?
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the soul dies when the body dies.
The condition of the dead is like sleep.
Without a resurrection there would be no hope for a soul to live again.
That may be enough ...
- 7,085
2
votes
What is the biblical basis for the belief that people do not go to heaven or hell immediately when they die?
A key indicator that an intermediate realm exists can be drawn from Jesus's response to Mary in John 20:17. "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." If Christ hadn't visited our ...
- 21
2
votes
Accepted
How do adherents of soul-sleep interpret the parable of Rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19–31)?
Luke 16:19-31 is perhaps a difficulty for proponents of the soul sleep theory, but it is not an outright contradiction of the theory for a number of reasons.
Scripture, in both old and new testament,...
- 136
2
votes
Accepted
According to soul sleep adherents, if unclean spirits can be conscious without bodies, why can't human spirits also be conscious without bodies?
For Christian Mortalists, the human soul and/or spirit is mortal and dies at physical death. The soul and/or spirit is not independent of the body like on Platonic conceptions of the soul.
For ...
- 151
2
votes
According to soul sleep adherents, what's wrong with an "Occam's razor" interpretation of 1 Samuel 28 (Saul and the Medium of En-dor)?
I won't give an answer on whether or not the "Samuel" in 1 Samuel 28 was actually Samuel. I will simply show why an unambiguous reading of the text is not always the most optimal(i.e. the ...
- 383
2
votes
Accepted
According to soul sleep adherents, why would God allow people to be massively misled by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31)?
Why would God allow people to be misled by an ambiguous verse of scripture?
God's people must have free will, they must exercise that free will based on knowledge, and that knowledge must be based on ...
- 8,302
2
votes
How do 'soul sleep' adherents explain reports of astral projection, out-of-body experiences (OBE) and near-death experiences (NDE)?
Demons tricking people.
Simply put, spiritual phenomena are either from God or His messengers (angels), or they're not. If they're not from God, and they are genuine spiritual phenomena rather that ...
- 1,043
2
votes
Accepted
What Verses did Ellen White use to support Soul Sleep?
Some of the verses that Ellen White quotes which plainly explain the state of the dead:
KJV Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have ...
- 1,742
2
votes
Accepted
How do annihilationists understand Matthew 10:15?
Annihilationism allows for different degrees of punishment on the Day of Judgment, so long as the wicked are ultimately destroyed rather than enduring everlasting torment. Below is a response to this ...
- 1,196
1
vote
How would the Catholic Church reconcile 1 Thess 4:13 (which suggests soul sleep) with the doctrine of Intercession of Saints?
From the NET Bible:
The verb κοιμάω (koimaō) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature ...
- 151
1
vote
How do 'soul sleep' adherents explain Mark 12:27, "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."?
The answer is in the context of the verse. Jesus was asked about "resurrection." He addressed that specifically, "But concerning the dead rising...". The dead will be resurrected, ...
- 125
1
vote
According to adherents of 'soul sleep', how did Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus, Peter, James, and John?
As a believer in what people normally call "soul sleep", I don't believe it was a vision, but rather that Elijah and Moses were alive, in heaven, and were simply transported to the Mount of ...
- 2,856
1
vote
How do soul sleep adherents explain 1 Peter 3:18-20?
Most likely the reason this question is not getting much traction is because no one who believes in the unconscious state of the dead prior to Jesus' second coming actually use the term "soul ...
- 3,270
1
vote
According to soul sleep adherents, if unclean spirits can be conscious without bodies, why can't human spirits also be conscious without bodies?
Jehovah’s Witnesses are sometimes categorized as soul sleep adherents.
We teach that the death of a human ends all consciousness. Thus the condition of the dead is likened to a deep sleep.
Whereas ...
- 7,085
1
vote
In Christian mortalism, what sets apart people who have lived from people who didn't live?
All souls are mine
Ezekiel 18:4
Life begins at conception when a child is formed in the mother's womb. The soul lives inside the mother's womb and even if the soul never gers to breathe air, the ...
1
vote
In Christian mortalism, what sets apart people who have lived from people who didn't live?
Disbelief in an immortal soul is one thing (and you have given examples of some such groups) but confusion may arise with the closely related belief of 'soul sleep'. It is also necessary to clear up ...
- 26.8k
1
vote
In Christian mortalism, what sets apart people who have lived from people who didn't live?
My answer comes with a caveat:
I have struggled to grasp the meaning of this question, and have been confused by that Wikipedia article on what it calls “Christian Mortalism”. I have therefore ...
- 29.7k
1
vote
Did Jesus's rational soul or His spirit descend into hell?
The Apostle's Creed has different versions for different church denominations. Most of the Protestant versions do not say "he descended into hell" but rather "he descended to the dead". The Church ...
- 6,674
1
vote
How do adherents of soul-sleep interpret the parable of Rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19–31)?
Doesn't this parable indicate that people have some kind of soul or spirit that is conscious even after death?
I believe that once the literary form for this narrative is identified, the account ...
- 35
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