Mark, you’ve hit the nail on the head here. It challenges folks’ popular perception of these things but we don’t believe in the immortality of the soul but in death and resurrection.
That does leave us with a practical, even temporal question - where IS the person between death and the ultimate resurrection? In a Bible study years ago, when I was talking about these things, one person asked, “Then where is (her recently deceased husband) Bill?” Not intending to be flippant about it, another person pointed out the window toward the church cemetery.
How do we handle this question? When we believe the immortal soul has flown off to Heaven, we are comforted. Even knowing that eternal life, resurrection life is a sure and certain hope, where is my dearly departed loved one in the short term? The simple answer - at perfect peace and rest in the Lord - still leaves folks wanting to know where. Sheol isn’t a very helpful answer.
I would say that not only is Sheol not helpful, but neither is the notion of purgatory. I hope to address the question of where we are until the Resurrection in a later installment of 'Short Shots.'
Mark, you’ve hit the nail on the head here. It challenges folks’ popular perception of these things but we don’t believe in the immortality of the soul but in death and resurrection.
That does leave us with a practical, even temporal question - where IS the person between death and the ultimate resurrection? In a Bible study years ago, when I was talking about these things, one person asked, “Then where is (her recently deceased husband) Bill?” Not intending to be flippant about it, another person pointed out the window toward the church cemetery.
How do we handle this question? When we believe the immortal soul has flown off to Heaven, we are comforted. Even knowing that eternal life, resurrection life is a sure and certain hope, where is my dearly departed loved one in the short term? The simple answer - at perfect peace and rest in the Lord - still leaves folks wanting to know where. Sheol isn’t a very helpful answer.
Thank you for your thoughtful response, Michael.
I would say that not only is Sheol not helpful, but neither is the notion of purgatory. I hope to address the question of where we are until the Resurrection in a later installment of 'Short Shots.'