BJ
Let Jesus answer your question.
Jesus confirmed this truth after his friend Lazarus died. Jesus likened death to sleep. If Lazarus had gone to heaven to be with Almighty God, Jesus’ bringing him back to earth eventually to die again would have been no kindness.
The inspired account states that at the burial place, Jesus said in a loud voice: “Lazarus, come on out!” The Bible continues: “The man that had been dead came out.” Lazarus began life anew. Jesus knew that Lazarus had never left the earth. He had been lying lifeless in a tomb.
The first-century Christians did not view the soul as the Greeks did. If Lazarus had had an immortal soul that flitted off, free and happy, at the time of death, would not the account in John chapter 11 read very differently?
Surely Jesus would have told his followers if Lazarus was alive and well and conscious in heaven; on the contrary, he echoed the Hebrew Scriptures and told them that Lazarus was asleep, unconscious.
Surely Jesus would have rejoiced if his friend was enjoying a wonderful new existence; instead, we find him weeping publicly over this death.
Surely, if Lazarus’ soul had been in heaven, reveling in blissful immortality, Jesus would never have been so cruel as to summon him back to live a few more years in the “prison” of an imperfect physical body amid sick and dying mankind.
Did Lazarus return from death with glowing tales of his marvelous four days as a liberated, disembodied spirit being? No, he did not.
Believers in the immortal soul will respond that this was because the man’s experience was too awesome for words.
But that argument fails to convince; after all, could not Lazarus still have told his loved ones at least that much that he had had an experience too marvelous to describe?
Instead, Lazarus said nothing about any experiences he had had while dead. Think of it silent on the one subject that is the focus of more human curiosity than any other: what death is like! That silence can be explained in only one way. There was nothing to tell. The dead are asleep, unconscious.
Hopefully sleeping until the resurrection that Jesus spoke about takes place.
Corey
Or maybe there's no such thing as a soul. Our minds are the physical processes of our brains, and we know this because of EEGs, MRIs, CT scans, and the effects of brain damage (from disease and injury). There's no evidence that the mind or any magical part of a person persists past death. The concept of a soul and an afterlife might be momentarily comforting, but it's just wishful thinking.
I know that our own mortality can be a frightening subject. People are uncomfortable with their existence being finite and they also miss their friends and family who have died. But life's fleeting nature is what makes it precious. It's better to spend life appreciating it and the time we have with our friends and family than to treat it like some mere test or waiting room, squandering it like "The Dog and his Reflection".
Uncle Fester
I have often pondered this one. As an atheist I do not believe in souls or spirits.
But if they did exist they have never been measured or detected. So, that means they must have zero mass. In which case they would, on leaving the body, stop where they are in space. The Earth would continue on its trajectory leaving a trail of souls.
I presume there must be some sort of collection agency in place if they are to be taken to heaven (or hell).
Funny how the bible never explained this.
Gary B
NoNe of the above.
When we die, our soul "rises" (leave the body) and goes into tHE presence of God. There, He first judges those who profess Christianity, first separating the Liars (those who say the believe in Jesus, but really don;t) and sending them to Hell. He then sends the True Believers (those who say they believe in Jesus and really do!) to Heaven. He then judges those we DID NOT accept Jesus, and sends them to Hell with all the Liars and other Unbelievers.
Finally, He judges those people who never heard of Jesus, and judges them based on His Grace and mercy.
Both Heaven and Hell "transcend" the Universe. They ARE real places, but they exists in the Realm of God, and NOT in the Universe
?
Last time I died my consciousness the goodness left my body and ended up in the present host , soul the evolutional energy of goodness most call God just rejoined the grid , now I have learned to recognise consciousness as separate to brain I can use it to interact with soul maintaining and increasing goodness evolutional fitness of mind and body.
seek my answers