Where Are the Dead?

The following study is the truth of the Bible on all phases of the subject of the dead and their destiny:
I. Death Defined

The word “death” as applied to man in Scripture means separation, or a cutting off from fulfilling God’s purpose for which he was created. One can logically substitute the word separation for death in every scripture where it is used. It will clarify many passages to do so, as we shall see below.

II. Physical Death

Physical death is the separation of the inner man from the outer man, the separation of the soul and spirit from the body (note, James 2:26).

III. Spiritual Death

Spiritual death is separation of man from God because of sin (see Three Kinds of Death in Scripture).

One can be alive physically and spiritually dead at the same time (Matthew 8:22; Col. 2:14; 1 Tim. 5:6). He can also be dead physically and alive in hell-conscious in the soul and spirit, or the inner man

IV. Second Death: Eternal Death

The second death means the second and eternal separation from God in the lake of fire (Rev. 2:11; Rev. 20:6,14; Rev. 21:8).

V. Penalty for Sin

The penalty for sin was eternal death or eternal separation from God in hell. Had it been physical death, every man would be automatically justified in the sight of God when he died physically. With the penalty thus paid, God could not punish the sinner any further than physical death. Such death would be the means of justification and the door to heaven; but this could not be. Some who die physically will be saved and others will be lost, so the penalty could not be physical death.

Neither could it be spiritual death, which is the state of man in sin. If so, then all who commit sin would automatically be justified in the sight of God. This would make committing sin the penalty for committing sin, which is ridiculous. It would mean that all who commit sin would be saved and go to heaven. This would guarantee eternal life for all men, for all have sinned (Romans 3:23). It would make the salvation of souls foolish and unnecessary. Furthermore, it would make the death of Christ unnecessary, for all men were sinners before He came.
The real penalty for sin, therefore, could not be physical or spiritual death, but eternal death or separation from God. Physical death is the result of spiritual and eternal death. Eternal death is the penalty for spiritual death or committing sin (Ephes. 2:1-9).

VI. Resurrection from Spiritual Death

The resurrection of man from spiritual death (or separation from God) takes place when one is saved from death in trespasses and sins (Ephes. 2:1-10), when he is born again (John 3:1-8), is made a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17-18), and is fully reconciled to God through Christ (2 Cor. 5:14-21; Ephes. 2:12-16; Col. 1:20-22; Col. 2:6-13).

VII. Immortality of the Soul

Bible Proof of the Immorality of the Soul and Spirit

The Bible is very clear that the inner man made up of the soul and spirit is now immortal and will continue in a state of consciousness between death and resurrection and forever after the resurrection of the dead. The following proves this beyond doubt

1. Plain statements in Scripture prove the immortality of the soul. Peter said that the inner man or the spirit of man is not corruptible: “But let it be THE HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART, in that WHICH IS NOT CORRUPTIBLE, even the ornament of a QUIET SPIRIT, which is in the sight of God of great price” (1 Pet. 3:4). In 1 Pet. 4:6 it is again stated by the apostle that all the dead live according to God in the spirit, proving that the inner man of every body continues in consciousness like God. We have to believe this or else believe that God is unconscious. If men after death continue to live according to God in their spirits, then they continue to be conscious like God.

David said of Christ, “For thou will not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Ps. 16:9-10). We know that the soul and spirit of Christ was alive and conscious while His body was in the grave. This is proved by the fact that He went and preached to the spirits in prison during that time, as we have seen in Lesson Eleven, Point VII, 6, (9), which see. Also this is clear from the fact that Christ’s soul went into the lower parts and into the heart of the Earth (Matt. 12:40; Eph. 4:7-11) and His body was put in the grave on the surface of the Earth (Matt. 27:57-66). Certainly His grave was not in the center and in lower parts of the Earth. David said in Psalms 22:26 that the hearts of the saved “shall live forever.” The word for heart in this passage is used many times of the feelings, the will, and the mind and it refers to the inner man in this case.

The apostles made many statements proving men continue to live after death: “Who died for us, that, whether we wake [live in the body] or sleep [die or leave the body, James 2:26], WE SHALL LIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM” (1 Thess. 5:10). This plainly says that the saints who die physically will live together with Christ. This is in perfect harmony with 2 Cor. 5:6-9, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, WHILST WE ARE AT HOME IN THE BODY, WE ARE ABSENT FROM THE LORD …. We are confident, I say, and willing rather TO BE ABSENT FROM THE BODY, AND TO BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD. Wherefore we labour, that WHETHER PRESENT OR ABSENT, we may be accepted of him.” This proves that the inner man leaves the body at physical death and goes to be with the Lord who is not the God of the dead (the physical body, James 2:26) but of the living (Matt. 22:23-33).

This same truth is clearly stated in Phil. 1:21-23, “For to me to live is Christ, and TO DIE IS GAIN. But if I live IN THE FLESH, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire TO DEPART, AND TO BE WITH CHRIST; which is far better: Nevertheless TO ABIDE IN THE FLESH is more needful for you.” What gain would there be in physical death if the soul and spirit were dormant and lifeless and unconscious in the grave? How could the soul remain in the body in the grave and still depart from the body to be with Christ? Is Christ in the grave? Is the grave the place saints are to go in order to be with Him at physical death? How could this be far better if the soul is not conscious? How could the grave and total extinction of consciousness after death be far better than to remain in the flesh to win souls for Christ and to help the saints live right? How could the inner man be absent from the body at death if it remained in the body and both went into the grave to be dormant until the resurrection?

Paul speaks of the outward man only as perishing and the inward man being renewed day by day and that the things that are seen [including the body] are temporal and the things that are not seen [including the soul and spirit] ARE ETERNAL (2 Cor. 4:16-18). This certainly shows the difference between the outer man and the inner man and that one is temporary and the other is eternal. This shows the ever increasing law of death for the body until the soul separates from it at physical death and the ever increasing life of the soul which is eternal.

Paul in 1 Tim. 4:8 refers to a life after this one. This surely speaks of the life after the resurrection, for he makes it clear in other writings that the inner man leaves the body and goes to be with Christ, as we have seen above. He taught that men who continue in Christ until death had ETERNAL LIFE because they did not give up this life for sin (1 Cor. 15:2; Rom.8:12-13; 1 Thess. 3:8; Gal. 6:7-8). He warns men that they have to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life to be saved (1 Tim. 6:12; Titus 3:7). If it is possible to have eternal life, then there will be no period of cessation of life between death and resurrection except as to the body. The real saved person will continue to have eternal life after death or many Scriptures would be untrue (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:39-58; 10:27-29; 11:25-26; 14:19). John said that he that doeth the will of God ABIDETH FOREVER (l John 2:17). Others confirm the same thing, as we shall see below.

2. Only the. body lies and sleeps in the dust until the resurrection. Physical death is the separation of the inner man from the outer man (James 2:26). The body then is spoken of as going back to the dust again and as being asleep (Gen. 3:19; Matt. 9:24; John 11:11; 1 Cor. 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:1317). The spirit of a righteous man goes to Heaven (2 Cor. 5:6-9; Phil. 1:21-23; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 6:9-11). The spirit of the wicked man goes to Hell (Luke 16:19-31; Isa.14:9-15; Prov. 15:24; Ezek. 26:20; 31:14-18; 32:18-27).

3. Promises that the path of the just shines brighter Until the perfect day prove the immortality of the soul (Prov. 4:18; Dan. 12:2-3). If there is to be a period of extinction of life these and other passages could not be true for there would not be constant glory into eternity.

4. Jesus said that God was not the God of the dead but of the living “FOR ALL LIVE UNTO HIM” (Luke 20:38). All do not live physically unto Him so it must be that all live in their spirits unto him, as stated in 1 Pet. 3:4, 4:6. Jesus said of Himself, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, YET SHALL HE LIVE: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me SHALL NEVER DIE” (John 11:25-26). This could not mean that they would never die physically for it is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment (Heb. 9:27). The above promise of never dying must refer to the life of the soul, thus proving that the soul is immortal. Jesus further taught the immortality of the soul when He stated that the soul cannot be killed by man like the body (Matt. 10:28). If the soul cannot be killed with the body, then the soul is immortal.

6. Souls are conscious after death, proving their immortality. Many statements that they continue to live after death are given in Point 1 above. Many concrete examples of souls being conscious after death are given in Scripture. The following are a few examples:

(1) In Matt. 17:3 we have the case of Moses appearing with Christ, wearing clothes, talking with Christ, and being recognized by the disciples as the one who gave the law. He could not have been in his earthly body at that time for it had died and had been in corruption for about 1700 years (Deut. 34). He could not have had a glorified resurrected body at that time, for Christ had not yet become the first-fruits of all who had died (1 Cor. 15:23; Acts 3:26; Col. 1:18). Therefore, he had to have his spiritual body, as we have explained in Lesson Four, Point II, 1, and the last paragraph in Point II, 7, which see.

(2) The story of the rich man and Lazarus proves the consciousness of souls after death. Both were in a state of consciousness but they were in two separate places and states of being (Luke 16:19-31). Some teach this is a parable, but it is’ not stated to be one and we have just as much right to teach that the statement in Luke 16:18 about marriage and divorce is a parable as to say that Luke 16:19-31 is a parable. As we have seen in Lesson Thirty-one, there is a particular truth stated in connection with each New Testament parable. If there is no special point stated that a story illustrates, then it is not a parable but a historical record. So in Luke 16: 19-31, there is no particular point or points illustrated by this story so it must be a real happening in the lives of two beggars, showing the true condition of life after death by the actual experience of two men from two different stations in life. One begged for a living during his life but he was righteous enough to be saved in the end of life and go to a place of comfort to await the resurrection of the body. The other begged in the next life because he was ungodly and unmerciful and died in his sins and went to Hell or a place of torment to await the resurrection of the body to be judged and cast into the eternal Hell. Even if this true happening was used by Jesus as a parable it would still be the actual experiences of two men who lived died, and went to two different places after death. Jesus did not use lies to illustrate truths as do some men today. However, since there are no points illustrated by this historical record of two experiences of life here and hereafter we should not try to prove the story is a parable.

Jesus said “There was” and if these men did not live and these things did not happen to them, then He told a lie just like others who speak falsehoods. Since He knew no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, we have all the right in the world to believe that He was relating the true experiences of two men. This story plainly reveals consciousness after death. The poor beggar was in comfort where there was water and other comforts and the rich beggar was in torments in literal fire. He had a tongue, eyes, speech, compassion, feelings, memory, and other faculties that prove he had his soul (the feelings) and his spirit (that which knows) in Hell. Lazarus also had his own form and other soul and spirit realities that caused him to be recognized by the rich man as the one who was laid at his gate full of sores during his life on Earth.

Nothing is clearer in Scripture than the realities of full consciousness after death, some are in comfort and others in torment. As we have explained in Lesson Four, Point II, 7, the soul after leaving the body is just as real as the outer man and can wear clothes, feel, think, speak, remember, and act and be seen just as much as it did while in the body.
(3) Christ was conscious the three days his body was in the grave, as proved in Point I above. The penitent thief also was conscious and went with Christ into Paradise into the heart of the Earth (Luke 23:43). Stephen prayed for Christ to receive his spirit when he died. Christ did not receive the body of Stephen for the disciples buried it (Acts 7:59; 8:2).
(4) The spirits of just men are spoken of as being in Heaven (Heb. 12:23). John saw under the altar in Heaven the souls of the first tribulation martyrs (Rev. 6:9-11). They had been given robes to wear and were fully conscious as is clear in this passage. They were told to rest yet for a little season until the other tribulation saints are killed as they themselves had been, then vengeance would be taken on those who had killed them on Earth.

These should be enough examples to prove that the souls and spirits of men after leaving the bodies are fully conscious and that they are immortal.

7. The nature of souls prove them to be immortal. They are real spiritual bodies, as we have proved in Lesson Four, Point II, 1, and 7, which see. Souls and spirits are spiritual parts of men and as such they are not subject to mortal decay as is the body. They are as spiritual as God, angels, and demons and they are also just as eternal. (See Lesson Six for a study of spirits.)

8. The intermediate state or the places where souls go between death and resurrection prove the immortality of the inner man, as we shall see in Point V below.

9. The doctrine of eternal life in Scripture proves the immortality of the soul. Eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ (John 17:3). Scientists claim that perfect correspondence would be perfect life and that if there were no changes in the environment but such as the organism had adapted changes to meet, and if it could never fail in the efficiency with which it met them, there would be eternal knowledge and therefore eternal life. This is similar to the claim of Jesus, that eternal life was to know or to experience God and Jesus Christ whom He had sent. It is entirely possible for every man to know and to experience God and His Son, to have perfect correspondence with them, and to have absolute power to make the necessary changes in adapting the spiritual life to the eternal life of God in Christ. This is true immortality and true eternal life. The soul and spirit now are being changed into the same image of Christ from glory to glory and from faith to faith by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom.1:16-17).

The claim of Christianity and the Bible is that there are certain organisms that possess eternal life. All men who believe in Christ and are made new creatures by the new birth possess eternal life, according to John 3:16,36; 5:24; 6:39-58; 10:27-29; 11:25-26; 14:19; 1 John 2:24-25; 1 Tim. 6:12. They have passed from death unto life (1 John 3:14-15). This life is in Jesus Christ (1 John 5:11-13). This Christian conception of eternal life is in perfect harmony with science, as defined above. Both the Bible and science unfold the principle according to which life is high or low, long or short. They both define the condition under which an organism will never die and they show why they live and why they die. The condition of perpetual and perfect life is perfect correspondence to the eternal God. Conditions necessary to have eternal life do not exist in the natural world, but in the spiritual, for that which is spiritual is eternal (2 Cor. 4:18).

It is a well-known fact that there are degrees of life; that is, some lives have more and fuller correspondence with environment than others. For example, an amoebae, a gelatinous piece of matter, can only communicate with the smallest era of environment. An insect in virtue of its more complex structure, corresponds with a wider area and environment. It has more life than an amoebae because it is a higher animal. Fish, birds, reptiles, and beasts have more and longer lives than does an insect because they are higher type animals and because they have a wider correspondence with creation as a whole.

Man is more varied in his make-up and is capable of correspondence and association with all parts of creation and is even capable of knowing the Creator and of being in perfect harmony with Him eternally. He is the highest type of creature and life than all the rest of creation under him. He is capable of perfect and eternal correspondence with the eternal Creator. Thus the law of life varies with the degree of correspondence or relationship to other parts of creation and with the Creator this law of life according to the degree of correspondence to God and His creation holds true to the minutest form of life to the highest type of living things. Life becomes fuller, richer, and more sensitive and responsive from the lowest to the highest form of life, depending upon relationship to God and His creation.

When creatures are taken out of their native environment they die. For example a fish taken out of water will die. A bird fallen into the water will soon die because it is not a water animal. A fish if put back in the water will revive and a bird taken out of the water will live again. Higher forms of life can maintain life longer than the lower forms due to the powers of adaptation and the increased powers to master their environment. There are even higher powers over which they have no control and when they are overcome by these powers they must die. Man was given dominion over all creation and had he remained master of all things he would have continued to live forever. Satan, evil spirits, and sin, got the mastery over him and he had to die. Christ came to bring complete mastery over these powers and to annul death so that men can live forever again. Where there is perfect correspondence with the eternal God, man has everlasting life. Eternal correspondence and relationship with the eternal God brings eternal life. When man passes beyond the finite and the material where his life does not depend upon these things he enters into the infinite, spiritual, and the eternal. Because of this correspondence with the spiritual and the eternal he can live forever. Such a life in the spiritual world possesses the elements of eternity, provided that this spiritual life is maintained and it is not broken by sin.

To know and to experience God eternally is eternal life. To know and experience Him for a time is only temporary life. If any thing arises that causes life to be Cut off from God, then the life ceases and death results. To know God is to conform to Him and to conform to Him is perfect environment and perfect and uninterrupted environment is eternal life. Eternal life is not prolonged existence or indefinite continuance of being, for all the wicked have this, but it is to know and to experience God and share with Him in the eternal and infinite environment. This life is only in God’s Son and hence those out of Christ do not possess eternal life even though they exist forever (1 John 5:11-12). Thus everlasting life has nothing to do with everlasting existence. True life consists of true and perfect environment and blessing for which man was created. When man fails in the purpose for which he is created he is not truly living and it is not normal. Man was created to live in perfect harmony with God in perfect environment and he would have lived this way if sin had not separated him from this created purpose. In Christ, man is restored to this state and he may continue this way forever or he may commit sin and be again cut off from this perfect environment and lose eternal life.

Since eternal life consists in knowing God, the more one knows Him the more he truly lives. This is why knowledge is stressed in many Scriptures as being essential to higher and better living in the spiritual world. When man knew only good he was not sinful. When he got to know evil he became a sinner (Gen. 2:17). Men must know the truth before it can set them free from sin, sickness, and poverty (John 8:32; Rom.6:14-23). We now know in part and we have life in part, but when we shall know as we are known we shall have perfect, full, and complete life (1 Cor. 13:9-12). Men who know God keep His commandments (1 John 2:3-5). The saved are commanded to increase in the knowledge of God in order to have increased life (Phil. 1:9; Col. l:9-10; 3:10; 2 Pet. 1:1-8; 3:18). No man can live in or enjoy a realm of which he has no knowledge. In the next age the knowledge of the Lord will cover the Earth as the waters cover the sea (Isa.11:9). According to our knowledge we can conform to the will of God. Man of all creatures on Earth is capable of full consciousness with God and knowledge of His will and life, hence he is the only creature that attains to real and lasting life in Christ. It is the spiritual life that is eternal because it knows God and lives eternally with Him. Christ came to give life-real, literal, spiritual, and eternal life and one has this life when he has Christ and he loses it when he loses Christ by sin, as proved in Lesson Thirty-five, Point IV. The truth is that if one is to inherit eternal life he must cultivate correspondence with the Eternal. If he ceases to do this then he reverts back to death (Rom.8:12-13; James 5:19-20; Ezek. 18:4). When one rejects the knowledge of God and goes back into sin contrary to that knowledge, he again becomes ignorant of God (Rom.1:18-32). One must walk in the light to stay in the light and to have his path get brighter and when he turns his back on the light he goes again into darkness (1 John 1:7). Eternal life demands eternal environment and this life cannot be maintained otherwise.

10. Many other proofs of the immortality of the soul will be given in other arguments below concerning the state of the dead and the future immortality of the body

VIII. Mortality of the Body

The body is now mortal. It will die and go back to dust (Genesis 3:19; Eccles. 3:19-21; Hebrews 9:27; James 2:26). This procedure will continue until sin is put down and death is destroyed (1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 21:3-7; Rev. 22:3).

IX. Resurrection of the Dead

This refers only to the bodies of all men who die, not to the souls and spirits which are immortal. Without exception, all scriptures on the future resurrection of the dead refer only to the bodies which die and will be resurrected from dust again (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; 1 Cor.__1 Corinthians__15; 1 Thes. 4:13-17; Rev. 20:4-6,11-15). There will be no spiritual resurrection-a resurrection of the soul and spirit. All spiritual resurrection is accomplished in this life before the body dies (Ephes. 2:1-10; Col. 2:11-13). If one is not resurrected spiritually from death in trespasses and sins in this life, he will remain forever spiritually dead or separated from God (Hebrews 9:27; Rev. 22:11).

X. No Soul-Sleeping Taught

All scriptures used to teach soul-sleep clearly refer to the body which does sleep in the dust of the earth until the resurrection of the body (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29). The body is the only part of man that dies at physical death (James 2:26). The reason it dies is because the inner man, the life of the body, leaves the body. It then goes back to dust and is spoken of as being asleep (Genesis 3:19; Eccles. 3:19-21; Matthew 9:24; John 11:11; 1 Cor. 11:30; 1 Cor. 15:6,18,20,51; 1 Thes. 4:13-17).

Soul-Sleeping Scriptures Examined:

Every scripture used by those who teach soul-sleep refers to the body and not to the soul and spirit, as can be seen by an examination of the so called proof texts themselves.

1. Sleep in the dust (Job 7:21; Psalm 22:15; Psalm 146:4; Eccles. 3:19-20; Daniel 12:2). Only the body was made of dust and that is what will return to dust again (Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:19; Eccles. 3:20). The soul and spirit are not made of material substances as the body so they will not return to dust. See pt (14), The Doctrine of Man, for the difference between the material and spiritual natures of man.

2. Death-a falling asleep (Acts 7:60; Acts 13:36; 1 Cor. 15:6,18,20,51; 1 Thes. 4:13-17; 1 Thes. 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4). This is true as far as the body is concerned, for the body is the only part men can see as falling asleep. No man could see the soul and spirit, or the invisible part of man, whether it fell asleep or not. In Acts 13:36 that which fell asleep was laid in a tomb and saw corruption. That seeing corruption definitely refers to the flesh is clear from Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:23-32. In these passages it was the flesh that saw no corruption while the soul went to hell. In David’s case his flesh saw corruption (Acts 13:36). In all the other passages above the thing that fell asleep was the flesh or body (1 Cor. 15:35). Naturally, the body falls asleep when the spirit leaves it (James 2:26).

3. Death is spoken of as sleep (Deut. 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 2:10; 1 Kings 11:21,43). This refers to the body falling asleep, as in points 1 and 2, above.

4. No difference between man and beast in death (Eccles. 3:19-20). This is used as conclusive proof by false cults that both man and beast become extinct at death, but an honest acknowledgement of facts here will show that it refers to the body, not the soul. It says, All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. There can be no argument against this, for both men and beasts were made of dust as far as the body is concerned (Genesis 2:7,19). All bodies do return to dust again, but nothing is said here or in any other place that the souls and spirits (or the invisible and intangible parts) of men and beasts were made of dust. On the contrary, this same passage proves there is a distinction between man and beast as far as their spirits are concerned, for the spirit of man goeth upward, and the spirit of beast goeth downward to the earth.

5. No consciousness in death (Psalm 6:5). This verse must be understood with other facts. In physical death there is no remembrance, because the body dies and has no soul or spirit in it that could cause the body to continue having memory and consciousness. The body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26). It is not the chemical makeup of the body that has consciousness or it would continue after the spirit leaves the body. The soul and spirit make the body conscious so long as they are in the body, but when they leave the body it is dead and therefore cannot be conscious.

The statement in this verse about the grave (Hebrew: Sheowl (OT:7585), the unseen world of departed spirits) not containing anyone who praises God is no doubt literally true, for hell is a place of torment in fire and who would praise God in such circumstances? That there is consciousness in sheol is clear from many scriptures (see Hell). It does not say here or elsewhere that people in Sheol are extinct and unconscious, and could not praise God. It is clear that in “hell” (Sheol/Hades) men do cry and desire to get out of hell, as in Luke 16:19-31; Isaiah 14:9-11; etc.

6. The dead don’t praise the Lord (Psalm 115:17). This is true as far as the body is concerned, for it is lifeless, unconscious, and goes into dust again when the soul and spirit leave it (James 2:26). The souls of the righteous continue to praise God in full consciousness after leaving their bodies (Hebrews 12:22-23; Rev. 6:9-11), but the wicked who go to hell will have no praise for God. Their sole interest will be to escape such a literal burning hell and that will be impossible (Luke 16:19-31).

7. In the day of death “his thoughts perish” (Psalm 146:4). This also is true as far as the body is concerned. The body cannot possibly have thoughts when the inner man leaves it (James 2:26). After leaving the body souls and spirits continue to have thoughts in heaven (Hebrews 12:22-23; Rev. 6:9-11) and in hell (Isaiah 14:9-11; Luke 16:19-31; see Hell).

8. “The dead know not anything” (Eccles. 9:5-6; Job 14:21). Again, we repeat these facts are true regarding the body, but not the soul and spirit. How could a dead body of dust be conscious, have memory, love, hatred, and envy with the soul and spirit gone from it? Dust cannot have these experiences whether it is shaped into physical form or otherwise. The soul and spirit continue to know and they have emotions and desires after leaving the body, as proved in many scriptures on Hell.

9. The dead come out of the graves (Matthew 27:52; John 5:28-29). As to the bodies which die at physical death, they are put into graves; but the souls and spirits never go to graves, as proved in many scriptures on Hell. If one knew that a body was still alive because the spirit was still in it, he would not put that body in the grave. It could not see corruption with life in it. Furthermore, it would be breaking the law to bury a live body; this would be murder and incur the death penalty.

10. David is not yet ascended into heaven (Acts 2:34). This is true as to his body, but not true as to his soul and spirit, for all souls who died before Christ’s resurrection were taken to heaven as captives (Psalm 68:18; Ephes. 4:8-10). Every just man’s spirit is in heaven (Hebrews 12:22-23). Every righteous person who dies goes to heaven as an inner man (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:21-24; Rev. 6:9-11) and the body is buried in the grave to await its resurrection (John 5:28-29; Daniel 12:2). One does not die spiritually a physical death, for he is either dead or alive spiritually in his lifetime. If he is spiritually dead in sins (Ephes. 2:1-9; 1 Tim. 5:6), at physical death his soul will go to hell and his body in the grave to await their reunion in the second resurrection (Rev. 20:6,11-15). If he is alive spiritually at physical death, his soul will go immediately to heaven and his body to the grave until their reunion in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6; 1 Thes. 4:13-17). To prove that David’s body is what is referred to as the part which has not yet ascended, see Acts 13:36 where it plainly reveals what it was that saw corruption.

Thus, it is clear that soul-sleeping is a fallacy, but body-sleeping is a reality.

Fourteen Proofs of the Future Immortality of the Body:

1. The Bible promises immortality for the body in the resurrection. See Romans 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:42-54; Phil. 3:21; 1 Tim. 6:16; 2 Tim. 1:10. The body is the subject of these passages and therefore will be resurrected immortal to house the immortal soul and spirit.

See Twenty-five Proofs of the Immortality of the Soul.

The Scriptures throughout teach even present immortality of the soul and spirit (note, 1 Peter 3:4). Bible writers made many references to a future resurrection judgment, and life beyond the grave for both the righteous and the wicked in body, soul and spirit (Job 19:25-27; Psalm 16:9-11; Isaiah 26:14-19; Daniel 12:2,3,13; Matthew 6:20; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:50; Matthew 18:8-9; Matthew 19:27-30; Matthew 22:23-33; Matthew 23:15; Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-31; Luke 23:43; John 11:24-26; John 12:24,48; Acts 1:3; Acts 2:25-36; Acts 3:26; Acts 4:2,10,33; Acts 5:31; Acts 7:59; Acts 10:40-42; Acts 13:34-37; Acts 17:31,32; Acts 23:8; Acts 24:15,21; Acts 26:8; 1 Cor.__1 Corinthians__15; 1 Thes. 4:13-17; Phil. 3:20-21; Col. 3:4; Hebrews 11:8-19,35-40; Hebrews 12:23; Rev. 20:4-15; Rev. 21:8; Rev. 22:15). These are just a few of many scriptures teaching a life after death-the wicked in eternal hell (notes, Psalm 9:17; Luke 12:5), and the righteous with eternal life (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:41,46; John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:21-54; Rev. 20:11-15). Jesus and Paul illustrated the resurrection by seed (John 12:24; 1 Cor. 15:35-54). Just as every seed can live again when it dies, so every man will live again in the resurrection, and physically like the seeds.

The greatest proof of the immortality of the body is Jesus Christ (Luke 24:39; John 2:19; John 10:17-18). His resurrection is the guarantee of that of all men (1 Corinthians15; and 2 Cor. 5:1-8; Phil. 1:21-24; Phil. 3:20-21).

2. The difference between the material and spiritual natures of man proves the immortality of the soul and spirit and the future immortality of the body. See A-U, The Doctrine of Man.

3. The doctrine of the future immortality of the body has never been disproved. We have more proof for this doctrine in Scripture than we do for what life is. We have no scripture explaining what odor is, what electricity is, and what atoms are, yet we believe in them. It is a law of logic that a faith not discredited has a right to exist. Faith in God and immortality is native to the soul. It has a right to exist just as much as nature has a right to exist. Both were created to exist and both do exist as proved by actual demonstrations, illustrations and continued reproductions in nature.

4. Natural laws demand immortality of the body. Hundreds of thousands of creations prophesy and proclaim the resurrection of the body to a future existence either in heaven or hell. The invisible things are clearly seen by the visible (Romans 1:20). Innumerable seeds and plant life rise again to live and reproduce their own kind eternally. Each seed and each plant verifies the doctrine of immortality and a future life. Paul used seeds to illustrate the future and eternal life of the body (1 Cor. 15:35-54). Bad and poisonous seeds also reproduce the same as good ones do. So also is the resurrection of the dead (John 5:28-29; Daniel 12:2). Man was created to live forever in body, soul, and spirit, and he would have done so from Adam’s time on, if he had not sinned. Resurrection is necessary to bring the body back from dust to be punished for sin or rewarded for righteousness (John 5:28-29; Rev. 20:4-6,11-15; Daniel 12:2).

5. Spiritual laws prove immortality of the body. The soul and spirit are the immaterial parts of man which know, reason, and make one conscious of things about him. By these faculties man knows there is immortality. He is fearful of the reality of immortality of the body if he sins, and is happy about it if he lives right, proving that the laws of consciousness and of being know and recognize a future life of rewards and punishment.

The wicked have described in horror the damnation of the damned in hell and proclaimed in the dying hour their eternal destiny to be one of torment and remorse. Newport, Voltaire, Paine, Hume, Altamont, Allen, Hobbes, Mason, and others have all testified at death about their wrathful destiny in the hands of an insulted God. Numerous are the dying testimonies of saved men regarding the glory and wonders of the beautiful world they were going into eternally. Not only men named in Scripture but men in all generations have died in the peace and glory of heaven. Man is the only earth creature that has faculties to make him capable of self-consciousness and God-consciousness. This is the line of demarcation between man and beast.

6. Death is a blunder and an abortion if there is no resurrection of the body to immortality. Death is real (Hebrews 9:27). It is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:24-28). The vindication of God as a perfect Worker and a just Judge requires life after death. The present is too brief to receive justice and meet opportunities that come. Men merely begin a work and leave it undone. Thousands die in infancy. What incompleteness and waste of life if death ends all. Life becomes a hopeless mockery and an infinite series of abortions under these circumstances. But with immortality, all who desire life and continuation of their greatest plans, find life takes on a new meaning (1 Cor. 15:19).

7. Justice demands that all men live again eternally that they might receive of the things done in the body whether they be good or bad (Matthew 10:41-42; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 19:28-30; Romans 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:9-10; Hebrews 9:27; Rev. 20:11-15). Mere extinction of being would be unjust and improper as a penalty. It would be a guarantee of freedom from punishment and would encourage sin and rebellion. Such would never permit the degrees of punishment corresponding to degrees of guilt (Matthew 10:15; Matthew 11:22; Matthew 12:41; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 23:14; Mark 6:11; Mark 12:40; Luke 10:14; Luke 11:31-32; Luke 20:47; Rev. 20:11-15). Extinction of being for each rebel would make lies of all these scriptures. Degrees of guilt demand immortality of the body as well as the soul of the wicked, just as obedience to God demands life for the saints to enjoy the fruit of their works. If death ends all, the conscience and the Bible tell many lies and they are a cheat and a farce. Here some sinners prosper through sin and cheating and many saints live in poverty partly because they do not seek unjust gain as sinners do.

The ungodly steal, cheat, get gain by every conceivable means and live off the labor and ignorance of the poor. The brewer lives off the society which he damns by his product. Thousands of the poor are robbed and forced to support him. The arrogant mistress lives in pleasure and sin while the virtuous girl toils in the sweatshop denying herself pleasure of sin because she has a hope of the future. Life is so inequitable and changeable. The wicked take advantage of the righteous and thousands cry for help, refusing to break God’s laws to get revenge. Where is justice going to be meted out if not in a life to come?

8. The purpose of existence teaches immortality. If the universe exists only for itself, it is abnormal and a deviation from the common rule of all creation as demonstrated in nature. If it exists for anything less than itself, it is waste. If it exists for something greater than itself, what is that something? The answer is that it exists for God, to glorify Him and carry out the purpose for which He created it (Rev. 4:11). Man was given dominion on earth to rule it forever (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8). He was ceated an eternal creature in order to rule it forever. Man’s fall and continued sin do not do away with God’s eternal plan. They only postpone it until the final restitution of all things (Acts 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Ephes. 1:10). Then man will become eternal in body as he is in soul and spirit now. This will be necessary for him to rule forever (Daniel 7:18,27; Rev. 5:10; Rev. 22:4-5), for that requires immortality of body, soul, and spirit.

9. The brevity of life demands immortality of the body. Man never ceases to live in soul and spirit (note, 1 Peter 3:4), so brevity of life could only refer to the body that is soon cut down and goes to dust again. The works of man outlive him, so if he should never live again, then his works are better and greater than he is, and this is unreasonable to believe. Everything in nature and creation operates contrary to this belief. Does the life of flowers cease to exist in the future because they have died in the winter? Does the falling of the leaves in autumn prove the tree is forever dead and lifeless? Shall the seeds be powerless to produce if the tree falls in death? No, indeed. Over 80,000 seeds testify constantly of an eternal existence. They are lower forms of life than man and yet when they die they live again, for this is the creative purpose and natural law for each one of them. Are they greater than man, the highest of creation? Shall the works of man’s hands be more eternal than he is? Shall his plans end because he is temporarily cut off due to Adam’s sin? This would be a creative blunder, for the brevity of life demands life again for all men to correspond with their own creative makeup.

10. Man’s greatness demands immortality of the body. Elephants can live much longer than man; trees thousands of years; and other parts of creation lower than man exists eternally. Shall we accuse God of creating and running a world out of balance? Shall we accuse Him of making the lower creations to outlive the higher? Shall moral and spiritual creations live less than the brute and material creations? Such would condemn the Creator and insult creation as represented by man, the lord over creation on earth. There must be another life for all men for these inequalities to be adjusted. Man could have lived forever had he not sinned. He will live again and forever in the final restitution of all things-some to everlasting shame and contempt (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29).

11. The universal human desire demands immortality of the body. This desire is in every man, even the lowest rebels against God. God has made hungers in the human breast, each of which has a corresponding satisfaction: water for thirst; food for hunger; friends for the social nature; home for homesickness; God for spiritual hunger; and immortality for the desire of a future life. We accept justice and believe in it because of universal conscience. Why not accept belief in immortality because of the universal hunger for it? If you should find a dog yearning for eternal life, thinking about it, and reasoning how to get it, you would say that the animal had a high nature and spiritual faculty you never thought possible. Take away that power in man and he will die like one. No man of sound mind will agree that he has a nature lower than a dog, incapable of higher and spiritual things. This proves he knows he has natural and higher faculties than an animal. Such power not only teaches immortality to him and demands it for him, but guarantees it to him.

12. Moral nature in man demands immortality of the body. No man can explain the origin of moral nature and moral obligation apart from the truth of immortality. Moral nature demands a set of laws based upon rewards and punishments for obedience and sin. Nations who have conformed to moral law have advanced to the highest culture and those who have denied it have sunk into depravity (Romans 1:18-32). Nations that endure must not only have mentality but morality. Our moral nature affirms in many ways that there is a future life and that we must prepare to get the good out of it or we will suffer the consequences of sin forever (Psalm 9:17; Rev. 14:9-14; Rev. 20:11-15).

13. Universal instinct to worship God and meet certain standards that will better the future and eternal existence proves immortality of the body. Nature causes the birds to go north and south and to know when to mate. The ants, bees, and all other creatures know by instinct how to carry on their own particuliar life for the future. Everything in creation obeys its natural instincts except unregenerated man. He is capable of choosing to better himself or to degenerate to unnatural living, now and forever. He has outstanding instincts to worship and prepare for eternal life. Is man the only creature fooled by nature? Why do not animals have the same natural craving for immortality? This proves man capable of worship and preparing for eternity to better himself (1 John 3:1-3; 2 Cor. 7:1; Hebrews 12:14-15; Galatians 5:24; 2 Cor. 5:17-21).

14. Man’s constitution demands immortality of the body. He was created to live forever physically, as well as in soul and spirit. Sin cut him off from this and hindered the original plan. Jesus came to restore all to man. Being constituted to live forever proves the possibility of immortality. Man being created in God’s own image and likeness demands it; the eternal purpose of God demands it; and the eternal plan of God provides for it; but sinners forfeit their part in the glorious plan by sin (Proverbs 1:22ff; Matthew 25:31-46; Romans 6:16-23; Romans 8:12-13). Even they will exist physically forever as an eternal monument of God’s justice to all coming generations throughout all eternity (Isaiah 66:22-24; Rev. 14:9-11; Rev. 20:10-15; Rev. 21:8; Rev. 22:15).

The contempt and punishment of the wicked are equal to the bliss of righteousness in length and consciousness. See Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29,

XI. Immortality of the Body

The body, which is now mortal, will become immortal in the resurrection. All scriptures mentioning future immortality refer to the body, not to the soul which is now immortal.

For proof of this see Fourteen Proofs of the Future Immortality of the Body under No Soul-Sleeping Taught in Scripture, and Twenty-five Proofs of the Immortality of the soul above

XII. The Intermediate State

This refers to the state of the dead between death and the resurrection of the body. After the body goes back to dust at physical death (Genesis 3:19; Eccles. 3:19-21; James 2:26), it remains dead (separated from the inner man) until the future resurrection day when the body will be made immortal (1 Cor. 15:35-54). The soul and spirit remain alive, being immortal either in heaven or hell, until the resurrection day when the body will be made immortal. See pt (14), The Doctrine of Man.

At physical death the soul and spirit leave the body (James 2:26). If one is a converted person, his soul and spirit go to heaven immediately at death to await the resurrection of the body (Luke 20:38; John 11:25-26; 2 Cor. 5:8; Ephes. 3:15; Ephes. 4:8-10; Phil. 1:21-24; Hebrews 12:22-23; Rev. 6:9-11). If he is a sinner, his soul and spirit go to hell at death to await the resurrection of the body (Isaiah 14:9; Luke 16:19-31; 2 Peter 2:9; Rev. 20:11-15).

XIII. Five Departments in the Underworld of Departed Spirits

There are five distinct prisons in the underworld of departed spirits:

1. Tartarus (1 Peter 3:19; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6-7). This prison is a special one for fallen angels who sinned. See, 2 Peter 2:4.

2. Paradise (Luke 16:19-31; Luke 23:43). This was the abode of the righteous after physical death, where they were held captive until Christ conquered death, hell, and the grave. It is now empty of the righteous, who go to heaven at death, since Christ captured the captives in hell and took them to heaven with Him when He ascended on high. See Luke 16:22; , Ephes. 4:8; , Hebrews 2:15.

3. Hell (Matthew 16:18; Luke 16:19-31). This is the torment compartment of Sheol/Hades where wicked souls have always gone and will always go until the end of the Millennium. Then the wicked will be brought out of here to be reunited with their resurrected immortal bodies, and cast into the lake of fire for eternity (Rev. 20:11-15).

4. The abyss or bottomless pit (Luke 8:26-31; Romans 10:7; Rev. 9:1-3,11; Rev. 11:7; Rev. 17:8; Rev. 20:1-10). The O.T. equivalent is Abaddon and is translated destruction (Job 26:6; Job 28:22; Job 31:12; Psalm 88:11; Proverbs 15:11; Proverbs 27:20).

5. The lake of fire. This is the eternal hell and perdition of all fallen angels, demons, and wicked men (Rev. 20:6,11-15; Rev. 21:8; Rev. 22:15). It is the same as gehenna (NT:1067) of note, Luke 12:5. It is the final hell prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) and is eternal in duration (Isaiah 66:22-24; Matthew 25:46; Rev. 14:9-14; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10-15).

XIV. Hell

The English word “hell” is defined as “the abode of evil spirits; infernal regions; place of eternal punishment or extreme torment; in ancient times, the place of departed spirits.” The word infernal means “belonging to hell.” The word inferno is another word for “the infernal regions; hell.” Gehenna is defined as “the place of future torment; hell; hell-fire.” Tartarus is defined as “the place of punishment in the lower world.” There are seven Hebrew and Greek words translated hell and grave as follows:

1. Hebrew: sheowl (OT:7585), the unseen world. It always refers to the unseen world of departed spirits, and is always in contrast with the Hebrew: qeber (OT:6913), which means the grave, or the seen world where bodies are buried. Qeber is always translated grave, burying place, sepulchre. It is never translated hell, and rightly so.

Sheowl (OT:7585) is translated “hell” 31 times (Deut. 32:22; 2 Samuel 22:6; Job 11:8; Job 26:6; Psalm 9:17; Psalm 16:10; Psalm 18:5; Psalm 55:15; Psalm 86:13; Psalm 116:3; Psalm 139:8; Proverbs 5:5; Proverbs 7:27; Proverbs 9:18; Proverbs 15:11,24; Proverbs 23:14; Proverbs 27:20; Isaiah 5:14; Isaiah 14:9,15; Isaiah 28:15,18; Isaiah 57:9; Ezekiel 31:16-17; Ezekiel 32:21,27; Amos 9:2; Jonah 2:2; Habakkuk 2:5); “grave” 31 times (Genesis 37:35; Genesis 42:38; Genesis 44:29,31; 1 Samuel 2:6; 1 Kings 2:6,9; Job 7:9; Job 14:13; Job 17:13; Job 21:13; Job 24:19; Psalm 6:5; Psalm 30:3; Psalm 31:17; Psalm 49:14-15; Psalm 88:3; Psalm 89:48; Psalm 141:7; Proverbs 1:12; Proverbs 30:16; Eccles. 9:10; Song 8:6; Isaiah 14:11; Isaiah 38:10,18; Ezekiel 31:15; Hosea 13:14); and “pit” 3 times (Numbers 16:30,33; Job 17:16).

2. Hebrew: qeber (OT:6913), the proper word for grave, the seen world, is translated four different ways and always of the place where the body goes at death:
(1) Grave (Genesis 35:20; Genesis 50:5; Exodus 14:11; Numbers 19:16,18; 2 Samuel 3:32; 2 Samuel 19:37; 1 Kings 13:30; 1 Kings 14:13; 2 Kings 22:20; 2 Kings 23:6; 2 Chron. 34:4,28; Job 3:22; Job 5:26; Job 10:19; Job 17:1; Job 21:32; Psalm 88:5,11; Isaiah 14:19; Isaiah 53:9; Isaiah 65:4; Jeremiah 8:1; Jeremiah 20:17; Jeremiah 26:23; Ezekiel 32:22-26; Ezekiel 37:12-13; Ezekiel 39:11; Nahum 1:14).
(2) Burial (2 Chron. 26:23; Eccles. 6:3; Isaiah 14:20; Jeremiah 22:19).
(3) Burying place (Genesis 23:4,9,20; Genesis 47:30; Genesis 49:30; Genesis 50:13; Judges 16:31).
(4) Sepulchre (Genesis 23:6; Deut. 34:6; Judges 8:32; 1 Samuel 10:2; 2 Samuel 2:32; 2 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 17:23; 2 Samuel 21:14; 1 Kings 13:22,31; 2 Kings 9:28; 2 Kings 13:21; 2 Kings 21:26; 2 Kings 23:16-17,30; 2 Chron. 16:14; 2 Chron. 21:20; 2 Chron. 24:25; 2 Chron. 28:27; 2 Chron. 32:33; 2 Chron. 35:24; Neh. 2:3,5; Neh. 3:16; Psalm 5:9; Isaiah 22:16; Jeremiah 5:16).

3. Greek: Hades (NT:86), the unseen world. It is equivalent to sheol (OT:7585) of the O.T. and is always in contrast with mnemeion (NT:3419), the seen world, or place of bodies at death. Mnemeion, meaning the grave, is never translated “hell.” Hades is translated “hell” ten times (Matthew 11:23; Matthew 16:18; Luke 10:15; Luke 16:23; Acts 2:27,31; Rev. 1:18; Rev. 6:8; Rev. 20:13-14) and “grave” once (1 Cor. 15:55).

4. Greek: mnemeion (NT:3419), the proper word for grave, is translated three different ways, as follows:
(1) Grave (Matthew 27:52-53; Luke 11:44; John 5:28; John 11:17,31,38; John 12:17; Rev. 11:9)
(2) Tomb (Matthew 8:28; Matthew 27:60; Mark 5:2-3; Mark 6:29; Luke 8:27)
(3) Sepulchre (Matthew 23:29; Matthew 27:60; Matthew 28:8; Mark 15:46; Mark 16:2-8; Luke 11:47-48; Luke 23:53,55; Luke 24:1-2,9,12,22,24; John 19:41-42; John 20:1-11; Acts 2:29; Acts 7:16; Acts 13:29)

5. Greek: gehenna (NT:1067), from Hebrew: gay (OT:1516), gorge or valley, and Hinnom (OT:2011), lamentation. It means valley of Hinnom, where perpetual fires were kept to burn the refuse of Jerusalem. It came to be used by the Jews as an appropriate picture of eternal hell and punishment. Gehenna is translated “hell” twelve times (Matthew 5:22,29,30; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 18:9; Matthew 23:15,33; Mark 9:43-47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6). It is never translated grave, and rightly so.

See below Facts Proving That Hell is Not the Grave:

6. Greek: tartaros (NT:5020), the deepest abyss of Sheol/Hades, the unseen world. The verb form tartaro is translated “cast … down to hell” in 2 Peter 2:4.

7. Greek: limnen (NT:3041) tou (NT:3588) puros (NT:4442), lake of fire, the same as the gehenna (NT:1067) of fire, the eternal hell, and perdition of all rebels. It is used five times (Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10-15; Rev. 21:8).

It can be seen from a study of all the above scriptures on Sheol/Hades, gehenna, tartaros, and qeber/mnemeion that hell is not the grave, but a place of consciousness and torment. This will be abundantly proven in the following facts about hell and the grave:

Facts Proving That Hell is Not the Grave:
1. In Scripture, Sheol/Hades (hell) is never the place of the body; qeber/mnemeion (grave) is never the place of the soul (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:25-29).
2. Sheowl (OT:7585) is never in the plural; qeber (OT:6913) is plural 38 times, and singular 74 times.
3. Sheowl (OT:7585) is never located on earth; qeber (OT:6913) is located on earth 73 times.
4. The body never goes to sheowl (OT:7585); the body is mentioned as going to qeber (OT:6913) 75 times.
5. An individual’s sheowl (OT:7585) is never mentioned; an individual’s qeber (OT:6913) is mentioned 79 times.
6. Man never puts anyone into sheowl (OT:7585); man puts bodies into a qeber (OT:6913) 40 times.
7. Man never digs or makes a sheowl (OT:7585); man digs and makes a qeber (OT:6913) 51 times.
8. Man on earth never touches a sheowl (OT:7585); he touches a qeber (OT:6913) 51 times.
9. Man has never seen a sheowl (OT:7585) on earth; he has seen a qeber (OT:6913) 51 times.
10. God alone puts men into sheowl (OT:7585) (Numbers 16:30-33; 1 Samuel 2:6; Ezekiel 31:16; Luke 16:19-31).
11. God alone will bring men out of sheowl (OT:7585) (1 Samuel 2:6; Rev. 20:11-15).
12. Hell-bound men descend (Isaiah 5:14) and go down (into the lower parts of the earth) into sheowl (OT:7585) at death (Genesis 37:35; Genesis 42:38; Genesis 44:29,31; Numbers 16:30-33; 1 Samuel 2:6; 1 Kings 2:6,9; Job 7:9-10; Job 17:16; Job 21:13; Psalm 31:16-17; Isaiah 14:9-16; Ezekiel 31:15-17; Ezekiel 32:27; Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15).
13. People go into sheowl (OT:7585) in a moment and quickly (Numbers 16:30-33; Job 21:13; Psalm 55:15; Luke 16:19-31).
14. People are forced into sheowl (OT:7585) (Isaiah 5:15).
15. People are cast into sheowl (OT:7585) (Ezekiel 31:15-17).
16. Sheol is located in the nether parts of the earth (Ezekiel 31:14-18; Ezekiel 32:24), lower parts of the earth (Psalm 63:9; Psalm 68:18; Ephes. 4:8-10), heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40), below the depth of the seas and below the foundations of the mountains (Jonah 2:2-6), beneath like a pit (Proverbs 15:24; Isaiah 14:9-16; Ezekiel 31:14-18; Ezekiel 32:18-31), and is too deep to dig into (Job 11:8; Amos 9:2).
17. Sheol/Hades, unlike the grave, is a place of activity, a place of wrath (Deut. 32:22; Luke 16:19-31).
18. A place of sorrow (Genesis 42:38; Genesis 44:29,31; 2 Samuel 22:6; Psalm 18:5; Psalm 55:15; Psalm 116:3; Proverbs 7:27; Isaiah 14:9-15).
19. A place of fire (Deut. 32:22; Song 8:6; Luke 16:19-31).
20. A place hidden from man, but naked before God (Job 26:6; Psalm 139:8; Proverbs 15:11; Amos 9:2)
21. A place of power (Psalm 49:15; Hosea 13:14; Matthew 16:18; 1 Cor. 15:51-56; Rev. 1:18; Rev. 6:8).
22. A place of full consciousness (Isaiah 14:9-15; Ezekiel 32:27-31; Luke 16:19-31).
23. A place for the soul and spirit, not the body (Psalm 16:10; Psalm 30:3; Psalm 49:15; Psalm 86:13; Psalm 89:48; Proverbs 23:14; Acts 2:25-29).
24. A place of conversations (Isaiah 14:9-16; Ezekiel 32:21; Luke 16:19-31).
25. A place where many kings and chief ones of the earth live after death (Isaiah 14:9-11).
26. A place where its inhabitants are stirred up at the coming of others (Isaiah 14:9-11; Ezekiel 32:27-32).
27. A place where great men acknowledge their defeat (Isaiah 14:9-11).
28. A place where men recognize and converse with one another (Isaiah 14:16; Luke 16:9-31).
29. A place where knowledge and memory exist (Isaiah 14:10,16; Luke 16:19-31).
30. A place for the proud-Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15. If the grave is hell then the curse of Jesus here is meaningless, for all go to graves physically, the proud and the humble, without such a curse (Hebrews 9:27).
31. A place of torment (Luke 16:23).
32. A place of prayer (Jonah 2:2; Luke 16:19-31).
33. A place of regret over mistreatment of others (Luke 16:24-31).
34. A place where men still have willpower, though it is too late to accept God’s terms and escape hell (Luke 16:24-31).
35. A place where men are conscious of life on earth, but cannot visit earth to warn men of the real torments (Luke 16:26-31).
36. A place where the lost become concious of the need of soul-winning (Luke 16:27-31).
37. A place so terrible that those who are in it plead for some means of warning others not to come there (Luke 16:26-31).
38. A place where souls are not burned up by the fire (Luke 16:22-31; 1 Peter 3:4).
39. A place of cruelty (Song 8:6).
40. A place that has enlarged itself-it has not been enlarged by men (Isaiah 5:14).
41. A place that is never full or satisfied (Proverbs 27:20; Proverbs 30:16; Habakkuk 2:5).
42. A place that receives men in numbers like flocks of sheep (note, Psalm 49:14).
43. A place from which only salvation can deliver one (Psalm 86:13).
44. A place of gates and bars (Job 17:16; Isaiah 38:10; Matthew 16:18; Rev. 1:18).
45. A place of debasement (Isaiah 57:9).
46. A place of pains (Psalm 18:5; Psalm 116:3; Luke 16:19-31).
47. A temporary place of torment (Luke 16:19-31; Rev. 20:11-15).
48. A place of two compartments-one for the righteous before the resurrection of Christ, and one for the wicked departed souls from Abel’s time to the end of the Millennium-with a great gulf between the compartments forbidding travel but not communication between them (Luke 16:19-31).
The Paradise Compartment of Sheol:
49. A place other than the grave for the righteous who, until Christ came, were captives of the devil against their will (Hebrews 2:14-15). It was called Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22) and paradise (Luke 23:43).
50. It was a hiding place from God’s wrath after death (Job 14:13; Luke 16:19-31), a place without fire, but with water and other comforts (Ezekiel 31:16; Luke 16:19-31).
51. Lazarus went into this place of comfort, but his body went to the grave (Luke 16:19-31).
52. Christ and the penitent thief went into paradise at death (Psalm 16:10; Matthew 12:40; Luke 23:43; Ephes. 4:8-10).
53. Jonah also went into this compartment while his body was dead in the belly of the whale (Jonah 2:2,6-7; Matthew 12:40).
54. Angels carried the righteous souls into this compartment, but men carried their bodies to graves (Luke 16:22-26; Luke 23:43).
55. Christ, while there, preached to the angels in tartarus, proving that the hell He was in is not the grave (Psalm 16:10; note, 1 Peter 3:19).
56. Christ, while in Sheol/Hades, liberated the righteous captives of Satan taking them to heaven with Him when He ascended on high (Ephes. 4:8-10; Hebrews 2:14-15).
57. Paradise is now empty of all the righteous souls (Ephes. 4:8-10; Hebrews 12:23); the graves continue to hold bodies of both the righteous and unrighteous.
58. The righteous were alive in paradise, else Christ could not have preached and liberated the righteous captives; and Lazarus and others in this place could not have been comforted (Luke 16:19-31).
The Torment Compartment of Sheol:
59. It is the lowest part of Sheol, even lower than paradise, and therefore could not be the grave (Deut. 32:22; Psalm 86:13; Proverbs 9:18; Isaiah 57:9).
60. The greater number of people (not all) go into it at death (Deut. 32:22; Psalm 9:17; Isaiah 5:14; Luke 16:19-31), whereas all men go into a grave, watery or otherwise, at death.
61. The fire in it is as literal as the mountains (Deut. 32:22; Luke 16:19-31).
62. The fire is kindled in God’s wrath (Deut. 32:22)
63. Entrance into it is down, deeper than a grave, through the earth to its center (Numbers 16:30-33; Matthew 12:40; Ephes. 4:8-10).
64. Bodies of men are buried at the mouth of it on the earth’s surface only (Psalm 141:7).
65. Men go alive into it (Numbers 16:30-33; Psalm 88:3; Proverbs 1:12; Ezekiel 32:27-31; Luke 16:19-31).
66. The wicked only are tormented in it (Deut. 32:22; Psalm 9:17; Proverbs 5:5; Proverbs 7:27; Proverbs 9:18; Isaiah 14:9-16; Luke 16:19-31).
67. Its depth is contrasted with the height of heaven, which could never be so of the grave (Job 11:7; Isaiah 57:9; Amos 9:2).
68. The Rephaim, or giants, are there for sexual sins, proving that they are still alive in sheowl (OT:7585) (notes on Genesis 6:1-4; Proverbs 9:18; Proverbs 21:16; Isaiah 14:9-19; Isaiah 26:14).
69. Christ now has the keys of Sheol/Hades (Rev. 1:18).
70. Chastening can help men to be godly and escape it (Proverbs 23:14), but chastening will not keep men from graves. All go to graves, but all do not go to hell. In fact, no saved man goes there since Christ conquered hell (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:21-24; Hebrews 12:23; Rev. 6:9-11).
71. The gates of hell (Hades) shall not prevail against the church in this age (Matthew 16:18), but they did prevail against O.T. saints, for they all went down into the paradise compartment of sheowl (OT:7585) and were held captive by Satan against their will (Hebrews 2:14-15). Since the resurrection of Christ, saints do not go to Sheol/Hades as before He conquered hell and liberated the righteous souls from Satan, leading them captive to heaven (Ephes. 4:8-10; Hebrews 2:14-15). Saints of this age now go to heaven at death instead of to Sheol (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:21-24; Hebrews 12:23; Rev. 6:9-11), which proves that hell is not the grave. No such change regarding graves has ever been made. The bodies of both the righteous and the wicked continue to be put into graves.
72. Every man in Sheol/Hades will be brought out and judged 1,000 years after the righteous have been resurrected (Rev. 20:4-6,11-15). If men at death are extinct or unconscious in graves, why bring them back into existence or consciousness just to judge them and send them into extinction of being again, as false cults teach? This would make the Bible a lie, for conscious punishment of sins would then be impossible. Unconsciousness in graves now, and unconsciousness and extinction of being in eternity, would not meet the demands of the law of eternal punishment for eternal rebellion, as we shall see below.
73. Sheol/Hades held the captives that were captured by Christ and taken to heaven when He ascended on high (Ephes. 4:8-10; Hebrews 2:14-15). How could extinct or unconcious men be held captive? Why would Christ even attempt to capture extinct beings? What would He want with them? Those He captured must have been real and living, for God is not the God of the dead bodies of men but of their living souls (Luke 20:38). If the captives were brought back into being again when their captivity by Christ took place, then the resurrection of the righteous has already taken place and many scriptures stating the future resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked are without meaning (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; 1 Thes. 4:16; Rev. 20:4-6).
74. Qeber/mnemeion, the proper words for grave, are never translated “hell.” Sheol/Hades should never have been translated “grave.” To prove this, let us substitute hell where burial, grave, tomb, and sepulchre are found and see how ridiculous it would be:
Examples of Using “Hell” for “Grave”:
(1) Choice of our hells (Genesis 23:6)
(2) Jacob set a pillar upon her hell (Genesis 35:20)
(3) In my hell which I have digged (Genesis 50:5)
(4) Because … no hells in Egypt (Exodus 14:11)
(5) Whosoever touches a hell shall be unclean seven days (Numbers 19:16,18)
(6) Buried by the hell of my father (2 Samuel 19:37)
(7) Carcass in his own hell (1 Kings 13:30)
(8) The hell of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21)
(9) Hell of the man of God (2 Kings 23:17)
(10) Remain among the hells (Isaiah 65:4)
(11) Bones out of hells (Jeremiah 8:1)
(12) Hells of the prophets (Matthew 23:29)
(13) Hells of the righteous (Matthew 23:29)
(14) Dwelling among the hells (Mark 5:3)
Examples of Using “Grave” for “Hell”:
(1) Fire burning in the lowest grave kindled by God’s wrath (Deut. 32:22)
(2) Sorrows of the grave (2 Samuel 22:6)
(3) Wicked and all nations that forget God turned into the grave (Psalm 9:17)
(4) Soul in the grave (Psalm 16:10)
(5) Pains of the grave (Psalm 116:3)
(6) The grave is never full (Proverbs 27:20)
(7) The inhabitants of the grave move to welcome you at your coming (Isaiah 14:9)
(8) Speak out of the grave (Ezekiel 32:21)
(9) Shall be in danger of grave fire (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 18:9; Mark 9:43-49)
(10) Fire of the grave never quenched (Mark 9:43-49)
(11) God only has power to cast in the grave (Luke 12:5)
(12) In the grave he lift up his eyes, being in torments in fire … flame (Luke 16:19-31)
(13) Angels cast down to the grave (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6-7)
Other Ridiculous Conclusions:
(1) They shall look into the grave on sinners where their worm does not die and their fire shall not be quenched (Isaiah 66:22-24).
(2) Cast into the grave where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:11-12; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 24:51; Matthew 25:30).
(3) Who has warned you to flee from wrath in the grave (Matthew 3:7)?
(4) Killed and cast into the fire of the grave (Matthew 3:10).
(5) Burn in unquenchable fire in the grave (Matthew 3:12; Matthew 7:19; Luke 3:17).
(6) Tares are burned in the grave fire (Matthew 13:40,50).
(7) Cast them into the grave of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42).
(8) A two-fold child more of the grave than yourselves (Matthew 23:15).
(9) Be cast into everlasting fire in the grave (Matthew 18:8-10).
(10) Depart from Me, you cursed, into the grave of everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).
(11) These shall go away in the grave of everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46).
(12) The angels that sinned have been reserved in everlasting chains and set forth for an example of suffering the eternal fire of the grave (Jude 1:6-7).
(13) He opened the grave and out of it came forth smoke of a great furnace that darkened the sun (Rev. 9).
(14) The smoke of the grave rose up forever and ever (Rev. 19:3).
(15) Satan shall be cast into the grave of fire and brimstone and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 20:7-10).
(16) Death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14).
(17) All sinners shall have their part in the grave that burns with fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8; Rev. 22:15).
(18) Are you come to torment us (demons) in the grave before it is time to be tormented (Matthew 8:29)?
(19) Warn my five brethren lest they also come to this grave of torment in fire (Luke 16:19-31).
(20) He (Lazarus) has comfort in his grave but you have torment in yours (Luke 19:25).
(21) He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the grave and they shall have no rest day or night forever and ever (Rev. 14:9-11).
Many other statements just as ridiculous could be made if we, like false cults, forced a meaning into Scripture that is not there-that hell is the grave; that there is no consciousness after death; that eternal fire and eternal punishment in hell are false.
75. Hades (NT:86) is spoken of as being completely defeated (1 Cor. 15:55). This is sufficient proof that it isn’t the grave.
76. The fact that the soul is immortal proves that it remains in consciousness some place between death and resurrection (note, 1 Peter 3:4). Since it does not go to the grave, but to hell (Isaiah 14:9-16; Luke 16:19-31; Rev. 20:11-15) or heaven (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:21-24; Hebrews 12:23; Rev. 6:9-11), then hell is not the grave.
77. Since the soul is immortal and the body mortal (Genesis 3:19; Eccles. 3:19-21), then it is clear that only the body goes into the grave to see corruption until its resurrection to immortality when (if wicked) it will be punished in hell with the soul or (if righteous), will be permitted to enjoy eternal bliss.
78. Since only the body is to be changed in the future resurrection of the dead, then only the body will come out of unconsciousness in the grave so it can be made as immortal as the soul and spirit, and be rewarded in heaven or punished in hell, according to its deeds (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Rev. 20:11-15). See notes on the resurrection, Daniel 12:2.
79. Since soul-sleep is not taught in Scripture and body-sleep is, then it is the body only that is unconscious in the grave. See No Soul-Sleep Taught in Scripture. The soul goes to hell or heaven at death, as seen in the many scriptures above.
80. Since the bodies of the wicked as well as the righteous will become immortal in the resurrection, then it is impossible to burn them up, consume them, annihilate them, or cause them to become extinct through fire or any other means. Where are immortal wicked beings going to spend eternity as everlasting monuments of God’s wrath and examples of eternal punishment for rebellion (as in Isaiah 66:22-24; Rev. 14:9-11; etc.), if not in hell?
81. Because there is full consciousness in the intermediate state between death and resurrection, souls of the wicked as well as the righteous must go to some place of waiting to remain until the resurrection of the body. See pt. (14), The Doctrine of Man. Where would the wicked go to await their bodies and receive judgment and their degrees of punishment, if not to hell?
82. Since the word “hell” is never in the plural, and since it is always clear, not only from the original words but from the subject matter of the texts, that bodies are put into graves and souls go to heaven or hell, then we must acknowledge that hell is not the grave.
83. Of the 65 places where sheowl (OT:7585) is used, 11 where Hades is used, 12 where gehenna (NT:1067), 5 the lake of fire, and the 1 time where tartaros (the verb form tartaroo (NT:5020)) is used in Scripture, only 2 places seem to teach that hell is the grave and that there is no consciousness in Sheol (Psalm 6:5; Eccles. 9:10).
The first passage is simply the statement of a man in great distress. He could not see how the inhabitants in sheowl (OT:7585) could remember God’s goodness and give thanks to Him while in torment such as the rich man suffered in Luke 16. It is easily conceivable how such tormented rebels against God would not give thanks to Him, so this would not prove anything regarding hell being the grave. David did not believe that hell was the grave and that there was no life in sheowl (OT:7585), for in many places he taught that Sheol was the place of the immortal soul (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:25-29); a place of sorrows and pains (Psalm 18:5); and a place of full consciousness where the wicked go at death (Psalm 9:17; Psalm 31:17; Psalm 68:18; Psalm 88:3).
In the second passage, Eccles. 9:10, Solomon merely expresses the idea that all human activity under the sun ceases at death, as proved by the next verse where he speaks of profit under the sun. The phrase “under the sun” is found 29 times in this short book. Solomon does not mean that hell is the grave in Eccles. 9:10, for elsewhere he teaches that the righteous do not go to the same compartment of Sheol as the wicked do (Proverbs 5:5; Proverbs 7:27; Proverbs 9:18; Proverbs 15:11,24; Proverbs 23:14; Proverbs 27:20).
84. The confinement of angels and demons to prisons under the earth because of sin proves that others-the immortal souls and spirits of the human race and of giants-can also be confined to material prisons in the underworld (Isaiah 24:21-22; 1 Peter 3:19; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6-7; Rev. 9:1-21; Rev. 20:1-10).
85. Examples of continued consciousness after death prove that hell and heaven are real places of life and not the grave where there is no life (Matthew 17:5; Luke 16:19-31; Hebrews 12:23; Rev. 6:9-11).
86. The Bible refers to life after death in many places. See pt. (14), The Doctrine of Man.
87. Degrees of punishment in eternal hell prove that neither Sheol/Hades nor the lake of fire is the grave (Matthew 10:15; Matthew 11:22-24; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 23:12-15; Rev. 20:11-15). How could there be any kind of eternal punishment, much less degrees of punishment, if the wicked are extinct?
88. The eternal length of punishment of the wicked proves hell is not the grave. All bodies in graves will be resurrected and graves will be no more, but hell and eternal punishment will never end.

Fourteen Fallacies about Hell:
1. Hell is the grave. This is abundantly disproved above.
2. Fire in hell is figurative. The word fire is found in Scripture 549 times and is used figuratively only a few times. It is always clear when it is used figuratively, as of anger (Psalm 89:46); jealousy (Psalm 79:5); zeal (Psalm 104:4; John 2:17); shame (Romans 12:20); trials (1 Peter 1:7); judgment (Zech.13:9); Word of God (Jeremiah 23:29); tongue (James 3:5-6); and God (Hebrews 12:29). Fire is used in plain literal descriptive language in the following statements of hell:
(1) Set on fire the foundations of mountains in the lowest Sheol (Deut. 32:22).
(2) Neither shall their fire be quenched (Isaiah 66:22-24; Mark 9:43-49).
(3) Unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:10,12).
(4) Hell fire (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 18:9; Mark 9:43-49).
(5) Cast into the fire (Matthew 7:19).
(6) Furnace of fire (Matthew 13:40-50).
(7) Cast into everlasting fire (Matthew 18:8; Matthew 25:41,46).
(8) Fire that never shall be quenched (Mark 9:43-49; Luke 3:17).
(9) The vengeance of eternal fire (Jude 1:6-7).
(10) Tormented with fire and brimstone (Rev. 14:9-11).
(11) Lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev. 19:20; Rev. 21:8).
(12) Lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:14-15).
3. Punishment of hell not eternal. If language means anything the torments of hell are proved to be eternal in the following:
(1) Danger of eternal damnation (Mark 3:29)
(2) Eternal judgment (Hebrews 6:2)
(3) Vengeance of eternal fire (Jude 1:7)
(4) Shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29)
(5) Everlasting fire (Matthew 18:8; Matthew 25:41)
(6) Everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46)
(7) Everlasting destruction (2 Thes. 1:9)
(8) Everlasting chains (Jude 1:6-7)
(9) The smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever (Rev. 14:9-11).
(10) Tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 20:10)