- Apr 9, 2010
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A thread someone posted today in this section brought to mind a belief called "soul sleep," which is held by Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. In a nutshell, it's the view that when we die, our soul "sleeps" until the resurrection and final judgment.
The timing of the other thread was interesting because just last night this topic came up in an online small group I'm part of, and someone in our little group believes in soul sleep. I mentioned that what Jesus said to the thief on the cross - "today you will be with me in paradise" - shows that soul sleep is unbiblical, but she said that doesn't make sense because Jesus did not go directly to paradise that day. (That's a whole topic in and of itself, but apparently that is one of the arguments used by those who believe in soul sleep.)
My view is that soul sleep is a false idea, but I'm open to being convinced otherwise. Mainly I'd like to hear the arguments / scriptures for and against this in order to be more confident that the standard view is indeed correct.
I wanted to hear what the Christians here have to say about this, especially anyone who has studied this topic before. Thanks!
The timing of the other thread was interesting because just last night this topic came up in an online small group I'm part of, and someone in our little group believes in soul sleep. I mentioned that what Jesus said to the thief on the cross - "today you will be with me in paradise" - shows that soul sleep is unbiblical, but she said that doesn't make sense because Jesus did not go directly to paradise that day. (That's a whole topic in and of itself, but apparently that is one of the arguments used by those who believe in soul sleep.)
My view is that soul sleep is a false idea, but I'm open to being convinced otherwise. Mainly I'd like to hear the arguments / scriptures for and against this in order to be more confident that the standard view is indeed correct.
I wanted to hear what the Christians here have to say about this, especially anyone who has studied this topic before. Thanks!