What is the state of the dead in the afterlife?

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St. SteVen

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Did the Trinity come 'in the flesh'...or was God missing a member for awhile?
The Word was with God. The Word was God. The Word became flesh.


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Aunty Jane

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Wow. I'm familiar with posters playing the God Card.
But you are playing the Devil card. - LOL

I don't know of any humans that don't understand our physical mortality.
Physical mortality is what humans experience, and we all know how final death is for that person if we have to go on living without them…..but nowhere does the Bible say that there is an immortal soul housed in that body to goes to another destination after physical death.

In the Jewish mind, physical death is all there was. Sheol was the place where all the dead “slept”, ready for their resurrection when Messiah’s kingdom ruled the earth. (John 5:28-29)

The devil has a vested interest in our belief about life after death because his first lie confidently stated that Eve would not die, even when God told her she would. She believed satan because he made the fruit look very attractive and questioned God’s motives in withholding it.
Did they die in the day they ate thereof? (not physically)
And did God tell Eve not to touch the fruit?
Are you familiar with 2 Peter 3:8-9?
”But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (ESV)

If a “day” to God is like a thousand of our years, look up the genealogies of all the humans listed in the Hebrew Scriptures…..the longest living man was Methuselah who lived for 969 years……not a single human lived for a thousand years…..so was God wrong in saying that they would die within his counting of a day?
The whole book is about what happens under the sun. Certainly a dead corpse knows nothing.
Yes, and for good reason…..the dead do not go anywhere else. Resurrection was a “sleep” in death….unconscious, without knowledge or ability to plan or to participate in the only life there was. (Eccl 9:5,6,10) Even their love and other emotions have “perished”…how can that be if they are still the person who died? Do the dead have no emotions?

Read John 11:11-14 and see what Jesus said about Lazarus…..where was Lazarus before Jesus raised him?
If he was in a better place, what was the purpose of bringing him back to this life, only to die again later from some other cause?

Why do people defend this doctrine so vehemently when scripture does not teach it, even when all false religion does?

Think about it……are we programmed for death? Or do we have no way to process death, because it was never supposed to happen? Dying and being out of existence does not sit well with our programming for everlasting life.
If the devil’s lie appealed to Eve, ask why it appeals to us? We simply cannot imagine not being here once we achieve adult consciousness. The Bible says that death is an “enemy”, not a friend.

If dying takes us to a better life…why do we grieve? Shouldn’t we be rejoicing when a loved one has gone on to “be with the Lord”? Isn’t that the thought that softens the sense of loss? And doesn’t the idea that we will be together again one day, carry us through our grief?

The resurrection hope gives us comfort too, but immortality of the soul puts the dead in a place where they can apparently see all that is going on with us here on the earth. If they can observe what we are doing and see the mistakes we make, and the awful things that happen on this earth….and they can do nothing to stop it….how could heaven ever be a happy place?

Isn’t it kinder to have the dead “sleep”, blissfully unaware of anything that is going on in this world….and at their resurrection it will be just like awakening from a restful sleep. Time stands still in the grave.
 
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Aunty Jane

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Gospel Theology, is the first sign that a Cult is born or a heretic is preaching/teaching.
And yet it was the assignment that Jesus gave to his disciples before he returned to his Father in heaven….

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

Jesus was foremost a preacher and teacher….so was Paul.

So what is the first sign that heresy has taken over?…..the truth is buried under a mountain of false teachings….the devil makes them look like the truth because he is a mimic. The counterfeit “Christianity” he sowed in the world, is a muddle of conflicting beliefs, designed to confuse people and to create divisions among the so called “body of Christ”.
A dismembered body is of no use to anyone. The Christ does not exist divided….there is not more than one truth.

You are just like everyone else here, telling your version of things like you cannot be wrong….no one can tell you otherwise because you have convinced yourself that you alone teach the correct “theology”….yet you retain all the old Catholic foundational beliefs as if they were ever true….? Like all the rest who support a three headed god, immortality of the soul, and hellfire…..none of which find support in the Bible.
If these are the foundations of your belief system, then it is “built on sand”…..and when the storm comes (and it is immanent) these will collapse, and the whole building will fall in ruins.

The judge will arrive and he will determine who is a teachable “sheep” and who is a stubborn “goat”.
His decision is the only one that matters.
 
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St. SteVen

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nowhere does the Bible say that there is an immortal soul housed in that body to goes to another destination after physical death.
Ecclesiastes Nine says, "in the realm of the dead, where you are going"
That is another destination.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,
for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither
working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

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Aunty Jane

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Ecclesiastes Nine says, "in the realm of the dead, where you are going"
That is another destination.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,
for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither
working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Here it is from the Jewish Tanakh…..

10 Whatever your hand attains to do [as long as you are] with your strength, do; for there is neither deed nor reckoning, neither knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, [sheol] where you are going.”

“The grave“ is where all are going……calling it “the realm of the dead” reflects the adoption of belief in an immortal soul……picked up from Greek culture which had a huge influence on the world it dominated.
This belief is found in all false religion, but not found at all in Jewish Scripture. It was adopted from outside of Scripture.

Solomon lived at a time before that adopted Greek influence. And we know that Israel’s last prophet, Malachi, was God’s final attempt to correct his disobedient people before he would send his son as Messiah. Some 300 years would elapse…..plenty of time for the rot to really set in.

The son of God was not sent to the corrupt Jewish leaders as these had already proven to be unfaithful and negligent shepherds….Jesus was sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” who were lost because their shepherds were intractable in their ways and teachings. (Matt 15:7-9)

An English translation is not as accurate as those who speak the original language. I’ll take the Jewish version over the NIV.
 
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Behold

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And yet it was the assignment that Jesus gave to his disciples before he returned to his Father in heaven….

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

Jesus spoke of water baptism, and "nations"., and "making disciples". IN Mark 16

Later when Paul was called by Jesus to present the Gospel and give the Body of Christ the Church Doctrine, , He gave us The Gospel, that is not "repent and get wet"......
Paul Gospel is "The Gospel of the Grace of God, that creates CHRISTIANS.. who believe it.

See, a disciple is simply a follower of Christ....and may not be A Christian.

Whereas a Christian is born again, as a Son-Daughter of God, and that is much much more then just being a disciple,,...... and no Water baptism is necessary to become a Christian.

Jesus was foremost a preacher and teacher….so was Paul.

When Jesus came to the Jews.......>He came as their Messiah, and had not died on The Cross, so He could not offer Himself as Savior and sin bearer during his 3.5 yrs of dealing with the "house of Israel"...... as He had not died on The Cross yet.

When Paul was called by Jesus, Paul offered Jesus On The Cross, as our Savior., and this offer is to the WORLD< and not just to the Jews. (House of Israel).

So things Changed once Yeshua was crucified. And after He was crucified He didnt return to his Ministry for the Jew., as His Crucifixion, created a NEW Covenant and THE Gospel that Paul teaches is the "Preaching of The Cross"... "Justification by faith'"... "Grace through Faith..... "All that call on the name fo Jesus, shall be saved"... "according to God's mercy He saved us"..."while we were yet sinners".

"""to them that worketh NOT....but believeth on GOD.. who Justifies the UNGODLY........our FAITH is counted as Rightoueness""".

Galatians 3:26

Amplified Bible
For you [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified and] are all children of God [set apart for His purpose with full rights and privileges] = Through FAITH in Christ Jesus.

Berean Standard Bible
You are all sons of God Through Faith in Christ Jesus.

Berean Literal Bible
For you are all sons of God Through Faith in Christ Jesus.

King James Bible
For ye are all the children of God BY Faith in Christ Jesus.

New King James Version
For you are all sons of God Through Faith in Christ Jesus.

New American Standard Bible
For you are all sons and daughters of God Through FAITh in Christ Jesus.

So what is the first sign that heresy has taken over?…..the truth is buried under a mountain of false teachings.

What i previously posted is that if the Gospel being preached / taught ...is not correct, then the person and their denomination, are not related to the True Gospel., so that is a fail-proof indicator that they are OF a Cult Theology.
See, its the CORRECT Gospel that presents the offer of Salvation......so, if a person or a denomination has that WRONG, then you stay away from them and their denonination, as they are a heretic and their denomination is going to be the same = as it produced them.

You are just like everyone else here, telling your version of things like you cannot be wrong…

I only teach Paul's Theology...>His Doctrine., and its very specific.
 

St. SteVen

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Let's go over this, point-by-point.

- Everyone who passes into the afterlife is physically dead.
Not sure where the counter-argument would be for this.
Unless it was an objection to the term "afterlife". ???

- They leave their physical body behind.
Again, where would the counter-argument be for this?
Would anyone argue that the physical body went into the afterlife?
The dead, give up the ghost, as the saying goes. (that's telling)

- Everything else goes with them into the afterlife.
Like what? The spirit and soul of the individual. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
The physical body is left behind. The soul inhabits an incorruptible spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:52)
The soul contains the mind, will and emotions of the individual.
Their life's memories, for which they will be judged.

- The dead have spiritual bodies. The souls of the dead.
Pretty well covered in the point above. (Revelation 20:4)

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Aunty Jane

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Let's go over this, point-by-point.
Good idea.....let’s see what basis there is for many assumptions here....I like a challenge...
- Everyone who passes into the afterlife is physically dead.
Not sure where the counter-argument would be for this.
Unless it was an objection to the term "afterlife". ???
Physical death is the model for spiritual death...both mean that someone is no longer “living” either physically or spiritually.
I personally object to the term “afterlife” as it is not mentioned in the Bible the way many in Christendom imagines it to be.
Nowhere does the Bible speak of a conscious spirit entity that is released from the body at death to go to destinations unknown.
Adam was not told that he would go to “heaven or hell”...only that he would die and go back to the dust. If there was a spiritual part of him that survived death, then surely God would have told him more about his choices.
- They leave their physical body behind.
Again, where would the counter-argument be for this?
Would anyone argue that the physical body went into the afterlife?
The dead, give up the ghost, as the saying goes. (that's telling)
Those who are chosen for life in heaven (Heb 3:1) definitely have to leave their physical body behind, because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”. (1 Cor 15:50)
In connection with these ones Paul wrote.....
“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Cor 15:50-53 NASB)

This gives us a timeframe for the “first resurrection”(Rev 20:6).....at the sound of “the last trumpet”.....not all will sleep in death, meaning that some will....because the resurrection of the dead was for a future time.....when Christ was to return.
Paul’s words again...
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess 4:15-17 NASB)

Those who are alive on earth when he returned, would not need to “sleep” like those who had gone before them, but would be instantaneously transformed...”born again” as spirit beings.

There is no “soul” involved in this transformation....it is the fleshly body discarded and a new spiritual body given to those who did not need to “sleep” until the return of their Lord.

What then was “death” to a Jew? It was a state of unconsciousness...(Eccl 9:5, 10)....a “sleep” that would be reversed when it was God’s time to reanimate them as spirit beings for a life in heaven with their Lord Jesus. Not all who are Christians are “chosen” for a heavenly assignment...it is God who chooses them.
There are two different resurrections.
- Everything else goes with them into the afterlife.
Like what? The spirit and soul of the individual. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
1 Thess 5:23 is not speaking to individuals, but to the whole congregation, as it says in verse 12...
“But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction . . . . 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“The spirit, soul and body” of the whole congregation was their collective contribution to the peace and harmony that had to exist among them, so that they would be blameless as a body, when the time for Jesus’return, came.

The physical body is left behind. The soul inhabits an incorruptible spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:52)
The soul contains the mind, will and emotions of the individual.
Their life's memories, for which they will be judged.
This is where there is a complete departure from what Jews understood “death” to be....and why “Sheol” later took on a completely different connotation. Rather than “the realm of the dead”, suggesting a place where souls went after death, the Jewish Tanakh translates “Sheol” as simply “the grave”....where the dead “sleep”.
The “soul” was the entire person....a “soul” cannot exist without a body and is entirely earth bound. Animals are called “souls” in the Bible because they too are earth bound, breathing creatures. They die the same death as we do, in that they too cease breathing. (Eccl 3:19-20)

“Souls” are not “spirits”....conflating those two words has contributed to this mistranslating and misinterpreting of Scripture, allowing the devil’s first lie to be promoted and perpetuated....”you surely will not die”.
Death is the opposite of life, not a continuation of it.
- The dead have spiritual bodies. The souls of the dead.
Pretty well covered in the point above. (Revelation 20:4)
Again, it’s all in the translation and what is conveyed in mistranslation. The “souls” of the dead are not “spirits”. All “souls” are mortal...they die. (Ezekiel 18:4) There is not a single mention of an “immortal soul” in the whole Bible...but is found in all false religions.

Understanding the meaning of those two words is important because they do not mean the same thing.
Those who will reign with Christ in heaven are “chosen from among mankind” as “firstfruits” (Rev 14:1-5)......what did “firstfruits” mean to a Jew?...or to any other person knowledgeable in agriculture? It meant the first crop...which would be followed by another, not of that “firstfruit” quality, but still acceptable.

Those who are the “chosen ones” (saints/elect) will “rise first” at Christ’s return, and those who are of that “heavenly calling” who are still in the flesh when he arrived, would not experience death like those who were still in their graves.....but would have an immediate transformation into spirit bodies.

If we study what the Bible says without the distorted lenses of Christendom’s doctrines, the truth will triumph, but if we continue to accept the false teachings as truth, it will lead to great disappointment and a loss of life that we will never get back. (Matt 7:21-23)

We will not know until the gavel falls if we have accepted the truth, or a bunch of confusing lies.
Is that fair? Some would say not.....but if we are judged by our free willed choices, then they are ours to make....God has provided all we need to make the right choices.....but he will not force his truth on anyone.

We will all be caught in the act of being ourselves....the person God sees...not the person we imagine ourselves to be.
 
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quietthinker

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What is the state of the dead in the afterlife?​

Let me see, dead after life??
 

quietthinker

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Good idea.....let’s see what basis there is for many assumptions here....I like a challenge.
I really don't understand your oxymoron AJ. When I've challenged you, you spin off into diversions and attempt to smother the challenge by a word dump.
 

St. SteVen

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I think this applies to everyone.

1 Corinthians 15:50-54 NIV
I declare to you, brothers and sisters,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.

54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[a]

Isaiah 25:7-8 NIV
On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

[
 

Aunty Jane

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Saved by doctrine?
No....saved by faith in the teaching of Jesus Christ, and having the confidence to obey them even when the majority can give you excuses not to.

Are there examples of this.....? Many.

We are told not to contaminate our worship with false religious ideas and practices....and yet Christendom has many.

Where does the idea of an “immortal soul” come from? Not the Bible, but from false religion....promoting the devil’s first lie....”you surely will not die”.

Where does the idea that God changed from the single monotheistic God of the Jews to one with three different personalities, who are each equally God...and yet can be in different places at the same time, can talk to each other, and even have a difference of wills. There is no logic in that.
The math is simple.....1+1+1=3...not one. The Jews did not know this god. Jesus was Jewish.

Where do we get the idea that rebranded pagan festivals are somehow not as offensive to God as they were when the pagans honoured their false gods? (2 Cor 6:14-18)

Can a person become a “Christian” by infant baptism? There is no basis for baptising infants because no proxy arrangement exists for something that needs our full adult commitment, based on knowledge and our free willed choice to serve God as a disciple of his son.

If Jesus told us to be “no part of the world”, (John 18:36) then how does that excuse being involved in the corrupt political matters of the world, who are used by the devil (1 John 5:19) to divide people through war and conflicts, based on indoctrinated patriotic feelings.
What if “Christians” are also on the opposing side of a war....whose side does God take when lying propaganda always paints the other side as the bad guys? In a world ruled by the devil, there are no good guys.

If Christians are divided by doctrine, it appears that they are even more vehemently divided by politics.
No more evident than in the recent death of Charlie Kirk.
Religion and politics are a dreadful alliance......those divided by it need to look deeper into Christ’s teachings.
 

Aunty Jane

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I think this applies to everyone.

1 Corinthians 15:50-54 NIV
I declare to you, brothers and sisters,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.

54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[a]
What I think is missing in our reading of a lot of Scripture, is the difference between “everlasting” mortal life on earth, which is what God first purposed for humankind.....but this was not immortality.
Mortal life is the opposite of immortal life. One can die...the other cannot.
It’s the very reason why Jesus had to come to earth as a mortal human....if he was an immortal, he could not die.

This Scripture is directed to anointed Christians who are chosen for a role in heaven. (Rev 20:6) They alone will experience the transformation into spirit beings....being grated “immortality”.....the subjects over whom they rule will be granted the same kind of life that God gave to Adam and his wife....everlasting life in paradise on earth.

Sin did not make God’s first purpose disappear....it just put it on hold whilst he dealt with situation that rebellion caused, giving him a basis to eliminate sin forever . (Isa 55:11; 1 John 3:7-8)
Isaiah 25:7-8 NIV
On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
Death will be “swallowed up forever” for both those in heaven AND on the earth.....
Rev 21:2-5...
“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” (NASB)

The “holy city” is God’s arrangement for ruling redeemed mankind.....his promised Kingdom.....because only then can God’s will “be done on earth as it is in heaven”.....isn’t this what Jesus taught us to pray for...?
 
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Wick Stick

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Would anyone argue that the physical body went into the afterlife?
The dead, give up the ghost, as the saying goes. (that's telling)
The Canaanites and Greeks certainly thought the physical body went into an afterlife. Both of them "knew" of several entrances to that underworld. There are stories of people being rescued and brought back from the afterlife to this world. The Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve dead bodies in the belief that they would one day be resurrected. Those are the three people groups who most influenced the Israelites...

The Bible (as usual) contains verses that could go either way, but there's certainly some that could be construed this way. Any mention of Hades...

Hades
is a Greek place where the bodies of the deceased are carried. The river Styx is said to be full of cadavers. The prisoners there mostly waste away until they are either re-born or pass out of existence. It isn't a place for disembodied spirits.

We have King David anticipating his own resurrection, saying that God would preserve his corpse from decaying after his death:

Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

That's a weird thing to say if the physical body is unimportant for resurrection.
 
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Aunty Jane

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The Canaanites and Greeks certainly thought the physical body went into an afterlife. Both of them "knew" of several entrances to that underworld. There are stories of people being rescued and brought back from the afterlife to this world. The Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve dead bodies in the belief that they would one day be resurrected. Those are the three people groups who most influenced the Israelites...

The Bible (as usual) contains verses that could go either way, but there's certainly some that could be construed this way. Any mention of Hades...

Hades
is a Greek place where the bodies of the deceased are carried. The river Styx is said to be full of cadavers. The prisoners there mostly waste away until they are either re-born or pass out of existence. It isn't a place for disembodied spirits.
Most false religions have belief in an afterlife .....the Jews did not.
They were taught about resurrection, which was a restoration of life...not a continuation of it in an invisible realm.
We have King David anticipating his own resurrection, saying that God would preserve his corpse from decaying after his death:

Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

That's a weird thing to say if the physical body is unimportant for resurrection.
This was a prophesy about Jesus, as Paul started in Acts 13: 34-37....
“As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.’ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.” (NASB)

It was Jesus’ body that was not permitted to see decay in a grave. No mention is made about where Jesus’ body ended up, but the spirit body he was raised in was not the body he sacrificed. He was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” according to Peter. (1 Peter 3:18)
David’s body was said to “undergo corruption”....as all bodies do....they are returned to the earth, as God told Adam.

Jesus’ appearances to his apostles and others after his resurrection, were not always in the same body, often he was not recognized by them. On one occasion, after a conversation on the road with two disciples, they encouraged him to join them for a meal......but as he was breaking bread, they did recognize him, and he simply vanished before their eyes.

Luke 24:29-35....
“But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.” (NASB)

They recognized him, not from his physical appearance, but by how he broke the bread...

The Bible says that he ”appeared” to his disciples on many occasions, but he did not stay with them as he had done for the previous three and a half years.
Spirit beings have the ability to materialise, as when God sent his angels to instruct his human servants, they always appeared in human form. God’s people were forbidden to communicated with spirits....or they might be entrapped by demons pretending to be good spirits....such as when the witch of Endor summoned the dead prophet Samuel. It was a demon impersonating him.
All forms of spiritism were banned. (Deut 18:9-12)
 

St. SteVen

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No....saved by faith in the teaching of Jesus Christ, and having the confidence to obey them even when the majority can give you excuses not to.
So faith plus works? (as specified by the church)

Where does the idea of an “immortal soul” come from? Not the Bible, but from false religion....promoting the devil’s first lie....”you surely will not die”.
Not everything the serpent said was a lie. They did die that day that they ate thereof. How?

Where do we get the idea that rebranded pagan festivals are somehow not as offensive to God as they were when the pagans honoured their false gods? (2 Cor 6:14-18)
Offensive to God? Does God take offense? (easily offended)

Can a person become a “Christian” by infant baptism? There is no basis for baptising infants because no proxy arrangement exists for something that needs our full adult commitment, based on knowledge and our free willed choice to serve God as a disciple of his son.
That's an attack on Catholicism. There is certainly more to it than salvation by infant baptism.
If you claim salvation is by faith plus works, no one does it like they do.

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