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Topic: Where were the "spirits" that Jesus visited?From:
http://www.atomorrow.net/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?t pc=5&post=6740#POST6740
What do you think Don?
2 Maccabees 12:44, "for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death, whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the though was holy and devout. This was why he had this atonement sacrificed offer for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin."
2 Maccabees 12:44 seems to be saying that our prayers can be effective for the dead to be released from their sins. Do you think that this is meant in the purgatory type of way as if the dead are conscience and in a waiting place?
Also, what do you make of 1Pet 3:18-20
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. KJV
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, {the} just for {the} unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
1Pe 3:19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits {now} in prison,
1Pe 3:20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through {the} water. NASB
1Pet 3:18 For Christ the Messiah,[Himself] died for sins for all the Rightous for the unrightous-the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty-that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death but He was made alive in the spirit,
1Pet 3:19 In which He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
1Pet 3:20 [The souls of those] who long before in the days of Noah had been disobediant, when God's patience waited during the building of the ark in which a few [people], actually eight in number, were saved through water. [Gen 6-8] Amplified Bible
1Pe 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
1Pe 3:19 through whom [fn] also he went and preached to the spirits in prison
1Pe 3:20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water. NIV
Where did He go?
Cadge
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"Where DID He go"?
The Sign Of Jonas
Matt.12:39....An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.
Matt.12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matt. 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.
Jesus went into death for three full days and three full nights into "the heart of the earth". Passover was always a high Sabbath which started on wednesday evening and ended on Saturday evening.
In the story of Jonah, in the Biblical book of Jonah, we see that he was cast into the sea and swallowed up into "the belly" of the fish, not just in the mouth, where he spent three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17, and as we all know, a day is, biblically, from evening to evening.
In Chapter 2:2 Jonah cries out by reason of his affliction and God hears him. In Vs.3, he is "in the deep", billows and waves pass over him. (think firey, in this allegory of Jesus' death). Vs.4, He looks to "thy Holy Temple", God's dwelling place. In Vs's 5&6, the depth closes around him, the seaweed wraps around his head, and he goes to the bottom of the mountains and sandbars in the deep of the sea.sea, not on top, or just below the surface.
In psalm 63, when David was in the wilderness of Judah, he says that those who seek to destroy him shall go into: "the lower parts of the earth " KJV. " The lower parts of the earth [the underworld of the dead]" Amplified. "The depths of the earth" NAS. "The depths of the earth" NIV.
These all depict a journey to a place that is not to the superficial, shallow, burying or the hewn out rock on or close to the surface of the earth of our flesh and bones, but that some part of us goes to a greater depth.
I suggest that Jesus didn't just die on the cross to satisfy the law, but he went to the experience of the second death, to the "belly" or "heart" of the earth and through the flames of the lake of fire. This was the baptism that he spoke of that he asked his deciples if they were able to do. He went to take our punishment too. This is depicted in the judgement scene of the alter of burnt offering, the brazen altar, in the OT sanctuary service where the umblemished lamb is cast on the fire. This is depicted in Daniel Chapter three where Nebuchadnezar proclaims that he sees "one like the Son of God" in the firey furnace. His pesence gives deliverence from the fires from those who are faithful.
The depiction used in Ecclesiastes 9 of the dead knowing nothing or remembering nothing, where they can't hope for reward anymore, they are not remembered anymore, they can't love, hope, hate, envy etc. refers to there being unable to because they do not live in the human body, their vessels that contains their spirits that they used to do all these things with as they interacted with other human beings of flesh and bone while alive. That's why it says that "neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything THAT IS DONE UNDER THE SUN". That means upon the surface of this earth! Their chances for redemption while they lived upon the earth are over.
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus we see the waiting place for the spirits of those who have departed. This is the waiting place of "the spirits in prison" 1 Pet 3(temporary confinement) that Jesus visited during His three days in death. On the one side of "the gulf" that separates the inhabitants, we see "the rich man". He is in continual misery and torment, seared by his conscience, realizing that he has lost all; a time of "weeping and gnashing of teeth". He represents all those that will be there in the same condition and forlornly await the resurrection at the end of the age that will result in their being cast into "the lake of fire". They, during their time on earth had spurned the entreaties of a merciful God and chose to live for self in their own glory.
The other side of the gulf is depicted as Lazarus in "Abraham's bosom". This is representative of those who are children of "the promise", and they will be amongst those that will be as inumerable as the stars of the heavens and the sands of the sea. These are those who Jesus "preached unto" that were "sometime disobediant" (1 Pet 3:19,20) but covered under His umbrella of rightousness; like "the rightous man that stumbleth seven times and rizeth up again" in Proverbs 24:16 . Like Paul, he desires and walks after the Spirit, but at times the flesh is weak and he despises the weakness in himself; like Moses he "strikes the rock" in succumbing to an impulse, but it is not the normal course that he follows.The theif on the cross is here as are all who have died who have been counted as rightous.
Nobody from Earth is in heaven yet except Jesus. "no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven" John 3:13. Only Jesus is the first and only from Earth yet. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept" 1Cor 15:20. "every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming" 1Cor 15:23.
When Moses and Elijah appeared before Jesus, Peter, James and John, they weren't in the body. In Matt 17:9 Jesus refers to it as "the vision" which they are to tell no man about. They were not in their earthly bodies, they were in their spiritual bodies. "Flesh and blood can not inherit the Kingdom of God" 1Cor 15:50 . "a spirit hath not flesh and bones" Luke 24:39. So when Elijah, Moses and Enoch went up, they lost their human bodies somewhere along the way and obtained spirit bodies, and wherever they went it wasn't to heaven; at least not to the heaven where Jesus co-reigns with His Father. They no doubt went to a waiting place though, until the end of the age.
We can see that it was always understood that men had a spiritual inner man whether it was dead to the spirit of God or born again, he still had it. When King Saul went to the witch of Endor to try to get her to raise Samuels spirit find out what would be the outcome of the battle against the Philistines, he was well aware that men had a spirit that survived beyond the grave, or why would he try to raise it? We are forbidden to seek familiar spirits, but that does not mean that they do not exist.
When the deciples were upon the water and before recognizing Jesus, they thought that they had seen a spirit. Why, because they must have believed that there were spirits of men, no doubt.
When the angel released Peter from prison after James had been beheaded by Herod, and he appeared at the house of John Marks Mother Mary and the damsel, Rhoda, reported that he was at the door, they claimed that she must be mad because he was supposed to have suffered the same fate as James. after Rhoda insisted it was him, they said "it must be his angel". acts 12;15. They no doubt also believed that we have a spirit, and that it resembles our appearance.
During "The Great Awakening" of the nineteenth century George Storrs spread the teaching of the non-immortality of the soul. This is not "new light". It is not heaven sent "light" at all. This was never a belief, and it was never even taught by Jesus as shown in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. John the Revelator states that the lost will be "cast into the lake of fire" and "tormented day and night for ever and ever" Rev 20:10. "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and everand they have no rest day or night"...Rev 14:11. The great biblical scholar, Johnathan Edwards, from New England, refered to as America's greatest theologian and philosopher, and the author of thousands of manuscripts which were written by himself, and not borrowed, decried the teaching of the non-immortality of the soul and annihilationism, and rightly so.
Tryon Edwards, a descendant of Jonathan, wrote:"Perhaps no person ever lived who so habitually and carefully committed his thoughts, on almost every subject, to writing, as the elder President Edwards. His ordinary studies were pursued pen in hand, and with his notebooks before him; and he not only often stopped in his daily rides by the wayside, but frequently rose even at midnight to commit to paper any important thought that had occurred to him. As the result of this habit, his manuscripts are probably more thoroughly the record of the intellectual life of their author than those of any other individual who has a name in either the theological or literary world. The manuscripts are also very numerous. The seventeenth century was an age of voluminous authorship. The works of Bishop Hall amount to ten volumes octavo; Lightfoot's, to thirteen; Jeremy Taylor's, to fifteen; Dr. Goodwin's, to twenty; Owen's to twenty-eight; while Baxter's would extend to some sixty volumes, or from thirty to forty thousand closely printed octavo pages. The manuscripts of Edwards, if all published, would be more voluminous than the works of any of these writers, if possibly the last be excepted. And these manuscripts have been carefully preserved and kept together ..." (WJE 8:125) http://edwards.yale.edu/research/faq
. Edwards: IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
"How doth it seem to grate upon one to think that an intelligent being, that consciousness should be put out forever, so as never to know that it ever did think or had a being! If it be put out as a punishment, it can never know that it is punished, never reflect on the justice of God, or anything of that nature".
Edwards: ETERNAL TORMENTS.
Ques. Seeing that the malitia, or evil principle, which is the essence of the sin, is not infinite, though the God against whom sin is committed be infinite, how can it be just to punish sin with an infinite punishment? I acknowledge, if man, at the same time that he injured God, had actually a full and complete idea of the infinite excellency and greatness of God whom he injured, he could not injure him without an infinite pravity of soul, and then infinite punishment would undoubtedly be deserved. But all finite beings are uncapable of this full idea. Wherefore, it is impossible for them to have this infinite restraint, nor [to be possessed] of pravity of infinite strength to break through [this] restraint. Thus it seems that the pravity of an action is not; to be measured by the real hidden excellency or greatness of the person offended, but by the understanding the offender has of his greatness; that which was hidden is no aggravation, because he did not know it. If his idea be finite, then a finite pravity of mind is sufficient to conquer that idea.
Ans. Eternal punishment is just in the same respects infinite as the crime, and in no other. Thus the crime or the injury done, in itself considered, is really infinite, yet is not infinite in the idea, or mind committing; that is, is in itself infinite, but is not committed infinitely. So it is with the punishment: it is really in itself infinite, but is never suffered infinitely. Indeed, if the soul was capable of having at once a full and complete idea of the eternity of misery, then it would properly be infinite suffering. But the soul is no more capable of having a full idea of that, than of the infinite greatness and excellency of God; and we should have as full and as strong an idea of God's infinite perfection as the damned have of the eternity of their torment, if it were not for sin. Eternity is suffered as an infinite God is offended, that is, according to the comprehension of the mind. Thus, if it were possible for a man eternally to be in pain, and all the while be deceived, and think that he had suffered not above half an hour, and was assured that he was not to suffer above half an hour longer; though the misery in
God's idea would be infinite, yet in the suffering it is finite: in the suffering it is no more than if one should start out of nothing, and suffer one hour, and drop into nothing again. Sin against God in God's idea is infinite, and the punishment is infinite no otherwise but in the idea of God. For all that is past and all that is to come, that is not comprehended in finite ideas, is not anywhere else but in the divine idea. See where we have proved that nothing has any existence but in ideas. http://edwards.yale.edu/
What people need to realize is that when God said "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die", if man should eat of the forbidden tree, he did die, spiritually. Right then man's holiness of spirit went into death and he could not anymore "come boldly before the throne of God". Then began man's existance in the walk of the flesh devoid of the spirit that God had breathed into him. Along with this came the curse of an eventual physical death of the body also. His spirit was now under another spirit. His existance became harsh under the veil of evil that the prince of darkness held sway over him and all creation. In God's mercy, man was then provided a hope in the promise of a redeemer as was depicted in the fleshly sacrifices. As time progressed, those who held hope in the comiing Redeemer would be at constant battle against the people who held no such hope and were under the complete sway of the king of darkness. The punishments that were executed against God's people by their own system of judgement was harsh in order to disuade men from following their depraved natures. From the fall up until the Messiah's coming, it was the time of the flesh, not the Spirit. Their only hope and sense of relief from all this was in the daily sacrifices, in faith, where they could confess their sins and hope for the coming Saviour that would die their death and take their guilt and punisment upon Himself . This was man's life under the Old Covenant, the life of the flesh; the life of where men dealt with the justice system of "an eye for an eye".
When Messiah came He breathed the Spirit upon the Apostles and their spirits were raised from their deadly state and were "born again". This is the rebirth of which the deciples could not understand when Jesus said that we must be born again. It came with a greater outflowing at Pentecost upon the Body of believers. They partook of the life which is the light of all men which was once lost. They became the city that is set on a hill that giveth it's light to all men. They no longer took up arms against their enemies. Jesus said that if His Kingdom were of this world, then would His servants fight. His servants would from henceforth go, without resistance, as lambs to the slaughter as did their Master, and seed the lands with the Gospel of peace.
We were now in the New Covenant era, the last days, the time of the Spirit. We were then, from the time of the atonement, and now, priveleged to again become sons of God through the power of the Spirit and His multifold grace. That's why Paul said "I do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Unlike the Old Testament people who feared the harsh and exacting punisments in order to obey, we now had the availability of the Spirit so that we were now new men, renewed men, through the gift that Christ, the Anointed One, procured for us in His victory over the flesh and the prince of darkness. We now walk after the Spirit, an indwelling that is available to us. We can now, by "beholding" the matchless love of the Saviour, be "changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord" 2Cor 3:18. And by His instruction and power/strength of grace, we keep the promptings of the fleshly nature under subjection and gain victory upon victory over that which we once seemed to have little or no control. If we choose to obey we can continue in this power to be sons and daughters of God. John 1:12). If we choose to follow the promptings of the flesh, we shut the power, the flow of living water, off. Many times we will see that it is only by separating ourselves, cutting ourselves off from certain influences, that we can maintain this walk with God. But, if we make the right choices, (sometimes these can be emotionally painful, and there many times has to be separating from jobs, friends and even family) , we can "come boldly before the throne of God to recieve mercy and grace to help in time of need". And, as we continue in connection with Him throughout the day "we sit with Him in heavenly places".
Now, were it up to me, I'd rather that there was no never ending punishment, and perhaps there will not be at some time, bur our Father has allowed this understanding to persevere throughout the pages of scripture. Maybe He will change His mind as He did when Moses pleaded for mercy on the Israelites and offered his own self when God wanted to destroy those that He brought out of Egypt. No matter what, it is quite evident that there is a place of waitiing for the spirits of men until they are reunited with their bodies that will be changed to accomodate heaven as was Jesus'. He went and visited them. It says so in 1st Peter Chapter 3.
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Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying,
'May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,
who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.'" (Num 27:15,16 NASB.)
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Cadge, the phrase, "the God of the spirits of all flesh" opens up an amazing Bible "Word" study; one that would take quite a while to examine thoroughly. To illustrate what I mean, follow this link to the Blue Letter Bible's Hebrew dictionary entry for "ruach" or "spirit". One thing that I really appreciate about these dictionary entries is that the Bible verses cited usually show an indisputable usage of the word. Here is that site:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lex … 307&t=KJV#
Notice the various uses of the Hebrew word "ruwach" :
Regarding Numbers 27:16, my first question is: does the word Ruwach have a plural form and is such a plural form used in this passage? This may seem technical, or trivial, but in a word study, I think it is important. I know nothing about Hebrew. Maybe someone reading this does. If so, you are especially invited to join this discussion.
(Message edited by Don on November 20, 2009)
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I'll get back to you on this after I get done going over a couple of things I had been looking over before I made my last post here.
What the Bible teaches about spirits,...
http://www.formeradventist.com/discus/messages/11/ 9534.html?1258722843
and this one:
A study on the intermediate and final state of the dead:
http://athb4hu.wordpress.com/sda-studies-v/
Cadge
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Explain Matt. 27:51-53 on Jesus' death:
"At that, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked; the rocks were split; the tombs opened and the bodies of many holy men rose from the dead, and these, AFTER HIS RESURRECTION, came out of the tombs, entered the Holy City and appeared to a number of people."
Explain how one caan be raised and come out of the tombs? Were they raised and not come from their tombs 3 days later?
Also, how many women, and who were they who came to the tomb on Resurrection morning?
Matthew 28 says "Mary of Magdala and the other Mary.
Mark says that the risen Christ appeared first to Mary of Magdala.
Luke says that the women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James.
John writes that Mary of Magdala came to the tomb, found the stone had been moved and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple Jesus loved. THey returned, saw the tomb was empy and went home again. Meanwhile Mary stayed outside near the tomb when two angels asked why she was weeping, and she turned and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognize him.
This illustrates that these stories were a collective memory of the early disciples which is why they differ in this, and many other aspects.
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Re: Where were the "spirits" that Jesus visited?Jesus said "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall not see death". John 8:51.
Five verses later he says "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad".
And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
For when they (their spirits) shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage(because they do not have their procreative bodies yet that they will need to be fruitful and multiply the earth and universe); but are as the angels which are in heaven.
And as touching the dead, that they (their spirits) rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I [am] the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. Mark 12:24-27
What day would Abraham be glad to see? It could only be the day that Jesus appeared on earth in fulfillment of prophecy. How could Abraham see it? He had to be in a state of living consciousness after his physical death to be able to do this.
I would think that Abraham understood what Jesus meant when he said "fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy body and soul in hell", (Matt 10:28) because he had experienced it by not "seeing death" of his soul after seeing death of his body.
By this we see that the soul and body are two different entities. In one case, the soul and body receive the same treatment, and in the other they are separated.
Now, 1 Peter 3:19 and 20 tell us that Jesus went and visited those spirits that were in a confined place who were "sometimes disobedient". Maybe like the thief on the cross where they had hearts that were capable of repentance and obedience? Jesus told the thief that he'd see him that day, and he did. They are children of the promise and sit in paradise, "Abraham's bosom", awaiting the return of Jesus.
Cadge
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David note this guy's take on this subject:
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quote:
Question: "Where was Jesus for the three days between His death and resurrection?"
Answer: 1 Peter 3:18-19 states, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison." The phrase, "by the Spirit," in verse 18 is exactly the same construction as the phrase, "in the flesh." So it seems best to relate the word "spirit" to the same realm as the word "flesh." The flesh and spirit are Christ's flesh and spirit. The words "made alive by (in) the spirit" point to the fact that Christ's sin-bearing and death brought about the separation of His human spirit from the Father (Matthew 27:46). The contrast is between flesh and spirit, as in Matthew 27:46 and Romans 1:3-4, and not between Christ's flesh and the Holy Spirit. When Christ's atonement for sin was completed, His spirit restored the fellowship which had been broken.
First Peter 3:18-22 describes a necessary link between Christ's suffering (verse 18) and His glorification (verse 22). Only Peter gives specific information about what happened between these two events. The word "preached" in verse 19 is not the usual word in the New Testament to describe the preaching of the gospel. It literally means to herald a message. Jesus suffered and died on the Cross, His body being put to death, and His spirit died when He was made sin. But His spirit was made alive and He yielded it to the Father. According to Peter, sometime between His death and His resurrection Jesus made a special proclamation to "the spirits in prison."
To begin with, Peter referred to people as "souls" and not "spirits" (3:20). In the New Testament, the word "spirits" is used to describe angels or demons, not human beings, and verse 22 seems to bear out this meaning. Also, nowhere in the Bible are we told that Jesus visited hell. Acts 2:31 says that He went to "Hades" (New American Standard Bible), but "Hades" is not hell. The word "Hades" refers to the realm of the dead, a temporary place where they await the resurrection. Revelation 20:11-15 in the NASB or the New International Version give a clear distinction between the two. Hell is the permanent and final place of judgment for the lost. Hades is a temporary place.
Our Lord yielded His spirit to the Father, died, and at some time between death and resurrection, visited the realm of the dead where He delivered a message to spirit beings (probably fallen angels; see Jude 6) who were somehow related to the period before the flood in Noah's time. Verse 20 makes this clear. Peter did not tell us what He proclaimed to these imprisoned spirits, but it could not be a message of redemption since angels cannot be saved (Hebrews 2:16). It was probably a declaration of victory over Satan and his hosts (1 Peter 3:22; Colossians 2:15). Ephesians 4:8-10 also seems to indicate that Christ went to “paradise” (Luke 16:20; 23:43) and took to heaven all those who had believed in Him prior to His death. The passage doesn’t give a great amount of detail about what occurred, but most Bible scholars agree that this is what is meant by “led captivity captive.”
So, all that to say, the Bible isn’t entirely clear what exactly Christ did for the three days between His death and resurrection. It does seem, though, that He was preaching victory over the fallen angels and/or unbelievers. What we can know for sure is that Jesus was not giving people a second chance for salvation. The Bible tells us that we face judgment after death (Hebrews 9:27), not a second chance. There isn't really any definitively clear answer for what Jesus was doing for the time between His death and resurrection. Perhaps this is one of the mysteries we will understand once we reach glory.
Recommended Resource: Jesus: The Greatest Life of All by Charles Swindoll.
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Swindoll says:
"Our Lord yielded His spirit to the Father, died, and at some time between death and resurrection, visited the realm of the dead where He delivered a message to spirit beings (probably fallen angels; see Jude 6) who were somehow related to the period before the flood in Noah's time. Verse 20 makes this clear. Peter did not tell us what He proclaimed to these imprisoned spirits, but it could not be a message of redemption since angels cannot be saved (Hebrews 2:16)".
I can't see where Swindoll is making sense with this statement. The scripture says that Jesus preached to those who were sometimes disobediant. The fallen angels weren't "sometimes disobediant". They were cast out because they became totally disobediant. Why would He preach to them? They had all the preaching that mercy could allow before they were cast out.
Does man have a spirit?
Job 32:8 says "There is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding"
Proverbs 20:27: "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly".
Ecclesiastes 3:21 "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth"?
Acts 7:59 "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"
Was Stephen asking Jesus to receive his breath or his attitude? That would not make any sense.
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Does man have a spirit, and where do we go after we die?
"One of the most crucial issues which determines our understanding of what the Bible teaches about death and the afterlife is the proper interpretation of such key terms as Sheol, Hades and Gehenna. No study of death is complete without a thorough understanding of these terms."
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Doesn't the OT say that the spirit returns to God?
And didn't Jesus go to Hell for the time he had died?
And wasn't Jesus portrayed quite differently after the resurrection with abilities not seen before: suddenly appearing and walking through walls and unlocked doors?
If this is a demontration of human life after death, how otherwise explain those texts?
Finally, why does it matter, for when we die, the next moment will be in eternity.
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