Paul’s doctrine regarding what happens to humans at death. Does the person who dies before the return of Christ receive a glorified body, according to Paul? How does author F.F. Bruce describe this body? How could you use these ideas to comfort a family whose loved one (a Christian) has recently passed away? How does this idea encourage you to live for Christ?

Paul’s doctrine regarding what happens to humans at death is best summarized in his second letter to the church at Corinth. Paul explains, “If the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1 [NASB]). God has a structure already prepared for believers they will inhabit in the presence of the Lord after physical death and prior to the return of Christ (2 Cor. 5:8). F. F. Bruce agrees with Paul’s concept of a building or structure and suggests that in order for Christians to be with Christ, “Some kind of new embodiment is necessary at death.”[1] Bruce describes the new body as a spiritual body animated by the soul.[2] Accordingly, Paul appears to suggest that believers who experience physical death prior to the Parousia will be immediately clothed with a new body.[3]

It may be important to note that not all theologians agree with Bruce. Lorin Cranford identifies three primary views regarding what happens at death. The first two, the traditional view and the Parousia view, focus on the second coming and assume a disembodied intermediate state when physical death occurs.[4] Ian Smith supports an alignment with a disembodied perspective by referencing Paul’s words, which state that he would “prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).[5] However, the phrase “absent from the body” could be a reference to a physical body without eliminating the possibility of a spiritual body after physical death. Regardless, Cranford would place Bruce within the third view, the development view, which suggests the resurrection body occurs at the time of death.[6] Finally, after reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of the three views, Cranford suggests that metaphysical issues are not Paul’s concern, so the intermediate state may be a “body or spirit.”[7] Accordingly, although Bruce makes a strong case regarding what happens at death, the theological interpretations of 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 are quite diverse.

Even for believers with a strong element of faith, the unknown component of death may cause significant fear and dread. However, Paul’s doctrine placed in light of current empirical research may provide significant comfort to a family whose Christian loved one has recently passed. Two specific concepts may assist in eliminating the fear of the unknown. First, using a simple experiment, J. P. Moreland explains that mental events and physical events are distinct.[8] Moreland’s experiment encourages the believer to imagine a pink elephant and note that a pink property exists in one’s mind, but not in the brain; a neurophysiologist could not find the image through brain scans or surgery.[9] Furthermore, the item imagined has no weight and is not composed of chemicals or electrical properties, thus the mental event is distinct from the physical brain event and theoretically could exist without the brain.[10] A second concept that empirical research supports is near death experiences. If it is possible for mental events to exist outside of brain activity, then near-death experiences may provide the support necessary to confirm the existence of life activity after physical death. Raymond Moody documents a number of cases where individuals died and experienced life outside of the body. For example, Moody recounts a seventeen-year-old drowning, a women having a heart attack, and a teenager dying in a car wreck who were revived and stated they experienced an out of body experience upon death.[11] The drowning teenager explains that he felt he still had an “entire body form,” and the teenage driver describes the experience as “sort of floating about five feet above the street” and seeing “people running up and crowding around the car.”[12] Elisabeth Kubler-Ross provides a particularly interesting example of a blind man accurately describing the people, clothing, jewelry, and colors during an out of body near-death experience prior to resuscitation.[13] Furthermore, Moody furnishes additional research from personal experiences that provides support for meeting loved ones and experiencing a loving light upon bodily death.[14] J. P. Moreland and Gary Habermas claim that these type of cases are “unexpectedly common.”[15] Accordingly, not only does Paul’s doctrine support the idea of a spiritual body after death, but the current scientific understanding of the brain and the significant medical research regarding near-death experiences also support Paul’s assertions of life after death in a bodily form, which can assist in comforting those who fear the unknown.

Knowing that life after death exists in bodily form encourages a life lived for Christ by providing the context for a divine outlook that can enhance personal evangelism, allocation of finances, and the ability to help those who are suffering. However, the most significant hindrance in personally living for Christ has been a struggle with anxiety that originated from some early trauma around the death of a number of childhood friends. A heavenly perspective that encompasses both earthly and eternal affairs is crucial to eliminate the fear that hinders living for Christ. Jesus makes it clear that God will supply current daily essentials and simultaneously reinforces that eternity is more precious than anything on earth – thus nothing to fear (Matt. 6:25-32, 10:28, 16:26). Without fear, living for Christ by stepping out in faith and obediently following the promptings of the Spirit becomes possible.