Christianity teaches that a living person on earth consists of a physical body and a spiritual soul. Our bodies are subject to physical aging and inevitable death. But was it always so? Theological opinions vary widely on this question.
Some believe that the natural condition of mankind before the Fall is immortality, at least from the effects of aging and deterioration. This is based on man being made in the image of God, who is not subject to physical decay. Others believe that Adam and Eve were subject to physical aging but had access to the Tree of Life in the Garden and therefore had access to immortality. When they were banished from the Garden, they no longer had access to the Tree of Life and therefore began to age and deteriorate. Still others believe that all humans, including Adam and Eve, are subject to physical aging but God kept this from occurring until the Fall. Last, some believe that Adam and Eve were subject to physical aging and would have died of old age even if the Fall had never occurred.
When Scripture describes the punishments given to Adam and Eve as a result of the Fall (Gn 3:16-19), it never mentions that Adam and Eve will now be subject to aging and dying. It also states that Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden so they would not be able to eat from the Tree of Life. “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (Gn 3:22). It is not clear whether Adam and Eve only needed to eat from the Tree of Life to live forever after the Fall, or if this was always a requirement.
Many that believe that mankind was immortal before the Fall cite Paul’s famous verse, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). It is not clear whether Paul is speaking of being alive in the Spirit or being alive in a glorified body, but Paul often uses life and death to refer to a person’s spiritual condition. James writes something similar, “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death” (Jas 1;15). But James is addressing the importance of resisting temptation in this verse and it is unlikely that he is addressing issues immortality.
And so, the issue of the original immortality of mankind remains unsettled with good arguments for many positions. There is a certain elegance in pre-Fall man having glorified bodies and, after the general resurrection, believers being restored to this glorified state. But it seems that if the Fall resulted in such a dramatic change in the human condition, changing from immortal to mortal, Scripture would have mentioned this alongside the other consequences such as pain in childbirth and a life of hard labor.
But all agree that since the Fall and up to the present, everyone eventually dies. When this happens, the soul is separated from the body. The fate of the soul is described somewhat differently in the OT and the NT, which is now discussed.
In the OT, the dead are said to descend into sheol (שְׁאוֹל). Sheol variously refers to the world of the dead, a grave, and a pit. When sheol is referring to the abode of departed souls, it corresponds to the Greek concept of Hades. The OT does not describe sheol as either paradise or hell, but essentially a neutral place where all souls go after death. However, the OT does describe sheol as a place where the wicked go, and warns of being sent there (e.g., Prv 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 15:24; 23:14). Some have tried to reconcile this by ascribing the NT concepts of paradise and Gehenna as two separate parts of sheol, with good souls going to paradise after death and wicked souls going to Gehenna. This view is supported by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, where the rich man and Lazarus are separated in the underworld with the rich man in torment but with Lazarus in “Abraham’s bosom” (Lk 16:19-31). But this is a parable about how God views the poor and destitute, and it is not likely intended to describe the fate of souls after death. Furthermore, the OT does not contain any hints of divisions within sheol.
The NT reveals much more about the fate of the soul after physical death. First and foremost is that the souls of both the saved and the unsaved persist after death and into eternity. There are many verses that speak to the eternal fate of saved and unsaved souls, but both are clearly addressed by the following words of Jesus, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt 25:46).
Although the case for immortality of the soul is very strong, some believe that the souls of the wicked are eventually annihilated. This view, called annihilationism (also referred to as extinctionism or destructionism), typically has God destroying the souls of the wicked after the Last Judgement, but some also believe that this destruction will occur upon physical death. The biblical basis for this view is that immortality is typically represented as a gift from God for believers. A good example is when Jesus says, “My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish” (Jn 10:27-28). In addition, sinners are often threatened with death and destruction. Paul writes, “These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction” (2 Thes 1:9). Furthermore, we are told to fear the possibility of our soul being destroyed in hell. “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28). But despite these passages, the dominant teaching of the NT is the immortality of all souls.
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