The period of time just after death until the general resurrection (the time when the soul is not associated with a physical body) is referred to as the intermediate state. This section will first discuss the Roman Catholic beliefs about the intermediate state and then discuss the major protestant views.
Roman Catholics believe that a saved person who dies and has repented for all of their sins will go immediately to Heaven, although this is very rare. More typically, a person dies with a certain number of unrepented venial sins and will therefore go to Purgatory after death. The cleansing fires of Purgatory will then gradually purify the soul until it is free from sin and can then enter Heaven. Although not official doctrine, certain Roman Catholic theologians over time have variously believed in the Limbus Patrum and/or the Limbus Infantum. The Limbus Patrum was where the souls of OT believers went and stayed until Christ descended to the dead to release them after His crucifixion. The Limbus Infantum is where the souls of unbaptized infants go after death and is a place where the eternal torture of Hell is absent, but so also is the beatific vision of God.
The predominant Protestant belief is that the souls of believers upon physical death immediately enter paradise and are in the presence of Christ. This is evident when Jesus says to the penitent criminal on the cross, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43). Most theologians believe that paradise is referring to Heaven in this passage.[i] The intermediate state of the saved is the soul in Heaven without a body and the final state of the saved is the soul in Heaven with a glorified body. Similarly, the intermediate state of the unsaved is the soul in Hell without a body and the final state of the unsaved is the soul in Hell with a glorified body.
The Lutheran position is a bit more ambiguous. Wallace McLaughlin summarizes as follows:
“Only few Scripture passages treat of the state of souls between death and resurrection. The Scripture directs the attention of men primarily to the last day and the following state of eternal blessedness and eternal damnation. But from a few clear passages of Scripture we know: a). The souls of the believers between death and resurrection are in a state of blessed enjoyment of God, with Jesus (Acts 7:59), with Christ (Phil. 1:23), in paradise (Luke 23:43); b). the souls of the unbelievers are in prison (1 Peter 3:19). A “soul-sleep” which excludes the enjoyment of God is to be rejected as contrary to Scripture teaching, for the Holy Spirit through St. Paul teaches that the state of the believing Christian after death is “far better” than in this life (Phil. 1:23), and the promise of being in paradise, which Jesus gives to the dying malefactor as one to be fulfilled “today,” certainly includes a blissful enjoyment of God.”[ii]
There is no formal Arminian/Wesleyan/Methodist doctrine on the intermediate state except to reject the idea of Purgatory. This said, John Wesley himself believed that all souls after death temporarily go to the realm of the dead (i.e., Hades), the saved to the Bosom of Abraham and the unsaved to Gehenna. The unsaved are aware of their future bodily resurrection and eternal fate in Hell, and the saved can progress in their sanctification and look forward to their future bodily resurrection and eternal destiny in Heaven. Wesley based his views primarily on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Lk 16:19-31).
This section ends with a brief discussion of the following often-overlooked passage that addresses heaven and paradise and their relationship. Paul writes:
“I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.” (2 Cor 12:2-4)
Paul Yeulett explains this verse as follows. “In the cosmology with which Paul was familiar, the ‘first heaven’ was the realm of meteorology, the ‘second heaven’ that of astronomy, and the ‘third heaven’ was the dwelling-place of God and the angels who serve him. That realm is here equated with ‘paradise:’ where God is, there Christ is (Luke 23:43); and there, we can deduce, believers will be after death.”[iii] This passage is strong evidence that the use of paradise in Lk 23:43 refers to Heaven.
[Next: The Second Coming of Christ]
[i] The giant Reformed theologians Charles Hodge and Louis Berkhof both believe that the souls of the saved go immediately to Heaven and that paradise in Lk 23:43 refers to Heaven. However, Herman Bavinck, another giant Reformed theologian, believed that the souls of all would remain in the realm of the dead (i.e., Hades) until the general resurrection.
[ii] Wallace McLaughlin, We All Believe In One True God: A Summary of Biblical Doctrine, Midland, MI: Cross of Christ Press, 1978: Section 18 – Last Things.
[iii] Paul Yeulett, “With Me in Paradise – Questions About the So-Called Intermediate State: Is it Biblical and it is Pastorally Helpful?” Foundations: An International Journal of Evangelical Theology, Autumn, 2021, Issue 81: 47.
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