This is the eighth in a series of articles on biblical terms that describe the afterlife and the unseen world. Is heaven the final destination of all who rest in Jesus? Or do we spend eternity someplace else? In 2 Corinthians 5, the apostle Paul describes two different and mutually exclusive states of existence for the Christian. While we are on earth, “at home in the body,” we are “away from the Lord.” And when we are “out of the body” we are “at home with the Lord” (5:6, 8). The New … [Read more...]
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Heaven can’t wait
This is the seventh in a series of articles on biblical terms that describe the afterlife and the unseen world. In the last column we defined the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory and argued that this long-held teaching finds no support in Scripture. Perhaps the strongest argument against the doctrine of purgatory is that it undermines the sufficiency of Christ. Just before His death on the cross, Jesus declares triumphantly, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Among other things, this … [Read more...]
Does the Bible teach Purgatory?
This is the sixth in a series of articles on biblical terms that describe the afterlife and the unseen world. Do some Christians undergo purification from the stain of sin between death and entrance into heaven? Many who answer yes to that question embrace the doctrine of purgatory, which became official Roman Catholic dogma in A.D. 1438. Simply stated, purgatory is a place or state of suffering where the dead bound for heaven achieve the holiness necessary to enter into the presence of … [Read more...]
A look into Tartarus
This is the fifth in a series of articles on biblical terms that describe the afterlife and the unseen world. If Sheol or Hades is the temporary abode of deceased people, is there a transitory place of punishment for some demons? It seems the answer is yes, in a place the New Testament refers to as Tartarus. Tartarus is mentioned only once, in 2 Peter 2:4. Many translations render it “hell,” including the King James Version and the New American Standard Bible, while others, like the … [Read more...]
Gehenna and the afterlife
This is the fourth in a series of articles on biblical terms that describe the afterlife and the unseen world. The ultimate destiny of the wicked is the same habitation created for Satan and his demons – a place in English we call “hell,” and a place Jesus and the New Testament writers describe variously as Gehenna, “outer darkness,” “eternal fire,” “eternal punishment,” “lake of fire,” and “the second death.” While Sheol and Hades generally depict the temporary abode of the dead, Gehenna … [Read more...]
Hades and the afterlife
This is the third in a series of articles on biblical terms that describe the afterlife and the unseen world. Hades is a Greek god whose name means “The Unseen.” He is depicted as lord of the underworld, the abode of the dead. So it should come as no surprise that Jesus and the New Testament writers borrow from this familiar term to describe the realm of departed spirits. What’s more, they cut through the mythology to present an accurate picture of the afterlife. The word Hades appears … [Read more...]
Sheol and the afterlife
This is the second in a series of articles about the afterlife and the unseen realm. Is there conscious existence beyond the grave? Where did Old Testament saints go when they died? Do the wicked really suffer forever in hell? Should you believe in ghosts? These are important questions about the afterlife and the unseen world. Most religions deal in some way with these questions and appeal to a variety of authorities to provide answers. This series explores the manner in which God’s … [Read more...]
Biblical truths about the afterlife
This is the first in a series of articles about the afterlife and the unseen realm. Three-year-old Colton Burpo had a near-death experience (NDE) while on the operating table. When it was over, he described his “three minutes in heaven” in vivid detail, including encounters with Samson, John the Baptist, and Jesus, who had sea-blue eyes and owned a rainbow-colored horse. Colton’s father, a Wesleyan pastor, believes the lad’s experience was real because he shared it with “the simple … [Read more...]
Responding to Islam: Has the gospel been corrupted?
Muslims believe in the Injil, or gospel, but define it differently than evangelical Christians do. Further, they claim the church has corrupted the biblical texts so that only the Qur’an preserves the genuine good news. In defining the gospel, Muslim commentator Yusuf Ali writes that “the Injil spoken of by the Qur’an is not the New Testament. It is not the four Gospels now received as canonical. It is the single Gospel which, Islam teaches, was revealed to Jesus, and which he taught.” … [Read more...]
Do Christians and Mormons worship the same God?
Do Christians and Mormons worship the same God? The question may irk our LDS friends, who insist that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored Church and therefore cannot be distinguished from orthodox Christianity. What’s more, some LDS leaders shrewdly blur the lines that separate Mormon beliefs from the biblical doctrines evangelicals affirm – sometimes with the help of evangelicals in the name of “dialogue.” A case in point: How Wide the Divide? – a book by … [Read more...]
What really is ‘sexual orientation’?
Political correctness just got weirder. A recent opinion piece in the Washington Post by Lauren Taylor describes the author’s struggle to raise her cats gender neutral. No, really. Read her explanation: “People are coming to understand that not all of us fit into the ‘girl’ box or the ‘boy’ box. Those who don’t are claiming space to be who they are. We all need to find ways to acknowledge and respect that. My way of respecting it just happens to be raising my cats gender neutral. You can … [Read more...]
Do we need the originals of Scripture?
The faith of some Christians is challenged when they learn that the autographs, or originals, of the Bible no longer exist. Written on stone, metal, papyrus, and parchment, the words first penned by 40 divinely inspired authors over 1,500 years have not survived the ravages of time. If God is able to breathe out His Word so that the originals are rightly described as inerrant, infallible, and sufficient, could He not also have ensured that the originals survived? Of course. But He … [Read more...]
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