Introduction

Termed "conditional immortality" by the SDA church, it is the teaching that at death the soul (life essence) of a Christian enters a state of unconsciousness until resurrection day when God will once again breath the breath of life into their body. The soul is thus considered to be conditionally immortal. Those who will not be entering the peace of heaven are destroyed (annihilated), rather than suffering eternally. To quote the Adventists themselves, "the soul of man represents the whole man . . . the soul cannot exist apart from the body, for man is a unit . . . man rests in the tomb until the resurrection morning." Further, "the grave is not a place of consciousness . . . death is a sleep" (Questions on Doctrine 515, 520).

Soul and Spirit

The adventists argue that the soul is not a separate part of the human being. The body and soul are one, and therefore if the body is dead - so is the soul. At life a person becomes a living soul. A dead body is not a body without a soul, it is just dead. The Hebrew word for soul is Nephesh, and it can refer to mankind or to animals (Gen 1:20, 2:7). In the New Testament Greek, soul is translated from the word psuche (which is where we get the prefix psy in psychology). It means breath or life or emotions or people (Matt 2:20, 6:25, 10:28; Mark 13:34; Acts 7:14). The adventists argue that in no sense is the soul said to be separate from the body or eternal.

In Hebrew we have the term ruach, which can mean breath, life, wind etc... (Gen. 8:1; Eccl. 12:7) much like psuche in Greek. It is also seen as the life principle or emotions or mind (Ps. 146:4; 1 Sam. 1:15; Ezek. 11:5). Adventists argue that this life force returns to God at death and will be restored at the resurrection. In Greek the word pneuma (also phantasma) has similar meanings as that of the Hebrew ruach (john 3:8; Rev. 11:11; 1 Cor. 4:21). It also can mean spirits such as angels or demons (Heb. 1:14; Matt 8:16).

Immortality

Adventists state that no thing or person in the Bible is said to posses immortality save God Himself (1 Timothy 1:17, 6:13-17). They assert that the term "eternal" is applied to the Holy Spirit only (Heb. 9:14), that immortality would not need to be sought after (as we are commanded) if we already possessed it (Rom. 2:7), and that Christ declared that a body and soul can be destroyed (Matt. 10:28).

The Intermediate State

Relying mostly on Old Testament quotations regarding the state of dead bodies (see Responses below) such as the Psalms (6:5, 30:9, 88:10, 115:17, 146:4), Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Isaiah 38:18-19 and 1 Corinthians 15:17-18, the Adventists claim that at death man knows nothing, remembers nothing, and cannot praise God. Because of these assertions, they say, the dead are clearly unconscious. Because the hope of the Christian is resurrection (John 6:39; Luke 20:37) there is no hope during death. The same is said for when we receive our reward (Matt 16:27). Another point made by Adventists is that there were several people raised from the dead in New Testament times and not a single one was questioned as to "what it was like" to be dead, nor did they have anything to say in that regard. Because God is outside of time, and because the dead are unaware of its passing, it is said that when we die our next conscious thought will be awake and with God.

Response

On Soul and Spirit

We can agree on the basic definitions of soul and spirit. The difference being that while soul is the life force in a biological or earthly sense, spirit is the life in the spiritual sense. That is why a person who is alive can be called dead. If we are separated from god, we are dead spiritually. If we are separated from our bodies, we die physically. The confusion of these terms when applied to the Old Testament statements regarding death and souls becomes clear when we see that the O.T. is speaking of bodily death, and the body does in fact go into an unconscious "sleep". As to soul and body separation, Matthew 10:28 is clear, it is possible to kill the body but not the soul. In Matthew 17:3 we see Moses and Elijah. Although Elijah was transported directly to heaven (2 Kings 2:11), Moses certainly died (Deut. 34:5). These were not just "life forces". Because the resurrection had not yet come it had to be their spirits. Luke 23:43 says that the thief on the cross would be with Christ in Paradise that very day, yet we know that his body was put into the ground. Jesus did not resurrect him that day, so the future was not in view. Luke 23:46 would be meaningless if Christ only gave his "breath" or "life force" to God. That Christ never ceased to be alive is without question.

On Immortality and Eternal Life

Immortality is what the body receives at resurrection when the soul is rejoined to it. Eternal life is what the spirit receives at the moment of trusting in Christ. Confusing the two terms can make for very misleading arguments. In 2 Timothy 1:10 eternal life is presented to the believer at the moment of their conversion. In 1 Corinthians 13:12 (cf. 1 John 3:2) immortality is given to the spirit and the body at resurrection. In 1 John 5:11-13 eternal life is the present possession of every believer. Our life will not end, therefore it must continue past death and precede resurrection.

Soul Sleep

"Soul sleep" is not the state of the believer at death, for at death the soul separates from the body (separation being the definition of death). At the moment that this separation occurs the believer goes to be with the Lord and returns with him at His return (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). In John 11:25-26 Christ says that believers will never die. In John 5:25 it is said that the dead will hear the voice of God. In Ephesians 2:1 unbelievers are already dead spiritually. In Philippians 1:21-24 Paul says that to live is Christ to die is gain. Upon death believers are already said to have gained. We gain nothing by unconsciousness. Departing and being with Christ are said to be two sides of the same coin. Sleep is never used of a soul, only a body in Scripture (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Further, God is bringing the dead in Him with Him (meaning they are not in the ground as far as their souls go, for the souls are being returned to their glorified bodies).

Conclusion

Because there is such a wealth of counter-arguments for this idea we certainly should not feel the need to embrace such a teaching. It should be noted that this view was once shared by such Christian giants as Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and John Wycliffe. The Biblical evidence must be carefully weighed, and our trust needs to be in Scripture rather than the opinions of men. Whether one believes in soul sleep or not has no practical consequences that I can imagine. One Adventist publication states that belief in the conscious dead can lead to necromancy and mediumship. In the Bible both of these practices are denounced, and that needs to be the reason for our obedience, not whether or not it may work. In conclusion, this teaching should be strongly debated, but it is not heretical to the point of being considered cultic.