And giving "your" understanding of what he said. That's the point. Peter said that some things that Paul wrote are hard to understand. That's coming from an apostle who person had his understanding of the Scriptures opened by Christ. Christ personally opened Peter's understanding of the Scriptures and yet even Peter had trouble understanding things Paul wrote. We're 2000 years removed, how much more difficult is it for us?
No, I'm reconciling all of the passages that Paul wrote. He stated plainly that if there is no those who had died in Christ had perished. That's a clear statement. All of his other statements must also agree with this statement. This idea that people are consciously present with God or Christ immediately after death doesn't reconcile with this passage. Search the Scriptures, see if you find anything anywhere where Paul is talking about people going to heaven to be with Jesus when they die. You find anything apart from the resurrection. Everything people use is by way of inference. That right there is a red flag.
So, you agree that he doesn't teach it. So, if he doesn't teach then the idea is purely inference. So, it's not something that comes from the Bible, but rather one's interpretation of the Bible. That is a huge difference. That is my point. It's by way of inference, therefore, it is susceptible to error. I submit that it is an error.
It's a concept that is being inferred. Paul isn't communicating because we know he didn't believe it.
Actually, Paul uses sleep as a metaphor for death quite often. The one who dies will be resurrected, thus the metaphor.
I asked why should this be understood literally since the book is full of symbolism. It's your claim that those in chapter 6 are somehow alive apart from the body, can you show why this should be taken literally.
Look, maybe it would help me converse if I knew the form of soul sleep you believe in. There are two I know of.
The 7th Day Adventist version of completely inert soul sleep, or the Jehovah's Witness soul annihilation version?
I don't hold to "soul sleep." People sleeping in death is a metaphor. Dead people are dead, just as the Scriptures say. This idea of the immortal soul comes from Greek Philosophy not Scripture. In Gen 2 Moses relates how God created man.
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.1 (Gen. 2:7 KJV)
We find that God created the man from the dust of the earth. Therefore man is of the dust or elements of the earth. Then God breathed the breath or spirit of life into man. Those two things combined to become a "Living Soul." From this we see that a living soul consists of a man and the breath or spirit of life. We also know from Scripture that when a man dies the breath or spirit of life returns to God and the man returns to the dust. God specifically told Adam, 'you are dust'. He didn't say you are a spirit or a soul that temporarily lives in a physical body.
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen. 3:19 KJV)