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Adventist view on the State of the Dead and Soul Sleep

reddogs

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Here is the Adventist site with the State of the Dead with the key points posted.

"What Happens After Death According to the Bible"​

Belief 26: Death and Resurrection

The wages of sin is death. But God, who alone is immortal, will grant eternal life to His redeemed. Until that day death is an unconscious state for all people. When Christ, who is our life, appears, the resurrected righteous and the living righteous will be glorified and caught up to meet their Lord. The second resurrection, the resurrection of the unrighteous, will take place a thousand years later. (Job 19:25-27; Ps. 146:4; Eccl. 9:5, 6, 10; Dan. 12:2, 13; Isa. 25:8; John 5:28, 29; 11:11-14; Rom. 6:23; 6:16; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; Col. 3:4; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 20:1-10.)

What really happens when we die?

The Bible says those who have died know nothing. That means we aren’t aware of the passage of time after death. We aren’t aware of what’s happening in the world.

Death is like a deep sleep. Your body and spirit rests as the breath of life—which makes body and soul one, and alive—has returned to God until the resurrection.

Whether you’ve lost a loved one or want to know what happens when you die, it’s a question that weighs on everyone’s mind at some point.

“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:5,6, ESV).

“and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7, ESV).


In the beginning God made man in the Garden of Eden from the dust of the earth. Then, He breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils.

In that moment Adam became a living being.

“Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7, ESV).

Notice the verse says Adam became a living creature when God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. The King James Version says it this way:

“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” (Genesis 2:7, KJV).

His breath is what made him a living soul – a living creature. When we die, we stop breathing and we rest. Nowhere in the Bible does it say the soul is separate from the body.

A soul is a living creature (see Genesis 2:7 above). A soul is the combination of a body plus the breath of life. The soul cannot exist without the body or the breath.

“…the body apart from the spirit is dead” (James 2:26, ESV).

“as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils” (Job 27:3, ESV).


We can see this idea illustrated by looking at a light bulb. Without electricity, a light bulb has no light. In order to produce light, both the lightbulb and the electricity are needed. Similarly, the body has no life without the breath of God. Your soul is not a separate being.

Some religions or denominations teach other ideas about what happens when we die. For instance, some people believe in purgatory, reincarnation, immortality of the soul, the afterlife, etc.

It is important when looking at different ideas about the state of the dead to weigh each teaching according to the Bible.

“If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20, NKJV).

The Bible says death is like a sleep and the dead know nothing. There is no need to worry about a loved one who has passed away. They are resting peacefully in the grave. They are not in pain. They are not somewhere else being tormented. They are simply waiting in the grave until Jesus comes back....

The First and Second Resurrections

The First Resurrection

When Jesus returns at the end of time, all who have died believing in Christ will have a bodily resurrection and go to Heaven with Him. This is the first resurrection.

This is the Good News! Believers have the hope of eternal life because they place their trust in the Lord Jesus.

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17, ESV).

The first resurrection happens when Christ returns. This resurrection is for those who were faithful to Christ and died. These resurrected people will join all the faithful Christians who are still living. Together they will go to Heaven.

The Second Resurrection

The second resurrection happens after the thousand years have passed. This resurrection is for those who were unfaithful to Christ. These are the lost people who decided not to follow Christ during their life on earth.

“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:5, ESV).

Unfortunately, these people are not raised to eternal life, but instead will face the second death.

What is the Second Death?

Those who are raised in the second resurrection will face judgement. They will die a final death that lasts forever.

“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14, ESV).

The second death is the eternal consequence of being separated from God. You may have pictures in your mind of eternal torment and suffering for the lost sinners – an eternal hell where fire burns the lost forever and ever...."

 

reddogs

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What Seventh-day Adventists Believe About Death and the Resurrection​


Seventh-day Adventists believe that death is like a sleep until Jesus Christ returns. At that time, those who died in Christ will be resurrected, or brought back to life. These righteous ones will go live with Jesus in heaven. Later, the unrighteous, those who rejected Christ, will also be resurrected and receive the consequences of their actions.

In this article, we’ll explore these Adventist beliefs in greater depth, helping you come away with hope. We’ll get into:

First, let’s take a look at what the Seventh-day Adventist Church says about this topic in its official fundamental beliefs:

Ready for some more detail from the Bible?

To understand the resurrection—coming back from the dead—we first need to understand what death is. We’ll begin there.

What happens when you die​


Adventists believe that when someone dies, their breath of life returns to God and they “sleep” unconsciously in the grave (Psalm 146:4), awaiting the resurrection. We call it “soul sleep” (John 11:11–14).

Here’s what Jesus told the Jews about the state of the dead:

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28–29, NKJV).
Jesus describes the dead as staying in their graves, awaiting resurrection—either to life or to condemnation.

The prophet Daniel also supports this:

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2, NKJV).
This verse shows that our destinies do not begin the moment we die, but at the resurrection.

The Bible uses many terms to describe the dead resting in the grave. It says the dead know nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5), all their plans die with them (Psalm 146:4), and they can’t praise God (Psalm 115:17).

All of these descriptions point to the state of unconsciousness in the grave. The dead aren’t aware of anything. They can’t think, move, love, hate, or even worship God. This is how they stay till the second coming of Christ.

This state of unconsciousness is like sleeping. When we sleep, we don’t know anything till we wake up. And when we fall asleep, it feels like just a moment before we wake up again, even if it’s been eight hours.

If death is indeed this state of unconsciousness, what happens to the soul during this time?

What do Adventists teach about the immortal soul?​

Adventists believe that the human soul is a combination of the breath of life from God and the body, just as we see in the Creation description (Genesis 2:7). When a person dies, this breath of life returns to God, and the body remains in the grave, meaning it loses the ability to live. It is not immortal.

Only God, according to Scripture, is immortal:

“The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:16, NKJV).
And the Bible shows in other places that the soul will indeed die with the body. Ezekiel says that “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20, NKJV).

The words “soul” or “spirit” are mentioned in the Bible over 1,600 times, but none in relation to the words “immortal” or “immortality.”1

Eternal life is promised to only those who accept Jesus Christ (1 John 5:11–12). We will receive that immortality once Jesus returns and gives us new bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53–55).

Are there any people in the Bible who didn’t die?​

There are a few exceptions in the Bible of people who didn’t die or didn’t remain in the grave when they died.

One of those people was Elijah, an Old Testament prophet. He appeared to Jesus before Jesus was crucified (Luke 9:28–36), though he had lived hundreds of years earlier.

This was because God took him to heaven in a chariot of fire while he was still alive (2 Kings 2).

Another example is Moses. Moses did die on the way to Canaan (Deuteronomy 34), but he didn’t remain in the grave for long. The New Testament implies that he was resurrected. Jude 9 describes a battle between Satan and Michael, the archangel, over Moses’ body. And in Luke 9, Moses was with Elijah when he appeared to Jesus.

All of this suggests that Moses didn’t go to heaven directly upon death but was instead resurrected—as a promise of the greater future resurrection of God’s people.

But before we get into the resurrection, let’s address one more question you might have.

What do Adventists believe about communicating with the dead?​


Speaking to the dead is something the Bible gives very clear guidance on. In the Old Testament, God instructed the Israelites:

“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord” (Deuteronomy 18:10–12, NKJV).
He gave similar instructions in Leviticus 19:31 and 20:27.

The thought of speaking with our deceased loved ones might seem comforting or encouraging when we miss them so much. Why, then, would God forbid it?

God warns us against these things because He doesn’t want us to be deceived or hurt. Because the dead are in a state of unconsciousness (Ecclesiastes 9:5–6), it’s impossible for them to speak with or see us.

And that means someone else must be impersonating those individuals.

Peter warns us to “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8, NKJV).

Revelation also warns us about “the spirits of demons, performing signs” (Revelation 16:14, NKJV).

Though it looks like we’re speaking with dead relatives, these “talking dead people” are deceptions—they are not our relatives.

These deceptions are another part of the Great Controversy—the battle between good and evil happening at this very minute. The devil tries any way possible to deceive us, including through this type of sorcery.

God’s warnings are simply meant to protect us from what will harm us in the long run.

Now that we have a biblical perspective on death, let’s turn to a more hopeful topic—the resurrection.

What happens at the resurrection​

Resurrection, in a general sense, is coming back to life. The big one Revelation talks about happens at the end of time when Jesus Christ returns to the earth.

There are two resurrections (John 5:28–29):

  1. The resurrection of life
  2. The resurrection of condemnation

The resurrection of life​

The resurrection of the righteous—of life—happens at Jesus’ second coming at the end of time. The Bible calls it the first resurrection (Revelation 20:5), and it is made up of all the people who believed in God but died before He returned. They are raised to life and go to heaven with Jesus.

Here’s what the apostle Paul says about it:

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16–17, NKJV).
This verse signifies our victory over the curse of sin afflicting every human being after Satan deceived Adam and Eve at the dawn of time. Jesus defeated sin when He died for us on the cross, but this event marks the end of it for God’s people.

We will get new bodies, free from disease, aches, and pains. These new bodies are immortal—they’ll never die again (1 Corinthians 15:53–55).

In heaven, the righteous will live forever, as promised to us in Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NKJV).
The Second Coming also fulfills another promise Jesus made to us when He said He was preparing mansions in heaven for His followers (John 14:1–3).

But what happens to the unrighteous—the wicked? Do they get resurrected, too? Yes, they do. That’s what the second resurrection is for.

The resurrection of condemnation​

This is the resurrection of all the wicked who ever lived, and it happens at the end of the 1,000 years.

What is the 1,000 years? Well, this is the time the righteous will have lived in heaven with Jesus after the first resurrection:

“But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 20:5, NKJV).
When Jesus returns at the Second Coming, the living wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming (2 Thessalonians 1:7–8; 2:8; Revelation 19:21).

At the end of those 1,000 years, Jesus and the righteous will descend from heaven to earth in the heavenly city, called the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2).

At this time, all the dead unrighteous will come to life. They’ll include all the unrighteous from throughout history.

Revelation 20 describes how Satan, who has been imprisoned on the destitute earth, will lead them toward the city, bent on destroying God and His people. But this will be the outcome of trying to fight against God:

“They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:9–10, NKJV).
These people are judged according to their deeds and then thrown into the lake of fire, or hell. The Bible calls this the “second death” (Revelation 20:14; 21:8), and it leads to their total and eternal destruction.

“These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9, NKJV).
Now, notice that their destruction is “everlasting.”

That means they are destroyed—annihilated—forever. This is where we get the term annihilationism. They will be dead forever.

But it doesn’t mean that the process of destroying them—the burning—will last forever. After all, a fire will naturally burn itself out unless it’s continually fed.

Thus, it’s the destruction these fires bring that will last forever. None of the people burned will ever return:

“For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more” (Psalm 37:10, NKJV).
The second resurrection makes it possible for God to judge those who died refusing the gift of eternal life. Though God longs for all to be saved (Ezekiel 18:31–32), He gives each individual free choice and respects when they choose against Him.

But because God also wants to provide a world free from sin for His followers, He must destroy all sin and sinners, including Satan and his angels.

 
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reddogs

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Why the resurrection is so meaningful​


There are two reasons why the end-time resurrection is so significant:

  1. The resurrection at the end times is closely connected to the resurrection of Christ. Because Jesus took our penalty for sin, He’s made it possible for us to be raised to life someday, just as God raised Him from the dead.
  2. Without the resurrection, everyone who died in Christ is gone forever.
Let’s dig into these two ideas a bit.

In 1 Corinthians 15, we find the connection between the end-times resurrection and Christ’s. Paul says,

“For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:13–14, NKJV).
One of our fundamental beliefs as Christians is that Christ rose from the dead on the third day. This belief gives us the hope of the resurrection and eternal life.

And it goes along with the second idea. If the resurrection at the end of time isn’t going to happen, everyone who died believing in Jesus has perished.

What exactly does “perish” mean?

The Greek word for “perish,” apolonto, means, “ruined, lost, perished, destroyed.”

This Greek word is also used in John 3:16, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish [apolonto] but have everlasting life” (NKJV).

John 3:16 isn’t merely talking about the death we experience at the end of our lives. It contrasts everlasting life with everlasting non-existence (death). Those who have rejected God will experience this non-existence after the second resurrection, but God’s people will receive what they have been hoping and longing for—eternity with God.

Why the biblical teachings of death and the resurrection matter to us today​

Death is never easy to cope with—and the Bible recognizes this and acknowledges the grief of losing those we love. But understanding death and the resurrection that comes after gives us hope. Even if we die, our faith in Jesus assures us that there is hope beyond the grave.

This thought takes away the fear of death. Jesus reassures us that:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26, NKJV).
When we give ourselves to Him, there’s nothing He wants more than to look out for us and make sure we have eternal life.

But receiving eternal life depends on the choices we make now. As much as God loves us, He also respects our freedom of choice. By telling us about death and the resurrection in Scripture, He helps us understand our options, leading us to choose our destiny.


 
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reddogs

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The State of the Dead​

Old Testament writers consistently held that humanity is an indivisible living being. The various Hebrew terms usually translated as flesh, soul, and spirit are just alternative ways to describe, from different points of view, the human person as a whole. In harmony with this perspective, the Scriptures use different metaphors to describe death. Among them, sleep stands out as a fitting symbol to reflect the biblical understanding of the condition of the dead (see Job 3:11-13, Job 14:12, Ps. 13:3, Jer. 51:39, Dan. 12:2). Death is the total end of life. Death is a state of unconsciousness in which there are no thoughts, emotions, works, or relationships of any kind (Eccles. 9:5-6, Eccles. 9:10; Ps. 115:17; Ps. 146:4).

By the time of Jesus, however, this view of humanity, and particularly of death, was challenged by the pagan dualistic concept of the immortality of the soul, which was rapidly propagating throughout the known world.

How did Jesus describe the death of His friend Lazarus? See John 11:11.

Despite this and other passages, a number of Christians argue that Jesus believed in the immortality of the soul, for He said to the thief on the cross: Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43, NKJV). The meaning of this text changes entirely, depending on where the commas are placed. (The oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament don’t have punctuation marks). If the comma is placed after you, as most Bible versions render the text, it means that Jesus and the thief went to Paradise that same day; if the comma is after today, the text means that Jesus assured the thief his future redemption. Actually, Jesus’ words emphasize assurance of salvation, not the timing of the thief’s entrance into heaven. The context confirms this. To begin with, the thief had not asked for an immediate transfer to heaven at death but rather to be remembered when the Lord would come into His kingdom. Moreover, three days later Jesus Himself affirmed that He had not yet ascended to Paradise (John 20:17). This text, therefore, does not teach that the souls of the dead go to heaven after death.

At Creation, the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. As a result, man became a living being (Gen. 2:7, NKJV). As long as God maintains the breath of life in the living creatures, they are alive. But when He takes away their breath, they die and return to dust (Ps. 104:29, Eccles. 12:7). This is not an arbitrary decision of God; it is the inevitable consequence of sin. But the good news is that, through Christ, there is hope, even in death.

Read John 1:1-4. What is implied in these verses that shows us the power of Jesus to raise the dead?

Christ has life in Himself, for He is the life (John 14:6). He created everything and has the power to give life to whom He wills (John 5:21). Thus, He can raise the dead.

How does resurrection happen? See Luke 8:54-55.

According to the Bible, resurrection is the reversal of death. Life is restored when the breath of life comes back from God. That is how Luke explained the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter. After learning that the twelve-year-old girl had passed away, Jesus went to the house and told the mourners that she was sleeping. Then He took her by the hand and called, saying, Little girl, arise. Then her spirit [pneuma] returned, and she arose immediately (Luke 8:54-55, NKJV). At Jesus’ divine command, the life principle imparted by God returned to the girl. The Greek term that Luke used, pneuma, means wind, breath, or spirit. When the Bible uses it in relation to human beings, it never denotes a conscious entity capable of existence apart from the body. In this text it clearly refers to the breath of life.

Jesus affirmed that a time will come when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth (John 5:28-29, NKJV, emphasis added). Believers and unbelievers, righteous and sinners, saved and lost, all will be raised. As Paul declared, there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15, NKJV).

Though all are, eventually, raised from the dead, all will face only one of two eternal fates. What are they? John 5:28-29.

The universality of the resurrection doesn’t mean that at the final day everybody will be ushered into a blissful and joyful eternal life. Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2, NKJV).

The Bible teaches that God will judge the lives of every human being, deciding the eternal destiny of each person who ever lived (Eccles. 12:14, Rom. 2:1-11). The execution of the divine sentence, however, does not occur immediately after the death of each individual but only after his or her resurrection. Until then, both the saved and the lost sleep unconsciously in the dust. The resurrection, by itself, is neither a reward nor a punishment. It is the precondition to receiving eternal life or condemnation.

Speaking of the two resurrections, Jesus indicated that our destiny will be decided on the basis of the moral quality of our deeds (good or bad). This fact, however, doesn’t mean that works save us. On the contrary, Jesus clearly taught that our salvation depends exclusively on our faith in Him as our Savior (John 3:16). Why, then, are works taken into consideration? Because they show whether our faith in Christ and our surrender to Him are genuine or not (James 2:18). Our works demonstrate whether we are still dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1, NKJV) or dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:11, NKJV).

Jesus used two Greek terms, hades and gehenna, to speak about death and the punishment of the unrighteous. Given the popular belief in the meaning hell, we need to consider it carefully. Hades is equivalent to the Hebrew she’ôl, the most common Old Testament term for the realm of the dead. These names simply represent the grave or the place to which all descend at death, with no connotation of punishment or reward. There is one text, however, where hades appears to be connected with punishment. It is in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
Read Luke 16:19-31. What is the basic lesson that this parable sets forth (see especially Luke 16:27-31)? What’s wrong with using this parable to teach that human beings go to paradise or hell immediately after death?
This parable is not focused on the state of man in death. A popular but unbiblical belief that many of Jesus’ contemporaries held provided the background for this parable, which teaches an important lesson: our future destiny is determined by the decisions we make daily in this life. If we reject the light God grants us here, there is no opportunity after death. Any attempt to interpret this parable literally leads to many insoluble problems. Actually, the details of the picture seem purposely awkward in order to show us that Jesus did not intend His words to be taken literally, but figuratively.

What warnings did Jesus pronounce regarding hell? See Matt. 5:22, Matt. 5:29-30; Matt. 23:33.
In many Bible translations, the word hell appears eleven times on Jesus’ lips. He actually used the Greek term gehenna, from the Hebrew name Gê Hinnom, Valley of Hinnom. According to the Old Testament, in this gorge south of Jerusalem, kings Ahaz and Manasseh conducted the horrendous pagan rite of burning children to Molech (2 Chron. 28:3; 2 Chron. 33:6). Later, godly king Josiah brought the practice to a halt (2 Kings 23:10). Because of the sins perpetrated in it, Jeremiah prophesied that God would make the place a valley of slaughter (Jer. 7:32-33; Jer. 19:6). Hence, for the Jews, the valley became a symbol of the last judgment and the punishment of the impenitent. Jesus used the name figuratively, without explaining any details regarding the time and place of the punishment, which we find in other biblical passages. Hell, though, is not a place of eternal punishment.

Though Jesus had raised two others from the dead, none was as dramatic as this. Lazarus had been dead for four days, a fact that Martha corroborated at the graveside. Jesus performed the miracle in the full light of day before a crowd of respected witnesses from Jerusalem. The evidence couldn’t be dismissed.

Still, far more important than Lazarus’ resurrection was Jesus’ own resurrection. Since He has life in Himself, He not only has the power to raise the dead and give life to whom He wills (John 5:21), but He also has the power to lay down His own life and take it again (John 10:17-18). His resurrection proved this convincingly.

What is the relationship between Christ’s resurrection and ours? Why is His resurrection so important for our salvation? See 1 Cor. 15:17-20.

Christ’s power to break the bonds of death is undisputed. He arose from the sepulcher as the first fruits of those who slept in Him. His resurrection is the guarantee of every believer’s resurrection, for He has the keys of death (Rev. 1:17-18).

To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will: He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity. — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 786, 787.

Death is so powerful that only the One who first created life can restore it.

Ellen G. White, Lazarus, Come Forth, p. 524-536, and The Lord Is Risen, p. 779-787, in The Desire of Ages.

The voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. He looks upon the graves of the righteous, then, raising His hands to heaven, He cries: Awake, awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise! Throughout the length and breadth of the earth the dead shall hear that voice, and they that hear shall live. . . . From the prison house of death they come, clothed with immortal glory, crying: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Corinthians 15:55. And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory. — Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 644.

 
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This thread was moved from Denominational Specific Theology as there is discussion of annihilationism, which can only be discussed in this forum.
 
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Back to the OP. The Adventist position on the state of the dead, has always been the Christian position (just not the catholic position, a pagan-derived and teleogistic view, according to their own scholars and statements), as this material demonstrates in Chapter 38, pages 209-294 - Sincerely Dead Dying, To Know Jesus by brother Aaron Earnest : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
 
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Blueprints

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View attachment 380350
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State of the Dead Book Listing Recommendations for Reading (resources)

Annihilation and Soul Sleep Historical Sources (Baptists, Methodists, Syrians, Arabians) - State Of The Dead & Annihilation Hellfire Non SDA Quotes : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The Soul Sleepers - Chapter 4 The Major Seventeenth Century Advocates -
Emmanuel Petavel Olliff - The Problem of Immortality - Doctrine - Emmanuel Petavel Olliff - The Problem Of Immortality : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Charles L Ives - The Bible Doctrine of the Soul An Answer to the Question - Doctrine - Charles L Ives - The Bible Doctrine Of The Soul An Answer To The Question : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Albert C. Johnson - Conditional Immortality - Doctrine - Albert C. Johnson - Conditional Immortality : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

A Debate on the State of the Dead - Nathaniel Field Vs Thomas P Connelly - Doctrine - A Debate On The State Of The Dead - Nathaniel Field Vs Thomas P Connelly : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Henry Grew (Baptist) - State of the Dead &c. Owned by Joseph Frisbie, With His Personal Markings - Doctrine - Henry Grew (Baptist) - State Of The Dead &c Owned By Joseph Frisbie, With His Personal Markings : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Stephen Bohr - Secrets Unsealed - State of the Dead & Hellfire Sermons - https://archive.org/details/immorta...dead-pr.-stephen-bohr-state-of-the-dead-3-abn

Christian Mortalism From Tyndale to Milton by Norman T. Burns - https://archive.org/details/christian-mortalism-from-tyndale-to-milton-by-norman-t.-burns-z-lib.org

William Tyndale - Tyndales Answer to Sir Thomas More - https://archive.org/details/doctrine-william-tyndale-tyndales-answer-to-sir-thomas-more

Wenham John - The Case for Conditional Immortality - https://archive.org/details/doctrine-wenham-john-the-case-for-conditional-immortality

Vladimir Baranozv - Sleep of the Soul [18177565 Scrinium] “Angels in the Guise of Saints” A Syrian Tradition in Constantinople - https://archive.org/details/doctrin...-the-soul-18177565-scrinium-angels-in-the-gui

Life And Immortality by Basil Atkinson - https://archive.org/details/doctrine-life-and-immortality-by-basil-atkinson

Glenn A Peoples - Soul Sleep - Rethinking Hell Chapter 2 - https://archive.org/details/doctrine-glenn-a-peoples-soul-sleep-rethinking-hell-chapter-2

Dirk Krausmuller - Soul Sleep - [18177565 Scrinium] Christian Platonism and the Debate About Afterlife - https://archive.org/details/doctrin...p-18177565-scrinium-christian-platonism-and-t

Christopher M Date - Soul Sleep - 18. MJTM. 69 92 Date - https://archive.org/details/doctrine-christopher-m-date-soul-sleep-18.-mjtm.-69-92-date

Richard Whately - A View of the Scripture Revelations Concerning A Future State - https://archive.org/details/doctrin...ripture-revelations-concerning-a-future-state

H H Dobney & John Milton - The Scripture Doctrine of Future Punishment An Argument - https://archive.org/details/doctrin...ure-doctrine-of-future-punishment-an-argument

George Storrs - An Inquiry Are the Wicked Immortal in Six Sermons Also Have the Dead Knowledge Which is Prefixed An Extract on the Second Death by Archbishop Whately - https://archive.org/details/doctrin...re-the-wicked-immortal-in-six-sermons-also-ha

D M Canright - A History of the Doctrine of the Soul Among All Races and Peoples, Ancient and Modern...; Carefully Brought Down to the Present Time - https://archive.org/details/sda-d-m...octrine-of-the-soul-among-all-races-and-peopl

John Milton (Paradise Lost) - https://archive.org/details/doctrine-the-state-of-the-dead-john-milton-paradise-lost

F. Gavin - The Sleep of the Soul in the Early Syriac Church - https://archive.org/details/doctrine-f.-gavin-the-sleep-of-the-soul-in-the-early-syriad-church

Bryan W. Ball - Sixteenth Century Continental Conditionalists - https://archive.org/details/doctrine-bryan-w.-ball-sixteenth-century-continental-conditionalists

Aphrahat By J. Edward Walters - Sleep of the Soul and Resurrection of the Body - https://archive.org/details/doctrin...leep-of-the-soul-and-resurrection-of-the-body

Hell & Mr. Fudge - Edward Fudge - https://archive.org/details/hell-mr-fudge

LeRoy Edwin Froom - The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers Volume 01 - https://archive.org/details/doctrin...conditionalist-faith-of-our-fathers-volume-01

LeRoy Edwin Froom - The Conditionalist Faith of our Fathers Volume 02 - https://archive.org/details/doctrin...conditionalist-faith-of-our-fathers-volume-02

Secrets Unsealed - Stephen Bohr - Misunderstood Texts on the State of the Dead - https://archive.org/details/secrets...-misunderstood-texts-on-the-state-of-the-dead
 
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Hentenza

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The two main denominational proponents of soul sleep are the SDAs and the Jehovah Witnesses. The belief is also held by several smaller Christian denominations and restorationist groups, most notably the Christadelphians. Mainstream Christian denominations like Catholic Church, EO, Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and others do not believe in soul sleep. That makes the believers of this doctrine around 1.3% of Christians which is very far from being “the” Christian position.
 
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