The present-day afterlife and what you tell children?

[JohnClay]

I was wondering what your beliefs are about what dead people are up to now... are they just unconscious in their graves waiting until the end of the world? Are they in heaven or hell? Some Christians would tell children that their deceased loved one is watching over them in heaven with Jesus. Is that accurate?

 

[HTacianas]

I was wondering what your beliefs are about what dead people are up to now... are they just unconscious in their graves waiting until the end of the world? Are they in heaven or hell? Some Christians would tell children that their deceased loved one is watching over them in heaven with Jesus. Is that accurate?

There are several different answers to your question. The simple answer is that those who have lived worthy enough lives pass directly into the presence of God -heaven- while those who lived purely evil lives pass into hell. But there is an intermediate state that souls pass through between here and there that is most fully developed in the Roman doctrine of Purgatory, a place of temporal punishment before one enters heaven. There are different punishments for different people, and different standards for different people.

But as far as children go I'm sure that everyone tells them their grandma has gone off to heaven. Watching over them or otherwise.