THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

THE NEW TESTAMENT PARESCHATOLOGIES

SUBMITTED TO DR. ROBERT R. CARGILL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF 20E:145 MYTHOLOGY OF OTHERWORLDLY JOURNEYS

BY

2 CORY TAYLOR DECEMBER 14, 2011

3 INTRODUCTION Since the earliest days of the Church, Christians have tried to gather information from the NT about the intermediate state between death and the eschaton. What, however, does the NT teach about this subject? To provide an answer to this question, I will first place the NT pareschatologies1 within their broader Jewish context, then I will survey each NT authors writings in chronological order, in order to discover what exactly they teach about an intermediate state. I conclude with the argument that the NT does not, in fact, provide a uniform picture of the intermediate state; instead, each author speculated about the intermediate state based on his sources, background, and situation, writing as he saw fit. HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION The traditional doctrine of the Church, starting with the Fathers and running down through contemporary times, is that the souls of the dead do spend their time in an intermediate state. In the Apostolic Fathers, martyrs enter into a blissful state at death, to be consummated at the eschaton.2 Of the Church Fathers, Athenagoras, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Gregory of Nyssa all taught the existence of an intermediate state, mainly because the soul, which is immortal, needs a place to go between death and the resurrection.3
1 I am indebted to Hick 1976, 22 for this term. We should distinguish between eschatology (the last things) and pareschatology (the next-to-last thingsthe state between death and the eschaton). 2 See, for example, 1 Clem. 5:4, 7; 6:2; Mart. Pol. 2:7; Herm. Vis. iii.1.9-2.1. I owe these citations to Bruce 1973, 79, 88. 3 Athenagoras, Res. 12-15; Irenaeus, Haer. 2.34-35; Tertullian, Res. 14-17; Gregory of Nyssa, On the Resurrection of the Dead; Ambrose, On Belief in the Resurrection 21, 88. See also Ps.-Justin, Res. 8. I owe these citations to Bonsu 1991, 169.

4 The official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is that an intermediate state exists. Specifically, Catholic doctrine is that, at death, the soul is judged and sent to heaven, limbo, purgatory, or hell to await the final resurrection.4 The doctrines of purgatory and limbo are, of course, peculiar to the Catholic Church, but the Reformers also held to the idea of an intermediate state, and some Protestants, along with the Catholics, declare it doctrine.5 Thus, from the beginnings of the Church through contemporary times, an intermediate state has been traditional doctrine. However, scholars are divided on whether the NT teaches an intermediate state. Some, such as Osei Bonsu, Oscar Cullman, and N. T. Wright, follow traditional doctrine and argue that the NT does, in fact, teach specific things about an intermediate state.6 Others, such as Murray J. Harris and F. F. Bruce, claim, on the basis of 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, that the soul faces no intermediate state after death.7 Finally, Karel Hanhart claims that the NT authors regarded the intermediate state as terra incognita and thus, by and large, were not very concerned with providing specifics about what happens after death.8 JEWISH SETTING OF THE NT PARESCHATOLOGIES

4 See, for example, the New Catholic Encyclopedia, 13.463 and its many citations of Denzingers Sources of Catholic Dogma. 5 On the Reformers, see Luther, Letter to Amsdorf, Jan. 13, 1552; Calvin, Institutes 3.25.7. On Protestants, see, e.g., Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 32. 6 Bonsu 1991, Cullmann 1958, Wright 2003. 7 Harris 1970, 1971, 1974, 1983, Bruce 1971. 8 Hanhart 1966, 45-46, 104-105.

5 Before exploring the NT itself, it is fitting to situate the writings within their Second-Temple Jewish context. While the Hebrew Bible is largely silent on the topic of a future resurrection (and, thus, an intermediate state), during the Second-Temple period, the resurrection became, more or less, the standard Jewish teaching, and along with it came speculation on the nature of the intermediate state.9 For example, 1 Enoch clearly teaches that the souls of the righteous are kept in peace and the souls of the wicked are kept in torment until the eschatological judgment (1 En. 1:8; 22:1-4; 102:4-5; 104:1-4; 108:11-15.). Likewise, in 2 Maccabees, the dead face a two-stage afterlife (an intermediate state, then the eschaton). In Wisdom of Solomon, the righteous (that is, the martyrs) are safe in Gods hands after they die, as they await their vindication at the eschaton (Wis. 3:1-10). In Ps.-Philo, like in 2 Maccabees, the dead face a two-stage post-mortem process; first, they enjoy a temporary, blissful rest, asleep in heaven with the fathers, then they are resurrected to live in the new heaven and new earth (LAB 3:10; 19:12-13; 23:13; 25:7; 28:10; 51:5). For Josephus, the righteous dead are currently in a blissful state, awaiting the resurrection (War 3.374). Thus, it is clear that the mainstream Jewish teaching was that, after death, the soul is kept in an intermediate state until the resurrection at the end of time; moreover, in light of the prevalence of this teaching, we should assume, unless proven

Wright 2003, 129.

6 otherwise, that the NT authors followed the general contours of this teaching. PAUL Pauls letters are the earliest Christian documents we have; he wrote during the churchs most formative years, when it still expected the Parousia to come at any moment, and we see in his letters that his thought about the afterlife progressed and matured as, contrary to his expectation, the first generation of Christians began to die. This watershed realization, that the Parousia would likely not happen before the first Christiansespecially Paul himselfdied, drove Paul to think more deeply about what exactly would transpire after someone dies. Early in Pauls career, his pareschatology is quite general: the dead in Christ are simply asleep until the Parousia, at which point they are raised or awakenedthat is, resurrectedand God brings them with him down to the earth.10 In fact, Paul makes no direct mention of the intermediate state during this period; instead, we are left to infer an intermediate state through the gap in time between the believers deaths and the Parousia, which Paul, at this point, still expected to see in his lifetime.11

10 Hick 1976, 187-188. 11 Interestingly, Paul refers to death as sleep only in 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians (both of which he wrote during this period); it is highly plausible that, because of how brief he expected the intermediate state to be, he did not devote very much time unlike his forebears and contemporariesto thinking about what it would be like (Hanhart 1966, 109). It is also noteworthy that, unlike Wisdom of Solomon and, later, Revelation, Paul does not refer to the soul as being asleepfor Paul, it is not the soul but the body that is asleep while the believer is in the intermediate state (Wright 2003, 216).

7 Later in his career, Paul has a change of thought. He has realized that he will likely die before the eschaton, so he thinks through the nature of the intermediate state more fully. In discussing his own fate after death, he teaches that, after death, the person appears before Christ to be judged, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor 5:10). He expresses anxiety that he will be found naked and hopes instead that he will be further clothed with immortality (2 Cor 5:3-4).12 Ultimately, though, Paul is assured that he will be with Christ after death, because God has guaranteed it through the Holy Spirit and Christ has made Paul his own (2 Cor 5:5; Phil 1:21-23; 3:12). At this point in his career, Paul also clearly believes in an underworld where the dead await the Parousia; he cites a hymn or confession that teaches a threestory universe (heaven, earth, and underworld) and modifies a passage from Deuteronomy to discuss Jesus descending to the underworld (Phil 2:5-11; Rom 10:6-7).13

12 We may observe that Pauls scenario of post-mortem judgment finds its root in Gods judgment of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve, originally being naked and unashamed, became aware of their nakedness after eating the forbidden fruit, so they made poor, flimsy garments for themselves from leaves. However, God, after casting judgment against them, made them superior garments from animal skin. In the same way, Paul is anxious that he, too, will be found naked, the ragged garments he is currently wearing (that is, his sinfulness and mortality) having been stripped away, but he also hopes that he will receive a superior garment (immortality) after being judged. For a later illustration of this same theme, see LAE Apoc. 22:1-23:5. 13 In Romans 10:6-7 [But the righteousness that comes from faith says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down) or Who will descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).], Paul modifies Deuteronomy 30:12-13 (It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?).

8 Several themes are not specific to either his earlier or later periods. One such theme is that death is Gods enemy, which Jesus defeated through his resurrection (1 Cor 15:26, 54-55).14 Even when Paul talks about death as Gods punishment for sin, he always counters that notion with the good news that Jesus has conquered death.15 Throughout his career, Paul maintained that death does not separate the believer from Christthat Christ, because he has conquered death, gives believers the power not to avoid death, but to go through death and survive it (Rom 7:24; 8:10, 13, 33-39; 1 Thess 5:910).16 Moreover, Christ, as the the first fruits of those who have died (1 Cor 15:20), is a signal that the rest of the dead would soon ripen, so to speak, and rise from the dead, as well.17 DEUTERO-PAUL The value of the Deutero-Pauline letters for this paper is that they provide clear evidence of Pauls doctrine, as received by early Pauline Christianity. In these letters specifically, Ephesiansthe Pauline community believed that Jesus descended into the underworld after his death, which, along with Philippians 2:5-11 and Romans 10:6-7, is evidence that Paul taught the existence of an underworld where souls spend the intermediate state (Eph 4:9). This community also believed that the resurrection had already begun, in a spiritual sense, picking up on Pauls discussion of the

14 15 16 17

Cullmann 1958, 24, 27. We may see one such pair in Rom 5:12 and 6:23. cf. Hick 1976, 207. Segal 2004, 437; Cullmann 1958, 10-11. Segal 2004, 403.

9 spiritual body in 1 Corinthians 15 (Eph 2:4-7).18 Thus, the Deutero-Pauline letters serve as further proof that Paul taught an intermediate state. JAMES The letter of James does not explicitly teach that the dead occupy an intermediate state; however, as noted above, this teaching was standard Jewish doctrine during the first century CE, so we must assume, since the author nowhere contradicts this doctrine, that he believed it. Thus, we may glean from the letter to learn, at least, who the author thought would inhabit what places in the intermediate state. Throughout the letter, the author is quite clear that God will judge the rich for their richesmore specifically, for being unjust to the poorand that he has chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him.19 Thus, the author teaches that the current positions of the rich and poor will be exchanged in the afterlifethe common Jewish theme of eschatological reversal.20 In addition, the author picks up on the theme, seen especially in the Maccabean literature, that martyrs will enjoy a special place in the afterlife; he says that, when they die, martyrs will receive the crown of life (Jas 1:12). However, he immediately makes a play on the test (peirasmos) the martyrs face, applying the martyrs reward to all those who withstand sins
18 We must note that in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul provides no specific information about when the believer receives the spiritual body; this passage is thus an inference on the part of the Ephesians community, attempting to clarify what Paul left unclear. 19 On the rich facing miseries for their riches and injustice, see James 1:9-11; 2:1-7; 5:4-6. On God having chosen the poor (the quotation above), see James 2:5. 20 See Lev 19:13; Deut 24:15; Prov 11:28; 1 En. 94; T. Job 12:4; Ps.-Phoc. 9-21.

10 temptation (peirasmos). Therefore, in James, we see the expansion of the martyrs reward of immortality and bliss after death to anyone who truly believes, as well as a strong condemnation of anyone who is rich and unjust (James 1:12-15; cf. 2:14-26). HEBREWS The letter to the Hebrews is an oddity in the NT, not least for its teaching about the intermediate state. Whereas the other NT authors think of the intermediate state as something that will happen to believers, the author of Hebrews says that it was something that did happen to believers (that is, the ancient faithful in ch. 11), but was abolished with Jesus crucifixion and resurrection. He says that the faithful who died before Jesus career went to a blessed intermediate realm when they died, which God set up so that they wouldnt reach perfection without the post-Easter believers (Heb 11:13-16, 39-40). But now, since Jesus has died as an atoning sacrifice, believers, including the ancient faithful, go to heaven (Heb 10:11-12, 25-26; 12:23). This view, of course, is quite different from the NT books we have seen (and will see). But it is worth noting that this discussion takes place in a hortatory contextthe author is exhorting his readers both to be faithful to God to the point of martyrdom (like Jesus was) and to live and worship rightly; otherwise, they run the chance of not being able to go to heaven, to be with the rest of the deceased saints.21
21 Segal 2004, 388-389.

11 MARK In comparison with the other two Synoptic Gospels, Mark does not say very much about an intermediate state. Since he wrote to a community facing severe persecution and was focused on Jesus martyr-death, his teachings seem aimed toward providing hope for such a community. First, like in James, the fates of the rich and the poor will be reversedmany who are first will be last, and the last will be first (Mk 10:31). Second, in order to enter Gods kingdom, one must sacrifice ones life and possessions both for Christ and for his message (Mk 8:34-28; 10:21). Thus, third, not only is it difficult for rich people to enter Gods kingdom, it is difficult for anyone to enter Gods kingdom, due to the extreme self-sacrifice required (Mk 9:42-49; 10:24). However, for those who are able to enter the kingdom, they are alive after death and enjoy Gods presence consciously (Mk 12:18-27). Thus, though Marks teaching about the intermediate state is sparse, its aim is to provide hope to a dejected community of Christians facing fierce persecution, through explaining to them that their trials qualify them for a blissful post-mortem state. MATTHEW In the passages Matthew gains from Mark, he largely follows Marks lead in terms of what earthly actions allow one to enter Gods kingdom; the rich have more trouble than the poor in entering the kingdom, martyrdom and extreme self-sacrifice for Jesus sake ensure that one will receive eternal life, and the intermediate state is conscious and its inhabitants are

12 considered alive (Mt 10:37-39; 16:24-25; 19:23, 27-30; 22:23-33). However, in the double-tradition material, eschatological reversal gains a moral dimensiononly those who are truly righteous will be able to enter the kingdom (Mt 5:3, 6, 20, 27-30; 16:27; 25:31-46). One may, of course, easily explain this recasting of eschatological reversal; Matthew was concerned with identifying Jesus as the new lawgiver (as in the Sermon on the Mount), so it is consistent that he made having complete righteousness a condition for entering the kingdom. Finally, Matthew places the judgment at the eschaton, not immediately after death; in this scene, those whom Jesus welcomes into the kingdom are those who have been just with the needy, while the unjust receive eternal punishment (Mt 23:41-46).22 Therefore, for Matthew, the souls of the deceased go to the intermediate state to await judgment not just for their social position while alive, though this criterion certainly factors into the judgment, but also for whether they were just toward the needy and righteous in terms of the Law. LUKE-ACTS Like Matthew, where Luke inherits Gospel material from Mark, he largely leaves it unchanged: eternal life is given for martyrdom and extreme self-sacrifice for Jesus sake, and the rich have more trouble than the poor in entering Gods kingdom (Lk 9:23-27; 18:18-30). However, Lukes treatment of the double-tradition material is a clear departure from Matthew. Whereas in Matthew, righteousness is the basis of eschatological reversal, in Lukes
22 Hick 1976, 38, 183.

13 eschatological reversal is purely economic (Lk 6:20-21, 24-25; 16:19-31; 18:18-30). Note, for instance, the differences in Matthews and Lukes versions of the Beatitudes. Matthews Beatitudes have a distinct moral dimension: the heavenly inheritance goes to the spiritually impoverished, and satisfaction goes to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt 5:3, 6); however, in Lukes Beatitudes, the heavenly inheritance goes to the materially impoverished, satisfaction goes to those whose bellies hunger, and, moreover, condemnation goes to those whose lives are easy (Lk 6:2021, 24-25). In addition, because his corpus includes Acts, Luke (among the three Synoptic authors) says the most about what he thinks the intermediate state will be like. For instance, for Luke, the souls of the deceased are conscious while in the intermediate state, which takes place in a netherworld, Hades, with the same division of bliss and punishment as the final state (Lk 13:23-30 16:19-31; 23:42-43; Acts 2:27-31).23 In Hades, the rich get torment and the poor get blessing while they await the eschatological judgment, where these states will be confirmed for eternity (Luke 13:23-30); salvation comes for the poor in the fact that God will vindicate them; salvation comes for the rich through repenting from their injustice.24 Everyoneincluding Jesusgoes to Hades when they die, but Jesus is the only person who has escaped Hades and ascended to Heaven (Acts 2:24-31; 13:35-37). However, contradicting the idea that everyone goes to Hades, Luke teaches that martyrs become
23 24 Bonsu 1991, 174; Hick 1976, 38; Hanhart 1966, 45. Hanhart 1966, 199; Hick 1976, 187-188.

14 angels at their deaths and go directly to heaven, where Christ receives them (Acts 6:15; 7:55-60; cf. Dan 12:2).25 Even with this contradiction, though, it is clear the Luke provides his readers with a good deal of information about the intermediate state. JOHN The Johannine corpus says very little about the precise nature of the afterlife, except that believers will have eternal life (Jn 4:13-14; 5:39-40; 6:29; 8:12, 51; 10:10, 27-28; 14:6; 17:2-3, 20-24) and will be resurrected at the eschaton (Jn 6:35-40, 44), and nonbelievers will be condemned (3:14-19, 36; 5:24; 12:44-50).26 It is likely that Johns eternal life and condemnation refer both to the intermediate and final state; however, this inference is the furthest the data will allow us to go without resorting to pure speculation.27 REVELATION The focus of the book of Revelation is to encourage Christians to be faithful in the face of persecution from Rome, even if such faithfulness entails being martyred. To this end, Revelation mainly describes the post-mortem fate of the martyrs and the persecutors, though it does include some information about what happens to everyone else. Specifically, martyrs find themselves in Heaven, purified through Jesus blood and experiencing eternal contentment and bliss as they serve God forever (Rev 6:9-11; 7:9-

25 26 27

Segal 2004, 466. Hick 1976, 246. Wright 2003, 447.

15 17).28 These martyrs are pure, undefiled, and blameless, and are the first fruits of the harvest for God and the Lamb but anyone who worships Caesar receives the punishment of eternal fire (Rev 14:1-12).29 The martyrs are blessed to take part in the first resurrection, in which they reign with Christ for 1000 yearsin other words, they reign with Christ for a very long time (Rev 20:4-6). After the 1000 years are over, the general resurrection comes. The sea, Death, and Hades give up their dead, and the dead are judged according to their deeds; they are condemned if their names are not found written in the Book of Life (Rev 20:11-13). Then, Death, Hades, and the wicked dead are thrown into the second death, the lake of fire (Rev 20:1415). We may make two observations about Revelations intermediate state. First, Revelation actually has two resurrectionsone for martyrs and one for everyone elsein contrast with the rest of the NT, which only has one. Thus, second, the intermediate state is shorter for martyrs and they are guaranteed not to be condemned to the second death. FIRST PETER Though 1 Peter certainly seems to teach an intermediate state, with its discussion of Christ making a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah
28 Note the similarities between the state of the souls under the altar in Rev 6:9-11 and the rich man and Lazarus in Lk 16:19-31: The dead are conscious of their surroundings; the dead retain their memories; and they not only gain their ability to reason, but also gain an acuteness of perception. See Harris 1986, 48. 29 Note the similarity between the martyrs here as first fruits and Stephens burial in Acts 8:2; Stephens burial is, literally, the ingathering of the harvest.

16 (1 Pet 3:19) and stating that the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead (1 Pet 4:6), it is now scholarly consensus that the spirits in prison are fallen angels, following 1 Enoch and 2 Enoch and that the dead, to whom the gospel was proclaimed, were Christians who heard the gospel before they died.30 Thus, the only thing we learn from 1 Peter about an intermediate state is that deceased believers live spiritually, as God does (1 Pet 4:6).31 JUDE, SECOND PETER The view of the intermediate state in Jude and 2 Peter is a mixture of Jewish apocalyptic and Hellenistic cosmology; the fallen angels are in gloomy chains (as in 1 and 2 Enoch) in Tartarus (as in the Hellenistic cosmology) (2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6). The unrighteous who die are kept under punishment until the eschaton, when, like the fallen angels in the Enochic literature, they will be sentenced to Tartarus (Jude 13; 2 Pet 2:9, 17). The books say nothing about the post-mortem state of the righteous. PASTORALS To judge from the Pastorals, the confessions of later Pauline Christianity featured eternal life quite often, and confessing belief in eternal life was part of a formal conversion for this group (1 Tim 1:15-17; 6:12; Titus 3:3-7). Another confession states that the dead-in-Christ will be resurrected and that martyrs will reign with Christ (2 Tim 2:11-13). In the mind of the community of the Pastorals, against the teaching of the Ephesians community noted above, the resurrection has not happened yet (2 Tim 2:16-18; cf. Eph 2:4-7).
30 31 cf. Dubis 2010, 120-121; Hanhart 1966, 223-224; Dalton 1989. Harris 1986, 48.

17 Finally, the community sets forth a pareschatology, cast as Pauls experience, teaching that Jesus will judge the living and the dead and that Paul expects to receive the crown of righteousness, which is laid up for [him], at the Day of Judgment, but knows hell die before then (2 Tim 4:6-8). Thus, he (along with all the rest of the dead who have loved [Jesus] appearing [2 Tim 4:8]) will be kept in some intermediate state until the eschaton. CONCLUSION We have seen, in this quick survey of the NT, that the NT does not teach one uniform pareschatology; instead, each author speculated about the intermediate state based on his sources, background, and situation, writing as he saw fit. Though each of the authors believes in an intermediate state, they do not agree on the specifics of what will happen to people between their deaths and the eschaton. The closest the NT comes to an encapsulation of Christian pareschatology is, ironically, James, which shows the pareschatological themes of martyrdom, righteousness, and eschatological reversal; however, the NT has outliers to this model, like John, Hebrews, and Jude/2 Peter.

18 WORKS CITED Bonsu, Osei. The Intermediate State in the New Testament. Scottish Journal of Theology 44 (1991): 161-194. Bruce, F. F. Paul on Immortality. Scottish Journal of Theology 24 (1971): 457-472. ________. Eschatology in the Apostolic Fathers. Pages 77-89 in The Heritage of the Early Church: Essays in Honor of Georges Vasilievich Florovsky on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday. Edited by David Neiman and Margaret Schatkin. Rome: Pontifical Institute of Eastern Studies, 1973. Cullmann, Oscar. Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead? The Witness of the New Testament. London: Epworth, 1958. Dalton, William J. Christs Proclamation to the Spirits: A Study of 1 Peter 3:18-4:6. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1989. Dubis, Mark. 1 Peter: A Handbook on the Greek Text. Waco, Tx.: Baylor University Press, 2010. Hanhart, Karel. The Intermediate State in the New Testament. Franeker, Holland: T. Wever, 1966. Harris, Murray J. The Interpretation of 2 Cor 5:1-10 and Its Place in Pauline Eschatology. Ph.D. dissertation., University of Manchester, 1970. ________. 2 Cor 5:1-10, Watershed in Pauls Eschatology? Tyndale Bulletin 22 (1971): 32-57. ________. Pauls View of Death in 2 Cor 5:1-10. Pages 317-328 in New Dimensions in New Testament Study. Edited by R. N. Longenecker and M. C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974. ________. Raised Immortal: Resurrection & Immortality in the New Testament. (London: M & S Marshall, 1983). ________. The New Testament View of Life after Death. Themelios 11 (1986): 47-52. Hick, John. Death and Eternal Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1976. Segal, Alan F. Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in the Religions of the West. New York: Doubleday, 2004.

19 Wright, N. T. The Resurrection of the Son of God. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003.