In the Acts of the Apostles, when St. Stephen is being stoned to death, his final words are, “Lord Jesus, safeguard my spirit.” (Acts 7:59) He was not asking for Christ to guard a non-specific life force. He wished for his soul to be safeguarded in order to ensure his future Resurrection. If there is at least one genuine out of body experience, a single instance when an individual was transported to some place outside of their body, or if such a thing is even possible—then physicalism is false. The apostle Paul believed that he may have had such a genuine experience, that he might have been transported into heaven "out of the body." He professed to have been “caught up into the third heaven” but is unsure whether it occurred “in the body” or “outside of the body.” (2 Cor. 12:1-3) In this state he saw and heard heavenly things, he claims he was “caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.” (2 Cor. 12:4) This is noteworthy because this means he had a conscious existence in heaven, whether in the body or outside of it. These statements of Paul are incompatible with the concept that humans simply are bodies. If it is even possible that he went to heaven “outside of the body,” then physicalism would be false. The only way to avoid such an implication would be to deny what the apostle plainly says and deny the inspiration of his writings. If physicalism were true, then genuine out of body experiences would be impossible because humans simply would be their bodies. By implying that genuine out of body experiences are possible St. Paul implies that physicalism is false. If physicalism were true it would make no sense to speak of a person as separated from their body. The statements made in 2 Cor. 12:1-3 are only possible if Paul believed that there was some part of human beings which could survive consciously apart from the physical body. Saint Paul looked forward to being “absent from the body and present with the Lord.” (2 Cor. 5:8) Being “in the body” means being absent from the Lord, and being out of the body means being with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:6-8) The apostle has no concept that he will pass out of existence or be unconscious upon his death. Before the resurrection ever takes place, he will be with the Lord in heaven. This same concept is found in Phil. 1:21-23:
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.”
To die is gain because dying means he will “depart and be with Christ,” not that he will be nonexistent for thousands of years until he is recreated. Nor would he be with Christ in any meaningful sense if he were never aware of it. Although the New Testament teaches an afterlife, it does not teach the inherent immortality of the Soul. (Phaedo, 80b-d) Plato believed that every human soul existed from eternity and could not be destroyed. Plato defined destruction as being the decay, or breaking down of some particular thing into its constituent parts. In the Phaedo he argued that the Soul was absolutely simple and free of composition so it could not be broken into any lesser parts and was therefore essentially immortal and indestructible. (Phaedo 78a-84b) This argument is plainly fallacious and is not taken seriously by modern philosophers. It is possible for simple things to cease existing entirely and pass out of existence without leaving behind any parts. The New Testament speaks of immortality as a gift from God given to the righteous rather than an inherent property of every soul. (Rom. 2:6-7; 1 Cor. 15:53-55) Therefore, while the soul is more durable than the physical body, it would be inappropriate to regard it as essentially immortal or indestructible, the very saying, “fear him who can destroy both soul and body,” implies that God has the ability, if he so wishes, to annihilate a soul. (Matt. 10:28)
Contrary to this, Plato would maintain that the Soul is eternal and essentially indestructible and not even the creator God or demiurge could destroy it, and regarded every soul which now exists as co-eternal with God, no new soul could be created nor could any be destroyed, for Plato, the number of souls in existence was absolutely fixed. Very few Christians today maintain the doctrine of the soul’s inherent immortality as it was taught by Plato. Hence, while the Bible does indeed teach the existence of souls it does not teach their inherent immortality in the platonic sense. There is a significant difference between the Biblical descriptions of souls and the platonic.
Our earliest patristic authors all express belief in a conscious afterlife in heaven for the deceased who have not yet been resurrected. Clement of Rome was such an early author who is perhaps mentioned in the New Testament by Paul. (Phil. 4:3; Eusebius, Ecc. His. 3.4.10) In the fifth chapter of his epistle to the Corinthians, Clement speaks of the death of the apostles and says:
"There was Peter who by reason of unjust jealousy endured not one but many labors, and having endured his testimony went to his appointed place of glory." (1 Clem. 5:4)
Speaking of the apostle Paul, he says:
"Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance... when he had made his testimony before the rulers, he departed from the world and went into the holy place, having been found as a noble pattern of patient endurance." (1 Clem. 5:5-7)
Clement does not think that Peter or Paul are nonexistent or unconscious, Peter after his death “went to his appointed place of glory,” and likewise Paul “departed from the world and went into the holy place.” The doctrine of a conscious afterlife was also taught by such early authors as Ignatius of Antioch (I. Rom. 2:2; 3:2; 7:2; 9:2; I. Smyr. 2:1; 3:2; 11:1), Polycarp (P. Phil. 9:2), Hermas (Poimen 15.92.5), Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. 2.34.2), Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 4.3), and Origen. (De Princ. 2.11.5) Which is to say that it was commonplace from the earliest years of the Church to believe in a conscious afterlife—it was not a later development. There are many expressions in the New Testament which describe conscious life in heaven for the righteous who have died. Saint Paul says that the Old Testament saints were awaiting “the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb. 11:10) What is this city? The city spoken of is heaven itself, Heb. 11:16 goes on to say, “they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” (Heb. 11:16) It is beyond doubt that this city is heaven itself. Saint Paul describes the heavenly city further in Heb. 12:22, 23:
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”
This is a description of the intermediate state, because those in the heavenly city “have not yet received the promises.” (Heb. 11:9) Many of the covenant promises of God require an actual bodily resurrection. Therefore, heaven is not the final destination, it is a temporary resting place for “the spirits of the righteous made perfect.” (Heb. 12:23) This concept was explained by Christ himself, who told his apostles that they would be in heaven only temporarily, at John 14:2 he says:
“In the house of my Father are many dwelling places (μοναὶ). Otherwise, I would have told you, for I am going my way to prepare a place for you.” (Joh. 14:2)
When he speaks of dwelling places, he uses the Greek term μοναὶ, which does not mean a permanent residence, but a temporary resting place. This term signifies the temporary tents or tabernacles which were constructed by travelers for brief periods of relaxation during their travels. The Lord Jesus spoke of a time when the tombs will be opened up and the dead will all be raised to life, this is the final state. (Joh. 5:28-29) The hope of a temporary heaven and a permanent resurrected state are expressed alongside one another at Phil. 3:20-21:
“Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory.”
It is a common ancient idiom to speak of the dead as sleeping because the corpses of dead persons appear to have fallen asleep. This idiom carried over to the Biblical authors who often speak of death as “sleep.”17 This is seen plainly with the death of Lazarus, Joh. 11:11-13:
“He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep (κεκοίμηται); but I go, so that I may awaken him.” The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep (κεκοίμηται), he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep (κοιμήσεως).”
Lazarus appears again in a parable about the afterlife found in Luke 16:22-31. This is the same figure mentioned by John, for a discussion of this see Keith L. Yoder, One and the Same? Lazarus in Luke and John (Novum Testamentum Vol. 64. 2022).
These sorts of texts have been seized upon by some physicalists as evidence that the Bible teaches the dead are unconscious or cease to exist entirely. (Acts 13:36; 1 Cor. 11:30; 15:51; Eph. 5:13; 1Thess. 4:14; 5:10)But his language of sleeping in death itself implies a continuation of existence for the mind is not totally inactive in sleep but often dreams. To say that someone is asleep implies that he still exists. Corpses appear to be at rest, and those who die natural deaths tend to have relaxed sleeplike facial expressions. Both ancient Christian and pagan authors who believed in an afterlife referred to the dead as sleeping. The second century work, the Shepherd of Hermas says:
“The apostles and the teachers who preached the name of the Son of God, after they had fallen asleep in the power and faith of the Son of God, preached to those who fell asleep before them.” (Shepherd 15.92.5)
The author says that the apostles sleep in death and yet also says that they “preached to those who fell asleep before them.” Echoing 1 Peter. 4:6 which says that Christ preached “to those who are dead.” Equivalently, to claim that the Biblical authors did not believe in a conscious afterlife because they spoke of death as “sleep” would be entirely misguided. When the body sleeps the mind is active and often dreaming. The physical body is at rest but the mind keeps working. This phenomenon is a perfect analogy for death when the physical body ceases to function and begins to decay, but the soul and mental life of the deceased continues on.
Ancient Greek authors who believed firmly that the dead were conscious, often referred to death as sleep because it was a common euphemism. In the Iliad, Homer speaks of the death of Iphidamas and says, ως ο μεν αύθι πεσών κοιμήσατο χάλκεον ύπνον, “So there he fell, and slept a sleep of bronze.” (Iliad 11.241)Sophocles spoke of the death of the legendary king Myrtilus, drowned to death in the ocean and said, εύτε γαρ ο ποντισθείς Μυρτίλος εκοιμάθη, “Myrtilus sank to sleep beneath the waves.” (Electra 509) The Roman playwright Plautus, says that the god Mercury threatened death with the words, quid si ego illum tractim tangam ut dormiat, “What if I were to touch him, striking him down, so that he may go to sleep?” (Amphitryon 1.1.157) Such examples suffice to show that the Biblical verses, which like in death to sleep, do not prove the doctrine of soul sleep was accepted by every author. This language was used often by ancient authors who believed in a conscious afterlife. The Biblical term for soul, ψυχή, has many different meanings depending upon the context in question. At times soul simply means life, whether human or animal, thus we read of soldiers "fleeing for their soul,” έφυγον προς την ψυχήν εαυτών. (2 Kngs. 7:7, LXX)
The story of Noah is summarized this way, “eight souls were brought safely through the water,” οκτώ ψυχαί, διεσώθησαν δι᾽ ύδατος. (1 Pet. 3:20) For this reason Genesis 2:7 says that when Adam was created he became a living soul, that is, a living creature. But the term “soul” is also used to denote the conscious and immaterial part of man which survives the death of the body, as when Christ says, “fear not him who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28) This statement proves that the soul is more durable than the body. Men can kill the bodies of other men but only God can kill the soul. The death of Rachel is described this way in Gen. 35:18, “It came about that her soul was departing, for she had died.” And again the last words of Saint Stephen, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” κύριε Ιησού, δέξαι το πνεύμά μου. (Acts 7:59) What survives the death of the body is at times called soul and in other places called spirit. In other words, the Biblical terms for soul and spirit, ψυχή και πνεύμα, are sometimes used interchangeably, therefore we need not make sharp distinctions between the two either. Saint Paul says that man is composed of body (σώμα), soul (ψυχή) and spirit (πνεύμα). (1Thess. 5:23; Heb. 4:12) In this instance the rational soul is distinguished from the mental inclinations or spirit. At other times spirit signifies that which survives the death of the body, as in Acts 7:59 and elsewhere “soul” denotes that which survives bodily death as in Gen. 35:18; Psa. 16:10; 49:15 et al.
We read many times in the New Testament that Christ will judge “the living and the dead.” (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8; Heb. 9:27; 1 Pet. 4:5) It is more than a little strange to say that Christ will “judge the dead” if the dead have ceased to exist. And again, Paul says “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” (Phil. 2:10) Those who have died are in mind when he speaks of those who are “under the Earth.” It would be impossible for the dead to offer any sort of voluntary submission to Christ, bowing the knee so to speak, if they are unconscious. (cf. Rev. 5:13) On what basis are the dead to be judged? In 1 Peter 4:5, 6 we read:
“They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as people, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.”
Peter does not mean those who are figuratively dead because he distinguishes between “the living and the dead,” those who are dead in the flesh but alive in the spirit. On what basis are both the living and the dead judged? Many people died without ever hearing the gospel message. They can both be judged because the gospel was preached even to those who are dead! This assumes the dead are conscious and are capable of comprehending the gospel. Elsewhere in the same epistle Peter describes Christ himself as preaching to the dead:
“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which He also went and preached to the spirits in prison.” (1 Peter 3:18, 19)
This is totally incompatible with the view that the dead are unconscious. They would have to maintain that the dead being spoken of are those who are figuratively dead but Peter is talking about people who have actually died. The phrase "the living and the dead” always refers to those who are literally alive and literally dead everywhere else in the bible and to speak of preaching to figuratively dead people would be totally irrelevant to the argument. Peter is explaining why those in their graves can be judged and held accountable in the future judgment. They can be judged because even in death the Gospel was preached to them. Often in the book of Revelation the dead are depicted as conscious before the resurrection takes place. (Rev. 6:8-10; 7:15; 14:1-3, 13; 18:20, 19:1-10) There are many other texts from the Bible which might be cited but these suffice to illustrate that substance dualism has good support in Christian tradition and Scripture.
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