What happens to us when we die?
All traditions agree that we all die and that there is a judgement where our eternal destiny is decided.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgement,
Heb 9:27
The exception being for those who are still alive when Jesus returns.
However what happens between death and judgement is not so clear and different traditions have different beliefs.
Most Christians throughout history, and most Christians alive today, believe that after death the soul exists in a conscious, disembodied state until the resurrection and final judgment.
That includes:
- Roman Catholics (≈1.3 billion)
- Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox (≈260 million)
- Most Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Reformed
- Most evangelicals
- Latter-day Saints (though their specifics differ)
- Many Pentecostals and charismatics
A small minority, such as Seventh-day Adventists and a significant minority of Evangelicals, affirm that the soul sleeps, ie. is not conscious, in between death and resurrection.
Judgement
Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and some others all affirm that the eternal fate of the soul is determined at death and then the soul awaits the final judgement when Jesus returns. Detailed beliefs about the state of the soul in the intermediate period vary
1. Eastern Orthodox
- At death, each soul undergoes a personal judgement. Two outcomes are possible:
- Paradise: The righteous are with Christ in a state of rest and light.
- Hades: The wicked are in a state of torment.
- In this interim state, souls experience a foretaste of its eternal destiny but in a disembodied state until the final resurrection.
- At Christ’s return, the body will be resurrected, and the soul’s ultimate destiny (which has been determined at the time of death) is publicly revealed at the Last Judgement.
2. Roman Catholic
- At death, each soul undergoes a personal judgement. Three outcomes are possible:
- Heaven (immediate union with God for the perfectly purified).
- Purgatory (temporary purification for those destined for heaven but not yet fully holy).
- Hell (definitive self-exclusion from God).
- In the interim state souls are already experiencing either communion with God or separation, but in a disembodied state until the final resurrection.
- At Christ’s return, body and soul are reunited, and all face public, universal judgement.
3. Mainline Protestant (Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, Methodist, etc.)
Views vary, but in general:
- At death, each soul undergoes a personal judgement. Two outcomes are possible:
- Paradise: The righteous are with Christ in a state of rest and light. (“with Christ,” Phil 1:23; “with the Lord,” 2 Cor 5:8).
- Hades: Unbelievers go to a state of separation from God
- Some Reformed traditions emphasise “soul sleep” (a state of unconscious rest until resurrection).
- At Christ’s return, all the dead are raised and judged. Body and soul are reunited.
Particular judgement (at death) and Final judgement (at the Second Coming of Christ)
Catholics formally teach a fixed, legally determined destiny at death; Orthodox maintain that a soul’s orientation toward God is set at death but describe the intermediate state more mystically, with a foretaste of the final destiny and room for hope, though not for explicit post-mortem conversion.
Most Protestant traditions also teach that a person’s eternal destiny is fixed at death, and that the Final Judgement is the public, cosmic, embodied confirmation of that destiny—not the opportunity for a second decision.
Almost all Christians believe that the eternal destiny of a soul is fixed at the time of death (particular judgement) and at the Second Coming. There is no chance of the verdict being changed in between.
The Final Judgement is the public consummation of what was privately determined at death.
It is at this point that the final reconciliation and healing of the Cosmos is revealed and when Jesus enters into His Kingdom.
Jewish and Platonist influences (immortal soul, disembodied awareness…)
Christianity at its core is resurrection-centered (Jewish hope) but to explain the gap between death and resurrection, most traditions use categories that sound Platonist (immortal soul, disembodied awareness).
The soul is considered capable of existing independently of the body but only in an incomplete state which allows for experiencing a “foretaste” of Eternity or of entering Purgatory.
That’s why Orthodox/Catholic descriptions of the soul’s journey can sound more Greek than Jewish — even though the resurrection is always the real end-goal.
This raises the important question.
If the soul is detached from the body (including senses), how can they “experience” anything?
- Orthodox/Catholic answer: through spiritual faculties (intellect, will, awareness), upheld by God’s grace — but in a diminished, anticipatory way.
- Protestant “soul sleep” answer: they don’t — they rest in unconsciousness until the resurrection.
- Metaphorical answer (C. S. Lewis): any imagery we use is partial; what awaits is beyond what we can fully picture.
Key Texts and Interpretations about the State of the Dead
1 Thess. 4:13–17 The dead are “asleep” and will rise at Christ’s return.
- Catholic / Orthodox “Sleep” = metaphor for death of the body; soul is conscious with God
- Mainline Protestant Mixed: some see metaphor; some stress literal unconsciousness.
- Evangelical / Dispensational Same as Catholic/Orthodox: body sleeps, soul with Christ.
- Soul Sleep (Adventist / some Lutheran/Reformed) Literal: the dead are unconscious until resurrection.
Phil. 1:23 Paul desires “to depart and be with Christ.”
- Catholic / Orthodox Taken literally: soul goes to Christ immediately after death.
- Mainline Protestant Many affirm conscious presence with Christ; some reinterpret as awaiting resurrection.
- Evangelical / Dispensational Strongly stressed as proof believers are instantly with Christ.
- Soul Sleep (Adventist / some Lutheran/Reformed) Understood as Paul’s confidence in eventual resurrection, not immediate consciousness
Luke 23:43 Jesus to thief: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
- Catholic / Orthodox Strong support for immediate conscious afterlife.
- Mainline Protestant Often read literally, though some note “today” could modify the promise (“I tell you today…”).
- Evangelical / Dispensational Emphasized as proof the soul goes directly to heaven.
- Soul Sleep (Adventist / some Lutheran/Reformed) Re-punctuated: “Truly I say to you today, you will be with me…” (paradise only at resurrection).
Rev. 6:9–10 Souls under the altar cry out to God.
- Catholic / Orthodox Shows conscious disembodied souls awaiting resurrection.
- Mainline Protestant Most accept as symbolic vision, but some take as evidence of awareness after death.
- Evangelical / Dispensational Taken literally as proof souls are alive in heaven.
- Soul Sleep (Adventist / some Lutheran/Reformed) Understood as symbolic/apocalyptic imagery, not literal proof of soul survival.