The Christian Post reported on September 15^th 2024 what the Pope (Pope Francis at that time) had said during a visit to Singapore.  It read as follows:

“During a three-day visit to Singapore, Pope Francis declared that ‘all religions are a path to God,’ sparking backlash among religious leaders in the U.S.  The statement was made at an interreligious meeting with young people at a Catholic junior college shortly before his departure back to Rome. Departing from his prepared remarks, Francis spoke off the cuff, stating that different religions are like ‘different languages to reach God. During his 2022 trip to Kazakhstan, he made similar statements. Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, a frequent critic, had then commented on the risk of creating a ‘supermarket of religions.’”

The chaplain and Theology Department Chair at St. John XXIII College Preparatory in Katy, Texas, stated that: “Unsurprisingly, the pope’s remarks have drawn criticism, but what he said is not substantially different from things said by his immediate predecessors. Pope St. John Paul II was often criticized for his participation in interfaith prayer and dialogue. He said at a general audience in 1998 that other religions are ‘different routes’ that attempt to answer the same human desire for communion with God.”

The headline in the publication Christian Today in May 2018 was “Why Jesus is no longer the one way to heaven for many American Christians,” and this remark was made by a minister from the First Corinthian Baptist Church: “People take many paths to God, he argued, noting that he personally celebrates the paths others take in finding Him — even if that path does not involve faith in Jesus.  And so the key is you believe in God. And whatever your path is to God I celebrate that. Personally, I celebrate that.”

One writer, decrying the Pope’s comment, said: “Jesus is still the only way to heaven.”   This was correctly decrying a wrong concept and, then, mentioning another wrong concept about going to heaven at death which we have disproved time and time again.

vaticanfiles.org stated that “On April 15th, 2018 Pope Francis claimed that atheists go to Heaven thus reinforcing the impression that his opinions on the afterlife are somewhat clumsy when compared to standard biblical views.” 

In 2008, a Pew Research Center Study found that more than half of all American Christians believe that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to salvation. Nearly a decade later, a new study has shown that even among the most traditional Christian groups, significant minorities are also rejecting God as described in the Bible.

We may recall that when the Israelites were in Egypt, that land had so many different gods.  Wikipedia writes that “gods and goddesses appear in virtually every aspect of ancient civilization, and more than 1,500 of them are known by name. Taking the Pope’s recent remarks, would any of the ancient Egyptians find the true God by worshipping these fake gods?”

It was interesting to read the following comments in the Christian Post in October 2021 with the heading “Nearly 70% of born-again Christians say other religions can lead to Heaven: study”:

“Nearly 70% of born-again Christians disagree with the biblical position that Jesus is the only way to God, according to a new survey from Probe Ministries.  The survey, which looked at religious beliefs and attitudes toward cultural behaviors, polled 3,106 Americans ages 18 to 55 from all religious groups, including 717 respondents who identified as born-again Christians.”

One other author wrote, “The very claim that there are many ways to God, assumes that some religions are wrong, because not all religions are trying to get to God.  I would like to humbly suggest that there are good reasons to think that the Christian position is true and hence, I am not angry that God has only provided one way to Him in the person of Jesus. Rather, I am grateful that, although I didn’t deserve it, God lovingly provided the way for me (and, indeed, for everyone who believes—c.f.  John 14:6.”

John 14:6 reads: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

And that is correct! The Bible says that there is no other way other than through Christ!   And yet the Catholic Church themselves state: “In its own authoritative text on the ‘unicity and universality of the salvific mystery of Jesus Christ,’ the Vatican cites the Acts of the Apostles: ‘There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved’‌ (Acts 4:12).”   You have to wonder how the Popes reconcile their views that atheists get to heaven (a wrong concept anyway) when their church quotes Acts 4:12.

Perhaps the Popes ought to preach and teach according to the beliefs that the Catholic Church has; otherwise, it is hypocrisy!

Christianity is a unique and exclusive faith, the One True God as outlined in His Word, the Holy Bible.  Along with John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 which clearly reveal this, we ought also to consider Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

True Christianity, as we have written and said many times, is the narrow gate and involves much more than just “giving your heart to the Lord”.

In our booklet: “Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen,” this shows that you cannot just join the Church of God.   We read on page 6 the following:

“Jesus called His disciples a ‘little flock’ (Luke 12:32), and history has certainly proven that very few people have ever been a part of the Church of God. Paul explained to the brethren in Corinth about whom God has chosen to call:

“‘For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence’ (1 Corinthians 1:26–29).”

True Christianity is the only Way to God today, and very few people have been called by God at this point in time!   The Conclusion in this booklet on page 65 reads as follows:

“What we have described and what you have learned in this booklet should prove the magnificent aspect of God’s incredible and awesome master plan for ALL of mankind. But it is YOU whom God might have predestined before time began to be called for salvation in this day and age. 

“If you understand and act upon the information contained in this booklet, as revealed in the Bible, there is every reason to conclude that YOU are one of the few—the firstfruits—who are called today with the potential to inherit eternal life and enter the Kingdom and Family of God when Christ returns.

“This means, then, that you would have a responsibility, because today would be YOUR day of salvation. It is up to you, with God’s help, to make your calling and election sure, and not to neglect such a great salvation offered to you. God is confident and convinced that you, whom He knew and predestined long before your birth to be called now, will make it into His Kingdom. Please, share His conviction in you, and act accordingly.”

The Bible is clear and unequivocal.   There is only one Way to the true God, and true Christianity is unique among all of the false religions of this world.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In part one of this two-part series, we looked at the assertion by some, maybe many in mainstream Christianity, who believe that Jesus’ resurrected body was physical and that this same, physical Jesus ascended to Heaven, from where He will one day return to Earth.

Let us continue to look at evidence that proves otherwise.

We read Christ’s words and action in Luke 24:39:

“‘Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’”

As we said in the previous instalment, the Roman Catholic Church “explains”: “Christ makes it plain to His disciples that He does have a physical body; He is not a disembodied spirit.” 

Again, as pointed out before, this “explanation” overlooks that Spirit beings do have form and shape—they are not “disembodied” spirits, but their bodies are composed of Spirit.

There is plenty of evidence of angels taking on the form of a human being so that they could be seen, as we know that a flesh and blood human being can’t see a Spirit being unless it materialises itself.   The question has been asked and answered as to “How many times do angels appear in the Bible? More than a dozen times in the New Testament, and a dozen or so other times in the Old Testament.”  

Jesus was raised up at the resurrection with a spirit body which the disciples and humanity could not see unless He materialised Himself as He did on a number of occasions. How could Jesus appear in the midst of the disciples if He was physical?  In John 20:24-29, we have the account of doubting Thomas.   We read in verses 26-28:

^“And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”

We can see that Jesus entered the room while the doors were shut and suddenly He appeared in their midst, and said, “Peace to you!” After Thomas saw Jesus, he was convinced that Jesus had been resurrected.   As a Spirit being, Jesus was able to go through closed doors and be wherever He chose, irrespective of any physical obstacles that could be in the way.   In modern scientific terminology, the glorified body is not subject to the forces and laws of physics and chemistry.

How could Jesus appear in the midst of the disciples if He still had a physical body?  If this assertion was correct, He would not be able to go through walls and other physical barriers and instantly appear before the disciples.  In addition, Jesus would be the only physical being in Heaven and we should know that that cannot be the case as everything in the Third Heaven is spiritual, man’s doubting and misunderstanding or misapplying Scripture notwithstanding!

Romans 6:4-5 is instructive in this regard:

^“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,’

In Philippians 3:21, we read that Christ “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

Jesus’ resurrection body is the pattern for our resurrection body, and we read the following in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:

“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.”

Jesus is now a Spirit being in heaven. He will return to earth to set up the Kingdom of God, and His people will be caught up in the air to meet Him in the clouds.

In our two-part Q&A “Who and What is in Heaven?” we showed that “In heaven, there is God the Father, Jesus Christ the Word, and innumerable angels” and no physical beings are there.   In John 4:24 we read: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”   God the Father and Jesus Christ, the two members of the God Family at this time are composed of Spirit, as will be the born-again members of God’s Church at the resurrection when Jesus returns to this earth.   We must remember that in Mark 16:19 we read: “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.”  And He would have been a Spirit Being to have been in such a position next to the Spiritual Father and all the other Spirit beings that live in the Third Heaven.

In our booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World,” we read the following on page 17:

“Christ did not appear to His disciples in His glorified state. He did not appear, prior to His ascension to heaven, with all His power and glory that He has today. We can find a description of His glorious appearance in Revelation 1:10, 12–17. We also find a description of His glory, prior to His human birth, in Ezekiel 1:26–28. When He appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He appeared just as an ordinary man, so much so that they did not recognize Him. Accounts of His appearances can be found in John 20:14–16 and John 21:4–7. They only came to recognize Him after He spoke a certain way or performed a certain miracle that He had performed earlier before His death.

“We read that the disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize the resurrected Christ until He ‘…took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight’ (Luke 24:30–31). The reason that they did not recognize Him earlier is explained in Mark 16:12: ‘After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.’”

A good question to ask is how a physical body could just vanish from their sight, as it states in Luke 24:31? 

In the same booklet on pages 44-45, we explain the misunderstood passage in Luke 24:39:

“Christ manifested Himself to the disciples as a being with flesh and bones. He even ate food in their presence to convince the disciples that it was He, not a spirit or a demon. The Greek word for ‘spirit’ is ‘pneuma’ and can refer to demons (compare Matthew 8:16; 10:1; 12:43, 45; Luke 4:33, 36; 6:18; 7:21, etc.). We understand, of course, that Christ is not a being with flesh and bones. Rather, at His resurrection He received a spiritual body and became a life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:44–45, 50). He was able to manifest Himself, however, as a person with flesh and bones. We saw earlier that angels can manifest themselves as human beings as well. Demons cannot. Christ used this opportunity to show His disciples that He was not a spirit or a demon, because demons cannot manifest themselves as human beings with flesh and bones.”

It is emphasized above that Christ became a life-giving SPIRIT… not, as we quoted the following false assertion in the first instalment and repeat it again below,  a physical human being with a “physical body” which is “designed with eternity in view.”

In our Q&A entitled: “We read in Matthew 27:52 that many saints were raised at the time of Christ’s death. How can Christ then be called the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18)?,” We make these observations:

“Christ… became born again when He was resurrected to Spirit. It was at that time that He became the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29 tells us that we are to be ‘conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.’ We also read in Colossians 1:15, 18: ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation… And He is… the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.’

“Christ was the first human who became born again as a Spirit being. The Greek word for ‘firstborn,’ ‘prototokos,’ designates the person who is born first. It can refer to the firstborn Son of the spiritual Family of God, and it can also refer to the firstborn son in a physical family. We read, for example, in Hebrews 11:28 that Moses kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood by faith, ‘lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.’ Christ was also, quite literally, Mary’s firstborn Son (Compare Matthew 1:25; Luke 2:7. The Greek word, ‘prototokos,’ used here does not mean ‘only’ or ‘only begotten’ son. That concept is conveyed by the Greek word ‘monogenes’…). Since Christ was Mary’s firstborn Son, it goes without saying that Christ as a human being had younger brothers. In fact, He also had sisters (compare Matthew 13:53-58).

“The same Greek word, ‘prototokos,’ is also used in Revelation 1:5. The New King James Bible translates the entire passage quite accurately in this way: ‘…and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.’ (The Authorized Version’s rendition, ‘first begotten of the dead,’ is clearly wrong. The context here is the resurrection from the dead. The Ryrie Study Bible comments that ‘Christ was the first [man] to receive a resurrection [glorified] body which is immortal’).” (our emphasis).

As we mentioned earlier, there is the invention of a new description of Jesus “who has a physical body, with a difference. His resurrected body is designed with eternity in view.”   Why would anyone make up something that the Bible certainly doesn’t say?  Jesus’ resurrected body was a Spiritual body—a body with form and shape, but composed of Spirit—and He is now in Heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father where all around them are Spiritual beings and Spiritual things.  

It would be ridiculous to think that God the Father and all the angels in heaven are all spiritual, but Jesus is the odd one out having a physical body!

In His resurrection, Jesus did not and does not have a physical body. Neither will we. His physical body was in the grave for three days and three nights, but when He was raised from the dead, His physical body was changed into a spiritual body, which is the same that will happen to us, when we, who are still alive, will be changed.

We asked the question: “Is Jesus Christ a Spirit Being Today?,” and the answer, as we have shown in this Q&A, is an unequivocal YES!

Lead Writers: Brian Gale and Norbert Link

At first glance, it might seem a ridiculous question to ask but there are those who think that when Jesus went back to Heaven, He did so as a physical being.

In our Q&A entitled “How Important is the Correct Understanding About the Immortal Soul? (Part 2),” we quoted a Christian author who wrote:

“A fundamental article of the Christian faith is that the resurrected Christ now dwells in Heaven. We are told that His resurrected body on Earth was physical and that this same, physical Jesus ascended to Heaven, from where He will one day return to Earth. It seems indisputable, then, to say that there is at least one physical body in the present Heaven.”

On the website catholic.com, we read: “In Luke 24:39, the risen Jesus says to the disciples, ‘See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have’ (emphasis added). This verse is sufficient to debunk the idea that Jesus did not rise bodily, but John 2:19-22 provides another nail in the coffin. Here Jesus claims, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ Two verses later, it is made clear what Jesus has in mind; ‘he spoke of the temple of his body.’ Thus, Jesus prophesied that his body would rise.”

We will discuss at length Jesus’ statement in Luke 24:39 in the next instalment. Regarding John 2:19-22, the Catholic teaching does not follow, as it is being overlooked that Spirit Beings do have Spirit bodies; that is, they do have form and shape, but that is not physical. God created us in His image; with our potential of becoming immortal Spirit beings, as God is Spirit or a Spirit being.

In the book of Daniel, God the Father is described with form and shape consisting of Spirit, and so is Jesus Christ, even before His incarnation. We read that Moses saw the form of the LORD—Jesus Christ. Also, glorified angels are described with form and shape. What Christ is saying in John 2 is that He will be resurrected with a body composed of Spirit. His body which did not see corruption would be changed into Spirit—as we will be changed into Spirit when we are still alive at the time of Christ’s return. Others who have died in Christ, will then be resurrected as Spirit Beings. More about that later.

So, Christ confirmed that the Father would resurrect Him—bring Him back to life—and that He then would rise up—stand up—no longer with a physical body, but with a body composed of Spirit.

It appears that there are others who share this false Catholic “understanding”.

Let us have a thorough look at this assertion.

In John 1:1-3, we read:

^“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

In verse 14, it states:

^“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

It is evident that the Logos, The Word, was always an immortal Spirit being along with the Father. Jesus later prayed to God the Father prior to His arrest, to bestow on Him the glory which He had with the Father before the world was. Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers observes: “‘The Word was made flesh.’ The term ‘flesh’ expresses human nature as opposed to the divine, and material nature as opposed to the spiritual…”

It is interesting that Jesus as the God of the Old Testament had a discussion with Moses about Who He was and what His Name was, as we read in Exodus 3:13-14:

^“Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is His name?” what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’”

Matthew Henry’s Commentary states: “A name that denotes what he is in himself, I AM THAT I AM. This explains his name Jehovah, and signifies That he is self-existent: he has his being of himself. That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, today, and forever…”

That was about Jesus Christ as the God of the Old Testament—He was Spirit or a Spirit being for eternity along with God the Father, with no beginning. Then He came to earth and for about 33½ years was a human being before being crucified.

Most theologians and writers would probably agree with the fact that Jesus has always existed, except for those who believe that Jesus was a created Being which is contradicted by a number of Scriptures, or that He is the archangel Michael or Gabriel although the Bible shows that “Jesus is so much better than angels.” We also read that we will rule angels. If Christ was an angel, we would rule over Him—a preposterous concept.

Hebrews 1:2-4 reads:

“[God the Father] has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

In addition, this passage also describes Jesus as “the brightness of His glory” which, of course, far exceeds any physical body.

Regarding the assertion that we are discussing in this Q&A, “Is Jesus Christ a Spirit Being Today?” the following is the answer given on gotquestions.org:

“Later in the same chapter of Luke, Christ makes it plain to His disciples that He does have a physical body; He is not a disembodied spirit: ‘See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have’ (Luke 24:39).  After spending forty days with His disciples, Jesus ascended bodily into heaven (Acts 1:9).  Jesus is still human, and He has a human body in heaven right now. His body is different, however; earthly human flesh is perishable, but heavenly bodies are imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:50).   Jesus has a physical body, with a difference. His resurrected body is designed with eternity in view.”

As mentioned, we will address Luke 24:39 in the next instalment. It seems, one writer copies the false “explanation” from another writer, and so on. All of this is just a man-made invention.   Why not just admit that Jesus was raised from the dead with a body composed of Spirit and all of this new-found wording would be unnecessary?

1 Corinthians 15:50 reads: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption,” but then there are those who invent a new description of Jesus “who has a physical body, with a difference. His resurrected body is designed with eternity in view.”  It is much easier to accept that Jesus, at His resurrection, was resurrected as a glorified Spirit being to continue as He was before coming to this earth to die for the sins of mankind, than making up a new description which is without any biblical foundation.

At His resurrection, Jesus was raised from the dead with a body composed of Spirit. Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers discusses 1 Peter 3:18, as follows:

“‘Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.’… we should point to such passages as Romans 1:4; Romans 8:11 to show that the resurrection of Christ was due to the action of the Holy Ghost (better “Spirit”).”

Romans 1:4 reads:

“And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

McLaren’s Expositions state, “The grand avowal of faith in His Resurrection loses meaning, unless it is completed as Paul completed his ‘yea rather that was raised from the dead,’ with the triumphant ‘who is at the right hand of God.’ Both are supernatural, and the Virgin Birth corresponds at the beginning to the supernatural Resurrection and Ascension at the close.”

Since both Father and Son are “supernatural,” the Son cannot have a physical body!

In Romans 8:11, we read:

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who (better “which”) dwells in you.”

Acts 13:34 confirms the following Truth: “And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption…”

It has been pointed out that Christ gave His flesh for the world, and He could therefore not receive it back in the resurrection, as His Supreme Sacrifice was made only once and for all time. Another question is: How could He appear and disappear with a physical body?

This, and more, will be answered in the next instalment.

(To be continued)

Lead Writers: Brian Gale and Norbert Link

In previous Q&As, we’ve already looked at false assertions by some Christian writers that “human beings have an immortal soul, that the present Heaven is a temporary lodging place even though the present Heaven is not our final destination place and that that between our earthly lives and our bodily resurrection God may grant us some temporary physical form that will allow us to function as human beings while in that unnatural state ‘between bodies’ awaiting our bodily resurrection.”  We have also reviewed the spirit in man which is not the same as the soul as the Bible shows, in simple terms, that man is a soul, not has a soul.   We showed that each human being has a non-physical component in his brain, called “the spirit in man.”

We also looked at the fact that the Hebrews did not believe that we go to Heaven when we die. Neither did the early Christians.   We also reviewed the false belief that “the resurrected Christ now dwells in Heaven and that His resurrected body on Earth was physical and that this same, physical Jesus ascended to Heaven, from where He will one day return to Earth.” This leads on to the erroneous assertion, where we are told that it seems indisputable, then, to say that there is at least one physical body in the present Heaven!   Of course, mainstream theology believes that man goes on either to heaven or hell at death together with the fallacy of purgatory and other intermediate states.

We mentioned that the Catholic Church invented a new description of Jesus by stating that “Jesus who has a physical body but with a difference. His resurrected body is designed with eternity in view.”  

Over the years, we have produced much Scriptural evidence on so many topics that much of mainstream Christianity falls short in understanding much of the Bible at all.  If all of the confusion mentioned above was not enough, a further idea is floated—that the present Heaven may be a physical place.   We are not talking about the first or second heaven which are both physical but the third Heaven where God’s throne is.

The following writing is offered by one author as some form of proof: “If we look at Scripture, we’ll see considerable evidence that the present Heaven has physical properties. We’re told there are scrolls in Heaven, elders who have faces, martyrs who wear clothes, and even people with palm branches in their hands. There are musical instruments in the present Heaven, horses coming into and out of Heaven, and an eagle flying overhead in Heaven.”   We showed in our two-part Q&A entitled “Who and What is in Heaven?” that this is a spiritual place and there are no human beings nor anything physical there.

God the Father and Jesus Christ are both spiritual.   Jesus came to earth for a most important purpose and had to be human to fulfil that role.  He was fully man while on earth until His physical death. He was seen, spoke and ate as a physical person would.  After His death and resurrection, He was able to appear through walls, doors and other physical obstructions which no living physical person could do, but which He was able to do as a Spirit Being and the Second member of the God Family.   Those who think that He was still a fully human being and could achieve such feats are deluded, to say the least.   After His resurrection, He could manifest Himself as a human being (without becoming a human being, of course) in order to be with the brethren in a fully locked and enclosed place—something, no physical human being could ever achieve!

So, let us now look at the proposal that the third Heaven could be physical.   In fairness to the proponent of this suggestion, he is not definitively insisting that the third Heaven is physical, but he feels that it could be.   But the fact that he even thinks that it could be is quite alarming.  

In our Q&A, “Who and What is in Heaven?,” we showed that only God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and angelic beings are in the third Heaven.   It is a spiritual place where no human being has been, except in vision.

The third Heaven refers to God’s home and as He is spiritual, His home is also spiritual.  Man has no idea where it is because it is not a physical domain. It is entirely spiritual. One writer observed that “It could coexist right alongside us, and we wouldn’t even know it. It’s in a completely different plane of existence.”

In Eason’s Bible Dictionary, we read: “According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens: (a) The firmament, as ‘fowls of the heaven’ Ge[nesis] 2:19 7:3,23 Ps[alm] 8:8 etc., ‘the eagles of heaven’ La[mentations] 4:19 etc. (b) The starry heavens De[uteronomy] 17:3 Jer[emiah] 8:2 M[atthew] 24:29 (c) ‘The heaven of heavens,’ or ‘the third heaven’ De[uteronomy] 10:14 1Ki[ngs] 8:27 Ps[alm] 115:16 148:4 2Co[rinthians] 12:2.”

2 Corinthians 12:1-6 is sometimes used as proof that man has been to Heaven:

¹ It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: 

² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 

³ And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 

⁴ how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 

⁵ Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. 

⁶ For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

This passage mentions that “Paradise,” the spiritual garden, is in the third Heaven where God dwells and is a Heaven composed of spirit—the third Heaven where God lives (Psalm 11:4; Hebrews 9:24). The physical garden of Eden, which God later created for Adam and Eve, was patterned after the spiritual garden that exists in Heaven, and in which is a spiritual Tree of Life. When the heavenly Jerusalem comes down to the new earth, the heavenly garden, with the Tree of Life in it, will come down to the new earth as well.

One observer wrote: “Don’t read into these verses something that’s not there. Paul isn’t talking about the immortality of the soul. He’s not talking about his soul leaving his body. He didn’t mean to write, ‘I don’t know whether I went to heaven bodily or as a disembodied soul.’ That’s just wrong, though that may be the way it’s usually read. Paul is a Christian. Christians [don’t] believe in… disembodied souls.  Paul is saying that he had an experience of heaven. He calls it a vision or a revelation. The experience was so vivid, so real, however, that if it was an inner vision (a mental panorama), he found it indistinguishable from an actual visit (a physical panorama).”

There are a number of visions that are written about in the Word of God.   Indeed, the apostle John “was in the spirit,” as we read in the book of Revelation (compare Revelation 1:10) to see and write about what He saw there right through to the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven to earth, but it was in vision only.   He was not there physically.  If it was not in vision, he wouldn’t have seen anything at all as physical human beings can’t see the spiritual realm.  The Topical Encyclopedia states: “The concept of spiritual versus physical realities is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, highlighting the distinction and interaction between the unseen, eternal realm and the tangible, temporal world. This dichotomy is foundational to understanding the Christian worldview, which emphasizes the supremacy of spiritual truths over physical appearances.”

In Colossians 1:16, we read: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”   This shows that the spiritual realm (the invisible) is just as real and authentic as the physical world that we inhabit.  Visible and invisible; what else could the invisible be if it was not referring to the third Heaven?

Think about this.  Would it make any sense for the great Creator God and His Son, Jesus Christ Who have both existed from eternity as Spirit Beings to live in a physical Heaven?    In our Q&A, “Who and What is in Heaven?,” we show that all that is in Heaven is spiritual – there are no non-spiritual beings there and everything else is spiritual too.   We also quoted the following:

“Wikipedia gives the following insight into the 3rd heaven: ‘A third concept of Heaven, also called shămei hashamayim (שׁמי השׁמים or “Heaven of Heavens”), is mentioned in such passages as Genesis 28:12, Deuteronomy 10:14 and 1 Kings 8:27 as a distinctly spiritual realm containing (or being traveled by) angels and God’” (our emphasis).

“In Psalm 47:8 we read: ‘God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne.’   And in Psalm 103:19: ‘The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.’”

Everything in the third Heaven is spiritual, and in our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible? – The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation,” we read on page 145:

“Jesus says in Revelation 2:7 that the tree of life is presently in the midst of the ‘Paradise of God.’ ‘Paradise’ describes a beautiful Garden, also called ‘Eden.’ The reference here is to a spiritual garden, which is presently in heaven (compare 2 Corinthians 12:1–4), but which will descend to… earth, together with the (spiritual) tree of life and the heavenly Jerusalem. A reference to the spiritual garden of Eden or Paradise can also be found in Ezekiel 28:13, where Lucifer’s fall from heaven is described.”

Also, on page 141 of the same booklet, we read:

“In addition, John sees the ‘holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God’ (Revelation 21:2). This is a literal city—albeit not physical, but spiritual. (For more information on the spiritual nature of the new Jerusalem, please read our free booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.”) That this city is literal and not just a symbolic reference to the Church, for example, can be seen from the very detailed and specific description in Revelation 21:10–22; 22:1–5. We are told in Revelation 21:2, in conjunction with other Scriptures, that God is presently ‘preparing’ this city in heaven (compare Revelation 3:12; Hebrews 11:9–10; 12:22; 13:14; Galatians 4:26). We also read that Jesus Christ is presently ‘preparing’ for us a place in the ‘Father’s house’—the new Jerusalem (John 14:1–3).”

Could anyone really think that God would sit on His throne in a physical heaven while being the supreme Spiritual Being in the universe?   How ludicrous would that be?   Jesus stated in John 5:37: “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.”   This shows the complete spirituality of the Father and to even think that He would be in a physical place when He is the greatest Spiritual Being that there is, or ever will be, is simply preposterous.

We have a Q&A entitled: “Will there still be physical people after the Great White Throne Judgment?,” and it concludes with this statement: “Taking all the Scriptures together, it is clear that there will be no human physical life in existence after the Great White Throne Judgment, when God will create everything new (Revelation 21:5). For more information regarding that ‘new’ world, please read our free booklet, ‘God Is A Family.’”

Most people who read and understand the Word of God would agree with the statement that the Bible clearly defines the created world as consisting of two distinct realms, the greater of which is the invisible realm of the Spirit.  The natural world is subject to this unseen realm.

The Book of Revelation is full of references showing that the third Heaven where God lives is a Spiritual place and where no physical being is, has been, nor ever will be.

The apostle John saw in vision the Throne Room in Heaven, as recorded in Revelation, chapter 4.   We will quote the whole of this short chapter, showing how spiritual all of this is; hence the reason why John could only see it in vision and not in reality.

¹ After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

² Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.

³ And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.

⁴ Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.

⁵ And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

⁶ Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

⁸ The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

¹¹ “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

If anyone thinks that that is a description of a physical place, it would be most surprising.

Unquestionably, the third Heaven is God’s dwelling place; He is Spirit, Jesus Christ is Spirit, all of the “elders” and other angels are Spirit, and everything in that most wonderful place is Spirit!

And so back to the question, “Could the third Heaven Be Physical?” The answer is a very complete and comprehensive no!

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In part 1 of this Q&A, we discussed the fact that many religions believe that each person has an immortal soul.   Orthodox Christianity, in general, has the same understanding.   But is it true? 

In our booklet “The Theory of Evolution – A Fairy Tale for Adults,” the Spirit in Man is discussed and below are a few selected highlights taken from pages 19-26.   This shows that the Spirit in Man is not the soul.  

“Herbert W. Armstrong… published his findings in a book entitled, ‘The Incredible Human Potential.’ This is what he wrote on pages 74 and 75, ‘Animals are equipped with brain and instinct. But they do not have power to understand and choose moral and spiritual values or to develop perfect spiritual character. Animals have brain, but no intellect—instinct, but no ability to develop holy and Godly character. And that pictures the transcendental DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANIMAL BRAIN AND HUMAN MIND.

“‘What then can account for the vast difference? Science cannot adequately answer. Some scientists, in the field of research, conclude that, of necessity, there has to be some non-physical component in human brain that does not exist in animal brain….’

“Mr. Armstrong then explains that, according to the Bible, each human being has a non-physical component in his brain, called ‘the spirit in man.’ On page 81 of his book, he points out, ‘[T]his spirit is not the man—only something in the man… This spirit cannot see, hear, or think. The man sees, hears and thinks through his physical brain and the five senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling. The spirit in man imparts the power of physical intellect to the physical brain, thus forming human mind.

“‘This spirit acts, among other things, as a computer, adding to the brain the psychic and intellectual power. Knowledge received in the brain through the eye, ear and the senses is immediately “programmed’ into the spirit computer. This “computer” gives the brain instant recall of whatever portion of millions of bits of knowledge may be needed in the reasoning process. That is to say that memory is recorded in the human spirit, whether or not it is also recorded in the “gray matter” of the brain. This human spirit also adds to man a spiritual and moral faculty not possessed by animals.’

“Most people know nothing about the existence of the spirit in man—even many religious people—lay persons and theologians alike. When they read passages in the Bible describing the spirit in man, they assume the Bible is talking about the soul. But the soul is not a non-physical component of the human being. The soul, according to the Bible, is totally physical. The Bible does not teach the concept of an immortal soul. Rather, we read in Ezekiel 18:4, ‘The soul who sins shall die.’ The word ‘soul’ in the Bible refers to the living body of both man and animals. In Revelation 16:3, we read that every living soul—both men and beasts—died in the sea. The soul does NOT distinguish man from animals. Rather, the spirit in man is THE distinguishing factor between man and animals. It explains man’s superiority over the animals and totally disproves the concept of evolution. 

“The Bible strongly indicates that God gives the human spirit at the time of conception, and then takes it back at the time of death. We read in Zechariah 12:1, ‘Thus says the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.’ Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, ‘Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.’ When the spirit in man leaves a person, that person is dead. James 2:26 says, ‘For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.’

“Jesus Christ Himself, at the time of His death, cried out to the Father to receive His spirit. What exactly did He say? Let’s read in Luke 23:46, ‘And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.’ When He died, His human spirit returned to God, as we read in Ecclesiastes. 

“Understand though, that when a man dies and his spirit returns to God, that spirit does not continue to live consciously, apart from the body. Rather, God ‘stores’ it, so to speak, in heaven, until He unites it at the time of the resurrection of man with a new spiritual or physical body. The concept that man’s soul is immortal is as wrong as the concept that man’s spirit continues to live consciously after death. Rather, the body—or soul—dies, and the spirit of man returns to God to await a resurrection.

“Note Ecclesiastes 9:4-6, ‘But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope… For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing…Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished…’ And verse 10, ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.’ In other words, there is no conscious activity after a person dies. The spirit does not continue in the realm of consciousness.

“Jesus Christ also made it clear that dead people do not continue to live on. Rather, the dead will have to be brought back to life through a resurrection from the dead. In Matthew 22:31-32, He asked the Sadducees, since they did not believe in the resurrection, ‘But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.’ If the dead persons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had somehow continued to live consciously after their death, including a conscious existence of their spirit that had returned to God, then Christ’s words to the Sadducees would have been without sense.

“WHY does God give each human being a spirit? The spirit in man records all the human characteristics of the person, as well as his or her outward appearance. At the time of the resurrection, the spirit of the dead person is combined with a new body of the dead person. This means, all the experiences and memories and ideas of the former life are back in the resurrected individual, and the resurrected person will also look the same way he or she did in their former life.

“When a person dies, his body returns to dust. But the spirit of man in him has recorded the appearance of the person, the personality, the personal attributes, and God gives the spirit of that person back into the newly created physical body. 

“Just as the Bible teaches a resurrection to physical life, so it also teaches a resurrection to spiritual life. Those who died after having been counted worthy to enter the Kingdom of God at the time of Christ’s second coming, will have part in a spiritual resurrection, as the Apostle Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-44, ‘But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be… But God gives… a body as He pleases… So also is the [spiritual] resurrection from the dead [to spiritual life]: The body is sown in corruption [flesh and blood], it is raised in incorruption…It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.’ But as with a resurrection to physical life, the resurrection to spiritual life will also incorporate the spirit that was in man and that recorded the person’s characteristics.

“So we see that it is the spirit in man that explains the vast differences in self-awareness, intellect and intelligence between man and animals.”

What you have just read is something that so many simply don’t understand.  Because so many believe in an immortal soul that has to go somewhere when the body dies, Bible verses are interpreted in a way that allows this belief.   As we saw in the previous instalment, many religions are convicted of this and even in mainstream Christianity, it is the prevailing view with the good going to Heaven at death and the evil unbelievers going to Hell being accepted as Biblical Truth, when it isn’t.   And once such error is accepted, then further errors creep in, which is why it is so vital to have the correct understanding that we don’t have an immortal soul.

In part 1 of this Q&A, we mentioned that one writer opined that “the present Heaven is not our final destination, it’s a wonderful place, and it’s understandable that those who have had loved ones die in Christ wonder what life is like for them there. Based on the Bible’s teaching, we know several things: the present Heaven is a real (and possibly physical) place. Those who love Jesus and trust Him for their salvation will be with Him there, together with all who have died in Christ. We will be awake and cognizant.” 

We had explained that this is most certainly not the prevailing view in orthodox Christianity which holds that the good remain forever in Heaven as their final destination. But this writer even thinks that “The Present Heaven May Be a Physical Place.”  He also wrote that “A fundamental article of the Christian faith is that the resurrected Christ now dwells in Heaven. We are told that His resurrected body on Earth was physical and that this same, physical Jesus ascended to Heaven, from where He will one day return to Earth. It seems indisputable, then, to say that there is at least one physical body in the present Heaven. If Christ’s body in the intermediate Heaven has physical properties, it stands to reason that others in Heaven could have physical forms as well, even if only temporary ones.”

To add to the confusion even more, he writes: “Given the consistent physical descriptions of the intermediate Heaven and those who dwell there, it seems possible—though this is certainly debatable—that between our earthly lives and our bodily resurrection God may grant us some temporary physical form that will allow us to function as human beings while in that unnatural state ‘between bodies’ awaiting our bodily resurrection. If so, that would account for the repeated depictions of people now in Heaven occupying physical space, wearing clothes and crowns, carrying branches, and having body parts (for example, Lazarus’s finger in Luke 16:24).”  

As mentioned previously, we address the question about Lazarus and the rich man in our booklet “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?” on pages 31-32: 

The opinion of the writer, as quoted above, is wrong for many reasons. One, there are no physical bodies in heaven, and there never will be. Two, nobody went to heaven except for Jesus Christ, but not in a physical body, but as a Spirit being. 

We said in one of our Q&As: “God also created the third heaven with all its spiritual components, including His throne, His temple, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the heavenly garden or Paradise, because we read that the Father created everything there is through Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3)—the visible and the invisible (Colossians 1:16). We understand, of course, that both the Father and Jesus Christ have always existed; Christ was not created (Hebrews 7:3). So it was the God Family who created everything.”   In view of this information, how could anyone even think that heaven could be physical?

Another disagreement we would have with the concept of going to heaven and that it might even be physical etc, we write in our booklet “Why This Confusion About Life After Death” on pages 8-9 under the heading “Man Can Reach Two Heavens But Not the Third Heaven Where God Dwells” the following:

“As Lewis Brown explains in ‘This Believing World’: ‘In very early times that idea flourished not alone among the Babylonians and Egyptians, but also among the barbaric tribes in and around Greece… these mysteries [came] down from Thrace or across the sea from Egypt and Asia Minor… they declared that for every man, no matter how poor or vicious, there was a place in heaven. All one had to do was to be ‘initiated’ into the secrets of the cult.’

“The Hebrews did not believe that we go to Heaven when we die. Neither did the early Christians. But in time, the concept developed within the Roman Catholic Church that one will be saved and go to Heaven when one has been baptized into the church, including as a little baby. 

“The Bible does not teach this. Much confusion exists because many do not understand that the Bible speaks of more than one heaven. 

“When the Bible speaks of ‘heaven,’ it may refer to any one of three different locations. The first heaven is the atmosphere, surrounding the earth, where birds can fly and clouds move (Genesis 1:20; 27:28). The second heaven is the universe, with all its galaxies, suns, stars and planets (Psalm 8:3). 

“It is possible for man to reach these two heavens—at least, to a limited extent. But man cannot reach the Third Heaven, where God dwells—where His angels live and where His throne is located. It is spiritual, not physical. Physical beings cannot enter it—except in a vision—and we won’t go there after our death, either. 

“According to the biblical testimony, the only Being who entered the Third Heaven after death was Jesus Christ. Others saw the Third Heaven in a vision—such as Daniel (Daniel 7:9), Paul (2 Corinthians 12:2), Stephen (Acts 7:56) or John (Revelation 4:2), but they did not enter the Third Heaven in bodily form, or as spirit beings. 

“Christ said in John 3:13 that no human being—except He Himself—has entered the Third Heaven. The German Luther Bible from 1964 wrote: ‘And no one goes to Heaven except for the One who came down from Heaven, namely the Son of Man…’ (‚Und niemand fährt gen Himmel, denn der vom Himmel herniedergekommen ist, nämlich des Menschen Sohn…‘). 

“Most translations render the passage as, ‘No one has ascended up to heaven…’, but even then, it is at least clear that no one before Christ ever went to the Third Heaven. This means that contrary to popular belief, Elijah and Enoch did NOT enter God’s Third Heaven.”

In Time Magazine in December 2019, author N.T. Wright wrote the following:

“Indeed, for most modern Christians, the idea of ‘going to heaven when you die’ is not simply one belief among others, but the one that seems to give a point to it all.

“But the people who believed in that kind of ‘heaven’ when the New Testament was written were not the early Christians.  They were the ‘Middle Platonists’ — people like Plutarch (a younger contemporary of St Paul who was a philosopher, biographer, essayist and pagan priest in Delphi). To understand what the first followers of Jesus believed about what happens after death, we need to read the New Testament in its own world — the world of Jewish hope, of Roman imperialism and of Greek thought.

“Israel’s scriptures had long promised that God would come back in person to dwell with his people for ever. The early Christians picked this up: ‘The Word became flesh,’ declares John [1:14], ‘and dwelt in our midst.’ The word for ‘dwelt’ means, literally, ‘tabernacled,’ ‘pitched his tent’ — alluding to the wilderness ‘tabernacle’ in the time of Moses and the Temple built by Solomon. Studying the New Testament historically, in its own world (as opposed to squashing and chopping it to fit with our own expectations), shows that the first Christians believed not that they would ‘go to heaven when they died,’ but that, in Jesus, God had come to live with them.

“That was the lens through which they saw the hope of the world. The book of Revelation ends, not with souls going up to heaven, but with the New Jerusalem coming down to earth, so that ‘the dwelling of God is with humans.’”

There is so much confusion in all of this mainstream “understanding” and over many years we have covered all of these issues in our literature and in sermons, where the Bible is clear. In brief, the answer is that if the understanding about the spirit in man was accepted, no one would need to be in heaven, a temporary waiting place, purgatory or any other variation of such an erroneous belief.  And understanding that we do NOT have an immortal soul is basic Truth and understanding right from the Word of God.  If we did have an immortal soul, we couldn’t be destroyed,  and if the “going to hell at death” reasoning was correct, then those going there would be there for eternity which is neither correct nor would it be the act of a loving God.

The correct knowledge about the immortal soul is vital to our understanding about God, His plan of salvation and His love for all His creation.  Incorrect knowledge will lead to further misunderstandings as we have seen in these Q&As.

Material available for further study:

Our booklets pertinent to what has been discussed in these two Q&A’s are:

The Theory of Evolution – A Fairy Tale for Adults?

Do We Have an Immortal Soul?

And in our 79-page-booklet “Why This Confusion About Life After Death,” we cover many topics, a few of which are:

Man Does Not Have an Immortal Soul Which Goes to Heaven

Man Will Not Be Judged at the Moment of His Death

Man Is a Soul Not Has a Soul

Mary, and Everyone Else Who Has Died, Are Still in the Grave

Limbo and Purgatory Are Not Biblical Concepts

Indulgences

The False Concept of Hell

An Ever-Burning Hell-fire; After Death, Is Unbiblical

The Dead Know Nothing

The Spirit in Man

Most People Have No Knowledge About the Existence of the Spirit in Man

and much more, which can be accessed online via this link: https://www.eternalgod.org/why-this-confusion-about-life-after-death/

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

On the Britannica website we read the following:

“Human beings seem always to have had some notion of a shadowy double that survives the death of the body. But the idea of the soul as a mental entity, with intellectual and moral qualities, interacting with a physical organism but capable of continuing after its dissolution, derives in Western thought from Plato and entered into Judaism during approximately the last century before the Common Era and thence into Christianity. In Jewish and Christian thinking it has existed in tension with the idea of the resurrection of the person conceived as an indissoluble psychophysical unity. Christian thought gradually settled into a pattern that required both of these apparently divergent ideas. At death the soul is separated from the body and exists in a conscious or unconscious disembodied state. But on the future Day of Judgement souls will be re-embodied (whether in their former but now transfigured earthly bodies or in new resurrection bodies) and will live eternally in the heavenly kingdom.”

This is one of several “explanations” of our future in heaven. It is by far not the only one, as we will discuss below in more detail.

However, we can see from this information how the thinking of pagan philosophers can infiltrate Christianity and then it can become a cornerstone belief of orthodox Christianity. Just like the Trinity, for example.   But because of this supposedly Biblical belief, we should be able to readily see how this can then lead on to other errors.

We read in Matthew 7:24-27 what Jesus had to say about getting the foundations right:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

We have proved time and again that, at death, we don’t go to either heaven (for the good) or hell (for the evil).  However, many Christian writers and theologians seem to think otherwise.   For example, one well-known author of many Christian books wrote the following:

“When a Christian dies he enters what theologians call the ‘intermediate state,’ a transitional period between life on Earth and the future resurrection to life on the New Earth. Usually when we talk about ‘Heaven,’ we mean the place that Christians go when they die. When we tell our children ‘Grandma’s now in Heaven,’ we’re referring to what I prefer to call the present Heaven (the word intermediate sometimes confuses people).

“The present Heaven is a temporary lodging, a waiting place (a delightful one!) until the return of Christ and our bodily resurrection. The eternal Heaven, the New Earth, is our true home, the place where we will live forever with our Lord and each other. The great redemptive promises of God will find their ultimate fulfillment on the New Earth, not in the present Heaven. 

“Though the present Heaven is not our final destination, it’s a wonderful place, and it’s understandable that those who have had loved ones die in Christ wonder what life is like for them there. Based on the Bible’s teaching, we know several things: the present Heaven is a real (and possibly physical) place. Those who love Jesus and trust Him for their salvation will be with Him there, together with all who have died in Christ. We will be awake and cognizant. And because we will be with Jesus, it is ‘better by far’ than our present existence.”

By believing this concept, then other beliefs have to be “bent out of shape” to fit in with this foundational error!

However, this explanation is not the standard one in orthodox Christianity, nor is it the most accepted one. The author combines false “Christian” concepts with some correct Scriptures about the heavenly Jerusalem coming down to earth, but he totally misunderstands and misinterprets those passages as well. 

When researching our final destination in Christian thinking on the Internet, this is what we are told:

“In many religious traditions, including Christianity, the concept of ‘Heaven’ suggests an eternal abode, a place where believers reside with God forever…  For the Christian faith, Heaven is: an eternity in the presence of God. the ultimate aim for all Christians in order for their soul to be reunited with God and united with Christ.” 

According to this common view, a new Jerusalem on earth does not even come into play. 

Why do many come to the conclusion that we go to heaven (or hell) when we die?   The answer is that they believe that man is an immortal soul.

In an article “Death in Different Religions” we read the religious hodgepodge that man has created over the course of the last 6,000 years in relation to life after death.   Here are some snippets of information from this article:

“Christianity

“Most Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus and the existence of the afterlife. Many believe that moral decisions that we make on Earth determine whether we go to Heaven or Hell. Catholics believe that before we reach Heaven, we must first pass through Purgatory, a place where we must purify our sins. Catholics also believe that praying for the deceased can help them get into Heaven from Purgatory.”   We covered this approach in our booklet “Why This Confusion About Life After Death.”

“Islam

“Muslims believe that after our physical death on Earth, our soul lives on and goes to the Angel of Death to wait for Judgement Day. The Qur’an teaches that on the day of judgement, the righteous will go to Jannat (Paradise) and the sinners will go to Jahannam (Hell).

“Judaism

“Judaism is ambiguous about what happens when we die. While Jews tend to focus more on their life on Earth, most Jewish people believe in an afterlife, and it can come in many forms. Some Jews believe in reincarnation, while others believe in the World to Come, which is similar to Heaven. 

“Buddhism

“Buddhists believe that when we die, we are reincarnated into another body. After death and before rebirth, each person passes through the state called Bardo, which can be a time of great insight and liberation. For Buddhists, the ultimate goal is to break out of the cycle of reincarnation by attaining Nirvana, an end to suffering. In order to reach such a state of enlightenment, Buddhists believe we must meditate and purify our minds. 

“Hinduism

“Hindus share similar beliefs with Buddhists when it comes to death and the afterlife. They also believe in reincarnation, and believe that we can be reborn not only into humans, but also into animals, plants, or even insects. 

Further religions, like most of the ones quoted above seem to believe in an immortal soul.   For example:

Native American Spirituality – Many tribes believe in a spirit world or an afterlife where the souls of the deceased reside.

African Traditional Religions – Ancestors play a significant role, and there is a belief in the continuation of life after death.

Zoroastrianism – The soul is judged after death and sent to either heaven or hell based on its deeds in life.

Bahá’í Faith – The Bahá’í Faith teaches the concept of the soul’s journey through different spiritual realms after death.  The afterlife is seen as a continuation of the soul’s progress towards spiritual perfection.

And so, such a belief seems to permeate so many religions.   When the apostle Peter addressed the Sanhedrin, as recorded in Acts 4:10-12, he stated:

“… let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Verse 12 shows that true Christianity is a unique faith with only salvation available through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.   No other faiths count. True Christianity is exclusive – the Bible says so!

Therefore, if other faiths believe in an immortal soul, it is irrelevant.  However, much of mainstream Christianity does not understand that we do not have an immortal soul and that can lead to further misunderstanding and error, and is a serious problem.

We will now quote from our booklet “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?” as follows:

Introduction – page 1:

“What happens to us when we die? Does our soul continue to live on, while our body decays in the grave? Do the souls of bad people continuously burn in hell fire for all eternity? Do the souls of good people ascend to heaven at the time of death—or do they go to a place called limbo or purgatory, if they were not quite as good? If the answer to these questions is ‘yes,’ then why do we need to be resurrected from the dead—or do we? Do humans possess immortality within themselves? If you are seeking to understand the truth on this subject, then the answers can be found in God’s Word, the Bible.”

“Some Reject the Concept of an Immortal Soul – page 5:

“We have briefly noted the many different concepts that man has held regarding the immortality of the soul, and there is, indeed, an astounding array of false ideas and misconceptions about this subject. But despite the strong universal influence, there have been some down through history who did not believe in any of these concepts. For example, Arnobius, a Catholic writer, spoke against those who held the ‘extravagant opinion of themselves that souls are immortal.’ (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VI, p. 440).

“Also, at the time of the Reformation, William Tyndale put it quite succinctly when he wrote, ‘In putting departed souls in heaven, hell or purgatory, you destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection… The true faith putteth the resurrection; the heathen philosophers, denying that, did put that souls did ever live…If the soul be in heaven, tell me what cause is there for the resurrection?’

“Another Reformer who questioned the immortality of the soul was Martin Luther. He declared that the Bible did not teach the immortality of the soul, and he suggested that the soul died with the body, and that God would hereafter raise both the one and the other. He wrote in 1522, ‘It is probable, in my opinion, that… indeed the dead sleep in utter insensibility till the day of judgment… On what authority can it be said that the souls of the dead may not sleep… in the same way that the living pass in profound slumber the interval between their downlying at night and their uprising in the morning?’ (Michelet, Life of Luther, p. 133).

“While most Protestants today have long forgotten these words of Martin Luther, some Christian groups today still do not teach the immortality of the soul. The Seventh-Day Adventists, for example, do not believe that the soul of a dead person continues to live a conscious life. The Sabbath-keeping Church of God organizations, likewise, universally reject the concept of an immortal soul.”

The booklet then goes through a thorough study of the word “soul”, on pages 6-24, coming to the conclusion that:

“When we die, we go to the grave. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says to you that you won’t do anything ‘in the grave, whither thou goest.’ Now notice Psalm 94:17, ‘Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul [‘nephesh’] had almost dwelt in silence.’ In other words, unless God would have helped, the soul would have died and gone to the grave.

“Again, we see that the person and the soul of the person are one and the same. Both go to the grave, where there is silence and total lack of consciousness or activity. In other words, both die. That is why the Bible describes death consistently as a dreamless sleep [cp. John 11:11–14; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 27:52; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17]. God must awaken us out of that sleep of death in order for us to live again—and God will do so at the resurrection of the dead.

“The Grave is a Place of Silence and Unconsciousness – pages 24-25:

“The grave is described as a place of silence, without any activity, thought, or consciousness. The dead do not even remember God their Creator. Psalm 6:5 points out, ‘For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave [‘sheol’] who shall give thee thanks?’”

Of course, some will immediately point to Lazarus and the rich man to prove their point and this is addressed on pages 29-32 of the booklet.

On page 40 we read “The Truth About Immortality” – “Ultimately and inescapably, God’s Word proves that eternal life is a gift of God, and that physical mankind does not possess an immortal soul. The deceptive and false doctrine of inherent ‘immortality’ has held countless millions in a state of confusion, false hopes, and tormented fear.” 

In simple terms, the Bible clearly shows that man is a soul; not, that he has a soul.

The information in the booklet mentioned above can be accessed with the following link: https://www.eternalgod.org/booklet-675/

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

It is a good question to ask.

Why do we keep this particular celebration?   Mainstream Christianity doesn’t even keep the weekly Sabbath or annual Holy Days which we do, and this particular celebration would also be rather strange to them.

We read in Exodus 12:40-42:

^“Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.  And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night of solemn observance to the LORD for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.”

Deuteronomy 16:1 adds:

“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.”

It was during the Passover night—the night of the 14th day of the month—that the death angel passed over the Israelites who were in their houses (hence the name “Passover”), while killing the firstborn of the Egyptian households (Exodus 12:6–13). But it was on the 15th day, “on the day after the Passover” that the Israelites went out of Egypt, and it is on that day (at the beginning of the 15th day of the first month) that Church members celebrate the Night to Be Much Observed—“a night of solemn observance to the LORD”—when they gather together for an evening meal.

The Night to Be Much Observed is the start of the Days of Unleavened Bread.   We know that leaven “puffs” things up and that is something that true Christians must eliminate from their lives which is a physical reminder for us to remove spiritual sin from our lives.

Rudyard Kipling, a famous English poet wrote:

“I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew);

“Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.”

So, let us ask these questions about this celebration. We know about preparing for, and taking the Passover, and then getting rid of any leavened products and not eating them for seven days, but do we really think about the Night to Be Much Observed which occurs on the 15^th Abib – which begins this year with Saturday evening, 12^th April 2025.

And so, looking at these 6 questions and answering them, enables us to come up with all of the necessary explanations.   The first question is:

WHAT:

• It is a time when Church members celebrate the Night to Be Much Observed—“a night of solemn observance to the LORD”—when they gather together for an evening meal.
• Even those who may keep the Passover at the correct time, may overlook the need to keep this “night of solemn observance” as we read in Exodus 12:42.

WHY:

• First of all, because it is an instruction from God.
• For true Christians, the Night to Be Much Observed is a time when we can rejoice, thanking God for His calling and acknowledge His marvellous intervention in our lives where we have been led out of the spiritual bondage to this world, out of “spiritual Egypt” and the spiritual exodus by Church members from their slavery of sin (Exodus 12:42).
• While we are not fleeing from the enemy of the Egyptian Pharaoh and nation, we are fleeing an even greater threat today with Satan and his demons who have influenced every society around the world, and who want to destroy us spiritually so that we will not be able to enjoy what God has promised us for being faithful to Him and His Way – that of eternal life in His Kingdom.
• On this night, the people of God can reflect on our wonderful calling which will end, subject to being faithful to the end of our lives (cf Matthew 24:13), in being a part of God’s Kingdom in the Family of God.   Jesus prayed, as recorded in John 17:9-11: “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”

WHEN:

• At the beginning of the 15th day of the first month – the night AFTER the PASSOVER – this is when Church members celebrate the Night to Be Much Observed—“a night of solemn observance to the LORD”—when they gather together for an evening meal.
• We read further in Numbers 33:3: “They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians.”
• By keeping this at the correct time, we can concentrate on our ongoing “exodus” from this world where we can anticipate the soon-coming Kingdom of God when we will rule and reign in the Family of God.
• As this evening is also the start of the Days of Unleavened Bread, it is appropriate to commemorate this with a Sabbath-type meal as it is an occasion to appreciate the understanding that God has given us about the “Night to Be Much Observed” which the world has no understanding at all.

HOW:

• In previous generations, when there were larger congregations, the Night to Be Much Observed was usually held by having a number of different locations in the homes of members but this has changed in recent years in many cases where groups are now much smaller.
• We should, we must, keep this celebration in a respectful way—not just turning up for a meal with our conversation being just about everyday matters.   What happened all those many years ago has profound implications for us today.   This is not just a meal but a look back at a time when our forebears were looking to escape from Egypt – which is synonymous with us looking to escape from sin today when it surrounds us all the time.

WHERE:

• As stated above, in previous generations, the Night to Be Much Observed was more often celebrated in the homes of church members in small groups, but in more recent times, in many cases an alternative arrangement has been that of using a restaurant particularly where a private room can be made available.
• It should be noted that as this is also the start of a Holy Day, the first Day of Unleavened Bread, dress should be appropriate for the occasion, not a casual approach of jeans, shorts or other attire that are used for leisurely occasions.   It is a special evening and one to be kept and honoured in a proper way.

WHO:

• The Night to Be Much Observed has been kept by Church of God members in modern times. The following rendition is taken from the Authorized Version as translated in Exodus 12:42: “It is a night to be much observed (“Shim-moor,” meaning night watch, watching, vigil) unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.”
• Of course, children and others in the family who may not be baptised members may participate in and keep this celebration, unlike the Passover which must only be kept by properly baptised members.
• The Church of God continues to keep this beginning part of the first Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread—after sundown, which marks the start of the time God has established for His people to keep. Exodus 13, verses 3 through 10, explicitly casts God’s instructions as an ongoing regulation for those who seek to obey Him—note, in particular, verse 10: “You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.”

As is the case for all the Holy Days (which includes the weekly Sabbath), the Church of God meets together to worship God, to be taught and to fellowship. Christians are warned to carefully maintain the practice of meeting together on a regular basis: “…not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

This is another way, by obeying what was told to the ancient Israelites, that we can celebrate a time as per God’s instructions and help and encourage others as we look forward to the soon-coming Kingdom of God.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)