When people were resurrected from the dead where were their souls?

[redrosetea]

There were people brought back to life in the Old Testament by the prayers of the prophets

Christ brought Lazarus and a small girl back from the dead…so did the prayers of Peter and Paul

Does our church teach where the souls of these people were when they were dead?

I thought judgment was immediate after death? I realized after Christ rose the gates of heaven were opened for all who died in a state of grace

I have never heard a definitive answer to where the souls of those brought back resided…I am really only interested in the Catholic view on this

 

[Mailman]

There were people brought back to life in the Old Testament by the prayers of the prophets

Christ brought Lazarus and a small girl back from the dead…so did the prayers of Peter and Paul

Does our church teach where the souls of these people were when they were dead?

I thought judgment was immediate after death? I realized after Christ rose the gates of heaven were opened for all who died in a state of grace

I have never heard a definitive answer to where the souls of those brought back resided…I am really only interested in the Catholic view on this

That’s an excellent question. I would like to know the Catholic view on that as well as I’ve not seen anyone ask the question before.

 

[Ignatius]

There were people brought back to life in the Old Testament by the prayers of the prophets

When people are resurrected from the dead, their souls are reunited with their bodies. There is no such thing as a body walking around without a soul as some may teach.

 

[Benadam]

A soul is a spiritual substance. The soul doesn’t leave so much as the body does. The soul enters into a state of being that was not intended for it and is unnatural to it. When Abel died his body was no longer joined to it’s life principle so it decayed and returned to the earth. The soul, no longer embodied, entered into an unnatural state of loss. The soul entered into a state that had not existed before and so as a ‘place’ it is defined by the state of Abel’s soul. In his case the earth opened it’s mouth and accepted it’s presence where his blood can cry out to God for justice. Abraham is the first man who’s soul enters a state of being that is mentioned as defining a ‘place’ after death is Abraham. The state of their souls and Abrahams shared a likeness that united their souls to his after death and counted them among his children. Abraham’s bosom. Those souls that werer not in a state of being like Abraham’s, considered living to God, were not given a name because the loss of body for them was a loss of personhood. Their souls define a ‘place’ that is called simply ‘of the dead’ Their souls define a ‘place’ of souls in an insecure state because it is a state unlike the state of Abraham’s soul.

The fundamental concept to keep in mind about the answer to this question is to remember that the soul is not in a place but a state. Before and after the body can no longer be animated by it.

I believe this theology is in accord with the mind of the Church on the matter.

 

[Verbum]

Hi redro,

The soul is a spirit and as such is not anywhere. To be anywhere you need to occupy space. A spiritual being does not occupy space. Spiritual beings are “where” they act. When separated from the body, our soul will be “in” heaven, purgatory or hell, depending whether it is contemplating God, being purified or experiencing dispair. If God calls it to reanimate the body, then it acts on the body and that’s where it is.

There is not really a “before” and after, following our death. In order for there to be a “before” and “after” there would have to be time, and time is the measure of a body in movement, such as the earth around the sun. So the question of where was the soul “before” it rejoined the body has reallly no answer. We are dealing with a different way of being.

Verbum

 

[redrosetea]

These people were all brought back to life…I thought judgment was instantaneous upon death?

I do understand the gates of heaven were opened at the resurrection of Christ…I wonder if I should ask an apologist…?

 

[Ignatius]

These people were all brought back to life…I thought judgment was instantaneous upon death?

I do understand the gates of heaven were opened at the resurrection of Christ…I wonder if I should ask an apologist…?

Yes, please let the thread know what you find out on this very interesting point.

 

[redrosetea]

I did submit a question but I can’t guarantee it will be answered…I think they pick the ones that they feel will interest the most people

 

[patg]

It would really be a pain to be yanked out of heaven and thrown back on earth to get to die all over again! That doesn’t exactly sound like an honor. But then if you were yanked out of the other place it might not be so bad…

Of course we also have the option of not reading these stories literalistically. The natural logistical problems one encounters when trying to take the stories too literally are definite points in favor of these being teaching examples rather than historical events.

 

[redrosetea]

I have heard a sermons about this actually happening…people were clinically dead and brought back to life…One man was furious at his family, because he was old their prayers were what summoned him back, and he didn’t want to return

He felt he was in heaven

 

[Pythons]

There were people brought back to life in the Old Testament by the prayers of the prophets

Christ brought Lazarus and a small girl back from the dead…so did the prayers of Peter and Paul

Does our church teach where the souls of these people were when they were dead?

I thought judgment was immediate after death? I realized after Christ rose the gates of heaven were opened for all who died in a state of grace

I have never heard a definitive answer to where the souls of those brought back resided…I am really only interested in the Catholic view on this

I agree with Benadam. Man was not intended to die therefore the separation of the soul from the body is an un-natural “state”. It was the Jewish understanding that the dead all went to the same place ( state ) and within that state of existence there was an area reserved for the good in order that they would wait in a peace like state while the bad waited in torment. The cross changed all of that.

 

[Benadam]

The cross changed all of that.

Exactly. Eternity didn’t enter human existence untill God became man.

 

[redrosetea]

I appears on the surface these people didn’t face judgment? The JW believe in soul sleep people are just dead until the second coming

This is not what I have ever been taught…We are judged at death and sent to where ever God has chosen for us to go

I don’t think a dead person has a soul it has been sent to 1 of 3 places…People were brought back to life by Peter and Paul after Christ has ascended into heaven

 

[Spencerian]

I appears on the surface these people didn’t face judgment? The JW believe in soul sleep people are just dead until the second coming

This is not what I have ever been taught…We are judged at death and sent to where ever God has chosen for us to go

I don’t think a dead person has a soul it has been sent to 1 of 3 places…People were brought back to life by Peter and Paul after Christ has ascended into heaven

Hi.

Yes, we *today *are judged at death for either purgatory, heaven or hell. But *before *the New Covenant, it was not quite so.

The recent posts have it right, but let me see if I can turn them into bullet points.

• Before Christ, the souls of the* righteous dead* entered a state where they were neither in damnation (Hell) nor in heaven (that’s “Abraham’s bosom.”) The Particular Judgment did exist prior to Christ, for in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we see it illustrated *before *Christ’s Passion.
• At Christ’s Passion, the righteous dead became free to enter heaven, as Christ removed the last impediments to a union with God
• At Christ’s Passion, the Particular Judgment become more defined. The New Covenant requires baptism and practice of Christ’s teachings. Any other behavior would lead to a lesser or no chance of salvation and, thus, damnation.
• The revival of the dead (Lazarus, friend of Jesus, Tabitha, and others) differs from resurrection. These people who died were temporarily reunited with their earthly bodies. They died, again, later.
• The General Resurrection involves the eternal reuniting of the soul with a person’s original body, now glorified, in heaven (not on earth) , as Christ’s body became after his special Resurrection.

 

[redrosetea]

I do understand they had to die a second time…I am just wondering what happened to them during the interum of dying ,and being brought back to life after, the reserection of Christ

During the time of death were they judged and sent to heaven, or purgatory.?.I am presuposing they weren’t in hell, because scripture tells us there is ne escape from there

 

[Spencerian]

I do understand they had to die a second time…I am just wondering what happened to them during the interum of dying ,and being brought back to life after, the reserection of Christ

During the time of death were they judged and sent to heaven, or purgatory.?.I am presuposing they weren’t in hell, because scripture tells us there is ne escape from there

Before Christ, anyone who died in righteousness with God would have gone to Abraham’s Bosom (also called the “Limbo of the Fathers” or the Judaic term sheol). Their Particular Judgment (which was a positive one) left them in that “holding room” until Christ’s Passion.

There is no escape from hell that we’re aware of, this is correct in Catholic teaching.

Based on the Catholic Encyclopedia, Abraham’s Bosom was not considered a form of purgatory, but more of a waiting state. Purgatory did exist (2 Maccabees text supports this) but the two states may not be immediately related.

 

[redrosetea]

I accept what people are saying but you are not answering about the people that died after Christ rose and ascended into heaven

Peter and Paul both prayed people back to life…They were not in the bosom of Abraham…Christ took them into heaven when he rose from the dead

So where were their souls when they were dead? I think they might have been in purgatory…I don’t think God would pull someone out of heaven and back to earth…but of course I can’t be sure

 

[Spencerian]

I accept what people are saying but you are not answering about the people that died after Christ rose and ascended into heaven

Peter and Paul both prayed people back to life…They were not in the bosom of Abraham…Christ took them into heaven when he rose from the dead

So where were their souls when they were dead? I think they might have been in purgatory…I don’t think God would pull someone out of heaven and back to earth…but of course I can’t be sure

Thanks for clarifying; I’m sorry that I didn’t get it right the first time.

The answer to where those souls that died briefly and were revived after Christ’s Passion is–I don’t really know. For this, based on what we know traditionally, it was a miracle–something not explainable.

Something that might help here: When we die, the actions and dispositions of our soul are no longer subject to temporal effects. In short, the meaning of time is not a factor. A person’s soul resides in purgatory until the purge is done. You *could *reasonably assume that the revived people’s soul went to purgatory before they were revived since it seems illogical that Peter and the Apostles could revive someone whose soul is damned had been sent to hell. I haven’t any sources that could support this, however.

Hopefully others may have something more to add to help.

 

[Mintaka]

Well, it would have been silly for God to have put them through the particular judgment when He knew perfectly well that they were just going back to earth in a few hours or days.

Although such things aren’t a matter of public revelation and don’t have to be believe, we see that people who have near-death experiences don’t say “And then God judged me.” They may get a bit of a word or feeling about sinning less or doing more good, but nothing like the particular judgment.

Given that eternity is outside of time, it would be a lot easier for God to have arranged it for Lazarus, say, to have experienced in his soul only a glimpse of eternity, like the near death people, and then to find himself back in the body.

It’s possible of course that Lazarus got more than that; just as it’s possible that he was judged. God is God.

But it certainly wasn’t cruel to be resurrected. It’s not cruel to stop vacation and start work again. It’s natural for a person to live or die as Christ commands, because “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s”.

 

[Dee123]

I accept what people are saying but you are not answering about the people that died after Christ rose and ascended into heaven

Peter and Paul both prayed people back to life…They were not in the bosom of Abraham…Christ took them into heaven when he rose from the dead

So where were their souls when they were dead? I think they might have been in purgatory…I don’t think God would pull someone out of heaven and back to earth…but of course I can’t be sure

I believe that Limbo (bosom of Abraham as it’s being called here) was where souls went prior to Christ’s resurrection. When Christ died the Creed says he descended into hell. I’m not sure if Limbo was a waiting place in hell…what I do know is that since His resurrection there’s been no Limbo. Only heaven, hell and purgatory.
People that died after Christ’s resurrection and ascension and were brought to life on earth again? I would say that soul definitely didn’t go to hell, because no soul can ever leave hell. So, it’d have to be either purgatory or heaven. The blessed Mother has made appearances on earth as have other saints. I don’t know, though.
I have another question…Scenario: the Transfiguration. Jesus spoke with Moses, the Father and Abraham. If the gates of heaven weren’t open until the crucifixion, where were Moses and Abraham? In limbo?