The Apostle Paul's Teaching on Life After Death: A Model of Christ's Life, Death, and Resurrection

There are many questions and differing views surrounding what happens to the soul after death. Through his letters collected in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul offers insight into the existence of the believer's soul in an intermediate state following death and prior to the resurrection of the body. Through a brief overview of Old Testament teachings on the subject, Jewish views on life after death during the intertestamental period, and common Greek thought on the body and soul, the possible presuppositions and influences on the Apostle Paul's view of life after death and the intermediate state are uncovered. Detailed exegesis of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, select verses from 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, and Philippians 1:21-24 offers an insight into the Apostle Paul's teachings on life after death for the Christian believer. The Apostle Paul consistently taught that deceased believers exist in a conscious, disembodied state in Heaven with Christ immediately after death, awaiting the resurrection body given at the Parousia. This teaching is important to the modern Christian as it offers Christians hope in this life and in death. Furthermore, Paul's teachings on the intermediate state are applicable in refuting the Catholic concept of purgatory. Lastly, through possessing an understanding of what happens to the soul after death, Christians are able to better model and glorify Christ through their life, in death, and through the future resurrection.