Christian mortalism
Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal[1][2][3][4][5] and may include the belief that the soul is "sleeping" after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment,[6][7][8][9][10] a time known as the intermediate state. "Soul sleep" is often used as a pejorative term,[11][a][14] so the more neutral term "mortalism" was also used in the nineteenth century,[15] and "Christian mortalism" since the 1970s.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Historically the term psychopannychism was also used, despite problems with the etymology[b][c] and application.[24] The term thnetopsychism has also been used; for example, Gordon Campbell (2008) identified John Milton as believing in the latter.[25]
Main article: Soul in the BibleChristian mortalism stands in contrast with the traditional Christian belief that the souls of the dead immediately go to heaven, or hell, or (in Catholicism) purgatory. Christian mortalism has been taught by several theologians and church organizations throughout history while also facing opposition from aspects of Christian organized religion. The Catholic Church condemned such thinking in the Fifth Council of the Lateran as "erroneous assertions". Supporters include eighteenth-century religious figure Henry Layton, among many others.
Critics/opponents[edit]
Immortality of the soul[edit]
The orthodox Christian belief about the intermediate state between death and the Last Judgment is immortality of the soul followed immediately after death of the body by particular judgment.[185] In Catholicism some souls temporarily stay in Purgatory to be purified for Heaven (as described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030–1032). Eastern Orthodoxy, Methodism, Anglicanism, and Mormonism use different terminology, but generally teach that the soul waits in the Abode of the Dead, specifically Hades or the Spirit World, until the resurrection of the dead, the saved resting in light and the damned suffering in darkness.[186][187][188][189] According to James Tabor this Eastern Orthodox picture of particular judgment is similar to the first-century Jewish and possibly Early Christian[190] concept that the dead either "rest in peace" in the Bosom of Abraham (mentioned in the Gospel of Luke) or suffer in Hades. This view was also promoted by John Calvin, although Calvin taught that immortality was not in the nature of the soul but was imparted by God.[191] Nineteenth-century Reformed theologians such as A. A. Hodge, W. G. T. Shedd, and Louis Berkhof also taught the immortality of the soul, but some later Reformed theologians such as Herman Bavinck and G. C. Berkouwer rejected the idea as unscriptural. [192]
Opponents of psychopannychism (soul sleeping) and thnetopsychism (the temporary death of the soul) include the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church (that also teach about Intercession of saints, connected to this subject), most mainline Protestant denominations, and most conservative Protestants, Evangelicals, and Fundamentalists.