QUESTION:
Where does the soul go at death?  

ANSWER:
There are a number of theories regarding the above topic. Some believe that the 
soul "sleeps" and is unconscious after death and so remains until the resurrection. 
Others believe that the soul goes directly to heaven or hell at the time of death, 
and finally, some contend that the soul enters into an intermediate state and there 
awaits the resurrection. In the opinion of this writer the last explanation is the 
correct one. The scriptures teach that there is a separation of spirit and body at
death (Eccl. 12:7; James 2:26). The body returns to dust (earth) and the spirit 
enters Hades (Sheol in the Old Testament). In the Hadean world there is a 
separation of the righteous and wicked. The righteous are in Paradise and the 
wicked are in Tartarus. There are three words that are crucial to the understanding 
of this subject. The King James Version of the Bible translates them all by the
single English word hell. This not only is incorrect, but very misleading. The 
three words are: (1) Gehenna, which always refers to the place of eternal 
punishment; (2) Hades, which refers to the intermediate state; and (3) Tartarus, 
which refers to that part of Hades where the wicked are during the intermediate
state. Gehenna occurs twelve times in the original of the New Testament; Hades, ten
times; and Tartarus, one time-2 Pet. 2:4. The example of what happened to Christ at 
His death on the cross will help us understand exactly what happens when we die. 
His body was placed in the tomb (Lk. 23:53). His spirit went into Hades, or more 
specifically, Paradise (Lk. 23:43). He did not go to Heaven or God (John 20: 17). 
From this we learn that (1) the spirit can exist separate and apart from the body; 
(2) that Paradise is in Hades; and (3) that Hades is not in Heaven. The teaching of
Luke 16:19-31 further teaches that man is conscious after death in an intermediate 
state. Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom (Paradise) and the rich man was in "hell" 
(Hades, more particularly Tartarus). To the penitent thief Jesus said "Today shalt 
thou be with me in paradise." Lk. 23:43 We have already learned that Jesus did not 
go to heaven (Jno. 20:17), hence the necessity that He went to an intermediate
place. Perhaps the major problem in understanding this subject is the belief among
many that the soul goes directly to its destiny at death. The comments of J. W. 
McGarvey are appropriate here: "The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not appreciated 
by the religious world now, as it was by the apostles. As respects the return of 
his soul from Hades, Protestant writers have fled so far from the justly-abhomed
purgatory of the Catholic, and the gloomy soul-sleeping of the Materialist, that
they have passed beyond the scripture doctrine, and either ignore altogether the 
existence of an intermediate state, or deny that the souls of the righteous are 
short of ultimate happiness during this period... As long as men entertain the idea 
that their spirits enter into final bliss and glory immediately after death, they 
can never be made to regard the resurrection ofthe body as a matter of importance. 
This idea has ever produced a general skepticism among the masses, in reference to 
a resurrection of the body; for men are very apt to doubt the certainty of future 
events for which they see no necessity. (Commentary on Acts, First Ed. p. 34) As 
McGarvey points out, if we go directly to heaven or hell at death, why the need for 
a resurrection? The truth is, at death the soul of man departs from the body, and
enters a state of conscious existence, in an intermediate realm, where it awaits 
the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and sentence to Heaven or 
Gehenna.