If believers go to heaven when they die to be with Christ then why did Paul said they fell asleep? 1 Corinthians 15:5–6>he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.Shouldn't he have said: Some of them have already ascended to be with Christ?
>>186572181st century Christians thought the world was going to end imminently so they weren't too concerned about hashing out the particulars and put most of their energy into just getting the word out.
>>18657225So he's just bullshitting you say?
>>18657239Yeah pretty much.
>>18657218>If believers go to heaven when they die to be with ChristThey don't, after death fantasy lands are heretical nonsense.>why did Paul said they fell asleep?Because they believed they had been imparted with a soul that would be called on again to serve its function within the heavenly kingdom which the Son established upon the earth. A soul is just something like a job title, gatekeeper for example, and those with them are merely stewards during their lifetimes.
"falling asleep" was just the common euphemism for death during greek times, and it carries no implication whatsoever that the soul lapses into suspended animation between death and the general resurrection on the Last Day. Christ himself uses the same idiom in John 11:11-14>"Lazarus our friend sleepeth… Lazarus is dead"
