INTERMEDIATE STATE. This expression commonly designates that realm or condition in which the soul exists between the decease of the body and the resurrection. Although the Bible says little about the state of the dead, it is clear even from the OT that the human personality survives death, whereas the doctrine of immortality is a firm tenet of NT faith. Differences of opinion regarding the intermediate state relate to its nature: whether or not it is purgatorial in function; whether or not the human spirit has a chance to repent, and whether or not the soul is conscious of its environment. Regarding the state of the dead, the Bible required bodily resurrection as the goal of individual eschatology. Man does not consist of separate units of body, mind, or soul (spirit), but is a dynamic integrated personality of which these are aspects. Immortality, therefore, does not mean endless existence so much as freedom from death (1 Cor 15:53) and from corruption (Rom 2:7). In Christ, men will exchange their mortality for immortality at the resurrection (1 Cor 15:53, 54). In OT belief, the human personality (nepeš) went at death to Sheol, a lowly region of darkness and silence (Ps 86:13; Prov 15:24; Ezek 26:20; Job 10:22). The dead, who were gathered in tribes (Ezek 32:17-32), received the dying (Isa 14:9, 10). Although Sheol was not so much the realm as the style of the dead, it was not life, since that could only flourish in the divine presence (Ps 16:10), to which God’s people would ultimately be brought (16:9-11; 73:24; Job 19:25, 26). The Gr. “Hades,” rendered “hell” and “grave” in the NT (Matt 11:23; Luke 10:15; Acts 2:27; 1 Cor 15:55 KJV, etc.) is the equivalent of Sheol, and takes its place with the other concepts of life after death, such as paradise (see Eschatology). NT thought about the intermediate state was influenced in the intertestamental period by Pharisaic views on Sheol, the resurrection, and the judgment. In the pre-Christian period, Sheol was regarded not as the permanent home, but only the intermediate place for the departed spirits. It was the intermediate abode of the righteous only, who would leave it later on at the resurrection (Pss Sol 14:6, 7; 2 Macc 7:9; 14:46). Although OT thought saw little connection between God and Sheol, 2 Maccabees 12:43-45 records Judas Maccabeus as praying that his fallen soldiers would be released from their sins there to prepare them for the resurrection. Enoch 22 states that Sheol was divided into three separate places, one for the righteous, another for the wicked who died before divine retribution overtook them, and a third for the wicked who were punished adequately while still alive. In 4 Ezra 7:95; 2 Baruch 21:23ff., the souls of the wicked went straight to Sheol, whereas the righteous ascended to heavenly chambers to enjoy rest and quietness under the protection of angels before being resurrected. All interestamental eschatology was founded upon a “three-storied universe,” with heaven (or a series of heavens) being the divine abode above the earth, and Sheol (the place of departed spirits) or Gehenna (the place where the wicked were punished) as an underworld. Occasionally, Sheol was regarded as the place of punishment also. The soul of Adam ascended at death to paradise, the third of seven heavens (see Paradise). The term “paradise” originally meant a “park” or “enclosed garden,” and for pre-Christian Judaism it designated the original Garden of Eden as either the eternal abode of the righteo us or their locale prior to the resurrection. In the NT, the parabolic reference to “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22-31) made use of such thought, but was prob. not intended to teach anything about the state of the dead. If Paul’s experience was that of a visit to paradise where he received a revelation (2 Cor 12:1-4), it appears that he thought of the righteous dead as already living in paradise with the Lord (cf. 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23). On the cross, Christ promised the penitent thief an abode in paradise (Luke 23:43), which indicates that the righteous entered paradise at death. The Book of Revelation also teaches clearly that at least some righteous enter a celestial abode after death but before the final resurrection (Rev 6:9-11; 7:9-17).

Intertestamental beliefs regarding the intermediate state were closely linked with the concept of physical resurrection, a doctrine espoused by the Pharisees but denied by the Sadducees. The resurrection of the dead was anticipated in a few OT passages (Isa 25:8; 26:19; Dan 12:2), and was encouraged both by speculation on the nature of the intermediate state in Sheol and the joys of the coming Messianic age. In the light of the latter in particular, it was only just that the righteous departed should share the joys of divine rule, and the wicked dead be punished correspondingly. The concept of the physical resurrection was a necessary accompaniment to such thought, and in most instances the soul was imagined as coming from Sheol or some other intermediate state to rejoin the body buried on earth previously. Under Pharisaic influence the doctrine of resurrection developed certain coarse, materialistic features (see Resurrection) that were typical of their shallow beliefs.

People came to assume the existence of another intermediate state known as Purgatory, which was frequently confused with Sheol (2 Macc 12:39-45). The Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches proclaimed the existence of a place of temporal punishment in the intermediate realm designated “purgatory,” in which all who died in a state of ecclesiastical grace must undergo a period of purifying so as to make them perfect before God. Thus the bulk of baptized people dying in fellowship with the church would have to pass through purgatory before being translated to heaven. Cultic prescriptions for the duration of the experience vary in degree, as do the sufferings of those thought to be in this state. Monetary and other gifts to the church, prayers, and acts of devotion, are held to shorten or even eliminate the stay of the individual soul in purgatory. This view has no OT or NT support, runs counter to the Biblical doctrine of a final judgment, and is flatly contradicted by a passage which the Roman Catholics regard as Scripture (Wisd Sol 3:1-4).

In the NT, other expressions than “paradise” refer to the existence of the righteous after death (Mark 12:18-27; Luke 16:9, 19-31; Rev 6:9-11, etc.), and whereas much of the language concerning the state of the dead is symbolic, it does at least enlarge the OT revelation that death does not terminate individual existence. It is clear that the saints live on after death in glory in the divine presence realizing the goal of redemption in Christ (2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; Rev 14:13). Because the total man is saved, references to the “salvation of your souls” (1 Pet 1:9; James 1:21) do not contemplate the salvation of the “soul” apart from the “body.” Describing the intermediate state as “rest” (cf. Heb 4:10) does not mean that those present in it are indolent or inactive, but are satisfied by the joy of accomplishment. Even for the righteous, the intermediate state would seem to be one of imperfection, partly because the spirit is without a bodily manifestation and partly because the joys of heaven are not forthcoming for the saints until after the Second Coming of Christ and the final judgment. Thus, the blessings of the intermediate state presage future divine blessings. Life in the resurrection body in heaven marks the final stage of individual salvation.

Bibliography G. Vos, The Pauline Eschatology (1952 ed.); G. R. Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Future (1954); E. Brunner, Eternal Hope (1954); J. E. Fison, The Christian Hope (1954); R. Summers, The Life Beyond (1959).