What Happens When We Die?

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls' Day)

November 2

What happens when we die? It’s a great mystery, but you would think that it had been settled a long time ago. Didn’t Jesus explain everything? Well, yes and no. He made the promise of everlasting life very clear, but he wasn’t so clear about all the details. For that reason, sincere Christians have been wondering about it ever since.

If I may be so bold as to try to summarize a very complex and contentious subject, there are three major categories of questions about the subject of eternal life. They are (1) when does eternal life begin? (2) who receives eternal life? and (3) what happens to everyone who doesn’t believe in God and Christ?

When does eternal life begin? The Scriptures are not clear on this. It appears that Jesus hinted that it would begin very soon, perhaps as soon as he ascended into heaven (see today’s Gospel, John 5:24-25), but this may be the interpretation of the apostles and early Christians, more than anything definite that Jesus actually said.

Saint Paul seems to believe (I Thessalonians 4:13-17 & I Corinthians 15:51-52) that we all fall asleep when we die. Then, no matter how much or how little time passes, when the resurrection of the dead occurs, it will look to us like it’s only been a moment since we went to sleep. In other words, there is no heaven for anyone yet.

Who receives eternal life? A corollary to this is: is the opposite of heaven hell or eternal death? In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.” [John 5:24] Thus, it would seem that hearing and believing are all it takes. But what does that mean? How does one hear Jesus’ word? Is reading it in the Bible enough? What about those who never have the opportunity to hear the word? Are they automatically excluded? And what about believing? Does it mean once, at the moment that we hear the word, or forever thereafter? And what happens if we have moments when we aren’t sure we believe? If we happen to die in one of those moments, do we not have eternal life?

Is eternal life the same thing as heaven? Don’t people in hell also live forever, just in torment and misery? Is the opposite of eternal life simply that when those people die, everything is over for them? The New Testament has evidence on both sides of this question. John 3:16, one of the most quoted verses in the Bible, seems to say that there are two options: either you die or you have everlasting life. On the other hand, Revelation 20:15 says “whoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” along with the devil and the evil prophet (the Antichirst). Thus, eternal life may not be what Jesus was promising, but rather eternal life spent in a pleasant place instead of a lake of fire.

What happens to those who hear the word of Jesus but still don’t believe in God and Christ? We have to begin by acknowledging that God can do anything God wants, all the way from absolutely rejecting anyone who isn’t a Christian, right up to automatically making everyone a Christian the moment they die. In between, we have God’s love and mercy to consider, as well as the many mansions that Jesus says are in his Father’s house [John 14:2].

What does all this say about the God in whom we believe? Do we believe in a judge for whom everything is black and white – either you believe or you don’t, either you’re saved or you’re not, either you live forever or you die forever?

This is by no means an exhaustive or even careful treatment of this difficult subject. In fact, there is an entire branch of theology called eschatology, which deals with the “last things” such as heaven, hell, resurrection, and eternal life.

On this day when we remember the souls of all the faithful departed (or is it all the departed, faithful and otherwise?), does it really matter what happens, when, and to whom? What is the real message of Christianity on this special feast day?

When I read, “the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God” [Wisdom of Solomon 3:1], I think it must be that God’s love is all-powerful and eternal, that God created each of us in order that we might know and love God, and that if we do that, God takes care of the rest, whether we understand how it works or not.

I prefer to focus on the positive things that we believe and to view the less inclusive things as products of a nascent Christianity that was trying to differentiate itself from its ancestors and its competition, as well as to offer its members hope and assurance in troubled times.

Like most people, I do not know for certain what will happen when I close my eyes for the last time. As Paul said, if we know something, it’s not a matter of faith: “we see through a glass, darkly” [I Corinthians 13:12a]. Faith is needed for those things that we cannot know, despite what some of our Christian brothers and sisters might insist is knowable.

Instead of insisting on knowledge and certainty, I turn to faith and trust. I know that God loves me, everything else I believe, because I know that one thing. When I look for specific details, I find very few, but that doesn’t surprise me. I have no right to demand to know now, but one day all will be revealed (“but then I shall know even as I am known” [I Corinthians 13:12b].

And you know what? When that day comes I probably won’t care any more, because being with God forever is better than anything we might know or wish to have explained. I have a strong feeling that no one actually goes up to God and asks questions. It simply doesn’t matter to them any more.

So we pray for the dead, and we ask them to pray for us. Our community of faith includes the Church here on earth and the Church that is with God, whether right now or at some time in the future. On this All Souls’ Day, let us remember Jesus’ words in John 5:25 –  “the hour is coming, and is now here” – both – when we will all hear the voice of the Son of God and live. Who needs more than that?

Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect. [Wisdom of Solomon 3:9]^*