Bart Ehrman’s Posts:
- Unpacking 1 Enoch, the Apocryphal Writing Quoted by Jude October 1, 2025
- 1 Enoch: The Scripture Quoted by Jude September 30, 2025
- Why Wasn’t Peter’s Apocalypse Included in the New Testament? September 9, 2025
- The Transformation of Paul’s Teaching: The Apocalypse of Paul July 15, 2025
- Paul’s Vision of Heaven and Hell July 10, 2025
- What About People Who Come Back From the Dead in the Hebrew Bible? April 17, 2024
- More on Sheol: Was it an Actual Place? April 16, 2024
- What Is Sheol in the Hebrew Bible? April 14, 2024
Relevant Scriptures From ChatGPT on 3/2/2026.
Summary of Biblical Perspectives. Across the canon (NRSVUE), several views appear:
- Return to dust / Sheol (early Hebrew Bible).
- Resurrection at the end of the age (Daniel, Isaiah, John, Paul).
- Conscious presence with God/Christ after death (Luke 23; Philippians 1; 2 Corinthians 5).
- Final judgment (Daniel 12; John 5; Hebrews 9; Revelation 20).
- Ultimate defeat of death (1 Corinthians 15; Revelation 21).
Below is a structured list of passages in the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE) that describe what happens when a person dies. I have grouped them by theological theme, since the biblical witness is not monolithic and develops across time.
1. Death as Return to Dust / Sheol (Hebrew Bible)
These texts reflect early Israelite understanding: death as return to dust and descent to Sheol (the grave/realm of the dead).
Genesis 3:19
“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
Ecclesiastes 9:5–6, 10
“The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward… Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished…”
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”
Psalm 6:5
“For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who can give you praise?”
Psalm 146:4
“When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.”
Ecclesiastes 12:7
“And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.”
2. Hope of Resurrection (Later Hebrew Bible)
These texts express emerging belief in bodily resurrection.
Daniel 12:2
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Isaiah 26:19
“Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise.
O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!”
Job 19:25–26
“For I know that my Redeemer lives…
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God.”
3. Teachings of Jesus
Immediate Post-Death Conscious Existence (parable framework)
Luke 16:22–23
“The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades… he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.”
Promise of Paradise
Luke 23:43
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Resurrection at the Last Day
John 5:28–29
“The hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
John 11:25–26
“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
4. Paul on Death and Resurrection
Being “With the Lord”
2 Corinthians 5:6–8
“While we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord… we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Philippians 1:21–23
“For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain… My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
Resurrection Body
1 Corinthians 15:42–44
“So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable… It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
Dead in Christ Raised at His Return
1 Thessalonians 4:14–17
“The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive… will be caught up… to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.”
5. Hebrews and General Epistles
Hebrews 9:27
“It is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment.”
1 Peter 3:18–19
“He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison.”
6. Revelation (Apocalyptic Vision)
Revelation 6:9–10
“I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered… They cried out with a loud voice…”
Revelation 20:12–13
“The dead were judged according to their works… and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them.”
Revelation 21:4
“Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”
Summary of Biblical Perspectives. Across the canon (NRSVUE), several views appear:
- Return to dust / Sheol (early Hebrew Bible).
- Resurrection at the end of the age (Daniel, Isaiah, John, Paul).
- Conscious presence with God/Christ after death (Luke 23; Philippians 1; 2 Corinthians 5).
- Final judgment (Daniel 12; John 5; Hebrews 9; Revelation 20).
- Ultimate defeat of death (1 Corinthians 15; Revelation 21).
