A previous article compared spiritual beings with physical creatures, like humans. Many imagine the disembodied spirit of a person is in a worse state than someone who has a body. That a bodiless spirit is not necessarily in a worse state than those who possess is a body is evident from the superiority of God and the angels. God is a spirit without a body. (John 4:24) The angels are spirits without bodies. (Hebrews 1:14) God and the angels are greater than humans. (Psalm 8:4-5) Therefore, being bodiless is not necessarily to be in a worse state.

The hope of the Christian includes the promise of a glorified body. This promise will be fulfilled at the resurrection day. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) The Bible does not teach the Christian to look forward to being without a body, but to anticipate the resurrection when he will receive a perfected body free from sin, sickness and death. (2 Corinthians 5:2) What about the time between death and the resurrection? The Bible teaches that the dead have a conscious existence in Heaven or Hell. Do Christians have intermediate bodies in Heaven while they wait for their glorified bodies?

God made man with a body and a soul. (Genesis 2:7) Some have concluded from this truth that a person must have a body. The Bible clearly teaches man is comprised of body and soul. The Bible declares the body without the spirit is dead. (James 2:26) Scripture never says the spirit without the body is dead, incomplete, or inferior. One can logically conclude from God’s creation of man as a body and spirit that the person must possess a body to be complete, However, that logical conclusion is not necessarily correct.

The Bible does not teach directly about the existence of a intermediate body after death. Twice Scripture says the deceased in Heaven are spirits. Revelation 6:9 mentions the souls of the martyrs stationed at the foot of the Heavenly altar. Hebrews 12:22-23 describes the Heavenly hope of the believer. The Christian’s hope includes being united with, “the spirits of just men made perfect.” These passages appear to indicate that at death the body is left behind and the spirit, or soul, of the saved person enters Heaven. The deceased believer exists in Heaven without a body until the day of resurrection. Nothing in the Bible suggests this disembodied condition is in any way less than ideal.

However, in Luke 16 Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. This story is not a parable but a true account of two actual men. Lazarus died and was taken to Heaven. The rich man died and went to Hades, or Hell. In Hell the rich man desired water to cool his tongue. This is compelling evidence the rich man possessed a body in Hell. If the rich man had a body in Hell, then it is likely all the dead have physical bodies in Heaven or Hell.

The problem with this is argument is the complexity of Luke 16:19-31. Some of the challenges in this account include: serious debate about the historical nature of the account, the nature and location of Hades, and the relationship of Hades to Abraham’s Bosom. These uncertainties make Luke 16 a unstable foundation on which to build a body of doctrine. Without strong support from other Scriptures, Luke 16 is not able to uphold belief in an intermediate body.

The New Testament makes at least two specific references to the spirits of believers in Heaven and no clear references to the bodies of believers in Heaven. These references do not necessarily preclude the presence of an intermediate body. Without stronger Biblical evidence the dead are given an intermediate body, the better choice is to conclude that at death the spirits of the redeemed enter Heaven where they await the resurrection when they will once again be embodied.

Most importantly, the Bible does not speak directly to this matter. Clues are found in Scripture which lead to certain conclusions. The lack of direct Biblical teaching requires believers who have an opinion on this subject to hold that opinion with gentleness, without dogmatism, and without debate.