Naked but Not Disembodied: A Case for Anthropological Duality

Abstract

The Christian tradition has presented various theories in answer to the
question of what happens after death. As is well known, the Jewish
mindset is predominantly monistic while the Greek is predominantly
dualistic. But what about the distinctively Christian perspective? Biblical
scholars and systematicians array themselves along the monistic –
dualistic divide. Recent treatments of theological anthropology range
from strict defenses of Aristotelian-Thomistic dualism to scientifically
informed monism. The present study is an attempt to present a position
which is primarily informed by the biblical text and is thus distinctively
Christian. What we find in Scripture is an affirmation of an intermediate
state along with an intermediate body fit for such a state as it awaits the
final resurrection. The impetus for such a position is found in Jesus’
words to the thief on the cross that he would be in paradise with him that
day (Lk 23.43), and Paul’s teaching on the resurrection. Pauline theology
presents three stages or qualities of life: a premortal life, a post-mortem
but preresurrection life, and a postresurrection eternal life. At no point
does Scripture present the existence of a disembodied soul. In its place
we find the affirmation that to be human to be embodied, and that
applies to all three of the states humanity may exist in.