Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord

What happens when Christians die? Some conclude that purgatory--a place of final purging and purification--is what awaits most believers after death in order to prepare for them to eventually fully enjoy God in heaven. But is purgatory what the Bible teaches? What are the theological implications of purgatory? Is purgatory, as some claim, a rational conclusion based on human freedom and moral transformation? In this introductory consideration to the topic of what Christians experience after death, it will be argued that there are clear biblical, theological, and rational reasons to reject any teaching of purgatory. Rather than anticipating a time of future purgation, the joyful expectation of every Christian is that, at the moment of death, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Thomas J. Gentry II is the senior minister at Fellowship in Christ Christian Church in Carterville, Illinois. His other books include You Shall Be My Witnesses: Reflections on Sharing the Gospel (2018) and Thinking of Worship: A Liturgical Miscellany (2011).

David Baggett is Professor of Philosophy in the Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.