Can anyone elaborate on the relationship between Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, the Lake of Fire, Abraham's Bosom, and Heaven? Tall order, I know. There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding what exactly is the state of the soul before the general resurrection and final judgement, as well as the state of the souls of the righteous prior to Christ's resurrection. Now, my initial thoughts would be as follows:

There is no difference between the state of righteous souls in the afterlife before and after Christ's resurrection. Upon death, the disembodied souls of the wicked go to hell (hades/sheol?) and the disembodied souls of the righteous go to heaven (which I take "Abraham's Bosom" to be an expression for), where they await the general resurrection and final judgement. At the general resurrection the souls of both the wicked and the righteous are re-embodied, and upon judgement, the wicked are cast body and soul into hell (Gehenna/lake of fire?) while the righteous inherit the new earth.


Kyle

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified.