\u201cAbsent from the body\u201d is an expression that, for the modern reader, may sound like a precise description of a metaphysical state after death.<\/b> But to understand Paul correctly, we need to look at what he is saying throughout the entire fifth chapter.<\/p>\nThe chapter context<\/h2>\n
In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul builds an argument about the hope of the resurrection. He compares the present body to a tent<\/em> \u2014 temporary, and contrasts it with a \u201cbuilding from God\u201d \u2014 the resurrection body. The main point is not what happens between death and resurrection, but that the resurrection is certain and desirable<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.\u201d 2 Cor 5:6<\/a><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cWhether at home in the body or away from it\u201d is a rhetorical device that covers two opposite states<\/b>. Paul is saying: in any circumstance, we strive for one thing. He is not developing a teaching about the soul\u2019s bodiless existence.<\/p>\n Moreover, Paul says that it is \u201cbetter\u201d for him to remain in the body for the sake of the church<\/em> (Phil 1:24) and that he desires not to be \u201cunclothed\u201d but to be \u201cclothed\u201d with the new reality of the resurrection (2 Cor 5:4). This is not a description of wandering souls, but the longing of the heart for fullness with God.<\/b><\/p>\n\u201cAbsent from the body\u201d is a rhetorical pair, not a doctrine<\/h2>\n
What Scripture as a whole says about the state between death and resurrection<\/h2>\n