Post 43 mentions that they believe in soul sleep— that believers do not immediately go to heaven when they die. There was a tv show I happened to see on a fuzzy station that comes in once in awhile when the wind blows the right way. They were discussing soul sleep and gave some verses that they say are taken out of context by those who say believers go immediately to heaven when they die. They never touched on _to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord_ — at least not directly. They kept skirting around it and talking about how we all know the one that is taken most out of context, but evidently they had discussed that at length on a previous episode and didn’t have time to go into it further. I don’t know how they could reinterpret that.
To me, it seemed like they were taking things out of context. To them, it would seem like I’m taking things out of context.
re: “soul sleep”
I’m surprised to find this belief quite prevalent. It’s a contradiction to the Communion of Saints, and I think it possible that part of its growth is in its appeal there - versus the Catholic intercessory prayers to saints.
That’s merely my theory.