“we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord,” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

One of the central tenets within conditionalism, though every conditionalist does not hold it, is that when a person dies physically, his soul either ceases to exist or enters into a state called soul sleep which is some sort of continued existence in unconsciousness. But the basic reading of this seems to indicate that being absent from our physical body (i.e., physical death) means that we are with Jesus. This seems to be the natural reading of the text. Furthermore when we look 2 Cor. 5:6, two verses earlier, Paul the apostle says, “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” There is an obvious parallel here.

It is interesting that Paul repeats himself in verses 6 and 8 but in a kind of reverse order.  Consider this…

	Courage	The Physical Body	The Lord
V. 6	Therefore, being always of good courage	and knowing that while we are at home in the body	we are absent from the Lord
V. 8	we are of good courage	I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body	and to be at home with the Lord.

Paul reverses the order. In verse 6, he says to be in the body is to be absent from the Lord. In verse 8, he says to be absent from the body is to be home with the Lord. If the conditionalist position is that the human soul/spirit cannot continue to exist (or must be in a state of soul sleep) apart from the body is true, then why does Paul say that to be absent from the body (which is a separation of the soul/spirit with the physical body) means to be at home with the Lord (v. 8)?

It is apparent to me that both of these verses refute the conditionalist position. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at the context, verse by verse.

1. For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,
3. inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.
4. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
5. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
6. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
7. for we walk by faith, not by sight—
8. we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”
9. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

To summarize, Paul mentions in verse 1 that the earthly tent (our physical bodies) can be torn down (die) and that we have new bodies waiting for us in heaven. In verse 2, Paul mentions how we groan in our present bodies longing to dwell in our glorified resurrected bodies which are from heaven. In verse 3, he says that when we put on these (glorified) bodies, we will not be found naked. Then, in verse 4, he talks about how we groan in our present tents (our physical bodies) desiring for the mortal to be swallowed up by life. In verse 5, he tells us that we have been prepared by God for this purpose. In verse 6, Paul says that while we are at home in our present bodies (non-glorified bodies) we are absent from the Lord. Verse 7 is about walking by faith, not by sight. In verse 8, Paul says that we preferred to be absent from our physical bodies and therefore, to be at home with the Lord. In verse 9, he tells us that whether we are here or with him, we are to be pleasing to God. In verse 10, he talks about the coming judgment.

What do the conditionalists say about 2 Cor. 5:8?

I consulted various resources for a conditionalists response to 2 Corinthians 5:8.  I could not find anything.  The sources I examined were as follows:

• rethinkinghell.com.
• Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism, Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition:
• A Consuming Passion: Essays on Hell and Immortality in Honor of Edward Fudge, Pickwick Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.
• Fudge, Edward William. The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Third Edition, Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.
• Zondervan. Four Views on Hell (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology) Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

I was not able to find an analysis of this verse in conditionalist sources (perhaps I just missed it). Nevertheless, the only real response I could think of that a conditionalist might offer would be that once a person dies in his physical body, he enters into a state of soul sleep/nonexistence where his next experience is in the presence of the Lord when he awakens to receive his resurrected body. So, Paul would be speaking of a compressed timeframe where the intermediate state between physical death and receiving a glorified body is not experienced by the person. Then, upon his bodily resurrection, he is immediately at home with the Lord.

Is this reasonable?  If you’re a conditionalist who must hold to the soul sleep/nonexistence position, then yes. But, for me, it doesn’t work.

First of all, the text does not read that way. But, it is dealing with the intermediate state because it speaks of being absent from our physical bodies. In both the conditionalist and the traditionalist views, the intermediate state exists. But for the conditionalist, it is either nonexistence or soul sleep. For the traditionalist, it is conscious existence. Which position does this text best support? It would seem that the traditionalist is better since it implies being home with the Lord while being absent from the physical body.

Is this interpretation consistent with the rest of Scripture? Yes, it is. Consider the following verses which support consciousness during the intermediate state.

1. “And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him,” (Matthew 17:2–3).
2. “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame,’ “ (Luke 16:22–24).
3. “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord,” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
4. “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak,” (2 Corinthians 12:2–4).

As you can see, in the above-listed Scriptures, there is plenty of evidence to support the idea that the intermediate state is one of consciousness, not soul sleep or not existence. Therefore, 2 Cor. 5:8 is a strong verse for the traditionalist view, not for the conditionalist position.

What do commentaries say?

Just because commentaries may agree with my position, it does not mean that it is correct. Nevertheless, here are three.

• “To be absent, etc.; literally, to be away from the home of the body, but to be at home with the Lord. To be present with the Lord. The hope expressed is exactly the same as in Phil. 1:23, except that here (as in ver. 4) he expresses a desire not “to depart,” but to be quit of the body without the necessity for death.”¹Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. 2 Corinthians. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909.
• “But feeling, as we do, the sojourn in the body to be a separation from our true home “with the Lord,” we prefer even dissolution by death, so that in the intermediate disembodied state we may go to be “with the Lord” (Php 1:23).”²Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.
• “Paul was confident that this present existence involves separation from God (5:6), but he was also confident … and would have prefer[red] to leave his present body behind in order to be at home with the Lord. He wanted to endure the time of separation from his final salvation and finally to be with the Lord. He longed for the day when sight would replace his faith. This deep desire compelled Paul toward one supreme goal: to honor and please Christ.”³Pratt, Richard L., Jr. I & II Corinthians. Vol. 7. Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.

Conclusion

The natural reading of 2 Corinthians 5:8 seems to imply that to be absent from the body is to be home with the Lord. The text does not say to be absent from the body will eventually lead to being in the presence of the Lord. Furthermore, there are plenty of scriptures that strongly suggest that conscious life exists between a person’s physical death and his glorious resurrection. Matthew 17:2-3 deals with the Transfiguration where Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus. In Luke 16:22-24, Jesus gives the account of Lazarus and the rich man who are both conscious after physical death. We have the verse presently under discussion and of course Paul later in the same book in 2 Cor. 12:2-4 speaks of a man whether in or out of the body went to the third heaven and heard inexpressible words. That is not possible if a person is not conscious or does not exist. So, 2 Cor. 5:8 certainly seems to best support the traditionalist view that when a person physically dies (given that he’s a Christian), goes to be in the presence of the Lord and will later be resurrected in a glorified body.