Annihilationism and 1 Corinthians 15:17-18, if Christ is not raised, those who are asleep have perished?

Within the conditionalist (annihilationist) camp, some hold to a doctrine called soul sleep. I’ve found that conditionalists don’t seem to know what it actually means. I get a variety of definitions and this has resulted in a lot of questions they cannot answer  (See Soul sleep problems and questions).  Nevertheless, soul sleep is the basic position that a person who dies physically still exists in his spirit, but is unconscious and unaware until he is reunited with his body at the Day of Judgment. The good people are then resurrected in glorified bodies, and the wicked are resurrected to be judged and annihilated.

1 Corinthians 15:17-18, “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.”

The issue here is related to soul sleep.

• “soul sleep,” the view that death is a state of total unconsciousness, rather than survival in heaven, hell, or purgatory.” ¹Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 503-504). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition, underline added.
• “When death occurs, then it is the soul that is deprived of life. Death cannot strike the body or any other part of the soul without striking the entirety of the soul.”²Fudge, Edward William. The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Third Edition (p. 27). Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition, underline added.

So, 1 Corinthians 15: 17-18 is sometimes used to support the idea of soul sleep because it says that people have “fallen asleep.” So, they take the phrase “fallen asleep” to be literal. But that makes no sense since sleeping is what a physical body does. If the physical body is dead, how is a person asleep? Also, the phrase “in Christ” is not literal. So within a span of four words, the first two are literal, and the second two are not. This, of course, raises exegetical concerns. Nevertheless, the phrase “in Christ” designates federal headship which is the teaching that the male, not the female, represents the descendants (Rom. 5:12, 18; 1 Cor. 15:22; Heb. 7:7-10). The Bible says that we “are one body in Christ,” (Romans 12:5), that there are fellow workers “in Christ” (Romans 16:9), that we have “been sanctified in Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2), that “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature,” (2 Cor. 5:17), etc. So obviously, this phrase (among other uses) is figurative for Christ’s representative position over us.

The reason that the Scriptures say that people fall asleep “in Christ” is because when they die, they look like they are asleep (Acts 13:36; 1 Cor. 11:30). Jesus equated sleep and death (Matthew 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11). Also, those “who have fallen asleep were raised” when Christ was crucified (Matthew 27:52), and that “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus,” (1 Thess. 4:14).

So, the problem with the annihilationists is that they tend to pick and choose which parts of scriptures are literal and which are figurative to suit their theological preferences. 1 Corinthians 15:17-18 is no different. Just because it says that the dead have fallen asleep does not mean they are not aware. It is, instead, a comparison to the appearance of sleep. Furthermore, we know that people are conscious after death from the following verses.

• Matt. 17:2–3, “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.”  (See Annihilationism, Matthew 17, Christ’s transfiguration, Moses, and Elijah)
• 2 Cor. 5:8, “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”  (See 2 Cor. 5:8, being separated from the body and at home with the Lord)
• 2 Cor. 12:2–4, “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.”  (See 2 Corinthians 12:2, in the body or out of the body, caught up to heaven)
• See also Luke 16:19-31 about Lazarus and the rich man who both die and are conscious after death.

Conclusion

When we consider the whole of Scripture and the issue of soul sleep, we find problems with the annihilationists’ position that when a person physically dies, he ceases to have conscious activity. Considering the problems of soul sleep (See Soul sleep problems and questions) and the fact that there are scriptures that demonstrate people are conscious after physical death, we must conclude that 1 Corinthians 15:17-18 cannot be used as a support for soul sleep and certainly not support for annihilationism.