The Bible does not contradict itself and the word of God does not
lie. The scriptures all have to support
each other in what they mean.
King Solomon wrote:
“So I reflected on all this and
concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands,
but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. All share a common destiny—the righteous and
the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer
sacrifices and those who do not.
“As it is with the good, so with
the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to
take them. This is the evil in
everything that happens under the sun:
“The same destiny overtakes all.
The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their
hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. Anyone who is among the living has hope—even
a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
“For the living know that they will
die but the dead know nothing. They have
no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and
their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in
anything that happens under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 9:1-6).
After we die, we do not either go to heaven, hell or somewhere else to continue to live on as a
conscious being until the time when Jesus passes judgment. When we die, we no longer exist in any conscious form, we simply "...return to dust".
Daniel 12:2 says “…those who sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awaken.” Explaining the present condition of the dead, they are asleep,
not aware of what is going on. Solomon
explains “For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one
thing befalls them: as one dies, so does
the other…All go to one place: all are
from dust, and all return to dust.” (Ecclesiastes
3:19-20).
Job wrote, “man comes forth like a flower and fades away; he
flees like a shadow and does not continue” (Job 14:2). “Since his days are determined, the number of
his months are with you; you have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass”
(Job 14:5).
Job goes on to note the stark reality of death when he
wrote, “So man lies down and does not rise.
Till the heavens and earths are no more, they will not awake or be
aroused from their sleep” (Job 14:12).
Job wrote about the complete absence of consciousness in death.
I do believe that there is both eternal and
immortal life, just not the way most Christians define it.