Almost all Christian traditions affirm that believers exist “with the Lord” between death and the general resurrection at Christ’s return. This destiny entails that human persons (souls, spirits) exist temporarily apart from our bodies. But in recent decades some Christian scholars have rejected this view as “body-soul dualism,” appealing to philosophy, science, theology, and even to the Bible. Their main alternative proposals are either an immediate resurrection or non-existence until the final resurrection.

This four-session course defends the traditional Christian teaching by examining the relevant biblical texts and evaluating the anti-dualist appeals to Scripture, theology, philosophy, brain science, and near-death experiences. The class is based on Cooper’s book Body, Soul and Life Everlasting: Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate, ISBN 978-0802846006 (Eerdmans: 1989, 2000). The book is available in the Calvin University Campus Store. Readings are recommended but not required.

Subject: religion

John W. Cooper was professor of philosophy at Calvin University from 1978 to 1985, at which time he joined the Calvin Seminary faculty as professor of philosophical theology, a position he held until 2017. Cooper is also an emeritus minister in the Christian Reformed Church.