Stephen Ind

I would simply have answered, yes. Not as our flesh and blood is but still flesh and blood. It appears things are not as simple as I think. Here is the answer from a great book, "Radio Replies". Lots of questions are posed and answered. From volume 1 of 3.

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http://catholicfaithdefender.weebly.com/uploads/5/6/3/5/5635421/radio__replies_vol_1.pdf#_=_

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"1015. What will the body be like?
These self-same bodies will rise, but not entirely as they are at present because while the substance remains the same, the qualities of that substance will be changed. They can never completely change their nature so as to become purely spiritual beings, such as God Himself, or the angels. Thus St. Paul says, 'The dead shall rise again incorruptible, and we shall be changed.' 1 Cor. 15:51-52. Our bodies, then, will not be purely spiritual, but rather spiritualized. They will share sufficiently in the spiritualizing influence of the
soul to be rendered no longer subject to the possibility of death. Rightly, however, St. Paul says, 'I tell you
a mystery.' For how all will eventuate, and exactly what will happen, is known to God alone. We know
merely the fact that all human bodies will rise again at the last day."

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I hope again this is of some help. Please ask me follow up questions. Thanks. :-)

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I believe that the soul does not die. It is immortal. At death when the soul separates from the body it is judged by God. The soul will then go to hell, or purgatory (and once cleansed onto heaven) or straight to heaven. Once in heaven or hell the soul is there for all eternity. Later the soul will be reunited with the body. This will take place before the general judgment. At this judgement all of humanity will be judged as a family and the goodness of God's plan, for all humanity, will be made clear. The sin of all humanity will also be made clear. After this judgement the soul will be in heaven or hell for all eternity, now united with its body. I hope that this is clear. This is what I believe and this is what the Catholic Church teaches.

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I hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to ask any follow up questions. :-)

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I have given you some references from the standard catechism (document for teaching the Faith) in use today. Frankly, these are not all that clear, but here they are:

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http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm#I

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From the Cathechism of the Catholic Church, number 1022:

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" Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven - through a purification or immediately, - or immediate and everlasting damnation."

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Number 1035:

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"The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs."

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Number 1030:

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"All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven."

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Number 1023:

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"Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they 'see him as he is,' face to face..."

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Number 1038:

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"The resurrection of all the dead, 'of both the just and the unjust,' will precede the Last Judgment. This will be 'the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.' Then Christ will come 'in his glory, and all the angels with him. . . . Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. . . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'"

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