The JW and also I believe Adventists, teach that the dead are asleep until God reawakens them by resurrection. What are your opinions of this doctrine?
If I remember correctly, Luther might have taught something similar. I don't particularly concern myself with these questions, so I'm not sure I have a hard and fast position on it, but I wouldn't say I believe it. I'd readily accept it if it was proven to be better defended than other related teachings.
This was practically the normal mode of thought throughout Judaism until after the return of the exiles from Babylon and then the Hellinistic age. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8092-immortality-of-the-soul I know the RCC teaches otherwise, but to me, soul sleep makes the most sense. Again, I'll know first hand someday.
As an eastern leaning Anglican, I tend not to accept the idea of soul sleep, but rather the Particular Judgement teaching of of the EO Church. Although, like others, I don't tend to concern myself much with what might happen immediately after I die. Anglicanism has traditionally taught that there is an intermediate state between death and final judgement . The parable of the rich man and Lazarus suggests to me that the soul doesn't sleep in this intermediate state. Also Jesus' words to the thief on the cross - today you will be with me in paradise. N T Wright, the Anglican theologian, spoke about the intermediate state: "It will be conscious, but compared to being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep". http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1710844,00.html These wiki entries are interesting. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_state https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mortalism
If you're interested in the Catholic perspective, I'm happy to offer it. The Catholic Church teaches that there are two judgements: the general judgement and a particular judgement. The particular judgement occurs when we die. It is during this judgement that we are either saved or damned, and our souls either go to heaven, hell, or purgatory. Our souls won't "sleep", but spend "time" wherever we were sent. During the general judgement, our souls are reunited with our bodies, and we go back to where we were.
Do you mean back to heaven, hell, or purgatory with our bodies? If so, what body are you referring to, the one at birth, teenager, adulthood, mangled body from a car accident, or a completely different body? I am just curious what the Catholic Church believes.
I found his in a Wikipedia article on the Resurrection of the dead: "In Anglicanism, scholars such as the Bishop of Durham N. T. Wright, have defended the primacy of the resurrection in Christian faith. Interviewed by Time in 2008, senior Anglican bishop and theologian N. T. Wright spoke of “the idea of bodily resurrection that people deny when they talk about their ‘souls going to Heaven,'" adding: “I've often heard people say, ‘I'm going to heaven soon, and I won't need this stupid body there, thank goodness.’ That's a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional.” Instead, Wright explains: “In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an intermediate state." This is "conscious," but "compared to being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep." This will be followed by resurrection into new bodies, he says. "Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death."
In light of the above, it seems that the soul is formless until it enters a body (vehicle) and assumes that space. The soul, with a body, is then able (when we allow it) to visually express its love for God. This expression is a witness that God is indeed alive and with us on earth, though within the temple of the body. Without the body, it seems to become expressionless and therefore deemed (by us) to be asleep. What do you think?
I really don't know, neminem. I hadn't thought too much about it. I think many Christians spend too much time thinking about the future life, and not enough time focusing on the here and now. Especially when one thinks about the debates over Premillenialism, Dispensationalism, Preterism, etc.
Yes, back to heaven or hell- I'm not 100% positive if purgatory would "be around" anymore, though. It's often thought of as a state rather than a place like heaven and hell are referred to as places. I think it may "pass away" after the Judgement, but I could definitely be wrong. As for our bodies, there isn't a definitive answer that I'm aware of. I'm of the opinion that the body you die with is the one you enter into eternal life with- if you were an infant, an infant. If an elder, an elder. I don't think we would retain any injuries we may have sustained during life, however. I believe Jesus may be an exception, as His wounds serve a unique purpose. I think it's the second book of Maccabees where a Jewish man about to be executed declares that (I'm paraphrasing), "You can cut out my tongue now, but I expect to have it returned to me at the Resurrection". There's many different opinions, and this is mine.