Affirms
Believers are with Christ after death; bodily resurrection awaited
Vineyard Churches affirms that the soul exists consciously after physical death. Believers who die are immediately present with the Lord in an intermediate state, awaiting the final bodily resurrection. The unrighteous face judgment. This standard evangelical position is affirmed in Vineyard's doctrinal statements.
Vineyard's Kingdom theology — the idea that God's reign is 'already' but 'not yet' fully realized — shapes its understanding of the afterlife: present suffering and death are real but temporary; the future resurrection and the renewed creation represent the final 'not yet' that is coming. The Spirit's present work is a foretaste of this eschatological reality.
Key Distinctions
- Intermediate state:
- soul consciously present with God (or separated from God) immediately after death
- Immortality type:
- inherent immortality of the soul; the soul does not die
- Bodily resurrection:
- bodily resurrection at the Last Day; glorified body reunited with soul
Scripture References
Sources
- Vineyard USA Statement of Faith