What happens when we die? This question has intrigued humanity for as long as people have been dying. Christians have interpreted 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 as teaching that our souls leave our bodies at death ascending immediately to heaven. People assume that Paul’s metaphors of the “tent” and being “found naked” support this idea. This interpretation, deeply rooted in Platonic dualism, has shaped Christian thought for generations. But what if this interpretation misses Paul’s intended meaning?
If we approach the text through the philosophical framework of Socrates and Plato, we might indeed conclude that Paul describes a soul’s journey from body to heaven. The key to correctly understanding Paul’s message lies in how we define crucial terms. When we embrace the biblical authors’ concept of “soul” rather than Greek philosophy, a strikingly different interpretation emerges. We must allow the Bible to define its own terms rather than imposing Greek philosophical concepts onto the text.
In earlier posts of this series, we’ve examined the biblical concept of the soul. It is impossible to correctly understand 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 if we fail to recognize the Bible’s definition of “soul.” So, let’s apply what we’ve learned from previous posts to unpack this passage. By doing so, we will discover a perspective that aligns more closely with the broader biblical narrative and Paul’s theological framework. Let’s walk through the passage.
If the earthly tent we live in is dismantled
1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, (2 Cor. 5:1-2 BEREAN)
There is consensus that the “earthly tent” Paul mentions refers to our present earthly bodies. Likewise, the “building from God” refers to our glorified resurrection bodies. On this, everyone agrees and there is no reason to think Paul meant anything else. In this passage Paul mixes his metaphors equating clothing with dwelling places. Regardless, “To be clothed means to have a somatic [bodily] existence.”1 Where traditional interpretation goes wrong is in v. 3.
What is assumed
because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. (2 Cor. 5:3 BEREAN)
Greek philosophical influences introduced body/soul dualism into Christian thinking, causing most people to assume that to “be found naked” refers to being dead. That is, a naked soul that has exited its “tent” and is awaiting its “building from God.” This is a perfect example of eisegesis (reading into the text). Notice a couple of things that are missing in this passage. Paul does not explicitly mention “death,” the word “soul” is completely absent, and he does not mention an intermediate state of disembodiment. If being naked isn’t referring to the deceased who are between bodies, what does it mean?
Paul tells us what he meant by “naked”
If we let Paul speak on his own terms, he tells us exactly what he means by “naked.”
2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. (2 Cor. 5:2-3 BEREAN)
Let’s break that down:
- Paul uses the metaphor of a “tent” for our current bodies. Tents are temporary dwellings, suggesting our present bodies are not our final state.
- He says we “groan” in this tent, indicating dissatisfaction or limitation in our current state.
- We long to wear our heavenly dwelling. This implies that our future state will “clothe” us more fully than our current state.
- The key is in v. 3: “when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.” This directly links our current state to “nakedness.”
- Paul’s logic leads us to conclude that if wearing our heavenly dwelling clothes us fully, then he must mean our current state – alive in earthly bodies – when he uses the term “naked.”
Nakedness is not a disembodied state
Paul’s language doesn’t support the idea of a soul separate from the body. As Ralph P. Martin notes, “[I]t is doubtful if Paul sees the tent as an outer covering of the real self. Indeed, he may be consciously opposing this notion. We possibly press Paul too much to account for his view of man in dualistic terms, namely, σῶμα/ψυχή, ‘body/soul’ (or σῶμα/πνεῦμα, ‘body/spirit’).”2
In this light, “This present life is compared to nakedness, humiliation, and weakness”3, not because we’re souls trapped in bodies, but because our current physical existence is incomplete compared to the glorified state we await. Paul is not advocating Platonic dualism; that is a concept that we project onto the text.
In two different passages where Paul compared our current bodies to our resurrection bodies, he described our current condition as “naked.”
We “groan” because we are metaphorically naked. We prefer to wear clothes rather than remain naked. Paul says we will receive our resurrection body, the “building from God,” and be clothed. Prior to that, we are relatively and metaphorically naked.
- Our present physical body = a state of “nakedness”
- Our future heavenly body = being fully “clothed”
In this view, Paul isn’t talking about avoiding a state of complete bodilessness. Instead, he’s expressing a desire to move from our current “naked” state to a fully “clothed” one. Nakedness refers to our earthly existence, not a disembodied state of the soul. This interpretation aligns with Paul’s use of “naked” elsewhere to describe a seed before it grows.
Paul illustrates of his metaphor
And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. (1 Cor. 15:37 ESV)
In this passage from 1 Corinthians 15, Paul discusses how God will transform our earthly bodies into glorified resurrection bodies. In v. 37, he compares this process to a “bare” seed which transforms into a plant completely different from the seed it sprouted from.
The word “bare” that Paul used to describe the seed is the same Greek word he used in 2 Corinthians 5:3 to describe our present condition: gumnos (naked). In two different passages where Paul compared our current bodies to our resurrection bodies, he described our current condition as “naked.”
“Put on our heavenly dwelling”
Paul implies that God will not merely discard our earthly bodies at the resurrection. He used the phrase “put on our heavenly dwelling (2 Cor. 5:2 ESV). Paul said something relevant and important in this passage that we easily miss in our English translations. The Greek word which the ESV translators rendered “put on” is “ependuomai.” This word means “to put a garment on over an existing garment, put on (in addition).”4 “Paul is anticipating the putting of the heavenly garment over the earthly one, without the loss of the latter.”5
In effect, Paul is saying that when God grants us immortality by giving us a resurrection body, we’ll be putting it on over top of our earthly body like one puts on an overcoat. This echos Paul’s comments in his first letter to Corinth on the same topic:
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Cor. 15:53 ESV)
Comparing 1 Corinthians 15 with 2 Corinthians 5, Gillman comments:
“Just as ενδύω [put on] in 15:53 represents an investing of ‘this mortal, corruptible [body]’ with the overgarment of immortality and incorruptibility so also επενδύω [put on] in 5:2, 4 indicates that the believer puts on over the earthly, tently house the dwelling from heaven.”6
“We do not wish to be unclothed”
So while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life. (2 Cor. 5:4 BEREAN)
Paul’s words in v. 4 give us a glimpse into his hopes for the future. When he says, “we do not wish to be unclothed,” he’s not talking about a state of disembodiment. Instead, he’s telling us that we don’t want to stay in our current earthly bodies forever. We do not wish to remain “naked,” as we are now, but to put on our resurrection body which will swallow up our mortality.
Paul’s nuanced view of resurrection
Paul’s use of the “naked” metaphor in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 offers a nuanced view of our current and future states. Rather than referring to a disembodied soul, “nakedness” describes our present earthly existence – incomplete and vulnerable compared to our future glorified state. This interpretation aligns with Paul’s seed analogy in 1 Corinthians 15:37 and his consistent use of clothing metaphors. The Greek word ependuomai (to put on over) further supports the idea of continuity between our present and future bodies.
Paul envisions our resurrection not as a replacement, but as a transformation – putting on immortality over our mortal frame, like donning an overcoat. This perspective emphasizes the value of our current bodies as the foundation for our eternal, glorified existence, while highlighting the nature of the coming transformation.
References
- Gillman, John. “A Thematic Comparison: 1 Cor 15:50-57 and 2 Cor 5:1-5.” Journal of Biblical Literature 107, no. 3 (September 1988): 447.
- Martin, Ralph P., 2 Corinthians. Vol. 40 of Word Biblical Commentary. 2d; Accordance electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.
- Waters, Larry J. “The Believer’s Intermediate State After Death.” Bibliotheca Sacra 169, no. 675 (July 2012): 298.
- BDAG, s.v. “ἐπενδύομαι,” 361.
- Ralph P. Martin, 2 Corinthians, vol. 40 of Word Biblical Commentary. 2d; Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 260.
- Gillman, John. “A Thematic Comparison: 1 Cor 15:50-57 and 2 Cor 5:1-5.” Journal of Biblical Literature 107, no. 3 (September 1988): 452.