There have been divergent views over the centuries concerning the immediate state of the soul after death. Some believe it to be in an unconscious state and others that the soul goes directly to heaven or hell. Some contend that in the days before Jesus death and resurrection that the soul went to a kind of holding tank (Sheol, Hades) which was divided into a place for the righteous and the other for the unrighteous.

There are scriptural reasons for both views so I will do my best to briefly touch on those and give you some scripture through which you can form your own conclusions. This is not an area that I have spent a lot of time on since I figure whether you are unconscious or directly into heaven or hell the next moment you remember either way is the eternal reality that you enter.

Psalm 115:17 (NASB) says "The dead do not praise the Lord Nor do any that go down into silence." Psalm 88:10-12 mentions similar things such as "Will the departed spirits praise Thee? ...Will Thy wonders be made known in the darkness? And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?" Psalm 6:5 says"For there is no mention of Thee in death; In Sheol who will give Thee thanks?" These verses and some others seem to indicate that death, (Sheol, Hades the grave) is a place of silence.

Resurrection is seen as bringing someone, body, soul and spirit, from a place of rest (unconsciousness) back to life, either for eternal reward or eternal punishment.

In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells a parable about a poor man named Lazarus and a rich man at whose gate he used to sit hoping to get some crumbs from the rich man's table. Jesus says that the poor man dies and is carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom and later the rich man dies and it says he is buried and finds himself in Hades and that he is in torment. So the poor man finds himself in peace and rest and is conscious having been taken away by the angels and the rich man finds himself in torment and thirsty wishing he could just get a drop of water. Although Jesus is telling this parable to make a point, I believe that his point is made in the context of reality. There really is a place we go immediately after death.

There is a very obscure passage in Ecclesiastes 12:6,7 that seems to say that at death the body returns to dust but the spirit returns to God. This would imply that there is a conscious state at the time of death. In the parable about Lazarus Jesus says that there is an immediate distinction at the time of death as to whether you will begin to experience eternal reward or punishment.

In II Corinthians 5:5-9 Paul talks about the relationship between the body and the spirit. He says to be at home in the body is to be absent from the Lord and to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. Also in Philippians 1:23 he talks about dying in terms of leaving to be with Christ.

Personally I know of at least two people who had a death experience but their spirit was very much alive. One of my friends saw Jesus and was sent to finish her work, the other saw his body in the hospital room but saw writing on the wall telling him his work in this life was not finished. In both cases there was a conscious existence after the body had shut down. Heaven, being with Jesus, and Hell a place of torment appear to be those places where we go immediately after death. Hades (Hell) itself will actually be thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14) at the Great White Throne judgment. This Lake of Fire is actually called the Second Death. So it makes sense that Hades (Hell) is a present temporary holding place for the dead awaiting the final judgment in which Hades itself will be thrown into the lake of fire. Most scriptural evidence leads me to believe that the body goes to the grave but the soul goes to either Paradise (Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with him in Paradise that day) or Hell (depending on your Bible translation).