Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 32

Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead

  1. The bodies of men, after their death, return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies; and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.

  2. At the return of the Lord Jesus Christ such living persons as are found in him shall not die but be changed: and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.

  3. The bodies of the unjust shall, after Christ has reigned on earth a thousand years, be raised by the power of God to dishonor.