Thomas Aquinas, 2 Corinthians 5, and the Christian Hope for Life after Death

Abstract

ABSTRACT The question of the afterlife in Christian life and thought has once again become the focus of a number of recent works, both popular and academic. Today, this question typically focuses on the relationship of body to soul and the content (or even the purpose) of the intermediate state in light of the professed—though not necessarily popular—Christian belief in the resurrection of the body. Much of the discussion is directly concerned with the immensely practical version of this question: what hope do we give to the dying and the bereaved? In this article, I suggest that the exegetical and philosophical insights of Thomas Aquinas, as found most particularly in his relatively unmined biblical commentaries, provide not only a refreshing reading of 2 Cor 5 but also a more pastorally astute explication of the hope Paul finds in both the intermediate and resurrection states.