Skip to content
  • Explore
    • Explore All
    • Multimedia
    • Read
    • Watch
    • Listen
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to get Involved
    • Events
    • Reasons Institute
    • Our Chapters
    • Scholar Community
  • About
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Store
  • Library
  • DONATE
  • Explore
    • Explore All
    • Multimedia
    • Read
    • Watch
    • Listen
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to get Involved
    • Events
    • Reasons Institute
    • Our Chapters
    • Scholar Community
  • About
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Store
  • Library
donate
  • Explore
  • Publication
  • Does the Bible Say Departed Souls Dwell under the Earth?
A,Ghostly,Blurred,Woman,In,A,Dress,Standing,Floating,On
Publication

Does the Bible Say Departed Souls Dwell under the Earth?

by Hugh Ross
October 29, 2021

Question of the week: Does the Bible teach that departed souls literally dwell underneath the Earth in Sheol (Philippians 2:10)?

My Answer: Philippians 2:10 reads, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” Cross-references to this passage are Proverbs 15:24, which reads, “The path of life leads upward for the prudent to keep them from going down to the realm of the dead” and Revelation 5:13, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'”

The Bible refers to dimensions beyond the cosmic dimensions of length, width, height, and time as existing below or above. Modern-day scientists use similar phenomenological language in referring to extra dimensions. Sheol is below and heaven is above in that they reside in dimensions different from the ones that govern the universe. Notice that the Bible teaches that both heaven and hell survive God’s future act of removing the universe and its dimensions from existence. For much more on the subjects of heaven, hell, and extra dimensions see Beyond the Cosmos, 3rd ed.1

Endnote

  1. Hugh Ross, Beyond the Cosmos, 3rd ed. (Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2017), 177–194.
Bible
What Does It Take to Kill a Scientific Model?
What Does It Take to Kill a Scientific Model?
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes,1 Test everything; hold fast to what is good. Paul does not say, and nowhere in his epistles...
Bible
Thinking Rightly about God: Ham vs. Zweerink Follow-Up, Part 2
Thinking Rightly about God: Ham vs. Zweerink Follow-Up, Part 2
The recent old-earth/young-earth discussion on Justin Brierley’s Unbelievable? podcast revealed a number of differences and similarities between Ken Ham and me. Two important areas...
Biology
The Truth about the God of the Old Testament
The Truth about the God of the Old Testament
Atheist Richard Dawkins’ infamous description of Yahweh in his book The God Delusion is enough to make most Christians’ blood boil. Unfortunately, we are...
Bible
  • Explore
  • Get Involved
  • About
  • Store
  • Library
  • Translations
  • Search
  • Login

Support Our Mission

Your support helps more people find Christ through sharing how the latest scientific discoveries affirm our faith in the God of the Bible.

Donate Now

facebook twitter instagram youtube tiktok
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy