What if question:
If you die and then find out the sleep of the soul docterine is wrong. Do you think God is mad at you for it? Since you believed wrong about afterlife? Since you then interpreted the bible wrong?
We only have to consult the scriptures to see that a doctrine concerning the immortality of the human soul is not Biblical....it is borrowed from Greek Platonism.
What did God tell Adam would become of him if he disobeyed God's command...?
"In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Any mention of heaven or hell there? All I see is a return to the dust from which he was created.
So are souls immortal?
Ezekiel 18:4...
"Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so also the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul who sins is the one who will die."
Souls are mortal.....they die.
Solomon wrote...
Ecclesiastes 3:19-20...
"for there is an outcome for humans and an outcome for animals; they all have the same outcome. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit. So man has no superiority over animals, for everything is futile. 20 All are going to the same place. They all come from the dust, and they all are returning to the dust."
Humans and animals all end up the same way in death....they stop breathing and they die and return to the earth.
Solomon doesn't leave us in any doubt as to whether the dead can think, plan or actively do anything...
Ecclesiastes 9:5; 10...
"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward, because all memory of them is forgotten.. . . . .Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might, for there is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave, where you are going."
There is not a single scripture that contains the words "immortal soul" because there is no such thing.
Nothing of us continues to live on after death. Life can be restored by resurrection, but that is a whole other thing.
That entails being raised from the dead.....like Jesus raised Lazarus. Where did Jesus say Lazarus was?
John 11:11-14....
"After he said these things, he added: “Lazʹa·rus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am traveling there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples then said to him: “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get well.” 13 Jesus, however, had spoken about his death. But they imagined he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly: “Lazʹa·rus has died".
Why would Jesus bring Lazarus back to this life only to die again, if he had gone to a better place?
If heaven contains the souls of lost loved ones who are supposedly watching what is happening to us down here and unable to stop bad things from happening to us...how could heaven be a happy place? However if all are just peacefully "sleeping" unable to think or feel or worry, don't you think that is better than being conscious in separation from the ones they love on earth?
Who told you that all good Christians go to heaven? Jesus will call the vast majority of the dead from their graves, which are right here on earth.
John 5:28-29..
"Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment."
Both the righteous and the unrighteous are called from the same place. Having paid sin's wages, the dead have opportunity to come back to life and resume their family relationships under the peaceful rule of God's Kingdom.
What does this mean for all faithful humans?
Revelation 21:3-4...
"With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”
This is what the future hold for those who place their trust in God and his Kingdom with Christ at the helm, which will finally bring peace and security to the earth by getting rid of all the things that cause pain and suffering.
This is what I look forward to....and it sounds so much better than billions of people hanging around in heaven (or the other place) waiting for....what? What do people expect to do in heaven? What useful purpose does "hell" serve?