Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe you go straight to heaven upon death?

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in what The Bible teaches. As Jesus said in John 17:17 "your word (God's word found in the Bible) is the truth". What does the Bible say about the condition of the dead?

If you have a Bible at home please read these Scriptures. You can look it up in your own Bible.

Humans are made from dust. Genesis 2:7 and 1 Corinthians 15:45 say when God created Adam, he "became a living soul". And after Adam and Eve sinned God told them in Genesis 3:19, "In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it your were taken. For dust you are and to dust YOU WILL RETURN". We are not spirits living in a body of flesh. We are physical creatures, so no part of us survives death. When we die, our brain dies too, and our thoughts perish. Thus, Lazarus (John chapter 11) said nothing about his experience of death because the dead are unconscious.-Read Psalm 146:4 "His spirit (force of life) goes out, he returns to the ground; On that very day his thoughts perish."

Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 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. 6 Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they no longer have any share in what is done under the sun.

There is however hope for the dead. It doesn't end there. Jesus taught there will be a resurrection. Read it in your Bible in John 5:28, 29 where it says "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."

If you have further questions feel free to ask the Witnesses when you see them. They will be happy to answer your questions with your own Bible.