Judaism
Pharisees • “asleep—not yet judged”
“...I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You therefore do greatly err.”
Jesus spokes with Moses and Elijah. They were not ‘asleep.’
“And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.”
The Saints serve God day and night. They are not ‘asleep.’
“And he said to me: These are they who are come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he, that sitteth on the throne, shall dwell over them.”
Apocalypse (Revelation) 7:14-15
A soul that is ‘sleeping’ or ‘dead,’ cannot cry out to God for vengeance.
“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain [their bodies only] for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying: How long, O Lord (holy and true) dost thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”
Not every Protestant holds to this silly ‘sleep’ claim, but those that do are confusing what happens to the body and the soul. Mark 12:25 is consistent with Catholic doctrine—the soul lives for eternity, doesn’t ‘sleep’; the body dies and will be glorified and resurrected on the Last Day to be, once again and forever, united with the soul. Heavenly joy for those saved and eternal torment for the damned, ‘the second death’ for the damned.
Just as Enoch was taken up body and soul (Genesis 5:23-24) and just as Elijah was taken up body and soul into Heaven by a fiery chariot (4 Kings 2:1-13), the Blessed Virgin Mary too was taken up body and soul. She is in heaven and has feet and a head wearing a crown—a body that is not ‘asleep’ (Apocalypse 12:1-2).
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