The common belief of the Christian appears to be that when you die you go straight to heaven. Actually you're dead in the ground until Judgement Day. [Spirituality & Religion]
There are a couple folks like Moses and Elijah who are up there already but by and large you stay dead until the second coming.
So where did the idea come from that you go straight to heaven after you die?
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That's just down to a mistranslation in punctuation.
Jesus doesn't say “[i]Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise[/i]" He says "[i]Truly, I say to you today, you will be with me n paradise[/i]".
The mistake becomes clear when you realize that the Thief could not have been with Jesus in paradise on that day...because Jesus himself wasn't in heaven on that day. After his death on the Cross, he was still talking to Mary on Saturday
[i]Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God[/i] John 20:17
