Dear William,

Thanks for the question.

The confusion may be cleared up by defining the terms living and dead.

• By living we mean those who still draw breath and have not suffered physical death — they are alive in both body and spirit.
  
• By dead we mean those who have suffered physical death; their bodies have been separated from their spirit.

At the return of Christ, judgment will be meted out for all persons, whether in a living body or separated from their body by physical death.

After physical death, the soul does not cease to exist but continues forever; for this is part of the nature of the soul which is made in God's image. After death, it undergoes a private judgment wherein it's destiny is ratified: Some are rewarded with Eternal Life with the Lord (though, for many, purgation is still required), and others are eternally separated from God, as they have rejected God's Grace.

In the final public judgment, the deceased of the Lord regarding the salvation of all, will be made known in a most conspicuous way, ratifying what was already determined in the private judgment.

Think of it like a judge making a declaration of innocent versus guilty in a courtroom, but later holding a press conference to explain the results. It is a rough analogy, but so it goes with things that transcend our imagination.

Lastly, don't be deceived into thinking souls aren't on one of these two paths after death.

They are. Some souls, albeit not yet rejoined to their bodies (which wait the Resurrection), are in Heaven, others are on their way to Heaven through a purgative process in Purgatory, and still others are in Hell: that state of separation from God, which is real and permanent.

Peace,

Bob Kirby