Actually a huge question, but from the Catholic perspective, let me give you a couple of views. I am not refuting, nor pressing, any view ... simply pointing out where (I think) we differ.
The Bahá'í religion states that the soul is immortal, continuing to exist after the death of the body.
The RC ('we' — as long as one accepts I speak not as an authorised spokesperson for the Catholic Church) believe the soul is created, and therefore do not adhere to the idea of the pre-existence of souls. We believe that anything created is sustained by that which created it, and therefore is not necessarily immortal. Also the soul is corruptible, therefore it can theoretically become corrupt to the point of its dissolution. The soul can be sustained eternally by the will of God, but is not eternal according to its own nature.
The soul, according to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, has the powers of imagination, thought, comprehension, and memory. Bahá'í scripture states that it consists of divine attributes, and a major purpose of life is to develop and express these attributes.
We believe the soul is triform, being, consciousness and will. Any divine attribute the soul holds is a gift of the Divine (charism), and is not endemic to the nature of the soul. Man is created in the likeness and image of his Creator, but he does not share in the Divine Nature of his Creator by nature, but rather by grace. His big mistake was in assuming that what was given him by grace was his by nature ... so what was given was withdrawn, so that he could learn the truth of things, and not accuse the Father of deceiving him ... also, of course, simple justice. You can't claim what's not yours.
The next world is seen as a numberless series of spiritual planes or kingdoms, rising ever closer to God.
In short I would say again we see a triform nature: Heaven (the beatific vision) at one end, extinction at the other, and the space in between. Whether these are separate as planes or kingdoms we would hold a reserve. We prefer the idea of 'near' and 'far' ... but there is area for discussion, if we consider the 'many mansions' of Christian Scripture.
The Bahá'í religion does not believe in a literal heaven or hell, but sees heaven and hell as referring to the soul's spiritual proximity to or distance from God.
So do we. We believe in these states 'literally' (as real), but not always as they are portrayed in literature ... if that makes sense ... lately I've wondered why we opted for the GrecoEgyptian view, rather than the simplicity of the Gehenna analogy (a rubbish tip). I think because early scholars didn't know that Gehenna was a place outisde Jerusalem ... in that sense hell is to be discarded, to have no place nor part in the scheme of things.
It also rejects reincarnation ...
So do we.
... believing instead in the endless advancement and progress of the soul from one plane of existence to another.
If we treat death as 'passing through the veil', then we do not see it necessarily as passing to another veiled state, but rather passing beyond the idea of veils as such towards the real, so we do not hold the existence of intermediate states between man and God.
That the soul might continue to 'grow', 'learn', 'experience' is another matter — God is Infinite, so the journey into the bosom of the Father is an eternal journey, and that's still not long enough! But nothing 'changes' in the sense of a 'plane of existence' with its determinations, limitations and, presumably, veils.
In fact Christianity speculates just two veils — the one being the immediate eschatalogical state we're discussing now, the other being the general resurrection at the end of time.
Another speculation is that not all souls are 'conscious' between now and then, in the afterlife. The saints talk about those who 'sleep in Christ'.
And again, the soul is not all that being human is or means, so a 'disembodied soul' is incomplete and imperfect ... hence the idea of the resurrection of the flesh ... although what form that will take, we have only inklings ... but the general idea is that if 'man' was such a pleasing thing to God, then there will be a place for him at the end, and not just his soul.
As you can see, we're very close in some places, and we're far apart in others, but to say precisely either way might involve a vast debate on technical terms and ideas.
Thomas
