Last night, while watching a YouTube video, a well-known Pastor, misquoted 2 Corinthians 5:8.
St. Paul does not say, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”
What he is saying is that we would rather be with the Lord than be here on earth.
Trent Horn has a good analogy for this. We might be at work and think, I would rather not be here at work and be home with my Family. It does not mean that the moment I step out of work that I am instantly at home with my Family. If there is a process of purification that needs to take place before we enter into Heaven (as nothing unclean can enter Heaven), this likely takes place on our way Home.
There is another problem if one says “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” taken literally. What about individuals who are not saved? Is there no Hell, if, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”? Yes, St. Paul is speaking to the faithful and not to unbelievers, but if taken out of context one could draw the conclusion that there is not Hell. But this is not what St. Paul is saying.
I will post future misquoted verses in their own posts, so that we can discuss each individually : )