Technically, though, I would imagine the logistics would be that the state of consciousness of people would be "backed up" at the moment of death, then when appropriate it would be inserted into a new body. To me, that makes more sense than an immortal soul with no material framework, like Turambar said.
That is exactly what I believe.
As for hell, it takes a little longer to explain, but ill go ahead and do it little by little.
First, their are several words and phrases that are often translated to hell, each with a different meaning.
There is the Hebrew word Gehenna, the Hebrew word She'ohl or Sheol, the Greek word Hades, the Greek phrase translated to "lake of fire", and the Greek phrase that translates to "second death".
Gehenna was a real, physical place just outside of Jerusalem, it was were they burned the bodies of people not deemed worthy of a burial, IE criminals. Sheol is often translated as "the pit" or "the grave", and refers to the burial grounds.
I believe that all these terms are used symbolically, not literally.
For example, Rev. 20:13,14 says
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
If Hades was a real place, how could it be thrown into the lake of fire? Also, if you consider Hades to be a literal place, then the sea and death must also be literal, and that doesn't make any sense.
Also notice that the lake of fire is not Hades but an entirely deferent entity.
Not only that, but how would have the first Christians understood it? They, like I mentioned earlier, did not believe in a soul that lives on after death, so the idea of hell being a place where those souls go wouldn't enter their mind when reading revelation.
Again, I could keep going, but I don't have the time at the moment, perhaps I will continue in a later post.
