Anglican Bishop Wright is a little bit wrong

You need to read the whole thing to really understand the point he is trying to make. And I certainly agree that he makes very good points about a reality check regarding the myth that people will just pop into heaven simply because Christ has supposedly opened the way. So I have only one quibble.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1710844,00.html

snip

TIME: Is there anything more in the Bible about the period between death and the resurrection of the dead?

Wright: We know that we will be with God and with Christ, resting and being refreshed. Paul writes that it will be conscious, but compared with being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep. The Wisdom of Solomon, a Jewish text from about the same time as Jesus, says "the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God," and that seems like a poetic way to put the Christian understanding, as well.

TIME: But it's not where the real action is, so to speak?

Wright: No. Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death — in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth. Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will "awake," be embodied and participate in the renewal. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: "God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves." That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom.

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OK, here is the problem. Many Christians think that the wisdom and teachings of the Old Testament have been overlayed and superseded by Christian thought that arrived with Jesus Christ. This is an error. Just because Jewish rite was superseded and the Messiah was fulfilled does not mean that what God taught and revealed in the Old Testament is diminished in importance. In fact, far from it, Jesus is the validation and culmination of God's ongoing "conversation" and "communion" with humans.

The Prophets in the Old Testament had glimpses into heaven because whenever they viewed the throne of God they were looking into "heaven." Ezekiel is the obvious example. Heaven is the place, the abode of God. Heaven is not the new creation of resurrected bodies rejoined with souls. That just does not make sense if you think about it. Did not heaven exist before humans were created? Yes, of course. So a physical body is not a requirement for the fullness of heaven. Heaven is where the soul, together with angelic beings who never possessed bodies, reside in eternity in God's presence. They live through God and because of God and it is the place where, as Jesus explains, there are no tears. So far from being "asleep" the souls in heaven are more alive than ever since they exist within and through the true fount of life, which is God. When people die they are purified (purgatory) before going to heaven, or they are not saved and they end up outside of the presence of God, which is hell.

Simply because God and Jesus have shared that there are plans for a second creation, a second event of melding soul to body does not mean that this is the culmination or true heaven. Far from it because as I pointed out heaven existed before humans were even created because it is where all life is preserved in God's presence. Obviously people fear death and found great comfort in hearing about the Final Judgment and Resurrection from Jesus. St. Paul and others focused on it quite a bit as it was to them and their parishoners a great source of comfort and understanding of God's fullness of plan. But Jesus never said "when" that would occur, since time has no presence or meaning in heaven. So it is a real muddle to think that people won't feel full out real wide awake bliss and spirit until they are reunited with their bodies, which will be glorified. In heaven people perceive they have bodies through God himself. Witness the elders who are casting their crowns before the throne of God that St. John views in Revelation. They are not "asleep" or in some interim state until reunited with their bodies. St. John sees them as having bodies and that is because in heaven one still has a center of existence that feels like a point of reference in a body. So people are not just sparkling goo waiting to have bodies again. The elders are perceived as individuals who worship at the feet of God by casting the crowns they have earned and merited at God's feet.

This notion that work needs to be done is confusing. Yes, people need to be good stewards to the earth, but not because it's a stage to the future Resurrection. God is full of surprises and they are always good ones and on his own timing. I sure hope that people don't think a cleaned up earth is the best that God could do. And that is also a very "adult-centric" view of the souls of the departed. Do remember that billions of souls in heaven are those of infants and children. In God's presence they have a divine awareness and maturity that adults do not. Will they be born back into infant and child bodies after having been much more than children and infants in heaven? No, of course not. So you cannot be so literal about the resurrection of the body without understanding that its purpose is to teach that individuality continues to exist and will even return in bodily form, but not a literal "pop back into a better body and that's REALLY heaven way." That's so not God. All who merit heaven and suffer through the travails of living are received into heaven upon death. When God has a second creation what is different is that instead of humans being brought dumb and unknowing up out of the dust, by being in heaven they will have been rewarded with truly understanding and being part of God's plan for the fullness of life. One cannot be in the presence of God without being radically and totally re-formed and transformed in the soul. This is why we know reincarnation does not truly exist because it is impossible to forget being in the presence of God when one dies. No one could come back without being crazy and unable to live because the fullness of God is the very mechanism by which the soul lives and continues to exist. Think of heaven as being like the water in a human body. Could you send just the skin back to earth? No, you could not. So when people die they live on as if they are leaves on the true living tree. St. John describes the image of the tree in Revelation when he views the New Jerusalem with the gates. Again, you would not have such detailed descriptions of heaven, the throne of God, and the place where the angels speak if there was not a fullness of bliss and awareness for all who attain heaven.

Again, I understand why Bishop Wright is trying to pull people back from the dangerous assumption that they die and just pop into heaven regardless of what they've been up to and without regard for the fullness of God's plan. I totally agree and applaud his thoughtfulness here. But again one must remember that just as seven days in Genesis meant....oh, how many days? hours? years? centuries? eons? the Final Judgment and the Resurrection of the body will be done "God's way" after this world has passed. Heaven is the only thing that never perishes or passes. All souls that are saved go to heaven while earth, the solar system, galaxies, and indeed the universe go through their physical permutations and evolutions. So people are not "waiting around" in some sort of semi-state of being with God since for goodness sake, the ultimate reality is being in "God's zone" which is heaven. It is like being blind and then not only having sight but having x-ray capabilities and the ability to see sounds, words and the pulse of life. People are never more alive than they are when they reside in heaven in the fount of life, which is God's very being. That's why it's called "paradise" LOL, I mean, really now, do think this through.

If you need another thought about this, remember that Moses, whose body definitely was not ascended into heaven but buried (by God himself) on the mountain, appeared with Jesus to the three apostles during the Transfiguration. Where did Moses come from? Not asleep in God's hand waiting for his body ha ha. Moses made a cameo appearance from heaven through the grace and permission of God.

Hope this helps!!