One thing I would point out that he doesn’t say that we will be asleep as in “passed out”, only that compared to the resurrection life it will be like sleep.

However at this point I do wonder if his speculation is leading him away from the biblical text (!), unless he is pointing to the use of “sleep” as a metaphor for death for Christians.

A natural reading of the book of Revelation, as Wright himself points out, shows passed-on (bodily dead) saints in heaven participating in worship. In the vision of Revelation these saints are clothed in white robes. Jesus has a resurrection body and is already in the heavenly paradise, yet we have to wait for ours. So do we have bodies (white robes) or not? It seems a case can be made for pre-resurrection bodies in heaven. But if we do have some sort of “body” in heaven, whats the point of the resurrection?

One thing Wright’s message does challenge is the visions of many Christians who claim to visit heaven, where these visions seem to depict heaven as the final resting place.

Its quite ironic that a statement made straight from the bible (the ultimate destiny of Christians is not heaven) can be so controversial.

So I’m not sure about the “sleep” bit, but to me its crystal clear that passed-on saints being gathered into Jesus’ presence in Paradise is a temporary and intermediate measure, with the main emphasis being the resurrection / New Creation.

I guess the main thing is: how does this change the way we act in this world right now?