Question:
Answer:
St. Paul wrote: “I long to depart this life and be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23). This would be a strange thing to write if St. Paul did not believe he was going to heaven after his death. If St. Paul believed he was simply going to “sleep” until the resurrection then why long to depart from this life? Would it not have made more sense to write that he longs to die and await the day of resurrection? Instead he has an apparent expectation of being with the Lord immediately following his death.
Jesus told the good thief that he would be in paradise that day and not at the later resurrection (Luke 23:43).
The Book of Revelation (5:8) portrays the saints of heaven presenting people’s prayers to God. If the dead could not enter heaven then how can they be there to present prayers?
Jesus appears to directly condemn the idea that the dead are not alive in a meaningful way when he says that to God all are alive (Luke 20:38).
The New Testament overwhelmingly attests to the fact that we face judgment and heaven or hell after death (Purgatory is part of attaining heaven after death). The idea that we are “asleep” until the resurrection is based off of misunderstanding of the Scripture’s poetic/metaphorical use of the term “asleep” to refer to the dead.