But beyond this point there are very many theological differences. Some, for example, think of the interim state as purgatorial in nature, and others do not. Some hold that spiritual change, e.g., repentance, is possible during the interim period, and others do not. Some think the soul rests or sleeps, i.e., is not active or conscious, during the i nterim period, and others do not. It is not part of my purpose in this paper to express an opinion on either of the first two items of disagreement. However, I will argue in regard to the third that the soul is conscious in the interim state. The biblical metaphor of sleep (cf. Luke 8, 2; I Cor. 16, 20) is not to be taken as a literal description. This is because it is difficult to make sense of the notion of a disembodied thing being in the presence of God ("Today you will be with me in paradise") if tha t thing is unconscious and thus unaware of the presence of Sod.' Furthermore, since sleeping is essentially a bodily activity it seems incoherent to suggest that a soul could sleep.The state of being without a body is an abnormal state of the hum n person. This is one of the clear differences between temporary disembodiment and immortality of the soul, for the second doctrine (at least in versi ons of it influenced by Plato) entails that disembodiment is the true or proper or best state of the human person. On the theory we are considering, however, the claim OR that a disembodied soul lacks many of the properties and abilities that are normal f or and proper to human persons. Disembodied existence is a kind of minimal existence.Which properties typical of embodied human persons will disembodied souls have and which will they lack? clearly they will lack those properties that essentially involve corporeality. They will possess no spatial loc ation, for example, at least not in the space time manifold with which we are familiar. They will not be able to perceive their surroundings (using the spatial word " surrounding'' in a stretched sense)-not at least in the ways in which we perceive our su rroundings (i.
