The new Bishop of Durham was last night expecting a backlash over his new book challenging the traditional Anglican picture of heaven.

Dr Tom Wright, who will be enthroned as bishop in Durham Cathedral in two week's time, says he has met a lot of Church of England members whose views on heaven are a "vague, foggy muddle".

And in his book For All the Saints? he debunks the traditional view of heaven saying it has little relation to what is written in the New Testament.

He also questions orthodox ideas of the immortal soul.

Dr Wright admits the ideas expressed in his new book are controversial and are at odds with official church thinking. The Bishop of Durham post, one of the most powerful within the Church of England, is seen as an academic see and some unorthodox thinking is tolerated.

Dr David Jenkins, the last but one holder of the post, often found himself in hot water with the church establishment and the then Conservative government.

He talked about the miners' strike in his enthronement speech and famously said during a television interview in 1984 that he doubted the literal truth of the virgin birth.

Dr Wright said the ideas expressed in his book were not new.

But he admitted it was "inevitable" that people would pick up on his thoughts now he held a high profile position within the church.

He said he wanted For All The Saints? to stimulate debate within the church.

"These things happen when you become Bishop of Durham, although I'm sure my publisher would say it brings the book to people's attention," Dr Wright added.

Dr Wright said: "Unfortunately many Christians have read the New Testament through the lens of Western medieval thought.

"We all assume that when Jesus said something about entering into the kingdom of heaven that he was talking about life after death. That isn't what He meant at all."

Dr Wright believes there are two stages to death, the first being a "blissful resting period". After that there is a second stage of resurrection but only as part of a new creation.

He added: "The present world is going to be renewed and the things that are wrong in the present one will be abolished."

According to Dr Wright, heaven is not an other-worldly state but something that is around us all the time.

He dismisses purgatory as a myth and says the idea of the soul as a something that exists throughout our lives on Earth and then leaves us at death is mistaken.

"Christians used the soul as a way of making a bridge through life and into the future. That came complete with the idea that we have an immortal soul."

But last night one North-East cleric said the book could prove a useful means of stimulating debate and helping clarify thinking within the church. The Rev George Curry, of Elswick, Newcastle, said: "If debate causes people to ask themselves questions about what the Bible teaches and drives people back to the Bible then it can be a very positive thing."