enigman, you raise an interesting question about a Fall in the New Earth. I’d have to think on that some more… some theologians say God seals our love for him once we choose it… and since the New Earth will not be purely analogous to this one (as we were born in this one but only resurrected for the next one), there may be something to the theologians.

I don’t hold the concept that God is in ‘heaven’ with the angels and separate from us. God’s kingdom, says Willard, is the ‘effective domain of God’s will.’ And ‘heaven’ has different meanings in scripture, including the thin air about us. So living on the New Earth, I suspect God will be very much present here as the writer of Revelation tells us in Chapter 21.

You also note that some may not want to be resurrected “and maybe some of us remain in Heaven (many of us, e.g. those who never really suited these temporary bodies, might prefer that)…”

My best answer would be that we’d have to verify that with Scripture since the great hope of resurrection is the great hope of the Jews and the outworking of the promise of Messiah.

What is more, it could likely be said that if we don’t yet want to be resurrected, it may be because we don’t yet understand it. Paul thinks a disembodied state is uncomfortable (2 Cor 5), so I think it likely that having a new body will be a great relief and a cosmic joy (that even angels want to know about).

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Jeff, good point about what ‘heaven’ meant to the people of old. And even the medieval philosophers favored a geocentric view of the universe because earth, at the center, was most base and corrupt and purity work itself outwards. So the farther out one goes, the more holy and pure it is… and eventually the ‘abode of God’ (whatever that means).

So that God has rearranged the universe by showing the Kingdom coming near is good news indeed.

Thanks for the comment!

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Lorijo, I’m still sorry to hear about your father. And I’m glad you are finding comfort in exploring his current residence with God (how cool that will be!).

Alcorn’s book is good… and I find it encouraging how much of it is dedicated to the New Earth.

This is Karen (Jones) Morris from college. Your blog, what I’ve looked at of it, is amazing. I am so thankful to see where the Lord has brought you. For a reason I can’t explain, He brought you to mind yesterday and today. I googled you and look what I found! E-mail me if you get a chance. I’d love to ‘chat’ a little more informally! I can be reached at karensmorris at earthlink.net.

“The Jewish tradition is all about making the world a holy place for God to enter.”

I write: here, here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy, I’m with you. And I think it’s only modern times that has caused us to lose our vision of what is to come. Our bland view of wispy spirits floating in the sky isn’t what tradition teaches. Read Dante for a robust view of paradise and the longings to behold him!

And to think that the God who made this world doesn’t suddenly lose his creative touch for what is to come. Indeed his goodness, truth, and beauty are inexhaustible. And he’s created us to enjoy what he has created. It’s very human and very, very good.

~dale

Gotta love good ole NT.

His book was great.

I think I wrote a review of the first part of it somewhere on my stuff (you can check it here: http://www.sensualjesus.wordpress.com)

Anyhow…good stuff brother.
I hope to get to know you more in this great world of e-kklessia.

Brittian

The Lewis line you refer to, I believe, is in Mere Christianity. And it is an idea that threads through a lot of his work. However, it may not mean exactly what it means on the surface, at least not in light of the rest of his writing.

[Before I go on, I must add that many writers substitute all ingredients of the afterlife into the word 'heaven.' So be on the lookout when people use the word as a placeholder for wider concepts.]

I think the Lewis quotation you refer to speaks directly toward knowing God and finding our place in him. It isn’t the earth itself that is unsatisfying for Lewis, but the world system. It’s the diversions humans have built around themselves. It’s the idols we’ve created to fill the hunger that only God is big enough to fill.

Most of evangelicalism has mistakenly thought that renouncing the world and “giving no place to the flesh” is an absolution against the earth and the body. When, in fact, the New Testament writers are referring to our tendency to do things unnaturally (‘flesh’ or ‘sinful nature’) and the world-systems of the kingdoms of men.

Apart from Lewis being a Christian humanist who values being human, the body, the earth, and all that God has provided for us and is preparing for us in this world, he also celebrates it with vivid metaphors.

Look at the metaphor of the New Narnia in the Last Battle. There we have a New Earth model. It wasn’t merely a ‘going to heaven’ in some sort of ethereal existence. Also look at Perelandra where Lewis paints the picture of what Earth would somehow be like, in all its innocence and meaning, had we never sinned. It is this meaning that God will one day restore to the earth.

Some may argue The Great Divorce is Lewis’ attempt to explain heaven. But we must also note that book is written as a dream. The concepts are clear enough but the actual places of heaven and hell in that book are mere pictures, not to be taken literally.

Do keep the questions coming, Lorijo, if you have some more!