I’m looking forward to this series! I was raised to believe we are all going to heaven, that’s where eternity will be lived. So what do we do with all the scriptures about the New Earth and Jesus ruling over a restored earth? It’s never made sense to me. How did we get this so wrong? I’m anxious to read Wright’s new book. For a great interview with him about it, check out a recent episode of Curtis Chang’s Good Faith Podcast.
As a child, I was taught that Heaven (and ergo, God) was "out there," far from us, separated by billions of galaxies and light years from our little blue marble. The "afterlife" was even weirder. I was taught that when a human breathes its last, the soul somehow "goes to" God (up there in Heaven) and stays inert in some way until the Second Coming when the physical body is magically "resurrected" and the soul somehow joined to it. Unsurprisingly, I developed a mental picture of an old man in heaven, sitting at a desk behind acres and acres of shoebox-like drawers with the names of all the dead printed one by one, all lined up in rows, waiting for the Second Coming. I told my dad once that's what I'd come away with and he couldn't understand how I got to that point, but ... he had limits. Once I learned that both ideas were wrong, I came to know that God is everywhere. He/She or no gender at all is both inside and outside of space and time all at once. Theoretical physics helps. So does science fiction, the current version of fairy tales. I stopped trying to picture the "afterlife" and became content with not knowing. Yet. But I have hope I will know one day. If time and space are not linear, but plastic and flexible, maybe it will have something to do with being made able to experience both as God does. Maybe all the time from the Resurrection to now the collective human consciousness has been in development so those who believe and allow themselves to be led by the Spirit of the Christ will be ready to participate in the Really Real in ways we can't imagine right now. As far as an "end" goes, evil and hatred and sinful self-interest will be no more. Jesus told us all, just before He left, "It is not for you to know." Here's how one scientist explains it: https://youtube.com/shorts/YDC41aVm4FU?si=RcYi0ZT73CGfbl95. But he's also very clear about the reality. "We don't know." So stop trying to figure it out.
Great series idea.
Thank you so much for sharing! N. T. Wright is a great help always!
I’m looking forward to this series! I was raised to believe we are all going to heaven, that’s where eternity will be lived. So what do we do with all the scriptures about the New Earth and Jesus ruling over a restored earth? It’s never made sense to me. How did we get this so wrong? I’m anxious to read Wright’s new book. For a great interview with him about it, check out a recent episode of Curtis Chang’s Good Faith Podcast.
This was really good and it’s a good mind shift. Looks like I have a new book to put on my reading list
As a child, I was taught that Heaven (and ergo, God) was "out there," far from us, separated by billions of galaxies and light years from our little blue marble. The "afterlife" was even weirder. I was taught that when a human breathes its last, the soul somehow "goes to" God (up there in Heaven) and stays inert in some way until the Second Coming when the physical body is magically "resurrected" and the soul somehow joined to it. Unsurprisingly, I developed a mental picture of an old man in heaven, sitting at a desk behind acres and acres of shoebox-like drawers with the names of all the dead printed one by one, all lined up in rows, waiting for the Second Coming. I told my dad once that's what I'd come away with and he couldn't understand how I got to that point, but ... he had limits. Once I learned that both ideas were wrong, I came to know that God is everywhere. He/She or no gender at all is both inside and outside of space and time all at once. Theoretical physics helps. So does science fiction, the current version of fairy tales. I stopped trying to picture the "afterlife" and became content with not knowing. Yet. But I have hope I will know one day. If time and space are not linear, but plastic and flexible, maybe it will have something to do with being made able to experience both as God does. Maybe all the time from the Resurrection to now the collective human consciousness has been in development so those who believe and allow themselves to be led by the Spirit of the Christ will be ready to participate in the Really Real in ways we can't imagine right now. As far as an "end" goes, evil and hatred and sinful self-interest will be no more. Jesus told us all, just before He left, "It is not for you to know." Here's how one scientist explains it: https://youtube.com/shorts/YDC41aVm4FU?si=RcYi0ZT73CGfbl95. But he's also very clear about the reality. "We don't know." So stop trying to figure it out.
Thank you so much for this refreshing and powerful reminder.