Christians Wrong About Heaven

[Blessedx4]

Ok I have to agree with some of his points. I get a little irritated by angels with wings and people with halos (can anyone point out scripture verifying either one? I've read the Bible through 2 or 3 times and can't remember it) Sitting on a cloud playing a harp? :confused

But at the same time some of it reminds me of mormonism, does it anyone else?

Thursday, Feb. 07, 2008
By DAVID VAN BIEMA

N.T. "Tom" Wright is one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide for his 2003 book The Resurrection of the Son of God, which argued forcefully for a literal interpretation of that event.

It therefore comes as a something of a shock that Wright doesn't believe in heaven — at least, not in the way that millions of Christians understand the term.

more........... http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1710844,00.html

[roadrunner570]

Thats a pretty good article and he makes a lot of good points. Over the last few years, my views of both heaven and hell have changed considerably. Needless to say, I think we will all be in for a big suprise when we get there.

[coffeehubby]

The article does jive with scripture, and Randy Alcorn has books on heaven that say the same thing...that eventually we have a new body, that God lives with us in Christ on the new earth, ect.
It's a lot more hopeful picture in scripture the idea of heaven than what my grandmother believed. She always said, "Don't think about it too much or you'll be very disappointed," or " You won't be able to do anything you really like up there except (?!!!) church." I used to wonder why anyone wanted heaven, it sounded depressing.

A couple of my favorite books Randy Alcorn did on heaven were his children's books. Those heavily illustrated books get the idea across far better than his book for adults that is big enough to choke a mule on. I see the animals, a boy playing baseball who once had been unable to walk, the flowers and gardens look fantastic and the food inviting.

[CaiperLane]

Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver called What's Heaven, which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk... If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him." That, says Wright is a good example of "what not to say." The Biblical truth, he continues, "is very, very different."

Agreed. Not a good book to help a child make the right choice so they are guaranteed Heaven.

Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven. They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.

But I don't know if I agree with this man's assessment of Heaven. Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But this bishop makes it sound like a dream state. The Bible speaks of us worshiping God in Heaven.

It's our Hope, eternal life is the promise we have from God. Insinuating that our life after death isn't as good as the one we'll have when we have our bodies is a misinterpretation in my opinion. The Bible's message is that God looks at things from an eternal standpoint.

Eventually we will rule and reign with Jesus the King so we'll need our glorified bodies. But I don't believe his idea that our body makes our existence clearer or more alive. It makes it seem like we're in a haze or something. That's what I drew from his comments anyway.

[Proudmommy]

I always thought we got the idea that angels had wings from the way God told the Jews to build the Ark and Temple. And I wonder if the idea of a halo was a way to show the light of God shining around an angel.

[Caleb]

I think those were cherubs & not angels.

[Proudmommy]

I know they are cherubs, but I thought maybe people just exstrapolated from there that angels might have wings. :noidea

[CaiperLane]

Eh! Maybe they're all extra terrestrial type beings that walk through walls and make themselves invisible at will. Like the aliens in Cocoon.

Or maybe not...

[whirlwind]

I always thought Seraphim were a class of angel, maybe I'm wrong.

Isaiah 6:2
Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_angelic_hierarchy



I think the idea of people playing harps might come from this verse.

Revelation 15:2 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=73&chapter=15&verse=2&version=31&context=verse)
And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God

[CHRISTinCheryl]

I DO know that Heaven will be a MILLION TIMES BETTER THAN I COULD EVER IMAGINE!!
:cloud9:cartwheel:Party:group:chocolate:harp:choir

Come LORD JESUS take us Home!! :help

[CaiperLane]

I DO know that Heaven will be a MILLION TIMES BETTER THAN I COULD EVER IMAGINE!!
:cloud9:cartwheel:Party:group:chocolate:harp:choir

Come LORD JESUS take us Home!! :help

Hey! Will there be chocolate there? Cause if so.....partaaaaay!!! :celebrate

[CHRISTinCheryl]

Hey! Will there be chocolate there? Cause if so.....partaaaaay!!! :celebrate

I certainly believe JESUS thought up chocolate!! I have NO doubts well eat chocolate in Heaven Sister Caiperlane :praise :woohoo:hifive

[CaiperLane]

I certainly believe JESUS thought up chocolate!! I have NO doubts well eat chocolate in Heaven Sister Caiperlane :praise :woohoo:hifive

COOL! Because I had to give it up....... :(:

[Acheron]

TIME: That's very different from, say, the vision put out in the Left Behind books.

Wright: Yes. If there's going to be an Armageddon, and we'll all be in heaven already or raptured up just in time, it really doesn't matter if you have acid rain or greenhouse gases prior to that. Or, for that matter, whether you bombed civilians in Iraq. All that really matters is saving souls for that disembodied heaven.

Seems to be post-trib view. Not that I agree with this point, since Scripture does seem to point toward an intermediate heaven before the New Earth.

[BHiles]

He's also a soul sleeper.

[roadrunner570]

He's also a soul sleeper.

I didnt' quite get that from the article. Sounded like he was saying something in between.

[Myth Buster]

This preacher seems to be arguing semantics, but Martin Luther did believe in soul sleep. What's wierder is that he uses straw man arguments out of the Old Testiment and Gospels. Of course people in those days didn't go to Heaven when they died, because Christ had not yet died and risen.

[Abba'sLil'Girl]

Anyone ever read "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn?

From my understanding he has studied the Scriptures in length and tries to clear up common misconceptions as well.

My mom passed away this past year and details of Heaven seem to be of interest more now than ever. So, I plan to read the book myself, but I'm curious on other's opinions of the book.

Thanks for the article.

Grace and Peace to you.

[CaiperLane]

Sorry about your recent loss Abba's Lil Girl. :(:

[Abba'sLil'Girl]

Sorry about your recent loss Abba's Lil Girl. :(:

Thanks.

[poetess]

I have read most of "Heaven" by Alcorn, and I think its a very good book.

I'm so glad that chocolate is a plant, cause we will all be vegetarians in heaven.

[Abba'sLil'Girl]

I have read most of "Heaven" by Alcorn, and I think its a very good book.

I'm so glad that chocolate is a plant, cause we will all be vegetarians in heaven.

Plus . . . we can eat all the chocolate we want and NEVER worry one moment about cellulite! :D: