Some thoughts on the upcoming election

A couple of thoughts on the upcoming Presidential election, from thinkers of times past:

There is joy in heaven, we are told, over the conversions that take place on earth. In Luke xv, 7, we read: “I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-and-nine just persons which need no repentance.” When an election for president of the United States is approaching, there is tremendous excitement – a great commotion. Probably most newspapers from Maine to California would have something on nearly every page about the candidate. The whole country is excited, but I doubt it would be noticed in heaven. – Heaven: The Place We Long For, by D. L. Moody (public domain)

Psalm 118:9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes. (World English Bible, public domain) 

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 761

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (or something) NPR reports on how a couple who moved into a neighborhood recently had a deaf child, and the neighbors, who had all lived there a long time, have decided to learn sign language.

N. T. Wright on how most Christians have the wrong idea about heaven.

Christianity Today, and other outlets, report that a Chinese pastor has been sentenced to 9 years in prison.

Computing: Gizmodo reports on what people wanted most to know in the Wikipedia.

Gizmodo also reports that anti-robocalling legislation has been approved by Congress, and signed by President Trump. Gizmodo also guesses that it will help some, but maybe not enough.


Education: CBS News reports that Princeton University has honored lunchroom, and other non-professorial workers, by hanging their portraits.


Environment: A Relevant article on why Christians should care for the environment.

Health: A woman with sickle-cell anemia has been treated with her own cells, modified with CRISPR. The results are promising.
 
Politics: Relevant reports that white evangelicals are further from the mainstream in their attitudes concerning immigration than they are on abortion.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 506

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
 
Christianity: Speculative Faith has a blog post about The Walking Dead, and how we deal with death generally. The author closes by saying: ". . . the reality is the absence of sex, gore, cussing, and violence doesn’t make a book Christian-compatible. How it handles death, however, determines how in sync with the Gospel a book is."
 
Speculative Faith also has a blog post by E. Stephen Burnett, which discusses six myths about heaven, which are common among believers, and others.
 
Relevant names the most important idol worshiped by Christians.

Humor: The funniest video I've ever seen on TV that didn't star an animal or a baby -- a 5+ minute interview of Anne Hathaway, by Jon Stewart, on the Daily Show. They crack each other up, uncontrollably, and apparently without really meaning to, about 2 minutes in, and never fully recover. The live audience was definitely amused. (Unlike some Daily Show scenes, there was no reason to bleep anything out, and there was no mention of politics of any kind.)
 
Science:  A 2 minute plus YouTube video on how large astronomical objects are (and how small the earth is!).
 
Wired reports on the Rosetta spacecraft's exploration of a comet.
 
FiveThirtyEight analyzes recent snowstorms in New York city, and finds that it doesn't snow as often now as it used to, but, when it does, it snows more.

Sports: Congratulations to the Gasol brothers, from Spain, who are the first brothers ever selected as NBA all-stars. (They will be on opposing teams.) Congratulations to their parents, too, I guess.
Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 488

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant discusses the problem of loving others, when we have a hard time doing it.
E. Stephen Burnett claims that popular culture is a good thing, and will probably be present in the Final Kingdom.
Humor: (And Christianity) Peanuts on suffering and the book of Job.
Science: Wired reports that some fish, not generally believed to be very smart, show the ability to collaborate intelligently.
Wired also reports on naked mole rats, almost the only non-insect that has queens in a colony. In addition to this, and other interesting details of their lives, they don't get cancer.


Image source (public domain)

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 50

New heaven? New body?

A number of Bible scholars, including [N. T.] Wright, believe that heaven, in its final state, does not yet exist. There are some good scriptural reasons for thinking this, such as John 14:2-3, quoted earlier in this chapter, indicating that Christ was going to do some preparatory work on the final resting place of believers. Then there’s Romans:

Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. 19 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

This seems to be talking about the redemption of fallen earth, during the End Times. And, somehow, the redeemed creation, the rocks, plants, and mountains, maybe even the planets and the stars, are to be delivered, and, somehow, this deliverance is connected to glory “revealed toward us.” Or, as John put it in Revelation:

Revelation 21:1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”

5a He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

(For some musings about “the sea is no more,” see here.)

This is apocalyptic and visionary literature, of course. But it does mention a new heaven and a new earth, suggesting that there will be a physical existence inhabited by believers.

Not only Paul, and John, but Peter also had something to say about this matter:

2 Peter 3:13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Also, Genesis tells us that all of God’s creation was originally good, in Genesis 1:31a, which says that “God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” God could, of course, discard or destroy His original good creation, but indications are that, instead, He wishes to redeem and renew it.

The above material is an excerpt from my self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, on the topic of the idea of going to heaven, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue with a related topic. Thanks for reading.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 48

[Continuing a discussion of whether believers go to heaven immediately after death.]

 

Matthew has another occurrence:

Matthew 27:52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.

I’m not sure what all is going on here, but it sounds like dead believers, under the First Covenant, who had not been to heaven, were resurrected, at least temporarily. Had they been in heaven, and come back to earth? Did they go back to being “asleep” after this occurrence? We aren’t told. (The other three gospels don’t record this incident.)

Then there’s the matter of the Transfiguration:

Luke 9:28 About eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up onto the mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling. 30 Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory, and spoke of his departure,* which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

*The World English Bible has a text note, saying that “exodus” would be a literal translation.

It’s not clear who said what, or what Elijah and Moses knew, at this time, but it seems possible that they already knew about Christ’s coming death. If so, they must have been in a conscious state before this appearance. (The other Gospels don’t even mention the conversation between the three. Luke must have received his information from someone else, as he wasn’t there.)

I don’t consider non-Biblical sources to be as reliable as the Bible, but will mention a source that is of interest, and that seems to bear on this question. That’s the book, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent. (Thomas Nelson, 2011). This book has sold well over a million copies, and made various best-seller lists**. It claims that a pre-school boy went to heaven from the operating table, and had various experiences, and saw various people, including a miscarried sister, while in heaven. It also claims that he had no knowledge of these matters previously – he didn’t know that he had a miscarried sister, for example. He came back to life, and, over a period of several months, he gradually told his parents bits and pieces of what he saw in heaven. If the Burpos are to be trusted, and what happened to Colton Burpo is normal, deceased believers go immediately into God’s presence. (See the Wikipedia article on the book, which says “It should be noted, there is much controversy and criticism with this book’s claims amongst Christians.”)

**Since the publication of this book, Burpo’s book, Heaven is for Real, has been made into a movie. I have not seen that.

Disclaimer: Todd Burpo is a pastor in The Wesleyan Church, my own denomination. I have never met or seen him.

In summary, there is evidence for immediate, conscious, translation to heaven, or at least into God’s presence, but there is also Biblical evidence that believers will not reach such a state until the End Times. It is more important to be a believer, showing the evidences of that referred to in Chapter Eight, than it is to be concerned about whether we will go to heaven immediately upon death, or some time after that.

The above material is an excerpt from my self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, on the topic of the idea of going to heaven, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue with a related topic. Thanks for reading.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 47

Heaven immediately upon death?

Not only do most people seem to think that everyone is going to heaven, but the most popular current idea of when one gets to heaven is that we do so immediately after death.

Wright says that the three passages in the New Testament, quoted above, are not speaking of heaven, but of a temporary state or location. He says the same thing about these verses:

Luke 23:43 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Philippians 1:23 But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Wright also says that John 14 is speaking of a temporary state or location:

John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.

I am not a Greek scholar, so can’t comment with authority on Luke 23:43 and Philippians 1:23, but Wright’s interpretation of John 14:2-3 makes sense. Jesus seemed to say that the final state or location was not ready yet, but that it needed to be prepared, and that even His disciples would enter that place or state as a part of the Second Coming events, rather than immediately. However, not all scholars agree with what Wright thinks these verses say. Some believe that Jesus is talking about heaven, in its final state, in these verses.

As to Luke 23:43, scholars are divided. Some agree with Wright, believing that “paradise” as used here, is an intermediate, and temporary state. Some don’t, but believe that the word indicates the final heavenly state or place.

Another scriptural evidence that people don’t go to heaven upon death is the use of “asleep” for death, as if deceased believers were in some intermediate unconscious state, until the resurrection. Here’s a search for the word “asleep” in the New Testament, using the English Standard Version. (“sleep” and/or “slept” would give additional instances of use.)

1 Thessalonians is one place where Paul uses “asleep”:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, 17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The use of “rise first” seems to indicate that dead believers have not been in heaven, and won’t be, until Christ comes back.

The above material is an excerpt from my self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, on the topic of the idea of going to heaven, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue this topic. Thanks for reading.