Grace and Growth: Will Heaven Be Like Earth?

What I am Reading in '08

Frederica Mathewes-Green: The Illumined Heart: Capture the Vibrant Faith of Ancient Christians
'What did previous generations of Christians know that we don't' about living in Christ? That is the question Frederica pursues in this little book, and one that I have been pursuing for years. Her answers come straight from the heart of Eastern Orthodoxy. For over 30 years a part of my own family history (my brother converted to Orthodox monasticism in his undergraduate years), this book was a helpful re-introduction to the wisdom of Orthodoxy about living in Christ and spiritual formation, including theosis, the centrality of repentance, the importance of the mind (nous) and heart in ascetic spirituality and the Jesus Prayer. Well written and accessible; thank you, Frederica! (****)
Rory Stewart: The Places In Between
The bestselling story of Rory Stewart's trek across Afghanistan, following the steps of Afghanistan's first emperor, Babur, through the harsh inner mountain passageway. The book is a vivid introduction to an ancient culture in a modern world, and to the still strong rural roots of modern conflicts. Well worth the read; Stewart at the same time sees and notes things I would miss, and misses things I would have loved to lingered upon. Maybe part of that comes because he walks so fast! (***)
John G. West: Darwin Day In America: How Our Politics and Culture Have Been Dehumanized in the Name of Science
"The definitive scholarly critique" of Darwinian scientific materialism and its social impact in the West. Well researched, full of facts and illustrative anecdotes, and expansive in its sweep, John West traces the impact of Darwin and his successors as they have impacted legal practice, educational policy, economic theory, and life issues. This book shed essential light on broad and familiar tracks of life in America by framing them within the contest between scientific materialism and theistic creationism. An excellent read and resource. (****)
Jaroslav Pelikan: Acts (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible)
Of the three commentaries I used this year in preaching through Acts (Stott, Rackham & this) - Pelikan was the most help in diving in deep to the theological currents flowing in Acts. Great work. (*****)
Timothy Keller: The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
Keller is one of the best at linking the wisdom of the Bible with the currents of culture. Just starting it...
John Muir: Meditations of John Muir: Nature's Temple
Wonderful episodes of reflection. Muir can listen with the heart to the voice of God in the creation.
John Muir: The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures
I have missed Muir since I worked through a reader 3 years ago. Great book, giving exciting episodes across the range of his years. You can catch the wildness. (****)
Peter Connolly: The Jews in the Time of Jesus: A History
Background reading for my upcoming trip to Israel in June. Already learning a lot! (****)
William P. Young: The Shack
The story of a God who heals life's deepest tragedies. A stunning read, a grace book. (****)
Dallas Willard: Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ
I am working through this for the 3rd time, especially revisiting the chapters on the Kingdom and putting this into practice in the local congregation. Dallas' 2002 book on the process of becoming Christlike, including chapters on the transformation of the thought life, emotions, will, character, body, relationships and the soul. (*****)
Dallas Willard: The Divine Conspiracy : Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God
Foundational work on understanding the transformational processes of Christianity, with a focus on the transformation of the heart. (****)

January 15, 2006

Will Heaven Be Like Earth?

He must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his prophets. Acts 3:21 (NLT)

How much of this present cosmos will be present in eternity? How much continuity will there be between our present world and the world to come? I wonder.

Under the influence of Dallas Willard (Divine Conspiracy ch 10, etc), I have begun to rethink my eschatology this year, wondering if I had been too inattentive to the teaching of Acts 3 and Romans 8, and too presupposing a “radical discontinuity” between the current created order and the Kingdom of God. I had long thought that this cosmos will be entirely destroyed before the creation of a new cosmos.

But what if the cosmos to come has significant continuity with the created order as we now glimpse it - in all its extraordinary grandeur? What if passages like 2 Peter 3 refer to a redemptive cleansing and transformation of the current cosmos, but not its entire destruction? I have taken a Hubble photo of the interstellar star fields and put it as wallpaper on my computer - labeling it, “My Father’s House”! It fires my imagination! “Could well be”, I think - and I wonder!

I worry that something else drives our theology of “radical discontinuity”. I have become wary of teaching that locates the Kingdom entirely in some other place and time yet to come. Surely that is less than faithful to the Kingdom teaching of Jesus who so clearly proclaimed the present availibility of Kingdom life to everyone who longed for it - even while looking forward to a future fullfillment. Seems evident to me that the ‘radical discontinuity’ theology is driven IN PART by an aversion to radical discipleship. We all know the pervasive and tragic truth of this in contemporary evangelical life. ‘Real life is somewhere else - not here’, we think. So we wait for a Kingdom yet to come, and somehow find cause to go on living our lives within our own resources, not those of the Kingdom among us.

But eternal life has already begun. And the Kingdom is even now in our midst. What we do here and now is training for what we will do there and then in the renewed cosmos. The continuity is impressive, inspiring, and massively hopeful, even while we wait for the great renewal sure to come.

January 15, 2006 in Kingdom of God | Permalink