Why We Misunderstand the Beatific Vision

Categories: Heaven · History · Theologians · Theology4 Comments

I’ve been reading Hans Boersma’s helpful and interesting book Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition (Eerdmans 2018). For a while I’ve been wanting to learn more about this intriguing and often neglected doctrine, so now I’m finally getting around to it. The beatific vision is widespread throughout the early and medieval church, East and West, and into Protestantism (especially the Reformed tradition). Yet many evangelical today have never heard of it, or misunderstand it. As Kyle Strobel puts it, “few doctrines are as ‘standard’ in the history of theology, and ignored in contemporary theology, as the beatific vision.”…

The Book of Revelation

Categories: Heaven · Revelation6 Comments

At some point after my doctorate, I would like to make studying the book of Revelation one of my life projects. It coheres with some of my other interests, like the doctrine of heaven, and its a book that continually fascinates me. I would like to study it because: 1) Its probably the most misunderstood and perhaps the most difficult book in the Bible. Partly for that reason, I think its often neglected. For instance, John Calvin wrote commentaries on almost every book in the New Testament except Revelation (and 2 and 3 John), and Martin Luther once said of…

Sherlock Holmesian Theology

Categories: Heaven · Theology1 Comment

I’ve been enjoying the TV show Sherlock lately. Its nice to get into a show that is relatively clean, and its very clever and engaging (portrayed right is Benedict Cumberbatch’s incarnation of Sherlock Holmes—he does a great job). Watching the show has motivated me to do some reading about the character Sherlock Holmes, who is a fascinating figure. He is famous, of course, for his prowess at deductive reasoning. Holmes claimed that “from a drop of water a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other.” This…

Heaven (3): An Experiment

Categories: Devotional Thoughts · HeavenLeave a comment

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying an experiment – I spend some time each day, or whenever it occurs to me, thinking about heaven, for as long as it takes until doing so makes me happy. I find that its one way of reminding myself of the gospel, because every time it reminds me of how incredibly lavish God’s love is. I go back into my day less likely to complain about things that are hard – doing so would feel like a spoiled kid winning the lottery and then complaining that he has to walk half a…

Heaven (2): New Earth = Earth Resurrected

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Here are two more good quotes from Randy Alcorn’s Heaven, the first from Alcorn and the second from A.A. Hodge: “The biblical doctrine of the New Earth implies something startling: that if we want to know what the ultimate Heaven, our eternal home, will be like, the best place to start is by looking around us. We shouldn’t close our eyes and try to imagine the unimaginable. We should open our eyes, because the present Earth is as much a valid reference point for envisioning the New Earth as our present bodies are a valid reference point for envisioning our…

Heaven (1): New Earth = Heaven Incarnate

Categories: Heaven4 Comments

In preparation for an upcoming series for the youth, and sermon for main church, and also just as a study project, I’ve been reading Randy Alcorn’s Heaven. While at times it feels a bit repetitive, and at others times perhaps a bit speculative, I think its overall a very helpful book. His pastoral concern for believers to really look forward to heaven is quite evident, and I especially appreciate his emphasis on the physicality of heaven and its continuity with creation. Here’s a sample quote, in the midst of a discussion of the distinction between the intermediate heaven and the…