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Some Hard Questions About Heaven and the New Creation
Most everyone believes in the afterlife, and most in heaven. Christian theologians today tend to talk about the “new creation,” or “the eschaton” when heaven and earth come together in a physical existence of those who belong to God. But, is such a future a rational hope? Here we ask some difficult questions.
The Christian story is summarized in these three essential events: creation, fall, and restoration. Lose anyone of these and the story is not what most adherents would recognize.
The creation and fall are events that belong to history. Creation, that is the sudden appearance of the universe from nothing is now dated to 13.8 billion years in the past. The fall, where the earliest humans brought death into the world through their disobedience cannot be easily dated but must have occurred at or near the time that humans achieved a level of consciousness and self-awareness that would enable them to make such a decision. The presence of evil is not really in dispute. As G. K. Chesterton said:
“Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.”
The restoration remains in the future. The crucial events that are understood as the start of the restoration took place about 2000 years ago. The promise of these…