Because we are so sure of this "heavenly purpose", we seem to have gained a great certainty about the very nature of heaven, but I wonder if we have really earned such clarity or have we (as with so much of our doctrine) evolved opinions which are most accessible and the most compelling to the most people?
How much do we really "know" from the Bible about life after death? For evangelicals such words in the O.T. as "salvation" are read with our common concept of heaven in mind, but the fact is that the Old Testament is decidedly silent on matters of afterlife. Though its existence isn't quite denied in the Old Testament, the text is at best agnostic to the nature of heaven, hell or any afterlife at all (see Job and Ecclesiastes). Evangelicals are sometimes confused/shocked to realize that something so central to our religion and understanding of God could be so completely absent from the discussion our God had with his followers for thousands and thousands of years.
Jesus was born into a Jewish religion that was just recently accepting the idea of life after death, and this acceptance was by no means universal within Judaism at the time (or even today). Many evangelicals are familiar with the Sadducees and their rejection of the afterlife (we learn that this is why they were "sad you see"). But we are misled when we think of them as some small radical splinter group. Indeed the Sadducees were religious conservatives protecting the traditional Jewish view of life after death against the onslaught of these new and radical ideas. It was the Hellenization of Judaism that was prompting this important shift in doctrine. The influence of the Greeks on the Jews with their rich mythology of life after death replete with punishment and rewards can not be underestimated. It was into this culture that Jesus was born.
The New Testament (written primarily in Greek) does contain a number of references to the afterlife, but the references are few, filled with symbolism, heavily influenced by Greek mythology, and are never meant to be definitive as to the nature of life after death. Certainly the ideas of judgment, punishment, and reward are present in the Biblical texts, but how much of this is simply the product of a Hellenistic literary device is anyone's guess. The most complete Biblical description of the judgment comes from Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats, but I am not aware of any evangelical Christian who takes anything in this depiction literally. The most complete Biblical description of heaven is found in Revelation, but again this text is so filled with symbolism that it would be foolish to speculate with any specificity to the nature of heaven. Perhaps the verse most apropos to heaven would be 1 Cor 2:9, "what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him."
And yet with these few meager inklings as to the nature of life after death, most Christians have an assurance that their fairly rigid, complete, and detailed view of the afterlife is firmly grounded in Scripture. We use these views whenever convenient to prompt church members to reach out to non-believers, to participate in evangelical activities, support missions work, or to increase financial support of the church in general. Sometimes more manipulative pastors will use these views to instill fear within their congregations separating them from God rather than bringing them together.
I have learned much about evangelical Christianity from teaching evangelical high school students. Students have internalized the core messages and ethos of our evangelical subculture, but without the sophistication to hide the more unseemly or contradictory ramifications. When probed, most students will state without hesitation that the reason they are Christian is to get into heaven. They are shocked at having to explain such an obvious point and they are incredulous that anyone would be a Christian for any other reason. Many students with mouth agape ask "Why in the world would I live like this if I could live another way and still get into heaven?!?" At the base of these student's belief is fear. They are Christians to avoid hell and get into heaven. The have to pay their dues in this life in order to avoid (what they have been told again and again) a fate worse than anything we can imagine. It is becoming clear to me that the Christian religion has evolved its detailed view of the afterlife to maximize congregation retention rather than seek and find Truth.
Long ago I studied the topic of hell in the Bible and ended up rejecting the idea of eternal conscious torment view of hell. During those years I discovered that my view had a name, "annihilationism", and that unbeknownst to me many prominent theologians had come to a similar conclusion. Now however I am willing to reexamine my view of not only hell, but heaven as well. And perhaps in doing so I will have to revisit my dismay that God would let the Israelites be ignorant about something so important as heaven and instead reevaluate the premiere evangelical priority on getting people "saved".
How much do we really "know" from the Bible about life after death? For evangelicals such words in the O.T. as "salvation" are read with our common concept of heaven in mind, but the fact is that the Old Testament is decidedly silent on matters of afterlife. Though its existence isn't quite denied in the Old Testament, the text is at best agnostic to the nature of heaven, hell or any afterlife at all (see Job and Ecclesiastes). Evangelicals are sometimes confused/shocked to realize that something so central to our religion and understanding of God could be so completely absent from the discussion our God had with his followers for thousands and thousands of years.
Jesus was born into a Jewish religion that was just recently accepting the idea of life after death, and this acceptance was by no means universal within Judaism at the time (or even today). Many evangelicals are familiar with the Sadducees and their rejection of the afterlife (we learn that this is why they were "sad you see"). But we are misled when we think of them as some small radical splinter group. Indeed the Sadducees were religious conservatives protecting the traditional Jewish view of life after death against the onslaught of these new and radical ideas. It was the Hellenization of Judaism that was prompting this important shift in doctrine. The influence of the Greeks on the Jews with their rich mythology of life after death replete with punishment and rewards can not be underestimated. It was into this culture that Jesus was born.
The New Testament (written primarily in Greek) does contain a number of references to the afterlife, but the references are few, filled with symbolism, heavily influenced by Greek mythology, and are never meant to be definitive as to the nature of life after death. Certainly the ideas of judgment, punishment, and reward are present in the Biblical texts, but how much of this is simply the product of a Hellenistic literary device is anyone's guess. The most complete Biblical description of the judgment comes from Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats, but I am not aware of any evangelical Christian who takes anything in this depiction literally. The most complete Biblical description of heaven is found in Revelation, but again this text is so filled with symbolism that it would be foolish to speculate with any specificity to the nature of heaven. Perhaps the verse most apropos to heaven would be 1 Cor 2:9, "what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him."
And yet with these few meager inklings as to the nature of life after death, most Christians have an assurance that their fairly rigid, complete, and detailed view of the afterlife is firmly grounded in Scripture. We use these views whenever convenient to prompt church members to reach out to non-believers, to participate in evangelical activities, support missions work, or to increase financial support of the church in general. Sometimes more manipulative pastors will use these views to instill fear within their congregations separating them from God rather than bringing them together.
I have learned much about evangelical Christianity from teaching evangelical high school students. Students have internalized the core messages and ethos of our evangelical subculture, but without the sophistication to hide the more unseemly or contradictory ramifications. When probed, most students will state without hesitation that the reason they are Christian is to get into heaven. They are shocked at having to explain such an obvious point and they are incredulous that anyone would be a Christian for any other reason. Many students with mouth agape ask "Why in the world would I live like this if I could live another way and still get into heaven?!?" At the base of these student's belief is fear. They are Christians to avoid hell and get into heaven. The have to pay their dues in this life in order to avoid (what they have been told again and again) a fate worse than anything we can imagine. It is becoming clear to me that the Christian religion has evolved its detailed view of the afterlife to maximize congregation retention rather than seek and find Truth.
Long ago I studied the topic of hell in the Bible and ended up rejecting the idea of eternal conscious torment view of hell. During those years I discovered that my view had a name, "annihilationism", and that unbeknownst to me many prominent theologians had come to a similar conclusion. Now however I am willing to reexamine my view of not only hell, but heaven as well. And perhaps in doing so I will have to revisit my dismay that God would let the Israelites be ignorant about something so important as heaven and instead reevaluate the premiere evangelical priority on getting people "saved".
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