My post last
week, “Heaven is not home. Home is here,” has prompted a fair amount of
discussion. I think this is an inherently good thing, because the discussion
has focused on Scripture itself rather than dogmatic texts. We
must always be willing to examine the way we think and speak, and to test them
against Scripture itself.
The discussion
followed two courses. First, some have
defended the idea that heaven can and should be described as “home.” Appeal has been made to 2 Cor 5:8’s
statement, “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (ἐκδημῆσαι ἐκ τοῦ σώματος καὶ
ἐνδημῆσαι πρὸς τὸν κύριον) (cf. Phil 1:23, "My desire is to depart and be with Christ [σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι], for that is far
better). There is no doubt that
Scripture talks about being “at home with the Lord.” But this is rather different than saying that
“heaven is home.” In fact Paul never uses the word "heaven" to describe the intermediate state of Christians and this fact certainly limits the utility of 2 Cor 5:8 as an argument for describing heaven as home. While the Bible speaks in terms of being home with the Lord, it never describes heaven as home in a text (and of course it is “heaven is home” that actually
dominates Christian speech). They can be understood theologically to mean the
same thing by using the concept of "heaven" as an organizing principle, but the reality is that “heaven is home” carries with it a whole
range of associations for hearers that are not suggested by “at home with the Lord.”
When Christians
speak of heaven as “home,” they most commonly mean that this is the goal of the
Christian faith. The Christian wants to
“die and go to heaven.” That’s it. The
goal has been achieved. The loss of bodily
existence is irrelevant because now the Christian is “in heaven.” However, Phil 3:20-21 explains what the future
holds for those who are “at home with the Lord” or “with the Lord”: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and
from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our
lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even
to subject all things to himself” (ESV).
To be with the Lord is to share in a movement that arrives at this
earth and leads to the resurrection of the body.
It is possible
to define “heaven” in a theocentric fashion.
Heaven is being in God’s glorious presence. And in turn this can be
described as “home.” It cannot be denied that this is a valid theological way of speaking (though again, note the moves necessary to arrive at a conclusion expressed by no biblical text). However this manner of speaking has two
significant shortcomings. The first is
that it leaves aside the material and located character of human existence that
is a key feature of biblical anthropology.
God creates human beings as the unity of body and soul (Gen 2:8) to live
in the creation he made. The Garden of
Eden in creation is the location where they interact with God (Gen 2:15; 3:8). The eschatological future finds earth to be once
again the location where this interaction takes place after the resurrection (Rom
8:18-23; Rev 21-22). Human existence that
matches God’s created intention has a location. There is a location where people belong, and we
call such a place “home.” That location is earth. Of course, the two ways of speaking about home can be combined: Our future home is heaven on earth. This is the picture we receive in Rev. 21-22. In Rev 20:11-15 we hear about the resurrection
and the judgment and in 21:1-2 there is the new heaven and new earth, and the
new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. Only then does John hear: “Behold, the dwelling
place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,
and God himself will be with them as their God” (Gen 22:3 ESV).
The second
shortcoming is that as soon as heaven is described as “home,” the theological qualifications
described above are lost upon most hearers because they are programmed to hear language about heaven in a dualistic way. There are those who do not think this a real
concern or a reason to avoid “heaven as home” language. I can only say that I strongly disagree with this
assessment of our current context. As I
have described here, I do not deny that carefully qualified in a number of
ways, it is possible to describe heaven as “home.” I contend that while possible, it does not
reflect the what Scripture actually says and it is also
detrimental to the life of the Church because it is almost always understood in
non-biblical ways. Or to put it another
way: If the Bible doesn’t speak this way and it is very likely to be understood
in non-biblical ways, why would we want to say that “heaven is home”? Why not rather speak using the language that is actually found in Scripture (after all, Paul says "at home with the Lord" and not "at home in heaven")?
To take up the language actually found in Scripture would also mean reversing the emphasis that is so commonly found in the Church. Pastors would still speak the comfort of knowing that those who die in Christ before the Last Day are "at home with the Lord" or "with the Lord" - that death cannot separate us from Christ. But this treatment of the intermediate state would become the minor theme that it is in Scripture. Instead the major emphasis would be on the return of Christ on the Last Day and the resurrection of the body.
The second course
in the discussion affirmed the centrality of the resurrection and life on
earth. This is, of course, great to see. However some argue strongly that the “new
heaven and new earth” (Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1) is a completely
different creation from the one on which we presently live. In particular, many cite 2 Pet 3:7, 10, 12 as absolute
proof that the present heaven and earth will be completely annihilated and that
the eschatological heaven and earth will bear no relationship to the present
one.
Consideration of
this issue must begin with the Old Testament and then trace this teaching into Second Temple Judaism that provided the setting for the New Testament. On the basis of such an investigation New
Testament scholar N.T. Wright has commented on the faith of first century A.D.
Judaism: “Thus the Jews who believed in resurrection did so as one part of a
larger belief in the renewal of the whole created order.”
We read in
Isaiah 65:17, “For behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth (
בֹורֵא שָׁמַיִם
חֲדָשִׁים וָאָרֶץ חֲדָשָׁה ) and the former things shall not be remembered or come to
mind” (cf. Isa 66:22). When Isaiah goes
on to describe this new heavens and new earth, he does so by describing
Jerusalem (65:20-22). He concludes
his description by saying, “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the
lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpents food. They will do no evil or harm in all my holy
mountain,” says Yahweh” (65:25). This description of the animals obviously
echoes what 11:6-9 had said about the Messianic age.
Joel ends in a
similar fashion. After the
eschatological judgment at the beginning of chapter 3 (3:1-2, 12-14), Yahweh
dwells in Zion
on his holy mountain (3:17). Then we
hear in 3:18, “And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the
hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah will flow with water. And a spring will go out from the house of
Yahweh to water the valley
of Shittim.” The spring
coming out of the house of Yahweh in Joel 3:18 is a picture of the Garden of
Eden restored. This is even more explicit in both Ezek
47:1-12 and Zech 14:8-11. As Hummel
comments on the Ezekiel passage: “We obviously have here not only a visionary
depiction of a ‘new creation’ in general, but specifically of Paradise Restored
with its four-streamed river (Gen. 2:10), the river of life.”
Eschatological
language of this type raises questions. Certainly, we know that Old Testament
language about the temple and Zion have been fulfilled in Christ. We are therefore justified if we are cautious
about reading it in overly literal fashion.
On the other hand, because of what Genesis 1-2 says about God's creation we should not be surprised to find
that the prophets depict the future in terms of the current creation and
specifically in terms of the Garden of Eden.
According to
Genesis 1-2, God created the earth as the place where people lived and therefore
it seems natural that the prophets would describe a restored earth – or even a
restored Eden – as the future goal of Yahweh’s reign. We must certainly allow for discontinuity,
metaphor and poetic hyperbole. But at
the same time we must not discount the profound continuity with God’s action in creation. When we read the Old
Testament, the only future it leads us to expect is some kind of restored or renewed
creation. As Gowan has noted:
Old
Testament eschatology is a worldly home.
The OT does not scorn, ignore, or
abandon the kind of life which human beings experience in this world in favor of speculation concerning some other, better
place or form of existence, to be hoped
for after death or achieved before death through meditation and spiritual exercises.This sets the OT in sharp contrast to Gnosticism, to the otherworldly emphases that often have appeared in
Christianity, and to the concepts of salvation
taught by Hinduism and Buddhism.
This is
precisely the outlook we find in the Jewish apocalyptic literature of the
Second Temple period. In fact, texts
here describe it is a renewed creation. The Similitudes of Enoch
describe how God will “transform the earth and make it a blessing” (1 En. 45:5). Both 4
Ezra (7:75) and 2 Baruch (32:6)
state that God will “renew creation.” In
Jubilees we hear about “the
day of the new creation when the heaven and earth and all of their creatures
shall be renewed according to the powers of heaven and according to the whole
nature of earth, until the sanctuary of the Lord is created in Jerusalem on
Mount Zion” (1:29). These texts are
important, because they illustrate the expectation that was common in Jewish
apocalyptic eschatology – the same background shared by the New Testament. Russell comments about this literature
The redemption which God will bring
about will involve not only man himself and not
only the nation of Israel, but also the whole created universe. The usurped creation
will be restored; the corrupted universe will be cleansed; the created world will be re-created. Thus, throughout these writings, there is a
close relationship between God’s act
of creation and his act of redemption.
We have seen that Isa 65:17 speaks of
“a new heavens and a new earth.” This phrase reoccurs in 2 Peter 3:13 and
Revelation 21:1. The adjective “new”
certainly raises the question about the relationship between this “new
creation” and the first one. Is the new
creation a renewal of the first creation, or a completely new
beginning? Claus Westermann argues that
in Isa 65:17 the adjective “new” means the miraculous transformation and
renewal of the current creation, and not the destruction of heaven and earth
followed by its replacement with a new one. The New Testament evidence indicates that he
is quite correct.
The key text demonstrating the restoration of creation
is Rom 8:18-23. There Paul says that
although creation has been subjected to futility and the slavery of corruption,
it eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God (8:19). Paul adds in 8:22 that “the whole creation
groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now” (πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις συστενάζει καὶ
συνωδίνει ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν). Creation longs
for this future event because, as Paul has already said in 8:21: “creation
itself (αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις) also will be set free from its slavery of corruption
into the freedom of the children of God.”
Paul is quite clear that it is not some other creation that will enjoy
this outcome, but rather “creation itself”
(αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις), the same
creation that now suffers as a
result of the Fall.
There could
hardly be a clearer witness to the fact that the current creation will be
restored and renewed. The fact that this text has not been central to Christian
reflection on this subject is shocking. N.T. Wright is correct when he observes:
The marginalization of this part of
Romans 8 in much exegesis down through the
years has robbed Christian imagination of this extraordinary picture of the future; only by restoring it to its
rightful place – which is, after all, in Paul’s build up to the climax of the central section of his most
important letter! – can we understand
the larger picture within which his vision of resurrection makes sense.
Further
confirmation of this restoration is found in Revelation 21:1 and 21:5. In 21:1 we have one of the two occurrences of
“new heavens and new earth” in the New Testament when John writes: “Then I saw
a new heaven and a new earth (οὐρανὸν καινὸν καὶ γῆν καινήν); for the first heaven
and the first earth passed away (ὁ γὰρ πρῶτος οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ πρώτη
γῆ ἀπῆλθαν), and there is no longer any sea.” Shortly after this, John writes in 21:5 “And
He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new’” (Ἰδοὺ καινὰ ποιῶ πάντα).
Rev 21:5’s
statement about God “making all things new” indicates that “the passing away”
of the first heavens and first earth in 21:1 is the cessation of its fallen
state (note that the same
verb, απερχόμαι, is used in 21:4 where those things associated with the
fallen state such as death, mourning, crying and pain have passed away). As Brighton
has observed, 21:5’s statement, “I am making all things new” “refers to all
that God had originally created, ‘the heavens and the earth’ (Gen 1:1), which
are transformed into the ‘new heaven’ and ‘new earth’ that John sees here in
Revelation 21.” Brighton’s interpretation is the same one
shared by noted scholars such as Bauckham, Caird and Ladd. The adjective
“new” is a perfect description of the present creation that has been
transformed and renewed on the Last Day, and it does not necessitate some other
creation that has absolutely no relationship to the present one. Both Romans 8 and Revelation 21 teach us that
creation will be transformed and renewed, not destroyed and replaced by a
different creation. Lenski is quite
correct when he comments on Revelation 21, “Combine what is here said with Rom.
8, and the answer is plain.”
Another piece of evidence confirms this view. In Matt 19:28 we hear Jesus say to his
disciples, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the
regeneration (ἐν τῇ παλιγγενεσίᾳ) when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne,
you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Here τῇ παλιγγενεσίᾳ
refers “to the eschatological renewal of the world at the end of the present
age.” As
George Eldon Ladd observes: “There is every reason to conclude that Jesus
shared with the prophets the expectation of a redeemed earth. Mathew 19:28, if secondary in form, expresses
the idea of the resurrection of the dead and the renewal of the world.”
Jesus says in the third eschatological Beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, for
they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5 ESV). Matt 19:28 tells us which earth this will be. It is the present one that will have been renewed.
The biblical
witness is unified on this point. In the
eschatological future, God will renew his creation. However, there is one other occurrence of
“news heavens and new earth” and its context is has been cited in a manner that
stands at odds with this view. In 2
Peter 3:13 we read, “But according to His promise we are looking for new
heavens and a new earth (καινοὺς δὲ οὐρανοὺς καὶ γῆν καινὴν
), in which righteousness dwells.”
It should be pointed out from the outset that the ultimate goal remains
the same – a creation in which human beings will live. In this respect, 2 Peter 3 does not differ
from the other texts we have considered.
However, the
context of 2 Peter 3:7-12 leading up to this verse indicates that the present
heavens and earth have been reserved for fire (3:7) and this has often been
understood as saying that the creation will be destroyed as it burned up (3:10,
12). It is possible to read it as a
depiction of the present creation’s annihilation
and the future arrival of a completely new and different creation, and in fact
in responding to last week’s post many have asserted this strongly.
Those who
confidently cite 2 Peter 3:7-12 do not fully appreciate what a challenging text
this is and how many questions are inherent in it. First, there are textual issues.
At 3:10,
there is disagreement in the manuscript tradition about whether the earth and
the works in it will be “found,” “not found,” “found dissolved,” “be burned up” or “disappear.” A number of
conjectural emendations have also been proposed. For a discussion of the textual issue, see,
Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the
Greek New Testament (2005), 636-637.The textual tradition is, in many ways, the first commentary on the text. When one finds this many variants, it is a sure sign that text has been a difficult one from the beginning.
Second,
there are several thorny interpretive questions. The terms in 3:7, 10, 12 vary (3:7 heavens
and earth; 3:10 heavens, στοιχεῖα, and earth; 3:12
heavens and στοιχεῖα). There is also the
question of whether the στοιχεῖα are “elements” or “celestial bodies.”
In the discussion
about 2 Peter 3:7-13 another important fact is often overlooked: 2 Peter is
antilegomena. Chemnitz sets forth the traditional Lutheran
position regarding antilegomena books when he writes in the Examination of the Council of Trent:
No dogma ought to be drawn out of
these books which does not have reliable and
clear foundations and testimonies in other canonical books. Nothing controversial can be proved out of these
books, unless there are other proofs and
confirmations in the canonical books.
But what is said in these books must be
explained and understood according to the analogy of those things which are clearly taught in the canonical books. There is no doubt that this is the opinion of antiquity.
In light of
these facts, it is very surprising to find that a significant portion of the
Lutheran dogmatic tradition has taken 2 Peter 3:7-13 (understood as a
destruction of the present creation) to be the definitive statement about what
will happen on the Last Day and has taught an annihilation of the present
creation. Chemnitz (!), Gerhard,
Quenstedt, Calov, Hollaz and Baier all held this position. This line of thought drives many of the responses
I have seen. On the other hand, Luther
and Brenz taught the transformation of creation on the basis of Romans 8. Twentieth century Lutheran dogmatic works
such as Pieper and Stephenson have attempted to leave the matter an open
question and give an equal hearing to both 2 Peter 3:7-10 as well as all the
other Biblical evidence that speaks of transformation.
This approach
hardly seems justifiable in the light of the Lutheran position on the
antilegomena books. Instead, 2 Peter 3 should be interpreted
within the framework of Romans 8 and the other Old and New Testament texts that
indicate a transformation and renewal of creation. In part this can be done by recognizing the
evocative character of apocalyptic language such as that in 2 Peter 3. The passage emphasizes the dramatic character
of the day of the Lord, but (like other sections with apocalyptic language)
does not necessarily give us a “play-by-play” of what will happen in every
specific detail.
If we wish to press the
individual details, then 2 Peter 3 indicates that the transformation may be a
violent event in which creation is burned out/melted and the remainder (much
like a decayed human body) becomes the basis for the transformation into the
new creation. To say that this creation will be our home is not to minimize the radical transformation that is involved - a transformation that undoes what presently exists (see Psa 102:25-27 which uses this thought in order to underscore the constancy and eternity of God) as God makes it new again. Gibbs summarizes the matter well when commenting on Matt 19:28's "in the regeneration" (ἐν τῇ παλιγγενεσίᾳ):
We should not think that "regeneration" entails the total destruction of all aspects of the present created order. A radical purging and renewing of this old aching creation is a more appropriate way to speak of the overall picture of biblical hope (cf. 1 Cor 3:10-15; 15:1-58).
Likewise,
Amos speaks of how Yahweh will “raise up the fallen booth of David”
(9:11). He goes on to say in 9:13,
“‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘When the plowman will overtake
the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; when the mountains will
drip sweet wine and all the hills be will dissolved’” (NASB modified).
Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1995), 565.
