What happens when we die? In contrast to the dualistic idea that we leave our bodies and become souls forever in an immaterial heaven, the Christian hope is of a future bodily resurrection in a renewed creation.
Discussion Points
Why do you think that despite a growing secularism in Western culture, many people still believe in life after death?
Many religions have a body-soul dualism, believing that at death we leave our earthly body and become a disembodied soul in a heavenly eternity.
Why do you think this idea can be attractive to some people?
What effects does body-soul dualism have on the way we see the purpose of life now on earth?
The creation story in the book of Genesis sees human bodies as a good gift from God. Why did God make us embodied beings?
What different attitudes to the human body do you see in the world around you? Think of TV programmes and advertisements, magazines, the way we spend our leisure time, etc.
On p. 141, I explain that the biblical picture of a human being is not the dualistic idea of a soul waiting to escape from a body, but that, ‘God created us as integrated, embodied souls and that is also what we shall be in the new creation.’
How does this biblical view differ from the dualistic view in terms of the way we relate to our bodies?
On p.137 I argue that “The earth is not our temporary residence while we wait to escape to heaven, but the place where God created us to live and the place we will share for eternity with all of God’s creatures.”
How does such a belief change the way we see the meaning of our lives now on earth and our attitudes to the material creation around us?
The Apostle’s Creed states that, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.”
Look at this painting by Stanley Spencer titled ‘The Resurrection at Cookham Church’ (1924-7).
The Resurrection, Cookham 1924-7 Sir Stanley Spencer 1891-1959 Presented by Lord Duveen 1927
How has the artist represented the Christian hope of resurrection in this painting? (It is worthwhile taking time to carefully look at all the small details in the painting.)
Down through the ages Christians have wondered what happens to them between the moment they die, and the time when Jesus returns, and the dead are raised.
What hope and comfort does Jesus’ promise to the repentant thief give us, when he said, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)?
What do you think of the idea (pp141-2), that because we leave earthly time when we die, we can ‘time travel in the blink of an eye from the moment on earth when we die to the time when Jesus comes to earth again and the dead are raised’?
The Christians in Corinth asked the apostle Paul, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” (1 Corinthians 15:35). To answer this question Paul used the analogy of a seed sown in the ground that ‘dies’ before giving birth to a mature plant.
What does this analogy tells us about the relationship between creation and new creation, and between our bodies now and our resurrected bodies? (You might like to read 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 to see the whole of Paul’s argument.)
How does Jesus’ body in his resurrection appearances also help us reflect on this question?
Prayer
Give thanks to God for the created goodness of being an embodied being.
Pray that he would give you a greater love for the created world around you through the hope of resurrection and new creation.
Dr James Paul is director of the English branch of L’Abri Fellowship and before that he practised as a doctor in London, specialising in hospice care for the terminally ill. Many of the questions raised in What on Earth Is Heaven? are ones that people have asked him in these settings. He has been a speaker at Word Alive and European Leadership Forum, and regularly addresses university Christian Unions and the Christian Medical Fellowship students' conference, as well as speaking at L'Abri conferences globally.
