21 Comments

Peter Lawler
November 16th, 2012 | 3:26 pm

I too really want to know the answer to this question.

Rob S.
November 16th, 2012 | 3:56 pm

So here are some random thoughts from a stranger:

– I don’t know if it’s as much about “heaven” as it is the new creation or the world to come, but you can’t beat Book XXII of the City of God. Who else but Augustine can give you lofty speculation on the visio Dei along with ruminations on whether or not we get back all our old fingernail clippings in our resurrected bodies?

– Another classic: Anselm’s meditation at the end of the Proslogion. Beautiful stuff.

– For more recent material, how about the relevant sections of Ratzinger’s Eschatology book, or the reader’s digest condensed version of the same (I mean SPE SALVI)?

– Do we have to stick to books? Because you can’t beat this musical setting of Donne’s famous meditation, especially the low D flat in the chord at the end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3kizmMOEgQM#t=1610s

Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening
into the house and gate of heaven,
to enter into that gate and dwell in that house,
where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music;
no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession;
no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity;
in the habitations of thy glory and dominion,
world without end.

Germaine
November 16th, 2012 | 4:20 pm

I very much enjoyed Peter’s last couple of posts, and all of the responses to them.

In answer to your question, Carl, I suggest Tolkien’s short story “Leaf by Niggle.” The story is about Purgatory, rather than Heaven, but of course the “purgation” that the main character—the procrastinating, feckless, but kindhearted painter Niggle—endures prepares him for Heaven, which he “glimpses” and enters “off-stage” as it were, near the end of the story.

I thought of this story when I read Paul Seaton’s remarks in response to an earlier post, where he talked about using Lewis’ presentation of the artist in order to form, “My guiding proposition: our salvation and perfection must be our perfection and salvation as we really and truly are. The latter includes our bodies, our habits, our memories, our personal identities.”

That definitely describes what Tolkien does in this story. Niggle desired above all things to be a great painter, but he is able to achieve very little over the course of his life, largely because of his own shortcomings, but also because of the practical demands of his “neighbor” Parish, who has no appreciation for art. My favorite scene is when Niggle, after long years learning discipline in “the Workhouse” (his initial experience of Purgatory) comes into the presence of “his Tree,” the tree he had wanted to paint, had partially painted, and partially imagined painting, but had never completed, and realizes that it, and that he himself, in all of his capacities, is “a gift.” He goes on to develop his work further, but in fellowship with his “neighbor” Parish, who becomes the friend he had always needed and wanted. The work they complete together, wherein each contributes according to his own particular bents and abilities, comes to be called “Niggle’s Parish.” And it (this co-creative or sub-creative collaborative work of the Children of God) is then used by others who enter into this part of the journey (the “convalescent” stage of Purgatory).

Indeed, communion with God is presented as also a communion with other human beings, who are fully known and fully loved, each still “doing stuff” that humans do: painting, singing, maybe telling jokes (this is in my version, if not Tolkien’s), maybe even playing tennis!

Joseph Marshall
November 16th, 2012 | 4:21 pm

Well, for the want of a better, I’d say Eric Clapton does a good job:

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you feel the same
If I saw you in heaven?

As far as I can see, what defines Heaven from our vantage point is the absolute absence of suffering and the complete presence of what we already love and crave. But, clearly, our vantage point is limited. As a Buddhist, I would have to say that St. Catherine of Sienna’s is the most compelling Christian view:

All the way to Heaven is Heaven. For He said, “I am the way.”

sara
November 16th, 2012 | 4:45 pm

Surprised by Hope, by N.T. Wright.

sara
November 16th, 2012 | 5:01 pm

in the spirit of Rob S.’s first comment, Wright, too, is “anti-heaven.”

Mrsschiavolin
November 16th, 2012 | 5:19 pm

The Last Battle.

paul seaton
November 16th, 2012 | 7:14 pm

Sara, you’ll need to unpack your second comment for most readers, because Tom Wright needs to be handled with extreme care. When he is good, he is very good, and when he is not, he is very not . With him (and his ilk), one enters into one of the most provocative, illuminating and disturbing, developments in contemporary NT studies and theology. As C. S. Lewis wrote about the biblical scholars of his generation, be aware that you enter as a sheep among … non-sheep.

What Are the Best Books about Heaven? – First Things (blog) | In His Image
November 16th, 2012 | 10:12 pm

[...] What Are the Best Books about Heaven?First Things (blog)Now, beyond the Bible, there are two sorts of Christian books on Heaven that might be helpful, not just for me, but for the whole range of literate Christians. First, there are faithful-enough poetic reflections on the doctrines about Heaven, which may … [...]

Carl Eric Scott
November 16th, 2012 | 11:24 pm

Thanks Rob S. especially. Fingernails?!?

Germaine, The Leaf story is a lovely one…but no, not about Heaven. For some reason, though, I never got all the way through it. Funny, same thing’s happened with my reading of the Purgatorio. Hmm…maybe I in particular had better hope the Protestants are right!

Incidentally, Joseph, thanks for letting us know you’re a (saint appreciating) Buddhist. Your comments are good and I hope we keep hearing from you.

Sara
November 17th, 2012 | 2:08 am

I think Wright is first rate on the resurrection and the implications of this for the coming together of heaven and earth, i.e. the restoration of the whole created order. Nothing he says about this seems terribly different from the Catholic vision, but you should correct me if I’m wrong, Paul.

More controversial are his views about who’s included in the new covenant and especially how this inclusion occurs. Many Protestants think he rejects justification by faith alone (I don’t), but he does seem to de-emphasize the necessity of a penal substitution for sin, choosing instead to advance and defend a less punitive doctrine of the atonement. God’s declared intention to “set the world aright” through Christ is the fulfillment of God’s (positive) purpose for creation. We need only to accept through faith our place within this order that is already-present-but-not-yet-fully-realized; having to worry about having righteousness “imputed” to us on an individual basis–the Reformed view–is too legalistic a doctrine, according to Wright. Given his emphasis on the necessity of faith, Wright is not a universalist, though the bar for membership in the new covenant is set fairly low–even a dim recognition of God’s work through Christ seems sufficient.

Mark Perkins
November 17th, 2012 | 8:47 am

I would have to echo Sara. Wright’s ‘Surprised by Hope’ was the most formative book I have yet read on heaven, the afterlife, and what it means for life now.

Zach
November 17th, 2012 | 2:29 pm

Peter Kreeft’s “Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing” is great.

Peter Lawler
November 17th, 2012 | 3:20 pm

Thanks to everyone. I agree with Paul on Wright. His influence for good and bad has become huge. Peter Kreeft, it seems, has a book on everything.

Pseudoplotinus
November 18th, 2012 | 10:33 pm

Sara,

As a Reformed Christian I just offer that the critique I have heard about NT Wright from the Reformed Thinkers in the know is that his advocacy of what is referred to as Covenantal Nomism essentially amounts to “Get in By Grace, Stay in By Works”, which is to say that we can enter into the covenant by Grace, but we must justify our continued membership by manifesting the fruits of Christian maturity. Obviously this is a deal breaker for anyone who holds to the Solo’s. Hence I too tend to hold a serious ambivalence to the man’s works. My reading is largely out of the Escondido School, particularly Michael Horton. I can particularly recommend his Covenant and Eschalogy, and Christianity for Pilgrims on the Way.

As to books about Heaven, I will have to respond in the spirit of Germaine which is as it is viewed from Dante’s Purgatorio. As a protestant I read Purgatorio as a parable for Christian formation in this life in expectation of the life to come, its the picture of expectation in Purgatorio that I find illustrative of our view of heaven from the pilgrimage we are on in this life. I personally have dog eared MS Merwin’s translation near my bed. Book Nine and Twelve of Sheed’s translation of the Confessions also. And, in good Dutch Reformed Fashion Zacharias Ursinus’ Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism as it gives a picture of Christian belief rooted in expectation.

Great topic Carl.

Coyle
November 19th, 2012 | 8:00 am

I’d agree with many (heck, even most) of the books listed, and add as a good work on heaven the final sermon in Jonathan Edwards’s book Charity and its Fruits called “Heaven is a World of Love.”

The free version available here:

http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy43OjQ6MTUud2plbw==

One of my favorite Edwards passsages comes from this sermon:

“Love is in God as light is in the sun, which does not shine by a reflected light as the moon and planets do; but by his own light, and as the fountain of light. And love flows out from him towards all the inhabitants of heaven. It flows out in the first place necessarily and infinitely towards his only begotten Son, being poured forth without measure, as to an object which is infinite, and so fully adequate to God’s love in its fountain. Infinite love is infinitely exercised towards him. The fountain does not only send forth large streams towards this object as it does to every other, but the very fountain itself wholly and altogether goes out towards him. And the Son of God is not only the infinite object of love, but he is also an infinite subject of it. He is not only the infinite object of the Father’s love, but he also infinitely loves the Father. The infinite essential love of God is, as it were, an infinite and eternal mutual holy energy between the Father and the Son, a pure, holy act whereby the Deity becomes nothing but an infinite and unchangeable act of love, which proceed from both the Father and the Son. Thus divine love has its seat in the Deity as it is exercised within the Deity, or in God towards himself.

But it does not remain in such exercises only, but it flows out in innumerable streams towards all the created inhabitants of heaven; he loves all the angels and saints there. The love of God flows out towards Christ the Head, and through him to all his members, in whom they were beloved before the foundation of the world, and in whom his love was expressed towards them in time by his death and sufferings, and in their conversion and the great things God has done for them in this world, and is now fully manifested to them in heaven.”

Coyle
November 19th, 2012 | 8:03 am

I’d agree that most of the works listed above are excellent sources on heaven, and add to the list the last sermon in Edwards’s Charity and its Fruits called “Heaven is a world of Love.”

It’s available free here:

http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy43OjQ6MTUud2plbw==

One of my favorite Edwards passages comes from it:

“Love is in God as light is in the sun, which does not shine by a reflected light as the moon and planets do; but by his own light, and as the fountain of light. And love flows out from him towards all the inhabitants of heaven. It flows out in the first place necessarily and infinitely towards his only begotten Son, being poured forth without measure, as to an object which is infinite, and so fully adequate to God’s love in its fountain. Infinite love is infinitely exercised towards him. The fountain does not only send forth large streams towards this object as it does to every other, but the very fountain itself wholly and altogether goes out towards him. And the Son of God is not only the infinite object of love, but he is also an infinite subject of it. He is not only the infinite object of the Father’s love, but he also infinitely loves the Father. The infinite essential love of God is, as it were, an infinite and eternal mutual holy energy between the Father and the Son, a pure, holy act whereby the Deity becomes nothing but an infinite and unchangeable act of love, which proceed from both the Father and the Son. Thus divine love has its seat in the Deity as it is exercised within the Deity, or in God towards himself.

But it does not remain in such exercises only, but it flows out in innumerable streams towards all the created inhabitants of heaven; he loves all the angels and saints there. The love of God flows out towards Christ the Head, and through him to all his members, in whom they were beloved before the foundation of the world, and in whom his love was expressed towards them in time by his death and sufferings, and in their conversion and the great things God has done for them in this world, and is now fully manifested to them in heaven.”

gmakovic
November 19th, 2012 | 1:28 pm

Regarding Divine Comedy translations, for my money Anthony Esolen is the boss of the sauce.

CJ Wolfe
November 19th, 2012 | 11:44 pm

I love Esolen’s new Dante translation but I’ve gotta agree with Carl, because I love the Hollanders even more. They stop by my alma mater the University of Dallas almost every year and give a lecture, despite old age and Mr. Hollander’s physical handicap (he uses a wheelchair). Every impression I’ve had of them is that they are just outstanding scholars. Here’s a link to the audio of a lecture Hollander gave at UD titled “The Scandal of Dante’s Catholicism for Many Contemporary Readers”: http://www.udallas.edu/braniff/resources/dante_hollander_1.html

sara
November 20th, 2012 | 1:25 am

Pseudoplotinus,

Thanks for your suggestion of some of Michael Horton’s works. I can see how there might be a little too much “doing” in Wright for the “Solo’s,” as you say. I would have to read a bit more to be sure of this claim, but I presently understand a great deal of the emphasis on “doing” in Wright to follow from the fact that, compared to a Calvinist, he is not going to stress active commitment to propositional doctrine as a sign of (or perhaps even necessary for) salvation. A broader range of behaviors is taken as evidence of “faith”….

Rob S.
November 20th, 2012 | 11:09 am

Hi, Carl— Yeah, fingernails. Also, all the hair your barber’s ever snipped off … What does Augustine think becomes of that? See City of God 22, chapter 19 for the details.

I thought of one more over the weekend: Jon Levenson’s book with Kevin Madigan, titled simply “Resurrection.” Levenson is an OT scholar (Jewish, I presume) and Madigan a NT scholar. The book tries to show how hope in resurrection is something that develops and intensifies over the history of Israel, such that the resurrection of Jesus can be more easily seen as the fulfillment of Jewish hope, rather than a completely radical and unprecedented break.