Freewill Theism and Universalism
John Sanders is a well-known Christian theologian and philosopher at Hendrix College, and is perhaps known most for his advocacy of open theism. He is a freewill theist, and so his philosophical and...
View ArticleThe Book of Revelation as Symbolic
Everyone says it. Everyone says “Revelation is symbolic.” Then everyone proceeds to decode the symbols — and it is the decoding that gets tricky. Tom Wright has famously argued that the vision of the...
View ArticleQuestions about Hell
The claim is bold. The claim is this: those who are “in Christ” will spend eternity with God; those who are not “in Christ” will go to hell. The claim, then, not only claims that there is an afterlife,...
View ArticleSports in the Kingdom: Randy Alcorn
Randy Alcorn: Even in this fallen world, sports can bring out some very good things, including teamwork and the development of physical skills in our bodies that God has made. Can people abuse sports?...
View ArticleHeaven: Some Reflections
Heaven, what used to be the primary motivator for many to become a Christian or be faithful of a Christian, has fallen on hard times. I wonder what you think about heaven? But I’m not asking about just...
View ArticleHeart in Heaven, Hand in Harvest
Jesus told the man next to him on a cross that he would be with him in Paradise that day (Luke 23:43) and one of the more revealing statements from the apostle Paul is this one: “Therefore we are...
View Article“God is on a mission to get the hell out of earth”
I have been reading Joshua Ryan Butler’s The Skeletons in God’s Closet, the first major section in which is a study of hell – and how it fits into the Bible’s narrative. Hell without a story becomes a...
View ArticleJudgment Day: God’s Home Makeover
The very claim Christians have always made is that at some day God will judge us all. Every.last.one.of.us. The great, last judgment. The question many have against that claim is this: Is it all that...
View ArticleRevolution in Eschatology Today?
There is a widespread meme at work in how Christian theologians are now talking about the future — about heaven or the new heavens and the new earth or about the final state. It has three parts: Part...
View ArticleRethinking Heaven (NT Wright)
What ideas were presented to you about heaven when you grew up? [Please drop a comment because I'd like to know how many of us grew up with the notions of a new heaven and new earth -- let's call it a...
View ArticleThe Importance of Heaven and Hell
No one in the world has thought more about heaven, hell and purgatory than Jerry Walls. He has an academic, but accessible, book on each topic and now he has brought all his thinking together in one...
View ArticleA Dancing God?
That fussy but relentless atheist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, as he always does, lays it on the line when it comes to the Christian belief in an eternal heaven of goodness, saying, The “most...
View ArticleLet’s Just Say You Don’t Believe in Heaven: What’s it like?
The tendency today among Christians is not so much to deny heaven as a genuine hope and reality but to minimize it as a factor in the faith or, what is worse, to diminish it by saying we ought to focus...
View ArticleA Big One about the Afterlife
Any one who has counseled the grieving — as a parent, as a sibling, as a child, as a pastor, as a friend, as a neighbor — anyone, in other words, who has done so has been asked this question: Will I...
View ArticleIs “No Tears in Heaven” Desirable?
Here’s how he sums up the problem: Let’s face it, the Christian notion that heaven will wipe away all tears is a staggering thought. If heaven is real, no doubt there are many rapists, murderers, and...
View ArticleIs Heaven Vital for Morality or Not?
You may well recall the famous scene in Les Miserables in which Jean Valjean comes clean in public to take the place of another who was in fact on trial instead of himself (Valjean). The scene poses...
View ArticleDoes God’s Mercy Endure Forever, or Does it End?
Rob Bell asked the question if God’s mercy would endure forever so that people would have opportunities to turn to God in the afterlife (postmortem opportunity = PO) or if that mercy would end at...
View ArticleRepainting Hell: Jeff Cook’s Closure
Jeff Cook teaches philosophy at the University of Northern Colorado. He is the author of Everything New: Reimagining Heaven and Hell(Subversive 2012), and a pastor of Atlas Church in Greeley, Colorado....
View ArticleArrived!
Kris and I had a special day yesterday – The Heaven Promise author copies arrived at the door! I have been working on “heaven” for a number of years, and recorded thoughts from the days of Jesus Creed:...
View ArticleTop Ten Questions about Heaven
What are the most important questions about heaven you have faced? Here are the top ten questions about heaven that I discuss in my new book, The Heaven Promise. Ten Questions about Heaven 1...
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