This is an article that interviews a bishop who states that the Christian view of heaven is wrong, and that there is no paradise right after death. He thinks it is bad to tell children that when people die they get to float on clouds and be little angels, and he has interpreted the Bible's words to mean something totally different.

Check it out here.

That's going to come as a blow to some on here who are banking on a straight pass to paradise



fullywired

so I take it he wouldn't be an organ donor ?

first he probable isn't but i don't see what that has to do with his idea of life after death.

and he is right Christ told the second thief that they would be together in paradise that day. I know a lot of people believe that paradise is heaven. But remember what Christ told his followers on the road after his resurrection. He told them to touch him not because he had not yet been with his father. It seems that being with his friends was more important than being with God.

Yet another one of MANY ways to interpret scripture and religious texts. Out of all the Unexplained Mysteries here at UM, I really think religion is the most unexplainable, primarily because it is so open to interpretation, speculation, personal feelings, experiences, cultural influences, you name it. This is just another example.

Yes but they can't accuse this fellow of not studying the bible and taking things out of context, I can't wait for the replies that are bound to come



fullywired

Very good find Sundog. I am glad that you located this article. NT Wright is probably the most influential christian scholar that I know of. Even Antony Flew, one of the leading atheists of his time, who now is a theist, considers him to present one of the best cases for christianity (Antony Flew is still a deist, not a christian). There is alot of misunderstanding in the western world in regards to biblical understanding and Wright seems to expose that in his books. I would recommened "Simply Christian" for anyone that wants a basic understanding of the faith.

Hairston

Thanks! I'm amazed at the stuff I run across when I am surfing at work lol.

Anyway, this article still doesn't make it clear what he believes does happen. We die, our bodies are buried, and our 'soul' is uploaded into Gods hard drive to be put into a new body when heaven and earth are put together?

I do not know what is behind deaths door but I do know who is beyond that door and He has already earned my trust and faith on this side, and so I will wait with great expectation and patience’s for my time to pass through that door.

Irish

SO far this is the ONLY real honest answer posted ...well said IRISH

If you have already earned your trust and faith on earth and you have done all you could to keep a strong faith..then when it comes to death..you shouldnt worry

Christianity has one book, one God, and one Jesus Christ. There is not much argument over that. There is all kinds of arguments over what the bible doesn't say. Everything that the Bishop said is true. First, you have to take the life of Jesus literally if you think he 'said' something. And, we cannot take the man who is living seriously when he says to you there is 'life after death.' But, we can believe the man who tells you that you first have to die.

Yeah, I pretty much get 8 hours of internet surfing a day due to being at work (I always surf the net at work lol). Basically hes saying, to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord. We will leave our bodies at death and be with the lord (soul and spirit) until that special day when we are resurrected into the transformed body. So there are 2 stages....We leave the body and go to be with the Lord (this is called life after death) and then we have the resurrection where we receive the new body and are brought into heaven (and this is what Wright calls Life after life after death). This is basically NT Wrights position on the subject. I think "Simply Christian" answers these questions (I have the book) but you can go to www.beliefnet.com and type NT Wright in the search page and he has multiple Q&A's on his beliefs. I think NT Wright is one of the best you can ask for in this field.

Kindly,

Hairston

I would have loved to relive what it was like when jesus was alive (if he was ever alive). It would be the coolest thing

Right on! Irish.

And the Bishop is just giving his interpertation of the bible, There are many many interpertaions and I would not change my faith or what I tell my children based on one mans interpertation. In short its just his opinion and nothing more.
Always a pleasure

quote from the article:

Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver called What's Heaven, which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk... If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him." That, says Wright is a good example of "what not to say." The Biblical truth, he continues, "is very, very different."

I agree with him. That is not what the Bible says, and I think most Christians would agree. Having never been to Sunday School, I can't speak from experience, but if they do teach that, then it is not consistent with the Bible (especially the part about "being good" as the way to get to heaven). Perhaps the teachers have tried to put "heaven" in terms that a child can understand (ever tried telling a kid "I don't know what heaven is, but you should strive to be there anyway), though if they taught you ahd to be "be good" to get to heaven, I would personally pull my child (if I had one) out of that Sunday School right that instant and tell others to do the same for teaching wrong teaching..

I don't know what heaven will be like. It will be a spiritual place not a physical one, and we will have new spiritual bodies, not physical ones. But I do know that my creator will be there. I guess that's very similar to what Irish said. Can't really say it any better than he did, really

That said, I read the article - I can't think of anything to really disagree with. His view is totally accurate, except I don't think his view of the popular opinion of heaven is correct because I think most Christians will agree with him (at least the Chrisitans I have met - as I have said, I don't have any real access to Chrisitans beyond the borders of where I live).

~ Regards, PA