HIGH SPIRITS: Heavenly Thoughts
Aitken, Jonathan
HIGH SPIRITS Jonathan Aitken Heavenly Thoughts HAT IS HEAVEN? It is not a question much examined in contemporary newspaper columns or chat shows, but those of us who are getting...
...So far we have been looking at the visionary tradition of heaven...
...20:10...
...46, 48, 76, 87, 125, and 129) are full of pointers to what heaven could be like...
...Moses and the elders are reported in Exodus 24:11 to have ascended to the holy mountain where "they beheld God, ate and drank...
...Jesus' words to this criminal who hung beside him on a nearby cross, "this day you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43), are an encouragement to all us miserable sinners...
...Is it a place, an idea, a glorious old people's home, a holy mountain, a celestial city, a mindset, a vision...
...The common Christian denominator in all these ideas about heaven is that it is filled by the presence of God...
...As creatures of time, we mortals have a problem in getting our heads around the concept of eternity...
...Everything else on the subject is a mysterious mixture of visions, traditions, dreams of saints, and interpretations of biblical verses...
...After all the only resident, apart from God himself, who we know is already in heaven is the penitent thief...
...no ends nor beginnings but one equal eternity: in the habitation of God's majesty and glory, world without end...
...Paul, of heaven as the reward for salvation...
...52 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR February 2005 Psalm 48 suggests that the city of God on his holy mountain is "beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth...
...no noise nor silence but one equal music...
...lltll]11.5' or c'jl(tt.$Ilol shows...
...His account in The Divine Comedy of arriving in heaven, although fictional, nevertheless reflected the visionary culture of the period in which it was created...
...The Book of Revelation is the classic document of the visionary tradition...
...Jesus' vision has echoes of the Book of Revelation, whose author witnesses a heavenly war between the archangel Michael and the dragon who loses the war and is thrown down to earth, where he falls into a lake of fire (Revelation 12:9...
...It is not a question much examined in contemporary newspaper columns or chat shows, but those of us who are getting older should occasionally turn our minds to this direction as we contemplate our own deaths and what might happen to us afterwards...
...I[ltil1(.Il(1gtIeslllOI1 Much mini' hied in rail (chummy 11('I I'S/)ape' 1.1 !tat heal Yen...
...For finite minds to grapple with the more specific concept of heaven is even harder...
...All we can be sure about is that heaven is where God dwells...
...February 2005 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR 53...
...Yet there are enough clues from all these sources to put a sincere searcher on some interesting trails towards the destination which remains a heavenly secret...
...The paucity of material in Scripture to guide us around heaven is baffling...
...no fears nor hopes but one equal possession...
...For nowhere in the Bible does Scripture actually speak of our going to heaven but departing to be with Christ—which of course is heaven itself...
...Whether J O N A T H A N A I T K E N it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows" (2 Corinthians 12:3-4...
...Its glimpses of heaven have been variously interpreted as literary fictions, visions of the early Christian seer John of Patrnos, or experiences reported in the circle of John the Baptist and Jesus...
...Jonathan Aitken, The American Spectator's 'High Spirits" columnist, is the . author of seven books, including Nixon: A Life...
...Before its gates kings flee, strong men tremble, and mighty ships are shattered in the wind...
...It may have been led by two 12th-century nuns, Mechthild of Magdeburg and Gertrude of Heifta, who reported heavenly visions that involved saints entering Christ's bridal chamber...
...His abject penitence during this beautifully described event, arguably the most powerful passage of theophany in the entire Bible, is a reminder that entry to heaven will be preceded by judgment...
...John's Gospel also seems to emphasize the rarity of such experiences by stating that "no one has ascended into heaven except for the one who descended from heaven" (John 3:13...
...Its Greek word ouranos (literally sky or air) has derived into the English word heaven denoting the firmament above the earth where God has his abode...
...Hard evidence is hard to come by...
...The Old Testament is a rich source of visionary traditions about heaven...
...Equally important in Christian doctrine is the eschatological tradition, emphasized by St...
...The visionary tradition is more subdued in the letters of Paul, but he describes in unambiguous terms how he experienced a heavenly journey and how he "was caught up to the third heaven...
...The same theme is suggested in the dreams of Daniel, who witnessed a heavenly scene of the judgment of wicked powers (Daniel 7...
...It can be confidently speculated that the population of heaven will be full of surprises...
...The prophet Isaiah was admitted to the heavenly throne room full of seraphs and purified (Isaiah 6:1-8...
...After this medieval period, individual visions of heaven were reported less often, not as a part of a continuing culture but as one of creations by poets and artists...
...DESPITE THESE SCRIPTURAL HEALTH WARNINGS about the rarity of heavenly visions, in the early Middle Ages a flourishing visionary culture emerged from the monasteries...
...Moreover, the words "with me" are possibly the best clue of all to the nature of heaven...
...In disclosing that he had this out of body experience 14 years earlier, Paul implied that heavenly visions are rare...
...In the ensuing verses the psalmist portrays heaven as a fortress of absolute invincibility...
...our citizenship in heaven" (Philippians 3:14, 20...
...The themes of feasting, joy, beauty, loftiness, and security also resonate in the visionary hints about heaven to be found in the New Testament...
...or what...
...And who else will be there...
...The Apostle fmds heaven indescribable ("No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"—Corinthians 2:9) but the author of Revelation has no such descriptive hesitation...
...The Pauline view speaks of eternal life as "the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus...
...The Zion Psalms (Nos...
...If I had to pick my own favorite celestial commentator from this later period, it would be John Donne (1572-1631), who wrote a famous prayer describing heaven as a house "where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling but one equal light...
...This is a theological way of saying that man's power on earth offers no security whereas God's power in heaven gives total security...
...The first indication of this concept in the Gospels is to be found in Mark's account of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in which the heavens open and a divine voice is heard saying, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased" (Mark 1:10-11...
...He gives a vivid picture in Revelation 19:1-4 of multitudes roaring out Hallelujahs and praises to God while the elders keep singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea" These loud manifestations of worship are in contrast with the concept of heaven portrayed by the author of Hebrews who sees rest as the reward for the completion of the Christian's earthly pilgrimage (Hebrews 3:11,18...
...In Luke's Gospel, Jesus reports an experience in which he "watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning" (Luke 10:18...
...HIGH SPIRITS J O N A T H A N A I T K E N Heavenly Thoughts HAT IS HEAVEN...
...This classical pattern was taken up by many artists and writers, including Dante (1265-1321...
...Getting there involves bodily resurrection in Paul's eschatological scenario, although only as a brief prelude to spiritual transformation (1 Corinthians 15:52...
Vol. 38 • February 2005 • No. 1
