Are Heaven and Hell eternal? Flashcards
How do most Christian thinkers believe ‘heaven is eternal’ means?
the eternity of heaven is to be understood in the same way as the eternity of God, as timeless. In Aquinas’ view, for example, the beatific vision of God is an eternal, timeless moment, rather than a length of time that stretches on into infinity.
What is an ADVANTAGE of the belief that heaven is timeless?
allows an escape from the idea of heaven as boring, because there would not be time to fill or any sense of repetition, as there would be no ‘before’ and ‘after’
Other than believing in a ‘timeless’ heaven, what other beliefs are there?
heaven is seen in terms of an endless, everlasting length of time.
Which is more compatible with the Bible? A timeless heaven? Or a endless, everlasting heaven?
an endless, everlasting heaven
What are the advantages of believing in a endless, everlasting heaven, rather than a timeless heaven?
because this seems the most compatible with teaching of the Bible which refer to activities in heaven, such as singing God’s praises or learning about God. For instance, when singing, one note is sung and then the next, and a new piece of knowledge is added to knowledge that was there before
we will in some way continue to be ourselves in heaven. Given that we exist in time, and everything we do happens in sequence, perhaps an external heaven makes more sense alongside the view that we continue to be the same people
