A Review of the book Heaven. Edited by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson. From the Theology in Community series, published by Crossway (Paperback 287 pages).
It seems I can’t get enough of books on heaven. When I first saw this book in our Church Bookstore I ignored it as I already had a backlog of books to read. Besides which I already had two Randy Alcorn offerings, John MacArthur’s Heaven and Charles Spurgeon. I’m glad I eventually capitulated.
What is heaven? Is it a vague spiritual dimension? Do we spend eternity in some sort of ethereal state playing harps and nothing else? This book answers these questions and more.
This scholarly work contains eleven chapters discussing heaven from a number of respected authors. These include Peterson, Stephen Wellum, Gerald Bray and Andreas J. Köstenberger etc. The book is solidly scriptural, even though it discusses extra-biblical ideas from the ancient world. The authors do not derive theological doctrine from these sources. They use this information to show what different people over the centuries believed about heaven.
In the first chapter (Learning about Heaven), Peterson quickly sets the pace and groundwork. He discusses ancient accounts of people claiming to have visited heaven. Peterson talks about Betty J. Eadie and The Heaven’s Gate Cult. Then he talks about the effects of sin and provides brief answers to frequently asked questions such as: What happens when believers die (The intermediate state)? Does everyone go to heaven? What about Purgatory?
The next five chapters cover what is found about heaven in the Old Testament; Synoptic Gospels and Acts; Paul’s Letters; the General Epistles and John’s Gospel and Revelation. After that, the book covers specific topics such as: Pictures of Heaven; History of Heaven; Angels and Heaven; Heaven for Persecuted Saints and The Hope of Heaven.
The chapter on Angels and Heaven by Stephen Noll is very interesting, but possibly speculative in parts. Noll’s views are similar to Dr. Michael Heiser’s Divine Council theories (The Unseen Realm etc). For example, he asserts that the “gods” in Psalm 82:1-8 refers to “the angels of the nations” rather than “an earthly council of godlike rulers.” Notably, Dr. James White of Alpha & Omega Ministries has objected and interacted with Heiser on this subject. Some readers may have issues with this chapter.
The book affirms that heaven isn’t just an ethereal place where we spend eternity on clouds playing harps. Heaven will one day come down to a redeemed physical earth. Our glorified bodies will be tangible and immortal. My favorite chapters were the last two which discussed persecuted saints and our hope of heaven. I really liked this thought (there are many like it):
No part of the universe is untouched by the longing with which everything in this world hopes for resurrection and restoration.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it.
Purchase Heaven !
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