“Not sure!!”
Hmm...I agree with some of the reviews in that the author encourages you to view eternity positively,but...
It would seem to me he is more concerned with a "paradise earth" than heaven. Indeed at one point, he says that,"Heaven is not as good as it gets..." and that "Heaven is not our final destination"(chapter 2) At the end of that chapter he says," what an amazing indication of the beauty of the new creation:it's better than heaven. This is the future of our world." Don't think I can agree with this in the light of scripture. If you hadn't asked me for this review, I intended getting in touch anyway... Would appreciate your feedback on this.
Hello, thanks for your review.
I think you've read Stephen's point correctly — he is pointing us towards a 'paradise earth'. He's resting that on Bible passages such as Revelation 21 v 1-4, where John sees a new heaven and a new earth, and in which God dwells with his people (just as he did in this world, in Eden, before the fall); and 1 Corinthians 15 v 35-57, where Paul teaches that we'll receive our resurrection bodies when Christ returns.
So while heaven right now is amazing, it's not where we were created to live eternally - we were designed to have a bodily existence in a physical world. This is also what the prophets promised (eg Isaiah 65 v 17-25). In one sense, you could call that place 'heaven' or 'earth' — but I think Stephen wants in his book to encourage us to see that the Bible teaches that our eternal future is physical, and 'earthy' - and perfect!
Hope this helps, thanks, Carl Laferton (Editor)
