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Alister McGrath Theology Basics (2018) Chapter 10: Heaven — Transcript

by Alister McGrath on Exploring Christianity · 2,271 words · 334 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:01hello Alister McGrath again introducing
0:04this final in a series of 11
0:06presentations on some basic themes
0:09discussed in my textbook theology the
0:11basics now in its fourth edition most
0:14works of Christian theology follow the
0:16patterns of the Creed's and they end
0:18with a discussion of eternal life the
0:21term eschatology from the Greek words
0:24tat S katha meaning the last things is
0:26widely used in Christian theology to
0:30refer to the Christian expectations of
0:32Resurrection and judgment
0:35now the New Testament is saturated with
0:38the belief that something new and
0:40something transformative has happened in
0:43human history in and through the life
0:45and death of Jesus Christ and above all
0:47through his resurrection from the dead
0:50and the theme of hope predominates even
0:54in the face of death now in view of the
0:57importance of the New Testament material
0:59to the shaping of Christian of thinking
1:01on eschatology we're going to begin by
1:04considering some of its leading themes
1:06as these are found in the preaching of
1:08Jesus himself and in the writings of
1:10Paul the dominant theme in the preaching
1:14of Christ is the coming of the kingdom
1:17of God now this phrase is actually quite
1:20rare in contemporary Jewish writings and
1:22is widely regarded as one of the most
1:24distinctive aspects of the preaching of
1:26Jesus this term or closely related ideas
1:30occur some 70 times in the synoptic
1:33Gospels now the use of the word kingdom
1:36in this context is potentially
1:38misleading as to us it suggests definite
1:42geographical region which is being ruled
1:44whereas the Greek term actually refers
1:47to the act of ruling itself in other
1:50words the kingly rule of God and the
1:54idea the kingdom of God has both present
1:57and future associations it's something
1:59that is drawing near but which will not
2:03come in all its fullness until the
2:06future for example the Lord's Prayer
2:09which remains of central importance to
2:11individual and corporate Christian
2:13worship includes reference to the coming
2:16of the kingdom in the future at the Last
2:21Supper Christ spoke to his disciples of
2:23a future occasion when they would drink
2:26wine in the kingdom of God and the
2:28general consensus among New Testament
2:30scholars is it as a tension between the
2:32now and the not yet in relation to the
2:36kingdom of God and the term in all
2:39greatest khatallah G has become widely
2:41used to refer to the relation of the
2:44present inauguration and the future
2:47fulfillment of the kingdom yes something
2:50has indeed begun but its fulfillment
2:54lies in the future simple also developed
2:59some important themes by eschatology
3:01especially the interplay of the now and
3:04the not yet and Paul talks about the
3:07coming of Christ inaugurating a new era
3:09or age and other this new age which Paul
3:13designate a new creation has yet to be
3:16fulfilled its presence can be
3:19experienced now for Paul the ultimate
3:23transformation the world is yet to come
3:25but it may be confidently awaited
3:27because this signaled and is promised in
3:30the present Paul clearly sees Christ's
3:34resurrection as an event which enables
3:36believers to live in the knowledge that
3:38death which after all is a defining
3:41feature of the present age has been
3:43overcome and Paul also looks forward to
3:47the future coming of Jesus Christ in
3:48judgment at the end of time confirming
3:52the new life of believers and their
3:54triumph over sin and death and a number
3:56of images are used to refer to this
3:58including the day of the Lord and at one
4:01point Paul uses an Aramaic term
4:03maranatha which means come o Lord as an
4:07expression of the Christian hope so we
4:12looked a bit of biblical material let's
4:13now look at some discussions about
4:15aspects of eschatology and Christian
4:18theology which are considered in this
4:20chapter a very good starting point is
4:24this question what does
4:26the resurrection body looked like what
4:29will people look like in heaven oh let's
4:33ask this question if somebody dies at
4:35the age of 16 will they appear in the
4:37streets of the New Jerusalem looking
4:40like a 60 year old or someone dies the
4:43age of 10 will they appear as a child
4:46now this issued caused a lot of
4:49discussion especially during the Middle
4:51Ages a consensus seems to emerged by the
4:54end of the 13th century since Jesus
4:57Christ was about 30 years old at the
5:00time of his death this was to be
5:02regarded as a perfect age and this is
5:06therefore the apparent age of those who
5:08are raised to glory in heaven so
5:12believers will be resurrected as they
5:14would have appeared at the age of 30
5:17even if they never live to reach that
5:20age the New Jerusalem must be populated
5:23by men and women as they would appear at
5:26the age of 30 but with every scar wound
5:28or defect removed the 12th century
5:32theologian Honorius of Orton is well
5:35worth listening to on this point he
5:37wrote all the dead an infant of one year
5:41as much as a man of 90 will rise with
5:44the same age and size as Christ when he
5:48rose namely 30 years old now you might
5:52like to look at this great depiction of
5:54heaven by the 15th century Florentine
5:56artist but not so godly look at the
5:59faces of the people in heaven how old do
6:02you think they are God silly clearly
6:05newest theology they're represented as
6:07if they were 30 years old and those also
6:10they show no physical defects now this
6:15presentation focuses particularly on the
6:17idea of heaven which is associated of
6:19powerful images such as that of the New
6:22Jerusalem seen here in this 14th century
6:25tapestry or a restored paradise like the
6:29Garden of Eden and such images depict
6:32heaven as a place of security
6:35refreshment and rest for believers in
6:37which they are finally able to fully
6:40light in the presence of God the term
6:44heaviness used frequently in the poor
6:46line writings of a New Testament to
6:49refer to the Christian hope and the
6:51lowest natural to think of heaven as a
6:53future entity
6:55pause thinking appears to embrace both a
6:57future reality and a spiritual sphere or
7:00realm which coexists with the material
7:03world of space and time so heaven is
7:07referred to both as a future home of
7:08believers and as the present dwelling
7:12place of Christ from which he will come
7:14in final judgment one of Paul's most
7:18significant statements concerning Heaven
7:21focuses on the notion of believers being
7:23citizens of heaven and in some way
7:27sharing in the life of heaven in the
7:29present the tension between the now and
7:33the not yet is evident and Paul's
7:35statements concerning heaven making it
7:37very difficult to sustain the simple
7:39idea of heaven as something which will
7:42not come into being until the future or
7:44which cannot be experienced in the
7:46present the hope of heaven has played an
7:50important role in Christian theological
7:52speculation providing spiritual
7:55consolation in times of persecution or
7:58personal distress as well as a stimulus
8:00to reflection on the nature and destiny
8:03of humanity and in bringing this
8:05presentation to a close we'll look at
8:07the place a place in the thought of
8:09Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage who was
8:12martyred in 258 as you will know each
8:15chapter in theology the basics ends with
8:18a text for study and this final chapter
8:20closes with an extract from tsipras
8:22treatise on mortality which was written
8:26during the Great Plague probably
8:28smallpox which broke out in many parts
8:30of the Roman Empire during the early to
8:3250s many Roman traditionalists blamed
8:36this epidemic on the rise of
8:37Christianity depicting as the outcome of
8:40abandoning traditional Roman religious
8:42beliefs
8:43one of Cyprian's main concerns in the
8:46street his own mortality is to set out
8:49his vision of a Christian hope
8:51Christians ought not to be afraid of
8:53death
8:54in that it enables them to return to
8:57their homeland and Ciprian uses a Latin
9:00word patria rich word meaning native
9:04land the place where you belong in
9:07making this point so Cyprian invites his
9:10readers to imagine themselves returning
9:12home and anticipating the joy of being
9:14reunited with friends family and above
9:18all the risen Christ who has gone there
9:20before them he writes we have renounced
9:24the world and are in the meantime living
9:27here as guests and strangers we regard
9:30paradise as our native land so let's
9:35look at the structure of this final
9:36chapter in theology the basics so you
9:38can work through this on your own we
9:41begin by introducing the idea of
9:43eschatology and then look at eschatology
9:46in the preaching of Jesus and the
9:48teaching of Paul and we then move on to
9:51look at a number of episodes which allow
9:53us to explore the relevance of this
9:55theme for Christian theology we look at
9:58a Gustin on the two cities and medieval
10:00debates about the nature of the
10:02resurrection body we then look at the
10:05way in which eschatology was suppressed
10:08during the Enlightenment is now being
10:10rediscovered and we then look at two
10:12very interesting writers Jurgen Moltmann
10:15on the theology of Hope and / benedict
10:18xvi on the Christian Hope then we look
10:21at the last things heaven hell and
10:24purgatory exploring the basic contours
10:27of Christian thinking on eschatology and
10:32that brings our short series of
10:34introductory presentations on Christian
10:36theology to a close these presentations
10:39have been brief and there is so much
10:42more that needs to be said
10:44maybe you've enjoyed paddling in the
10:47shallow end the theological pool and you
10:50feel you're ready to move into deeper
10:52waters so where am I to go from here
10:56video presentations are great for
10:58breaking the ice and getting
10:59conversations started but you want more
11:01so let me tell you about three of my
11:04books which you might find helpful as
11:06you go further in
11:07deeper in your explorations the first of
11:11these is a comprehensive book Christian
11:14theology and introduction which is now
11:16in its 6th edition and this book aims to
11:20introduce Christian theology on the
11:22assumption you know nothing about it it
11:25introduces and explains everything it's
11:28got three main sections the first which
11:30is only four chapters long looks at the
11:32four main historical periods of
11:35Christian theology and the second again
11:38consisting of four chapters looks at
11:40questions of methods for example the
11:42sources of theology the third part deals
11:45with the core themes of Christian
11:47theology and it's ten chapters give you
11:49a comprehensive and accessible overview
11:52of the main topics debates and schools
11:55of thought within Christian theology
11:57this work is nearly three times as long
12:01as the ology the basics but if you've
12:04worked your way through the shorter work
12:06you are all set to wrestle with this
12:08larger and more comprehensive volume or
12:12you might like to engage some writers or
12:14text in more detail each of the ten
12:17chapters of theology of the basics ends
12:19with a short text you can explore but
12:22there are so many more interesting texts
12:25you can explore and I can help you in
12:27two ways here first of all you might
12:30like to look at the companion volume to
12:32this textbook theology the basic
12:35readings now in its third edition and
12:37this work focuses on sixty-eight
12:39carefully chosen texts each of which is
12:42introduced carefully so you can get the
12:45most out of reading and reflecting on
12:47them each reading in this work is about
12:50800 words long and that's long enough to
12:53let you get into it without overwhelming
12:56you and these texts have been selected
12:58with great care to make sure they are
13:01interesting and accessible so this means
13:03I've chosen pieces more fleurs like CS
13:06Lewis GK Chesterton and Dorothy L sayers
13:08who are really interesting and engaging
13:11writers yet who are rarely included in
13:14traditional theological anthologies to
13:18give you an idea of what to expect here
13:20are the six read
13:21things that make up the chapter on God
13:23at the of Athens on the
13:26Christian God Thomas Aquinas on
13:30analogies of God Jurgen Moltmann on the
13:33suffering of God answers from Balthazar
13:36on the glory of God
13:38Elizabeth a johnson on female analogies
13:41for God and Sarah Coakley on
13:43vulnerability and gold but you may feel
13:46you want more than this if this is a
13:48case you might like to try my Christian
13:51theology Arita which brings together 353
13:55readings from more than 250 sources and
13:58to help you cope I provide a lot of
14:01introductory and expansion material that
14:04will make it a lot easier to make sense
14:06of what you're reading and appreciate
14:08significance and relevance this book is
14:11much longer than theology the basic
14:14readings it's chapter on God for example
14:17has 43 readings each of which is
14:19individually introduced here are the
14:22titles of five of these readings to give
14:25you a sense of what you will find
14:27Iren a US on the origin of evil hilary
14:31of poitiers on the trinity and some of
14:33canterbury on the compassion of god
14:36Julian of Norwich and God as our mother
14:38and Sarah Coakley on social models of
14:41the Trinity now many people have written
14:44to me saying how much they enjoyed
14:46engaging these readings I hope you will
14:49enjoy doing the same but wherever you
14:52choose to go after reading a theology of
14:55the basics let me wish you well in your
14:57spiritual intellectual pilgrimage thank
15:00you very much for allowing me to be part
15:03of your journey and goodbye from Oxford

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