Heaven

A quote from C.S. Lewis’ book, A Grief Observed: “Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand. Unless, of course, you can literally believe all that stuff about family reunions ‘on the further shore,’ pictured in entirely earthly terms. But that is all unscriptural, all out of bad hymns and lithographs. There’s not a word of it in the Bible. And it rings false. We know it couldn’t be like that. Reality never repeats.”

But this reminds me of another C.S. Lewis quote which I must paraphrase. If you talk to a child about sex, and he learns that chocolate is not involved, he will discount the attraction of it, for he does not realize that it involves something better than chocolate.

Heaven will be different from, and better than, anything we have experienced here on earth–and better than anything we can imagine. The Koran envisions Heaven in terms of earthly pleasures–abundant food, drink, and even sex. But in the Bible, we are promised only the presence of God and the absence of pain, suffering, and death.

I discuss Islam in chapter 8 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “Islam’s ‘Credibility Problem.” You can read an excerpt by clicking here.

I discuss Heaven in chapter 2 of my book, Beyond Shallow Faith, entitled “Sharing Heaven.” You can read an excerpt by clicking here.