When we say “heaven,” what do we mean?
J.I. Packer, in Growing in Christ, writes:
“Heaven” in the Bible means three things: (1)The endless, self-sustaining life of God. In this sense, God always dwelt “in heaven,” even when there was no earth. (2) The state of angels or men as they share the life of God, whether in foretaste now or in fullness hereafter. In this sense, the Christian’s reward, treasure, and inheritance are all “in heaven,” and heaven is shorthand for the Christian’s final hope. (3) The sky, which, being above us and more like infinity than anything else we know, is an emblem in space and time of God’s eternal life, just as the rainbow is an emblem of his everlasting covenant (see Gen. 9:8-17).
Packer, J. I. (2022). Growing in Christ. Crossway. p. 69
I find this definition somewhat bewildering.
Frame and Grudem provide clearer definitions.
Frame:
The word heaven has various meanings in Scripture. It can refer to the sky, to everything above the earth. But the predominant theological meaning is that it is a place where God dwells. It is a real place, in space and time. God, of course, is immaterial, and so is not limited to any place, not even to heaven (1 Kings 8:27). But God does choose places to manifest himself in intense ways, such as Mount Sinai, the tabernacle, and the temple.
Frame, J. M. (2013). Systematic theology: An introduction to Christian belief. P & R Publishing. p. 1076
Grudem:
During this present age, the place where God dwells is frequently called “heaven” in Scripture. The Lord says, “Heaven is my throne” (Isa. 66:1), and Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father in heaven” (Matt. 6:9). Jesus now “has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God” (1 Peter 3:22). In fact, heaven may be defined as follows: heaven is the place where God most fully makes known his presence to bless.
We discussed earlier how God is present everywhere but how he especially manifests his presence to bless in certain places. The greatest manifestation of God’s presence to bless is seen in heaven, where he makes his glory known, and where angels, other heavenly creatures, and redeemed saints all worship him.
Grudem, W. A. (2020). Systematic Theology, Second Edition: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Second edition). Zondervan Academic. p. 1425
Grudem does note that “even some evangelical scholars” (his phrasing) have tended to emphasize heaven as a “state.” In a footnote, Grudem discusses an example of this thinking:
Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013), 1232, says, “While heaven is both a place and a state, it is primarily a state,” a statement that is difficult to understand. Something either is a place or it is not a place; it is not somewhat a place but “primarily a state.” Even stronger is Donald Guthrie, who says of the New Testament, “We shall not expect, however, to find a description of a place, so much as the presence of a person” (Guthrie, New Testament Theology Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1981], 875), and “Paul does not think of heaven as a place, but thinks of it in terms of the presence of God” (880). But does such a distinction make any sense? If a person is present, then by definition there is a place, because to be “present” means to be “located in this place.”
Grudem, W. A. (2020). Systematic Theology, Second Edition: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Second edition). Zondervan Academic. p. 1425
In trying to clarify that Jesus did not ascend into a place in the sky to become a “spaceman” (p. 70), Packer may have overstated the state-ness of heaven to the exclusion of its place-ness.
What say you?
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