Transforming Sermons: What happens after we die?

Friday, February 04, 2011

What happens after we die?

At Parchment and Pen, Michael Patton presents a very thoughtful study of what happens to Christians after we die. Although I don't affirm everything he posits in the essay, I strongly recommend his article as a way of looking frankly and biblically at a topic many Christians are at best vague in understanding.

2 Comments:

CB said...: In the past, I've opened forays into this subject with something like, "Many Christians become Buddhists when they die," which is to say that their view of the afterlife is more eastern than biblical, a losing of self-consciousness in God-consciousness.

I assume preachers and pastors are the guilty party for siezing on the images of heavenly worship in the Bible and turning heaven into nothing more than an everlasting worship service, frightening the regular people who think worship services are quite long enough already.

Given the full breadth of biblical descriptions, the eternal worship service of some preachers' incurious imagination isn't much deeper than the kind of sentimentality that has dead rockers joining that big rock and roll band in the sky (and what a band it is, with Jimi, Janice, Jim, Duane, and the rest).

I was watching an old movie on TCM last night, and the Rev's widow said something like, "Oh, what a lovely party - do you think Rev. Penniman is looking down on us?" To which came the reply, "I suppose that depends on where he went." That was a pretty good one.

The churchgoing public is ill-informed on the capital F future, but I think it's more our fault than the fault of the Bible.; 7:14 AM, February 05, 2011
Milton Stanley said...: Thanks for your comments. They're insightful, and the one about the big band in the sky had me laughing out-loud. Peace.; 10:13 AM, February 07, 2011