Full Text for Where and What is Heaven? (Text)
ion Inquiry
MAIER, W. A .: Archeology - the N emesis . .
KBETZMANN, P. E.: Znr Ge chichte der 1 teinischen Bibel
KRETZMANN, P . E. ' W here and What Is Heaven?
KRETZMANN, P. E.: Propositions on the Sabbath-Sunday
Question
LAETSCH, THEO.: Malicious Desertion
KBETZMANN P E. : Die Hallpttchr:ften Luthers in chro-
nologischer Reihenfolge
Dispositionen u eber die altkirchliche Epistelreihe
Miscellan eu
Theological Observer. - Xirchlich-Zettgeschichtliches .
Book Review. - Ltteratur
Page
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Ein r'recliger mw 01 t alleln 10 ,vIM!,
.lise) da er die Schafe unterwel;tO, wl~
de reebte Chrl ten !IOlIen seln, ondem
.ucb daneben den Woellen ICeMen. du
.Ie die Schafe nlcht angreifen und mit
faIRCher Lehre ,'erfuebren uud Imum ein·
fuebrrn. - LH hr,.
r ,t keln Ding, d' die J.eutl' mehr
bel der Klrcbe behaelt deon die flUte
l'redigt. - dpolo, ie, Art. ~
If the trumpet g1VI' an un~'ertahl loOund,
who sbalI prepare bllll8elf to the battle?
1 Cor 4 , 8.
Published for t he
Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other 4tates
CONCORDIA PUBLISHDlG HOUSE, St. Lo Mo.
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Where and What Is Heaven? 189
ettuiifjnen, baf3 Quentin fidj in @:len. 3, 15 fih: Me 2e~arl "ipsa conteret
-caput tuum" entfdjieb, oowofjI, wie @5iummet fdjteini, ipse "auf @:Itunb
be~ fjebtiiifdjen :'te6te~ BU fotbetn wiite". ~ie j8ewei~fiifjtUng if! oei~
nafje fo Uaffifdj hlie bet bogmatifdje j8ewei~ fiit ba~ ~tima! ~etti, bet
Me @:Iefdjidjie einfadj oeifeitef~t. :'ttotbem abet olein! wafjt, wai.!
@5iummet Bum @5djluf3 fag!: ,,@50 biltfen wit alfo fagen, baf3 wit iat~
iiidjHdj am 580tabenb einet neuen unb betfjeif3ung~bonen @ij)odje bet
&efdjidjie bet 58uIgaia f!efjen." ~. @i. ~ t e t man n.
Where and What Is Heaven?
This is not an idle question, as one might be inclined to think
upon seeing it in this plain form. Few topics have been the subject
of more idle speculation than the question proposed above, particu-
larly on the part of such as are affected by any form of millennialism
{)r some other type of enthusiasm. Hence the double question "Where
:and what is heaven~" What information does Holy Scripture give
us in answer to this question ~
The Bible uses quite a few terms or designations for the place
and condition of the blessed. The Lord says in Matt. 5, 12: "Your
reward will be great in the heavens" (oveavol), the plural being used
here, as often throughout the New Testament. Op. Matt. 6, 9. In
2 Pet. 3, 13 the apostle speaks of the new heavens, in which right-
eousness will dwell. In 2 Oor.12, 2 St. Paul speaks of being taken up
or snatched away to the third heaven, which implies a plurality, and
he identifies this heaven with paradise in v. 4. In Mark 10, 21 the
singular, heaven, is used to designate the place of the Lord's merciful
reward. The word ''paradise'' for the home of the blessed is used by
the Savior in comforting the penitent thief, Luke 23, 43. In John
14,2 the Lord uses a singularly beautiful word for the abode of the
blessed, namely, p,oval, dwelling-places, well rendered in Luther's word
W ohnungen. In 2 Oor. 5,1 the apostle speaks of a house (ol"ia), which
is identical with a building, ol"o~op,ij. In Eph. 1,3 the apostle speaks
of the heavenly places (Ta enoveaVta). A more figurative expression is
used Luke 16, 22, namely, bosom of Abraham (,,6).no.), the plural of
which is used in v. 23. John the Baptist refers to the garner (anoDij,,'1)
of the Lord, Matt. 3, 12; Luke 3, 17, while Jesus Himself speaks of
the eternal habitation, or tents (a"'1val), Luke 16, 9. The writer to
the Hebrews, who is constantly making comparisons between the Old
Testament and the New, speaks of the sanctuary of heaven in the
plural (Ta lirta) in Heb. 10, 19. Op. Heb. 9, 12. The same writer refers
iio the fatherland (naTel.) of those who have reached the end of their
faith, their soul's salvation, Heb.n, 13-16. A similar designation
190 Where and What Is Heaven?
is found in the word city (:r62g·) in Reb. 13, 14; 11,10. Among the
more fanciful and poetical terms for the abode of the blessed are the
Jerusalem above, Gal. 4, 26, a designation similar to that of Reb.
12, 22, where we :find the name heavenly Jerusalem. The connotation
in these passages is very much like that in Matt. 8,11, with its king-
dom of the heavens; Luke 13, 29, with its kingdom of God; and
Luke 22, 30, where Jesus speaks of My kingdom. The most complete
description in this fanciful manner is that of Rev. 21, where a new
heaven and a new earth is spoken of as the city, the new Jerusalem,
the tabernacle of God, with the description completed in Rev. 22.
r The abode of bliss is described in terms of the most unusual imagery,
\ as a city with marvelous dimensions, consisting of pure gold like I glass in appearance, with a twelvefold foundation, with twelve gates
i of pearls, and with other amazingly beautiful and overwhelming
attributes. This description is in line with similar efforts on the part
of the inspired writers to picture the glories of heaven in terms of
J the sublimest imagery, as when in¥ait. 25< 10 the guests are taken II ---to the w'edding festivities, and when in .&y. 1!1, 9 the invitation to
. the marriage~er OTthe Lamb is spoken of. All these designations, I ~()mim, .~ ~descriptions are very valuable in the teaching of
the Ohurch, for they enable men to speak of the bliss of heaven in
such concrete terms as will more easily convey their message to our
earth-born minds.
Some of these terms already imply a condition, rather than
a place. But the description of the condition of bliss is even more
prominent in other passages. In 1 Thess. 5, 9 the Apostle Paul writes:
"God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Ohrist," where "salvation" evidently denotes the final con-
summation of the Ohristian's hopes, "the end of faith, even the salva-
tion of your souls," as in 1 Pet. 1, 9. The same use of the word
"salvation" is found in 2 Thess. 2, 13, in 2 Tim. 2,10, in Reb. 1, 14;
9,28. It is the final deliverance which is the ultimate objective in the
Seventh Petition. But this blessing at the end of time is spoken of
also as the inheritance, or the heritage, of the saints, the marvelous
treasure which is laid up for them in heaven, as the apostle says
Acts 20, 28. Op. Gal. 3, 18. In Eph. 5, 5 the same apostle speaks of
the "inheritance in the kingdom of Ohrist and of God." The writer
to the Rebrews says of those who are called that they will "receive
the promise of eternal inheritance," 9,15. And the Apostle Peter
identifies the :final salvation with an "inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,"
1 Pet. 1,4. Closely related to such designations is the concept of
glory, or glorification, as the lot of those who remain steadfast to the
end. "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God," Rom. 5, 2.
"I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to>
Where and What Is Heaven? 191
be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," Rom. 8, 18.
"Our light aflliction . . . worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory," 2 Oor. 4, 17. "Ohrist in you, the hope of
glory," 001. 1, 27. "The salvation which is in Ohrist Jesus with
eternal glory," 2 Tim. 2, 10. Rere an explanation is appended by the
apostle when he writes in verse 12: "Ii we suffer, we shall also reign
with Rim." Other descriptions of the heavenly glory are "eating and
drinking at My table in My kingdom and sitting on thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel," Luke 22, 30; 13, 29, and "entering into
the rest of the Lord," Reb. 3, 11 ; 4, 1. 10. 11.
What, then, is meant by heaven? And what will be the condition
()f the heavenly bliss? These questions are answered in the Bible
from two sides. On the one hand, Scripture refers to the absence
of those features which make life here on earth, as a consequence of
sin, an almost constant succession of afllictions, tribulations, disap-
pointments, trials, and punishments. The Apostle Paul writes: "The
Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto
His heavenly kingdom," 2 Tim. 4, 18. In the Book of Revelation we
read: "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither
,shall the sun light on them nor any heat," Rev. 7, 16. And again:
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall
be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be
any more pain; for the former things are passed away," Rev. 21, 4.
On the other hand, the bliss of heaven, of eternal life, will consist in
the positive enjoyment of joys ineffable, of a happiness which words
<>f human language can but feebly convey. Thus, Rev. 7 ... 15 states
of the redeemed in heaven: "Therefore are they perore the throne of
~nd ~e1X~ day and night in Ris temple." In Pjlil. 1,_21l
Paul looks forward to the glories of heaven, "10 be with Christ."
In lD~12 he tries to explain the meaning of heaven: "Now we
see through a glass, darkly (B,. aMyftan), but then face to face,' now
I know in part, but then shall I know even as also· I am known." At
the present time the truth is still hidden in the language of imagery,
but in heaven it will stand before our eyes in unveiled beauty and
power. The same thought is presented in 2 001'. 3, 18: "But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are
,changed into the same image from glory to glory." This includes
the full enjoyment of unalloyed pleasures before the race or God
;find of Ohrist, Ps. 16, 11; 1 Pet. 1, 8, and the beholding of the glory
or the Savior, the eternal Son of God, John 17, 24. And such enjoy-
ment or divine bliss will be possible because this mortal, our mortal
and decrepit bodies, shall have put on immortality and this cor-
ruptible shall have put on incorruption, 1 001'. 15, 53. 54. "It is sown
a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body," 1 Oor. 15,44. "Who
:shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His
192 Where and What Is Heaven?
glorious body," Phil. 3, 21. "Then shall the righteous shine forth as
the sun in the kingdom of their Father," Matt. 13,43. "Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appeal' what we shall be;
but we know that, when He shall appeal', we shall be like Him, for
we shall see Him as He is," 1 John 3, 2.
The conclusion which we reach after the contemplation of the
various passages adduced is this: Heaven, eternal glory 01' bliss,
is the condition of the most perfect salvation, of complete and un-
broken peace and bliss. Its essence consists in this, that God, Himself
the highest Good, is all in all, and that in the most perfect manner,
without intel'l'uption and cessation, and that we, with spiritualized,
immortalized bodies, see Him face to face and share in the perfection
of His bliss, with God in us and constantly before our eyes as the
All in all. From the standpoint of its enjoyment by the perfected
saints vita aeterna may be defined: "Forma consistit generatim
loquendo in ineffabili plenissimaque ac nullis saeculis finienda in-
comprehensibilium bonorum perceptione." (Quenstcdt, Theol. Did.-
pol., I, XIV, 1,11,) 01', in the words of another dogmatician: "Oon-
sistit in summa felicitate, gloria ac beatitudine, quo electi, ab omnibus
malis liberati ac liberi, corpore et anima plenissime et iucundissime
in omnem aeternitatem perfruentur." (Gerhard, Loci, XX, v, 48.)
"Eternal salvation consists in seeing God, that is, man enjoys eternal
salvation by virtue of the fact that he sees God. While the believers
in this life know God only through His Word, that is, in a picture
(cognitio Dei abstractiva), God permits the saints in bliss to know
Him without picture and cover, face to face (cognitio Dei intuitiva).
That this seeing God is the cause of salvation, because by it man ac-
cording to both soul and body is fully permeated by the glory of God,
Scripture distinctly teaches 1 John 3, 2." (Pieper, Ohristl. Dogmatik,
III, 619.) This essence, or real nature, of salvation is not influenced
by the fact that Scripture teaches degrees of glory in heaven, Dan.
12, 3; 2 001', 9, 6; Matt. 19,28; for that does not mean that there will
be degrees of salvation, of the enjoyment of the actual bliss of heaven,
itself. "All will be equally satisfied, for each will receive according to
his capacity to receive and to use. If two persons, one a highly trained
musician and the other simply an average lover of music, attend the
same concert, both are thrilled and satisfied. And yet the former has
a greater appreciation of the wonderful harmonies of sound than the
other, because of his greater capacity to receive and understand them.
They are both equally satisfied, but with a diff€l'ent measure of what
may be enjoyed." (Gruber, What after Death'? 241.)
But where will all this take place? Are we to think of heaven
as a circumscribed, bordered, and bounded locality?
Some scholastics, a number of Roman theologians, and a few
Oalvinists have held the affirmative. Bernhardinus of Siena and
Where and What Is Heaven? 193
Scotus referred to the sensual delights of heaven. Petrus Martyr
Vermigli, the most prominent Oalvinist of Italy (1500-1562), later
in Strassburg, Oxford, and Zuerich, writes: "Ultra firmamentum, quod
octavum orbem nostri faciunt, est regio felicissima, ubi corpus Ohristi
degit et sancti sua loca, suas sedes et mansiones cum habent tum post
resurrectionem sunt habituri." In the Oompendium Doctrinae
Ohristianae of Zacharias Ursinus (1534--1583) we read: "Locus
beatol'um est spatium illud immensum, lucidissimum, gloriosum, extra
et supra totum hoc mundum (';t coelum spectabile, is, quo Deus se
patefecit [sic] beatis angelis et hominibus." Another Oalvinist, Mat-
thias Martinius (1572-1630), writes in a similar vein: "Locus coeli
est pl'oxime supra firmamentum." A document as important as the
N eostadiensium Admonitio Ohristiana de Libro Ooncordiae, the most
important attack against the Formula of Ooncord on the part of the
German Reformed Ohurch, in the preparation of which men like
Junius, Tossanus, Zanchius, and particularly Ursinus were engaged,
attributes to God locale domicilium cum sane tis angelis et beatis
hominibtGs commune. (Op. Hoenecke, Ev.-Luth. Dogmatik, IV, 349.)
Over against these and other similar conceptions of heaven as
a circumscribed locality the Lutheran dogmaticians, practically with-
out a dissenting voice, have urged the attributes ascribed to the per-
fected saints as well as the descriptions of heaven and the heavenly
bliss. Among the attributes of the saints in bliss we find that of
illocalitas: Erunt corpora beatorum in cerrto nov, sed non circum-
scriptive. 1 Oor. 15,44. And as for confining heaven to a circum-
scribed locality, this is excluded:-
1. By the very descriptive terms used in the Bible itself; for
they offer a great variety of ideas, not only on account of their lack
of uniformity, but also on account of the plurals which are employed
in a number of instances (heavens, tabernacles, dwelling-places-
city of gold, fatherland, marriage feast);
2. By the relation of the perfected saints to God, who is Himself
illocalis, and by the nature of the heavenly bliss (being with God,
seeing God face to face, eating and drinking at the heavenly feast),
which certainly cannot be said of a definite place or locality;
3. By the fact that the resurrection bodies, though material,
partake of the nature of spirits, even if this is not true in the same
degree as in the body of Ohrist after His exaltation;
4. By the fact that the enjoyment of the bliss of heaven on the
part of Ohrist in the state of His humiliation, John 1, 14. 18
(£I rov £i; TOV x6lnov); John 3, 13 (£I rov £V T0 OV(!av0) and of the angels
even when engaged here on earth in ministering to the saints, Matt.
18, 10 J,a navTo. pUnovol); Luke 1, 19 (£I na(!60nplW' ivWntov .. . ), is
clearly taught in Scripture.
13
194 Where and What Is Heaven?
5. Space and time are properties of this present world only.
From this we conclude that heaven is not to be thought of in
concrete terms of the first Paradise, with the physical properties of
an earthly Eden, or as a city with actual streets of gold and gates of
pearls or as a series of beautiful tents or flights of rooms, etc., but
as a place in only the widest sense of the word, without the connota-
tion of locality, rather as a being in the presence of God and of
Christ, with the enjoyment of eternal bliss as the chief feature.
"Where that heaven is and what is its exact nature we cannot in
this world know. ,. .. The location of heaven is purely a matter of
speculation, because the Scriptures do not tell us where it will be.
But the condition of the saved as one of everlasting glory and hap-
piness is a clear teaching of Scripture. Perfect in body and soul,
they will dwell with Christ forever and ever." (Stump, The Christian
Faith, 178. 427.) uWenn die Schrift nun auch zu bestimmten,
POSITIVEX Angaben ueber den Himmel kein }.1aterial an die Hand
gib( so doch zu der naeheren NEGATIVEN Bestimmung, dass der Him-
mel nicld als Lolcalitaet in grobsinnEcher A1't vorgestellt werden darf.
Namen wie Haus, Paradies, Stadt, Sch08s Abrahams sind siche,
{.t61:arpO(!lxilJr; und {.tvauxilJ. zu vej'stehen." (Hoenecke, 1. c., 348.) "Die
oertliche Lage des Himmels der Seligen ist ebensowenig zu bestimmen
wie die del' Hoelle. Wie das nov damnalol'um da ist, wo sich Gatt in
seiner ewigen Strafgel'echtigkeit el'zeigt, so ist das nov beatol'um dart,
'wo sich Gatt in aufgedecktel' Hel'l'lichkeit, ne6acvnov ne,k ::r:e6acvno",
zu schauen gibt:' (Pieper, Ohristl. Dogmatik, III, 623.) "Allen
grobsinnlichen Ansichten gegenueber geben wir noch einmal die
lutherische, schl-iftgemaesse These mit den Worten Gerhards." 'Nos
libenter concedimus, coelum beatorum esse certum aliquid nov, sed
negamus, per locum corporeum esse definiendum, aut sedes et man-
siones corporeas illi a,dscribendas: Wir verstehen unter coelum also
allerdings nicht einen blossen Zustand, so dass es nUr ein Ausdl'uck
fuel' Seliglceit waere, wie analog unter Himmel an gewissen Stellen
Gatt selbst zu vel'stehen ist, Luk. 20,4, wozu Quenstedt sagt." 'Ooelum
Dei est ipsa divina maiestas', abel' wir halten ihn fuer ein bestimmles
nov, nicht fuer eine Lokalitaet in gl'obsinnlicher Weise." (Hoenecke,
l. c., 350.) Cp. Luther, XI, 69 f., § 58.
We close with the prayer of Hoenecke: "Perdltcat nos ad beati-
tudinem vitae aeternae Ohristus Jesus, fidei et vitae aex't/yh't/" ~n
saecula benedictusl" P. E. KRETZMANN.
rC • 81