{"id":72045,"date":"2024-02-13T06:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=72045"},"modified":"2024-02-13T08:12:59","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T13:12:59","slug":"a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"A Defense of Preaching about Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We blogged<\/a> about how\u00a0congregations aren\u2019t hearing about Hell very much.\u00a0 It turns out, many of them aren\u2019t hearing much about Heaven either.<\/p>\n

Mere Orthodoxy<\/a> is an evangelical ministry devoted to bringing\u00a0 to bear the resources of historic Christianity\u2013particularly historic Protestant orthodoxy\u2013 to the problems of the contemporary church.\u00a0 It\u2019s a venture of mostly younger Christians<\/a> with a reputation of being somewhat cutting edge.<\/p>\n

\n

So I was glad to read a post by Mitch East entitled The Gospel Is About Going to Heaven When You Die<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 The opening refers to a syndrome in evangelicalism that I didn\u2019t realize, Lutheran that I am:<\/p>\n

You have heard it said, \u201cThe Gospel is not about going to heaven when you die.\u201d Don\u2019t sing about \u201cflying away\u201d when this life is over. Don\u2019t preach about God\u2019s celestial shore or the mansion for His children in the air. These sermons are \u201cescapist\u201d and Christians who listen to them become apathetic about this life, ignore injustice, or shrug their shoulders about the misery of the poor. If we keep preaching this false gospel, the Church will only care about getting to heaven, not doing God\u2019s will on earth as it is in heaven.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

East picks up on the reference to the Lord\u2019s prayer, stressing that Jesus Himself is speaking of Heaven as a realm where God\u2019s will is done, in contrast to earth, where God\u2019s will is often not<\/em> done.\u00a0 He goes on to survey the Biblical texts about Heaven.\u00a0 Yes, there is a physical resurrection of the dead, but there is also a realm immediately after death in which we are with Jesus.<\/p>\n

East then launches into an interesting discussions of what we can learn about Heaven from the Apostle\u2019s and the Nicene creeds.\u00a0 He concludes:<\/p>\n

All of the hand-wringing about \u201cgoing to heaven when we die\u201d fails to address the existential question that every mortal will face in this life. We\u2019re all on our way to the grave at one speed or another. Is there a life after death or not? What is it like? Who decides? A preacher, priest, or minister who has no answers to these questions is missing a piece of the gospel.<\/p>\n

I suspect, though I may be wrong, that most folks care about heaven and it is their preachers and teachers who are rolling their eyes. Perhaps there are men and women who trust in their careers and health care enough that they can avoid the big questions of life. But most of the human race has lived short, difficult, frustrating, and painful lives. Life outside of Eden has been called \u201ca vale of tears\u201d for a reason. If heaven is real, why not tell parishioners that they can go to a \u201cland where joy shall never end\u201d? . . . .<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing to heaven when we die\u201d is a message that has helped Christians for millennia. They remind themselves that this life is \u201cjust a few more weary days\u201d and then the \u201cshadows of this life\u201d will be behind them. . . .<\/p>\n

If ministers preach only heaven, that\u2019s a problem. Preachers need to warn about the possibility of hell, too. If we worry that too much talk about heaven produces apathy, just bring up hell more often!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m astonished that this needs to be said, that there are apparently \u201cevangelicals\u201d\u2013that word coming from the word for \u201cGospel\u201d\u2013that leave out the part about eternal life.\u00a0 So what do they think the Gospel is?\u00a0 Building the kingdom of God on earth?\u00a0 Or what I hear from some Catholics, obeying the Sermon on the Mount?<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s Law, and Law of a kind that is even more impossible to follow perfectly than the Ten Commandments.\u00a0 That kind of Gospel can only end in greater despair for anyone who takes it seriously.<\/p>\n

Again, one of the Lutheran contributions to \u201chistoric Protestant orthodoxy\u201d is the distinction between Law and Gospel.\u00a0 Yes, the Law, but the Gospel is a completely different kind of thing.\u00a0 As the Formula of Concord<\/a>, summarizing the Scriptural teachings, puts it:<\/p>\n

The Gospel is properly such a doctrine as teaches what man who has not observed the Law, and therefore is condemned by it, is to believe, namely, that Christ has expiated and made satisfaction for all sins, and has obtained and acquired for him, without any merit of his [no merit of the sinner intervening], forgiveness of sins, righteousness that avails before God, and eternal life. (Formula of Concord, Epitome, V. 4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also, an awareness of eternal life gives us perspective on this life.\u00a0 The problems and sufferings of the moment are not nearly so overwhelming when we consider how little they are in light of eternity.\u00a0 And, ironically, that can help us address the problems and bear the suffering\u00a0more effectively.<\/p>\n

Illustration:\u00a0 Paradiso, Canto 5<\/a> by Gustav Dor\u00e9 (1850) via Picryl, Public Domain<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We blogged about how\u00a0congregations aren’t hearing about Hell very much.\u00a0 It turns out, many of them aren’t hearing much about Heaven either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":72159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,47],"tags":[14379,3510,2866],"class_list":["post-72045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church","category-theology","tag-downplaying-heaven","tag-eternal-life","tag-heaven"],"yoast_head":"\nA Defense of Preaching about Heaven<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We blogged about how\u00a0congregations aren't hearing about Hell very much.\u00a0 It turns out, many of them aren't hearing much about Heaven either.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Defense of Preaching about Heaven\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We blogged about how\u00a0congregations aren't hearing about Hell very much.\u00a0 It turns out, many of them aren't hearing much about Heaven either.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-13T11:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-13T13:12:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2024\/02\/paradiso5-2b9ade.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"764\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/\",\"name\":\"A Defense of Preaching about Heaven\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-13T11:00:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-13T13:12:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"We blogged about how\u00a0congregations aren't hearing about Hell very much.\u00a0 It turns out, many of them aren't hearing much about Heaven either.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Defense of Preaching about Heaven\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Defense of Preaching about Heaven","description":"We blogged about how\u00a0congregations aren't hearing about Hell very much.\u00a0 It turns out, many of them aren't hearing much about Heaven either.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Defense of Preaching about Heaven","og_description":"We blogged about how\u00a0congregations aren't hearing about Hell very much.\u00a0 It turns out, many of them aren't hearing much about Heaven either.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/","og_site_name":"Cranach","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","article_published_time":"2024-02-13T11:00:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-13T13:12:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":764,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2024\/02\/paradiso5-2b9ade.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gene Veith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Veith","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/","name":"A Defense of Preaching about Heaven","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-02-13T11:00:29+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-13T13:12:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1"},"description":"We blogged about how\u00a0congregations aren't hearing about Hell very much.\u00a0 It turns out, many of them aren't hearing much about Heaven either.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/02\/a-defense-of-preaching-about-heaven\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Defense of Preaching about Heaven"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/","name":"Cranach","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1","name":"Gene Veith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Veith"},"description":"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}