The Stars Will Fall from Heaven

 

March 23, 2015 posted by Mason Slater Leave a Comment

Today we are pleased to share the latest post in our new weekly series, Beyond the Book. This month J. Richard Middleton will be discussing interesting things he learned about eschatology while working on A New Heaven and a New Earth.

 

Also, as part of this series we are giving away three copies of A New Heaven and a New Earth. The winners will be announced at the end of the month, and you can enter here.

——–

“Despite vivid apocalyptic imagery of stars falling from heaven, the Bible never imagines the literal destruction of the cosmos in the eschaton.” – J. Richard Middleton

Among the issues I addressed in A New Heaven and a New Earth were “problem texts” in the New Testament that seemed to suggest the destruction of the cosmos when Christ returns.

 

I was already convinced that that the main thrust of New Testament eschatology is the redemption of creation—God wants to restore this earthly world to the flourishing he had intended from the beginning. Thus even 2 Peter 3, which speaks of the destruction of the heavens and the elements by fire (verses 10 and 12), says that after judgment the earth and the works in it will be “found” (not “burned up” as the KJV has it).

 

But why distinguish the heavens from the earth in this way?

Read more at http://blog.bakeracademic.com/the-stars-will-fall-from-heaven/