tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post6995750341938136086..comments2024-02-22T04:58:19.083-08:00Comments on My Reflections: Getting it Wright: On Rob Bell & HeavenUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post-23665181748790502032012-04-17T21:48:22.593-07:002012-04-17T21:48:22.593-07:00I only have a partial response to what you've ...I only have a partial response to what you've written. In this post, I wasn't really thinking about heaven as a recompense for suffering, or in what way heaven counterbalances evil (whether now or later). That was in the last post.<br /><br />So, in lieu of a full answer, what if I channeled Bell again: I think what he wants to emphasize is that evil is both present now and later and that evil (with its attendants of pain and suffering) is hell. The alleviation of hell remains the call for human beings now. And that call is bringing in the kingdom of heaven. <br /><br />Do we do it? Do we bring heaven regular to earth? No. Is someone at Dachau or the Gulag experiencing human decision to bring hell here? Yes. Do I believe that even in the midst of the most profound hell on earth we can experience some modicum of heaven. Not for many, but for some who really seek it.My Reflectionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06398084457749292224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post-33002106991441932292012-04-17T17:17:24.559-07:002012-04-17T17:17:24.559-07:00I think the hard question is what to do when it at...I think the hard question is what to do when it at least seems like one or both sides of the dialectic have been forsaken. We can speak of heaven now, but one would have to be pretty bold to speak of heaven now in Dachau. Or what of heaven later? What does heaven later mean to the single mom who has $12 left and is trying to figure out how she can pay the bills without loaning her body out again. What does it mean to say to her, "At some undefined point in the future, all will be restored"?<br /><br />My biggest struggle is with the very idea that future rewards make up for present injustices. When I got to the end of Job, I was quite annoyed, because getting a new family and favor with God would not "make it all better" for me if my original family had been slaughtered like that. So if my future hope is that I will colonize earth with God, how exactly does that make me consider 'the now' worth it? Why isn't 'the now' worth it for its own sake, come what may?M Fitzpatricknoreply@blogger.com