Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies.
Locked on 02/13/2011 7:38:12 PM PST by Religion Moderator, reason:

Poster’s request



Skip to comments.

What Is Heaven Really Like? [Ecumenical]
CatholicAndsers ^ | not given | Jimmy Akin

Posted on 02/13/2011 4:03:35 PM PST by Salvation

What Is Heaven Really Like?

By Jimmy Akin

Wings and halos. Robes and harps. Sitting on clouds. Being greeted by St. Peter at the pearly gates: These are the images of heaven we get from movies, TV, and newspaper cartoons. Silly as they are, the ideas behind these images can seep into our consciousness and affect the way we think of heaven.

For example, it’s commonly believed that we will have no bodies in heaven. That’s only partly true. People in heaven do not have bodies (with rare exceptions such as Jesus and Mary), but that’s a temporary state of affairs. At the end of time, we will be raised from the dead and reunited with our bodies (cf. 1 Cor. 15:16–18).

The idea that we will spend eternity as disembodied ghosts is one of the most widespread myths about the afterlife. God created men to be embodied spirits, and while death may temporarily interrupt that, death is not the final word. Our ultimate destiny is to be the embodied spirits that God always intended us to be.

Of course, ordinary bodies are not able to survive for all eternity. Paul explains that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable" (1 Cor. 15:50).

Our bodies will be modified somehow when we are reunited with them after the resurrection. What these modifications will be even Paul did not claim to understand, though he compared the difference between our bodies now and our bodies then to the difference between a seed and the plant that is grown from the seed (1 Cor. 15:35–44).

Elsewhere he states that Jesus "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (Phil. 3:21), raising the possibility that in our resurrected bodies we will be able to do many of the things that Christ was able to do in his resurrected form, such as appear or disappear from places at will, without locked doors or other barriers obstructing us.

Winging It
The other images our culture gives us of heaven are also problematic. The idea that we will have wings has absolutely no basis in Scripture or Tradition.

Neither does the idea that we will become angels. Angels are created beings that are pure spirit and have no bodies (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 328–330). They are a different order of being than we are, and humans and angels don’t turn into each other.

Halos are simply an artistic way of representing holiness, and while we will be holy in heaven, we have no reason to think that this will manifest itself in halos as we see in illustrations.

Robes are something people wore in biblical days, so it is common to picture people in heaven wearing robes, but we have no idea what clothes (if any) we may wear.

The image of harps in heaven is drawn from Scripture (Rev. 5:8), though not everyone in heaven is depicted as playing a harp.

Scripture does not picture those in heaven sitting around on clouds, but it does picture heaven as being "up" from an earth-bound perspective, so clouds are a natural image for artists to supply.

The image of St. Peter in charge of "the pearly gates" is not taken directly from Scripture but is based on two things that Scripture does say. The first is that Peter was given the "keys of the kingdom" and the power to "bind" and "loose" by Christ (Matt. 16:18–19). Indeed, one cannot knowingly and deliberately cut off communion with Peter and his successors without committing schism and denying oneself heaven, so Peter has been portrayed as admitting or barring people from heaven. In reality, Peter does not (so far as we know) personally approve each person’s admission to heaven.

The image of the pearly gates is taken from Scripture as well. We typically see this pictured as a set of golden gates framed by two large white (pearly?) structures, but the image in Scripture is somewhat different. There, the heavenly city is described as having twelve gates, "and the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl" (Rev. 21:21).

Paved in GoldScripture employs far more images of heaven in addition to the handful our culture has latched onto. One of the most common New Testament depictions of heaven is a feast (Matt. 8:11; Luke 13:29; 14:15–24), in particular a wedding feast (Matt. 22:1–14; 25:1–13; Rev. 19:7–9) understood as a first-century Jewish wedding feast, not a modern wedding reception.

Another notable image is heaven as a temple. Heaven was understood as the dwelling place of God. Earthly temples were in some sense modeled on heaven. Much of the book of Revelation takes place in heaven, so it’s not surprising that it describes God’s temple in heaven (Rev. 11:19) and heavenly worshipers with censers (8:3), incense (8:4), trumpets (8:7), bowls (16:2), harps (5:8), and other trappings of the kind of worship given to God in the Jerusalem temple.

Heaven also is depicted as a city of the righteous named New Jerusalem. It is mentioned in various New Testament passages (e.g., Gal. 4:25–26; Heb. 11:22), but it receives its fullest description in Revelation 21, where the image of the streets being paved with gold comes from (21:21), though what the text says is that "the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass."

These images are meant to convey a sense of wonder at what God has in store, but we must be careful of how literally we take them. Paul warns us that "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor. 2:9; cf. CCC 1027). In a weekly catechesis, Pope John Paul II wrote:

In the context of Revelation, we know that the "heaven" or "happiness" in which we will find ourselves is neither an abstraction nor a physical place in the clouds but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is our meeting with the Father that takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit. It is always necessary to maintain a certain restraint in describing these "ultimate realities" since their depiction is always unsatisfactory (July 21, 1999).
The images Scripture gives us of heaven point to the realities that God has in store for his people. When we experience the realities that these symbols point to, we will find them more amazing, not less, than what human language could express.

Deepest LongingsThe fundamental essence of heaven is union with God. The Catechism explains that "perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity . . . is called ‘heaven.’ Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness" (CCC 1024). It also states that "heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ" (CCC 1026).

Traditionally theology has explained the chief blessing or "beatitude" of heaven as "the beatific vision"—an insight into the wonder of God’s inner, invisible essence. "Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory ‘the beatific vision’" (CCC 1028).

Because humans are made for having a conscious relationship with God, the beatific vision corresponds to the greatest human happiness possible.

Many people wonder how our relationships with others will work in heaven. Some have even wondered whether we will retain our own identities. The answer is that we will. The Christian faith assures us that those in heaven "retain, or rather find, their true identity" (CCC 1025). We do not become anonymous, interchangeable entities in heaven. Rather, we each receive our own reward (cf. 1 Cor. 3:11–15).

This does not mean that there will be no changes in our relationships. Jesus was clear in teaching that we will not be married in the next life (Matt. 22:30). But because we retain our identities, we will continue to know and love those we were close to in earthly life. Indeed, in heaven our love for them and our spiritual intimacy with them will be truer, purer, and stronger than it was in this life.

Pain in Heaven? A special problem that has been raised by some is the question of pain in heaven. Some have wondered how it would be possible for individuals to enjoy the beatitude of heaven if they knew that some people—perhaps some they were close to in earthly life—are in hell. Others have wondered about apparitions of Mary and other saints in which they are crying over what is happening or may happen on earth. These problems have made people question whether there is pain in heaven.

The answer is that there is not. Scripture assures us that for those in heaven God in the end "will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away" (Rev. 21:4).

How we will be able to know of the existence of the damned without being pained by it is a mystery, but we can only conclude that the glorified human mind will be configured in such a way that it is able—without pain—to recognize both God’s justice and the free choices of men that led to damnation. God’s own beatitude is not damaged by the existence of hell, and he will not allow our ultimate beatitude to be damaged, either.

As far as weeping apparitions, the tears in these cases perhaps are best understood as an expression of the gravity of man’s sins and of what one in a non-glorified state would be justified in feeling rather than what literally is being felt in heaven.

Is It a Place?Disembodied spirits are not extended in space. They don’t have shape or take up space. As a result, some have wondered whether heaven is a "place." This is a difficult question. Heaven is not a location in the physical universe. One could never travel far enough in any direction in space to arrive in heaven.

But it does seem that heaven has something corresponding to space. It may not be anything remotely like space as we experience it, but heaven does seem to have the ability to receive bodies into it. Christ took his body with him to heaven when he ascended. Mary took her body when she was assumed. A few others—such as Enoch, Elijah, and perhaps Moses—also seem to have their bodies with them in heaven.

We cannot say what the present state of these bodies is. They may not be extended in space at the moment—or they may. We don’t know.

What Time Is It? Related to the problem of space in heaven is the problem of time. We often hear of heaven being described as "eternal" or "timeless." God himself, in his divine essence, is completely outside of time. For him, all of history exists in an "eternal now" without past or future. But it is not clear that created beings in union with God are completely drawn outside of time.

Medieval thinkers proposed that departed souls, such as those being purified in purgatory, exist in a state that shares some properties in common with time and some with eternity. They called this state "aeviternity." Whether this speculation is correct, or what properties such a middle state might have, are open to question. We ultimately don’t know how time—or whatever might replace time—works in the afterlife.

It does seem, though, that just as heaven can receive bodies into it, it also has some kind of sequentiality. Thus there can be a point before a soul is in heaven, a point during which it is disembodied in heaven, a point after this when it is reunited with its body at the resurrection, and a point at which it exists in the eternal order in body and soul.

Will It Be Boring? A question many have is: "Won’t we get bored in heaven?" Some descriptions make it sound as if heaven will be like being in church all the time, and we get bored in church down here. While worship is central to heaven, the worship that takes place there is far deeper and richer than anything we experience on earth, for there we have the beatific vision that corresponds to the greatest human happiness. The fact that time may not work the same way there may also play a role in us not getting bored. We can be certain, though, that we will not be bored, for boredom is a form of suffering, and we have seen already that heaven excludes suffering.

It is also not clear that we will do nothing besides exclusively praising God every moment. Scripture and the Catechism both speak of us "reigning" with Christ (Rev. 22:5; CCC 1029). This suggests that we will have authority over and responsibility for things.

Where we may undertake those tasks may come as a surprise for some. Many have the idea that after the resurrection we will return to a celestial realm, leaving the physical world deserted.

But Scripture speaks of a new heaven and a new earth and seems to locate the dwelling place of man on the new earth. In Revelation, John sees "the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" (21:2, emphasis added) and then hears: "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them" (21:3).

This suggests that heaven and earth may not be separated in the way they presently are. The Catechism thus states that "the visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just" (CCC 1047).



TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; Religion & Science; Theology
KEYWORDS: catholic; heaven; nobarkingdogs; nodogs; pain; time
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-88 next last
A look into heaven. Any thoughts?

This is an Ecumenical thread. No antagonism.

1 posted on 02/13/2011 4:03:38 PM PST by Salvation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Salvation
From the Religion Moderator:

Guidelines for Ecumenical Threads

2 posted on 02/13/2011 4:04:33 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Religion Moderator
From the Religion Moderator:

Guidelines for Ecumenical Threads

3 posted on 02/13/2011 4:04:38 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; ArrogantBustard; Catholicguy; RobbyS; marshmallow; ...
Catholic Discussion Ping!

If you aren’t on this ping list NOW and would like to be on it, please Freepmail me.

4 posted on 02/13/2011 4:07:52 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salvation
At the end of time, we will be raised from the dead and reunited with our bodies (cf. 1 Cor. 15:16–18).

Yes, but at what point in our lives? Will my grandmother appear as an old woman as I remember her? Will babies who died always be infants?

Not being a wise guy. Serious questions.

5 posted on 02/13/2011 4:09:18 PM PST by edpc (It's Kräusened)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: edpc

I think St. Thomas Aquinas said that we would be at the height of our physical powers. Presumably that would mean we’d be something like older teenagers, without the attitude. :-0


6 posted on 02/13/2011 4:13:07 PM PST by Campion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: edpc
In the article above -- did you miss it?

Elsewhere he states that Jesus "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (Phil. 3:21), raising the possibility that in our resurrected bodies we will be able to do many of the things that Christ was able to do in his resurrected form, such as appear or disappear from places at will, without locked doors or other barriers obstructing us.


7 posted on 02/13/2011 4:14:30 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

I’ve never understood, “If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.” For it is better to enter the kingdom blind than to be left outside. Or, “If thy hand give offense, cut it off.” For it is better to enter crippled than to be left outside. I know these aren’t exact quotes, but you get the idea. The question is: Will our glorified bodies have the infirmities we have now?


8 posted on 02/13/2011 4:17:22 PM PST by 1raider1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

My dogs will be in my heaven.


9 posted on 02/13/2011 4:18:48 PM PST by hadaclueonce ("Endeavor to persevere.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salvation
Some thoughts from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church

I was wondering if you could help me with some questions that I have about Heaven. My first question is what do you think Heaven will be like when we get there? Also, what will we do in Heaven? Will everyone know each other in Heaven, like even distant relatives that you never even knew on earth or complete strangers? My last question is do you think people in Heaven or Hell can see and know what's going on here on earth and know what their loved ones are doing?

Answer:

These are wonderful questions; they show that the Lord truly has "put eternity in our hearts" (Eccl. 3:11). We certainly should be interested in knowing something about the place where we will spend eternity (if we belong to Jesus and are clothed in His white robe and washed in His blood).

When you speak of "Heaven," I am not sure if you mean to speak strictly of that time when we will be spiritually with the Lord in heaven while awaiting His second coming to earth and our resurrection or if you mean both that and the whole of eternity after His coming again, when there is a new heaven and a new earth and the heavenly city of God comes down out of heaven to earth. I am going to assume you mean just the former.

There are plenty of ideas about heaven in popular culture around us. (Think of the "Family Circle" cartoons in which Grampa is often depicted looking down from a fluffy cloud on his family on earth and occasionally exerts some helpful influence, or other cartoons in which souls in heaven lie around in white gowns on clouds with harps, or are depicted before a great gate having to give St. Peter some accounting of their life on earth before they can get in.) Similar pop images of angels abound. All of this sort of thing arose during the Middle Ages when people knew very little of what the Bible actually says.

And what the Bible actually says about heaven is not a great deal.

1. Believers in Christ, when they die, their bodies are buried in the ground and their spirits or souls (virtually synonymous words for our inner, non-physical being) go to be with the Lord in heaven (Philippians 1:23, 2 Corinthians 5:6-8).

2. Though Scripture sometimes speaks of the death of believers as "sleep", this is to emphasize its temporary nature and that it will be rest from earthly toil and trouble and not to mean that we will literally be asleep (that is, unconscious). Paul's longing in the verses just cited points to this truth, as do Revelation 5:9, 6:9-11, 7:15, 14:3, etc.

3. The souls in heaven are perfected (Hebrews 12:23), despite our continuing to be beset with indwelling sin as long as we live in this life. There is no biblical basis for believing there will be an in-between place in which the soul will be purged (Purgatory). If we are trusting in Christ when we die, we go straight into His presence (his promise to the thief on the cross, Luke 23:43).

4. In those few glimpses that Scripture gives us of heavenly life, we must be careful to distinguish what is actually being taught to us from the literary devices that go with it. For example, in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), Lazarus is depicted as being carried to heaven by angels "to Abraham's bosom." This was a popular Jewish way of speaking, and our Lord makes use of it as dressing for his story. Abraham would have to be a vastly huge man to have the souls of all the saved in his bosom. Also, still making use of the popular thinking of His day, our Lord speaks of the rich man looking up from his torment in hell to see Lazarus and speak to Abraham. The point of the parable is given in verse 31.

5. In the Bible's depictions of the activity of saints in heaven, the emphasis seems to be on praise and worship (Rev.4 & 5, 15:3,4), "they are before the throne of God and they serve Him day and night in His [heavenly] temple" (Rev.7:15). Might there be other ways to serve Him besides singing in loud anthems? I won't say there won't be; maybe there will. But what the Bible does say, is that we will be praising and worshiping the Lord God and the Lamb.

6. On re-reading your questions I see that your first question specifically is this: What will heaven be like when we get there? (rather than, What will we be like?) Read again Revelation 4 & 5, which open a window from this world into the heavenly court of God. Not all that is described is intended to give a photographic reproduction of what heaven truly is in itself. (Does Jesus now look like a woolly lamb? Does He have an actual sword sticking out of His mouth as in 1:16? See 2 Corinthians 12:1-4). While we can't take all that is said as being a literal description of heaven "in itself," it shows us the centrality of God the Father enthroned in majesty, the ongoing mediatorial role of His Son, the Lamb - no longer to be slain, having died once and for all to atone for our sin, but now appearing at His Father's right hand as our Priest), and it shows us fabulous beings representing all creation, all angels, and all the church bowing and worshiping.

7. Will people in heaven know each other? On the one hand, I have to say, having surveyed passages put forward as teaching that we will, that I do not see them teaching this clearly. It is a natural desire to want our loved ones here to be part of our fellowship there. And I cannot say it won't be so; I rather think it makes sense to think we will know each other.

On the other hand, what is clear is that our focus will be on our Lord and our joy in Him will be unbounded and perfect. In the words of the hymn, "The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land." (I highly recommend a little book by William Hendriksen, The Bible on the Life Hereafter (Baker Book House, 1995; also available from Banner of Truth). Hendriksen covers all of these question and many more besides - all from Scripture, not from "Christian" mythology, folklore, and tradition. Yet on this question, I find I must say that I think he reads more out of the Scripture than the passages warrant; but I am willing to be shown to be wrong.)

8. Can souls in heaven know what is going on here on earth? The prayer of the souls under the heavenly altar depicted in Revelation 6, might be taken to depict a general awareness of what is going on down here (in this instance, the fact that the cruel tyrants who killed the martyrs have thus far - as John sees the vision - not been dealt with by God).

The point of the vision, it seems to me, is to indicate a connection between the prayers of saints and martyrs in heaven and events taking place here on earth. I am not sure we can say it teaches that saints in heaven see and know what happens on earth. Of course, there is no sorrow for the saints in heaven; so any knowledge we might imagine them having of our affairs could not be knowledge that causes grief - their sufferings are past, they are resting from all their labors (Rev.14:13, Heb.4:9,10). There is no indication I am aware of that, apart from prayer, they are able to exert any influence on earthly affairs (cf. Luke 16:29-31).

The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 32 (Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead) well sums up much of what we have discussed here:

"The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption; but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately o God who gave them; the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God, in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowlegeth none" (Sect.1).

I hope my answers are of help to you. And I certainly hope that it is out of a God-given faith in Christ that you long to be with Him in heaven.

10 posted on 02/13/2011 4:20:04 PM PST by Gamecock (The resurrection of Jesus Christ is both historically credible and existentially satisfying. T.K.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 1raider1

That quote is in today’s Gospel! Check the Sermon on the Mount in the Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings

Then read this from the article

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2673204/posts?page=7#7


11 posted on 02/13/2011 4:20:57 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

St Paul said that the eye has not seen nor has the ear heard what God has instore for us.

He also mentions someone (him?) who was caught up to the Third Heaven and saw and heard things it was not permitted to repeat.


12 posted on 02/13/2011 4:21:16 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (I visited GEN TOMMY FRANKS Military Museum in HOBART, OKLAHOMA! Well worth it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

Nice post. Thanks.


13 posted on 02/13/2011 4:21:50 PM PST by GOPJ (http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php - World Disaster Map)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GOPJ

Most welcome. I found four good ones, but will save the others for later dates. Do that all the time. LOL!


14 posted on 02/13/2011 4:23:39 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

Its my belief that we’ll be very busy there.

And I’m convinced there will be pie.


15 posted on 02/13/2011 4:27:30 PM PST by marron
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

Not to argue a point, just asking, didn’t Jesus’ glorified body have the wounds he sustained at his crucifixion?


16 posted on 02/13/2011 4:28:41 PM PST by 1raider1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: edpc

I dreamed of my father after his death, and dreamed that he spoke to me. He did not look exactly like he did here in his earthly life, but he was unmistakeably himself, young, vigorous, mature, handsome...He had been an engineer during his life, and he indicated he was doing work in heaven, work that he loved. He was totally joyful, in a quiet and humorous way, and he told me that I could not imagine how wonderful it would be. When I saw him, he was in “space,” doing something with a solar system.

Strange, right?

Something he did explain, though: how heavenly beings walk through doors, walls, etc., here on earth. He said that earth is pretty much made out of insubstantial vapor that only seems firm to us, because we are insubstantial also. In the Reality of Eternal Life, everything is solid, REAL, so that when a “spirit” walks through an earthly door, it’s because the “spirit” is REAL and the earthly door is transitory.

Laugh if you like, it was a dream, after all. But it had and has the weight of reality in my soul/mind/heart.


17 posted on 02/13/2011 4:30:35 PM PST by Judith Anne (Holy Mary, Mother of God, please pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: 1raider1

Oops... He, His.


18 posted on 02/13/2011 4:31:03 PM PST by 1raider1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: 1raider1

According to scripture.

On the other hand. Padre Pio’s stigmata healed up — then he died the next day.

Hard to say on that one. Were Christ’s wounds visible perhaps, to prove to the apostles that He really was Jesus?

Would Jesus need those in heaven? Probably not.


19 posted on 02/13/2011 4:39:05 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: 1raider1

No, and that’s the point of the quote. Blindness would afflict us here on earth, not in heaven.

This is what I’m looking forward to!


20 posted on 02/13/2011 4:39:33 PM PST by BenKenobi (Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong. - Silent Cal)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-88 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson