[Edward Watson]

Interesting views coming from one of the top Anglican scholars. His view of heaven and the afterlife is very similar to LDS (Mormon) cosmology:

1. Intermediate stage (e.g., Paradise) immediately after death that isn't "heaven". 2. A corporeal resurrection of our bodies. 3. A plurality of "heavens" after the Resurrection. 4. The physical transformation of the earth and its unity to "heaven". 5. Christ's true followers will rule beneath God's dominion instead of just mindlessly sit on clouds and strum harps for all eternity.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

Well that sucks.

[esopman]

This statement is NOT consistent with Mormon theology/cosmology. PLEASE reread it carefully. If this were a ‘talk’ instead of a written statement, where there was time for much more exposition and Q&A, I think it would be clear that this is sound Christian doctrine, and in no way threatening. It is refreshing to see an ‘official’ Christian be an actual believer.

Blessings,
Mrs. Esopman

[Theresawithanh]

I heard a different story from Maria Shriver’s. I heard that if you want to get to heaven, you have to raise a little hell....

If there’s a heaven, the only way to find out for sure is after you’ve died. All we have to do is let somebody die, leave them dead for awhile and bring them back to life and put them on a daytime show, like Oprah or Montel Williams, and let ‘em tell us what happened. Then we’ll know.

[tortdog]

I think that you nail this. When I read this article on a Catholic thread, what stunned me was how close this interpretation of scripture was to the doctrine taught by the LDS Church.

[DenW]

I spell out the Mormon connection to the Bishop’s remarks on my blog: http://denniswendt.blogspot.com/2008/02/christians-wrong-about-heaven-says.html

[TheDon]

Mark for later reading...

[unspun]

Always astounding, when people try to slog through endless human opinions, instead of going straight to the Word of God.

[chuckles]

The best explanation I think we may be able to understand would be that God is in another dimension. Since He was, is and, always will be, He has no time in His Place. He is able to appear timeless in any age and disappear for 1000 years and reappear. One of the hardest thing a human can grasp is a world without time. If we are eternal, we cannot die, yet we were His in the beginning and He knew our name. I believe Heaven is just a dimension we do not know about and physics are different than we can understand. It isn't important that we understand the science of God, only that we believe He can do what He says. If you are a believer, He already has proven that He can.If God is truly The Creator, then a New Heaven and a New Earth will be child's play, and until that day comes, we will be hidden away in the Paradise that he promised the thief on the cross. I always found it unusual that people worried about the size and shape of their "mansion", and never seemed grasp the significance of being in God's presence.

Instead of fretting over things we cannot grasp, we should be contemplating the things we can, like loving our brethren. It's almost humorous that we argue how many angels on the head of a pin, and yet can't seem to have church without the preachers running off with the piano players and the budgets coming up short with unexplained checks.