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The City of God
By St Augustine of Hippo
Session 15, The New Heavens and the New Earth
The gods of the nations are demons. (Ps 95)
Glorious things are said of thee, o City of God! (Ps
86)
Note on
schedule: We come to the conclusion of the book with St Augustine’s discussion
of the Day of Judgment, Hell and Heaven, the Resurrection of the body, and the
New Heavens and New Earth. We conclude our course at the end of November.
I. Review
of Last Week – Is heaven a place?
Preliminary
notes about whether heaven/hell is a “place” and whether the joys/pains are
material or spiritual. Both are essentially spiritual realities and thus are
not bound in a “place” in the same way as our life on earth – however, we must
recognize that there is and will be a physical aspect of heaven and hell.
II.
The eternity of heaven
Ever
or never – heaven or hell will be eternal.
III.
On the Resurrection of the Body
A.
Notes of qualities of the risen and glorified bodies
These
are true physical bodies
1.
Clarity, brightness and beauty
2.
Impassibility, no pain or suffering or any change
3.
Agility, ease of movement
4.
Subtlety, the body will be made “spiritual” through union with the soul
Various
questions about our future glorified bodies in comparison with Jesus’
IV.
What with the body be like after the resurrection?
A.
What about little children? They will be raised full grown, even as the old
will be raised young. God can add to their bodies to make them whole.
B.
Age? Christ was 33 years old, and it seems that this is the perfect age.
C.
The bodies of the just will be raised perfect:
Hair (long for women, and full for men), beards for men (note about
adornment), finger nails etc.
D.
Women will be raised as women, even though there will be no marriage.
E.
No blemishes or disfigurements. However, the martyrs will have their wounds.
(Note about Mother Teresa as an example).
V.
How Porphyry and Plato’s problems are solved by the resurrection.
No
happiness in the body in our fallen state, but soul cannot be truly happy
without the body and must return to the body. Christianity solves this by the
Resurrection.
VI.
What does the Bible mean by “New Heavens” and “New Earth”?
A.
This same physical place, but transformed.
Compare to the resurrection of the body.
B.
Will we see God? God is invisible, and so will not be seen with the eye. But he
will be seen by the “light of glory” in an intellectual vision.
What
will we see? Taste, touch, smell, hear?
Not the angels, only intellectually. But we will see each other.
C.
No decay or change. Also no animals other than human beings.
