Wednesday, October 28, 2009

You can't know anything about heaven?

You can’t know anything about heaven?
I just had this discussion a moment ago. Don’t ask me how I got there, I can’t remember. But in any case a man told me we can’t know anything about heaven. I asked him why not. He said we haven’t been there. Now this isn’t the first time I have heard that statement, but I do find it rather peculiar.
There are lots of places I haven’t been. And I have been more places than most. I would still like to see South America, Antarctica, and Australia at some point. I haven’t been there. I like though to think I know a bit about these places. I have been told there are Penguins in Antarctica, and I have no reason to doubt there are. But I haven’t been there. So according to this man’s logic I don’t know that there are Penguins in Antarctica, the place of no white bears. I hear there are kangaroos, and black swans in Australia. And I believe these reports to be true, though the only Black Swan I have ever seen was on a bottle of wine claiming to be from a place I don’t know exists because I haven’t been there. How do I know Kangaroos really come from Australia? I have seen a couple but only in zoos. I suppose if there were kangaroos in South America they could have gotten them there. But for some reason I believe the little placard at the zoo telling me that these varmints come from Australia where they destroy crops routinely. So when my son asks me about Australia I tell him what I know about the place. It has people with funny accents, kangaroos, black swans, and good wine. I know this because I have read it in a book, or seen it on T.V. or heard accounts from the blond haired Australian girl I took on a date in Monaco. I have found no good reason to doubt these sources, even though I have known most people in my life to be liars at one time or another.
So why can’t I know anything about heaven? Sure I haven’t been there. Don’t think I have ever been to Waterloo Iowa, either but I presume it is there. I do have a few accounts of heaven from men I deem a bit more reliable than the Australian girl I dated. There is the Bible, which has collated plenty of different accounts of Jesus, who claimed he was God, then died and rose again to prove it. The accounts check out according to any test of historical veracity you want to put on them. So why shouldn’t I believe this man when he talks about heaven? Am I really to find him less reliable because he rose from the dead? Or can I trust what he tells me. I really see no other choice. I can believe this man about heaven, or I can deny man ever walked on the moon despite all the evidence to the contrary. No one thinks me crazy for believing man walked on the moon, but a man wearing a tinfoil hat does think I’m gullible. So why not believing I know a little bit about heaven based on what the man who rose from the dead tells me about it?

10 comments:

Unknown said...

It all comes down to whether or not Jesus is credible. If he is, then we can, in fact, say a thing or two about heaven, and even the life of the world to come beyond it.

If Jesus is not credible, then we have to search elsewhere for a credible source on the after-life. Still waiting for someone to present such a source.

I, for one, find Jesus entirely credible. His resurrection sealed the deal for me.

Bror Erickson said...

Right. This is one of those things people don't think of much. It is a simple answer. But we "know" quite a bit about other things based on nothing but the testimony of someone else. If I can say I know anything based on what someone else has told me, then I can know about heaven based on what Jesus has recorded through his apostles.

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

There are many things that we cannot say about heaven - many things that we do not know - but that doesn't mean we don't know anything. Just because you can't answer some questions doesn't mean you have no answers.

We focus on what we have been told, and we leave the rest unanswered.

Jonathan said...

Didn't Jesus tell us there will be neither marriage nor betrothal in heaven? How's that jibe with the spirit baby factory?

Bror Erickson said...

Well Jonathan it really doesn't jibe at all. But then who listens to Jesus when you have a modern day "prophet"? God changes his mind you know.

Nancy said...

Bror?... God changes whose mind...His own or the proclaimed prophet's?

Rev. Eric J Brown said...

Wow, I can't believe I forgot this incredibly apt quote from Three Dog Night.

"Well I've never been to heaven, but I've been to Oklahoma." 'nuff said.

Frank Sonnek said...

bror. skip waterloo iowa and come to rio de janeiro brasil. I will buy you a beer, or two or 3. it is served as close to freezing as possible and the beaches are great...

Bror Erickson said...

Frank,
Would love to come to rio, maybe someday.

Bror Erickson said...

Nancy,
evidently since the prophet is speaking for God, God is changing God's mind about these things. he even changes his mind about historical fact, like where the Book of Mormon took place.