3. What do the words on the Lord’s prayer “that your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven” mean?
What is heaven on earth?
4. A period of time in Europe in which the areas of
science , philosophy, culture, and politics go through a
massive change.
The enlightenment completely changed the perception
of religion and the universe.
5. Copernicus and Galileo – Proposed the truly
revolutionary heliocentric theory in opposition to the
Geocentric (or Ptolemaic) theory.
6. European culture was no longer dominated by the
church.
A person’s intellectual life began to develop
independently of the church and increasingly against
it.
7. Pre-Enlightenment belief regarding Hell was that it
must be at the center of the Earth because (according
to geocentric theory, perhaps) the center of the Earth
is the farthest area removed from God.
8. Karl Marx: Marx’s critique against the concept of
heaven was to establish something like a ‘heaven on
earth,’ which focused on
the ruling class and the
labor class essentially
becoming one, classless
society: communism.
9. Marx believed that the wishes and values of humans
wasted on an imaginary heaven could be realized on
earth.
Essentially Marx wanted to bring heaven down to earth
while Christians sought to transfer earth to heaven.
Did it work?
11. Garbage dump in Nicaragua
Though preferable to communism, capitalism doesn’t get us much
closer to a heaven on earth.
12. We are not on earth simply in order to get to heaven
some day, but to live truly human lives.
Earth does not become heaven, earth is not elevated to
heaven. Our calling as Christians is not to build
heaven on earth.
Earth will remain earth and heaven will remain
heaven, but they are necessarily connected. “On
Earth as it is in Heaven”
Even though heaven is where we are going, we have an
obligation and responsibility as stewards of the earth.
13. Heaven is not just a collection of our projected fears
and unfulfilled desires.
The heaven of faith is different – it is the hope – filled
reality that is God’s present and our future.
By hoping in heaven our understanding of the present
world is different.
14. Belief in a better different life (our future AND God’s
present) does not allow a Christian to settle for present
conditions.
Hope of heaven must voice opposition against present
evils.
15. Hope in heaven frees us from the compulsion of
creating heaven on earth, of demanding happiness
now.
