Right thoughts of heaven

[MW]

Robert Traill (The Lord's Prayer, John 17:24), Works 2:74-75:

According to the frame of men’s spirits, they frame thoughts of heaven, and of the way to it. The Turks’ paradise is brutish; the Popish paradise is little better. The natural philosopher’s conceptions of heaven are more manly, though carnal. Only a true Christian can have a right thought of heaven; because he knows Jesus Christ, and communion with him. Christ himself is the way to heaven, as he is a slain Redeemer; and Christ himself is heaven itself, as he is a glorified, enjoyed Redeemer. All this is unintelligible and incredible to every natural man. Can ever that man count it blessedness to be with Christ above, who counts it a piece of misery to be in his company on earth?

 

[earl40]

Our life is upside down which will be turned right side up when all the pieces, body and soul, will be put in the proper place on the last day. No doubt we will be with "all" of Jesus when we shed this mortal coil, though we yearn for our glorified body while being with Him.

Boy oh boy, looking forward to the last day when heaven is both spiritual and physical.

 

[Warren]

In Christ is fullness of the Godhead. Maybe Heaven will be like that, as we're changed into the same image from glory to glory. There is a glimpse of Heaven in Christ's resurrected humanity.

 

[Afterthought]

The Turks’ paradise is brutish; the Popish paradise is little better. The natural philosopher’s conceptions of heaven are more manly, though carnal.

I hadn't thought the natural philosopher had a conception of heaven. And perhaps I need to understand more of the Papist view, but I thought that--purgatory aside--they had the same conception of heaven as we? In what ways is the Popish paradise little better? And what is the natural philosopher's conception of heaven?

 

[MW]

The main point, from John 17:24, is that the blessedness of heaven consists in being where Christ is and beholding His glory. The natural philosopher has his version of the Elysian Fields, which fits with his desires for the ideal kind of carnal life, and serves as a reward for what he considers to be manly virtues. The "Turks" have their Quran, which teaches entertainment as a reward for what it regards as good deeds. The Romanists would be closer to the biblical view, and some would be closer than others, but they emphasise human merit and the immediate vision of God apart from the Mediator. It is likely that Robert Traill was reflecting on this emphasis rather than the doctrine of heaven itself.