Exploring Heaven: What Great Christian Thinkers Tell Us About Our Afterlife with God [Hardcover]

Arthur O. Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2003

"If you have ever wondered whether the idea of heaven is merely a theoretical human construct, then this book is for you. If you have ever entertained doubts or questions about a future existence after this life, then this book is for you. If you have ever thought of heaven's residents as rather dull, ethereal beings perched on billowing clouds strumming golden harps, then this book is for you. If you have ever imagined heaven to be simply one never-ending worship service, then this book is for you."

-- from the Introduction by Richard J. Foster

As long as people have lived, they have dreamed and wondered about the life that comes after this one. In Exploring Heaven, Arthur O. Roberts distills the best of Christian thought and speculation to answer the age-old questions about eternal life. Drawing from a wealth of timeless wisdom, Roberts not only sketches out the overwhelming evidence that eternal life is a reality, he also describes everything from heaven's location and its inhabitants to the nature and rhythm of eternal life.

Speculating about heaven can be a risky business, but Roberts is firmly grounded in Christian tra-dition and classical scholarship. Part philosopher and part pastor, he employs biblical evidence, scientific proofs, personal anecdotes, and philo-sophical musings to create a complete and prag-matic picture of life after death. While the heaven he depicts is a place filled with joy and worship, it is hardly a fairyland of clouds and harps where the saved lounge about for eternity. Instead, he believes humans will work, play, socialize, and learn, continuing the process of discipleship started on earth. And unlike philosophers who dismiss physi-cal bodies as so much excess baggage, Roberts be-lieves that we will continue to inhabit our (greatly enhanced) bodies after death. Indeed, we will live much as we do now, with one key exception: heaven will be free of sin.

Both pragmatic and celebratory, equal parts wise and inspiring, Exploring Heaven will appeal to everyone who has ever wondered about the nature of eternal life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What does eternal life really mean? Who inhabits heaven? Is there a society in heaven? Using such important questions about heaven, Roberts (Messengers of God; Drawn by the Light) offers numerous Christian theories about this alluring celestial destination. For instance, he suggests several possibilities for the "location" of heaven: it could be an illusion carried over from a less evolved era of the human race, a spiritual world that co-exists with the natural one, or a moment of union with the divine. Roberts draws from Scripture and Christian leaders as well as less predictable sources, such as the Chinese scholar Mo Tzu, the philosopher Plato, and poet Vachel Lindsay ("General William Booth Enters Heaven"). Roberts, a professor at large at George Fox University and a Quaker philosopher, is an overt and opinionated narrator who dutifully presents many interpretations of heaven, but makes it clear what he thinks of each one. This willingness to step forward saves the book from being a droning, neutral, academic tome. Roberts takes a great personal risk when he discusses evidences for an afterlife; although he possesses a general skepticism regarding s‚ances and mediums, he admits to hearing reassuring words from a deceased friend. "It wasn't something that could be laboratory tested as a repeatable occurrence; but it was an intimation of immortality, a flicker of light in the shadow of death." This exploration of heaven reads like a highly engaging and intelligent conversation.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Heaven means many things to many people, and about 80 percent of Americans reported belief in life after death, but to some, heaven means nothing at all. Roberts dutifully lists the various definitions of a religious term that denotes where people go after death, an idyllic vacation spot, and a merchandising gimmick, and explores its idiomatic uses to understand its full significance. He addresses such maddeningly elusive questions as Where is heaven located? What exactly is eternal life? Who inhabits heaven? What do they do up there with all that free time? At first blush, such queries may sound silly, but Roberts is serious in an examination and critique that employs scientific knowledge, religious teaching, biblical insights, and major theologians' interpretations as well as personal observation. Roberts, a Quaker, believes in heaven as an actual place, free of evil and suffering. Death isn't the last word, he says. Life is the final word. Even the most skeptical readers should find much of interest here, matter worthy of many hours of animated debate. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco; 1st edition (July 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060530685
• ISBN-13: 978-0060530686
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,586,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Let heaven fill your thoughts" (Colossians 3:2), April 10, 2004

By 

Joseph R Ginder (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Exploring Heaven: What Great Christian Thinkers Tell Us About Our Afterlife with God (Hardcover)

Arthur Roberts has provided a thoughtful and encouraging book to anyone who wants to explore heaven. Roberts considers many views of heaven, finally declaring why he finds the Christian view as taught in the books of Christian scripture the most convincing.

Roberts explores what heaven will be like, taking his clues from Christian scripture, and also speculates further into what heaven may be like - again using Christian scripture as the guide for his exploration.

I've not read quite so gentle and encouraging a book on heaven before. C.S. Lewis' writing was the most helpful to me on this subject before I read this book. Roberts' approach is consistent with, but flavored differently from that of Lewis. While following a quite sound line of reasoning, Arthur Roberts manages to transfer something of his own encouragement about heaven. In a disarming and subtle way, he draws the reader in to his encouragement, "letting heaven fill your thoughts".

I highly recommend this book. Don't read it all at once, though it is an easy read. Or refer to it over time to let Roberts' thoughts percolate through your own, and be encouraged.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." [NIV]

Roberts' book helped make Jesus' words real for me.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It really is about exploring, August 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Exploring Heaven: What Great Christian Thinkers Tell Us About Our Afterlife with God (Hardcover)

The subtitle ot this book may be a bit misleading if it causes us to assume this is a book only for historians and theologians. Though they will surely enjoy it, this is really a book for all us who wonder whether there is a heaven at all, and if there is, what it might be like for ourselves and those we love. That must be why Arthur Roberts used the word "Exploring" in the title. The book is in one sense an exploration of the various historical and theological interpretations of the biblical teaching about heaven. But it is much more than that. Though Roberts is genuinely fair to other views about heaven, he early in the book declares his own view that heaven is an actual place in which people will each have an actual body, however different from our present body. And from that point on he explores with great fascination what heaven might be like, given what we know from scripture, from science, and from human thought.

This book stimulated my thinking and my curiosity to know still more about heaven, but it also encouraged me greatly. The encouragement was not of the proverbial "pie in the sky by and by" variety, but came through well reasoned and clearly articulated explanations of why it is that "the software of eternity lodges in our systems." It is exciting to think that we have good reasons to believe that "heaven won't diminish but rather will enhance the values and experiences we enjoy on earth."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book with a lot to ponder, April 22, 2006

By 

John Thornton (Midwest) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Exploring Heaven: What Great Christian Thinkers Tell Us About Our Afterlife with God (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book. In "Exploring Heaven" Arthur Roberts covers a huge area of topics. He does so from a very reader friendly position. He admits that there is much to heaven that we can only speculate about. His speculations are based on solid logic and fact. This makes his ideas very plausible and believable. He even covers a bit about hell. I was especially helped by his understanding of how believers in heaven will have a new and perfected body. The social aspects of heaven being both in ways like a rural setting and in other ways like a city were also helpful. As we can only ponder the afterlife, we can here on this fallen world still find joy in following Jesus Christ. For Jesus is the only one who can get us to heaven. The love we experience here between people is a glimpse of what God has in store for those who love Jesus as Savior and Lord.