Heaven is Not My Home: Learning to Live in God's Creation [Paperback]

Paul Marshall (Author), Lela Hamner Gilbert (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 19, 1999

In Heaven Is Not My Home, author and scholar Paul Marshall asserts that God is not seeking to destroy the earth, but to restore it to its original splendor. In this thought-provoking book, he shows us how the redemption of all things should shape the way we look at every aspect of our lives.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers (December 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849990408
• ISBN-13: 978-0849990403
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #740,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Biblical view of all of creation, April 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Heaven Is Not My Home (Hardcover)

This book encapsulates and summarizes much of my own struggle with Western Christianity. If my faith is true, then why is it that it seems only to speak of what is beyond this life? Is there not meaning to life here? Is there not inherent value in work itself, or in art, or even in play?

This book is not only a strong challenge to commonly held Christian perspectives, it is wonderfully freeing. It means that I can find God in even the simplest and "menial" of tasks - not just those so-called higher things associated with church and "spiritual" life. It lays to rest the dualist heresy many evangelicals live.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for relating one's faith to today's culture, February 6, 1999

By 

[e-mail] Stephen Lazarus (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heaven Is Not My Home (Hardcover)

If the Christian church can be called a sleeping giant, than this book is without a doubt its wake-up call.

Using very clear language, vivid description, and intriguing personal stories, this book drives home the point that Christians are called to be at home in God's world, and about the King's business, rather than always attempting to escape this world.

The impressive endorsements by notable figures such as evangelical theologian J.I. Packer ring true as one reads chapter after surprising and enjoyable chapter. This book will help the church discover a very old and orthodox truth: Christ frees us up to be fully human and radically engaged in realizing in the here and now his age-old purposes for his world. No, it will not all burn in the end as some milennium fear-mongers would have us believe. God has not fashioned the works of his hands to end in futility, but to be infused with meaning and purpose. Rather with Christ's return, our world--perfected with its redeemed and transformed people, animals, institutions, and ALL that God has made--will ineed blaze brilliantly with the glory of its Creator.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Catalyst for Thinking Christianly About God's World, April 17, 2000

By 

Gregory Dunn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heaven Is Not My Home (Hardcover)

This book is one of the best introductions to Christian worldview thinking I have read and should prompt one to more robust reflection on the many ways one's commitment to Christ should form all of life. Marshall's treatment is thoroughly biblical, and he writes in an engaging style. He first explains the Reformed pattern of Creation-Fall-Redemption-Consummation and then explores its impact on our learning, our work, our rest, and our play, as well as its implications for how we think about the natural world, politics, the arts, and technology, among other topics. Throughout, he utilizes clear illustrations and helpful applications that make the biblical principles concrete. (For example, his discussion about how to think about the way we dress is alone worth the price of admission.) All told, Heaven Is Not My Home is an excellent catalyst for thinking Christianly about God's world.