Spanish and other Atrocities & Delights

Have just finished my first week of Spanish Lessons! But more on that soon. Off to Pepsi Cola (Pensicola) early tomorrow for the ECM Bi Annual Conference. Should be a gas! Should be plenty of it on the 7 or so hour drive to the Catalan Country, near Barcelona. Viva Barca for the UEFA Cup! Thought I'd give a run down on one of the great books I've read. Hopefully more to come.

What’s being read: “Heaven & Hell” by Edwand Donnelly Banner of Truth

Ouch! a touchy subject, at least the second part which Donnelly deals with first up. It is good that he begins with Hell because it leaves the reader with a very buoyant and utterly inspiring view of Heaven to finish on. He doesn’t hold back and presents the biblical view of hell in a stark yet sympathetic way.

The problem with Hell is that less and less, even evangelical Christians believe in it. He mentions and refers to John Stott’s views for anyone who may be interested. Donnelly exposes sin as the base problem in not wanting to acknowledge Hell, and also our lack of concern for our sin and the vast chasm it creates between us and the Holy God.

The book is practical and has suggestions, challenges, insights and compassion for the non-Christian reader, the Christian reader, those whose family have died and were not, as far as one could tell Christian, and for those who have lost Christian family. It answers many tough questions.

The overall practical impact was to enthuse and drive me to evangelize and pray for my non-Christian friends. The book also articulates many of the thoughts on the New Heaven and Earth that I have wondered and spoken about; in short a totally renovated Creation, where Heaven comes down to Earth, making all things new.

The book is very God centered and brings glory to God in the doctrines of both Hell and Heaven. The best book I’ve read so far this year, besides the Bible. It filled me with hope and inspired my devotion and thankfulness to Jesus for the salvation that he has won for God’ people.

One point I would love to raise with Professor Donnelly is the intermediate state of the believer between death and the resurrection. Donnelly is orthodox in his view of body & soul separation, yet uses the rich man and Lazarus in other parts of the book to speak of the chasm between Heaven and Hell failing to see that if this is to be taken literally, which Donnelly does then it implies that the rich man has a physical body. He asks that Lazarus dip his finger in water and come and cool his tongue (Luke 16 verse 24).

The Hebrew view of personhood as body and soul always together as well hints from the New Testament lead to a view of the resurrection which is not bound by linear time but means that the Christian on death goes to be with Jesus with a resurrected body, see especially Jesus’ argument with the Sadducees in Mark 12 verses 18 to 27 where the very point he is making is that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have been resurrected. But this is just a very minor point of difference in a book that is rich in amazing insights.

Rating: ****/5