I’ve had a nice time of remembering some special dates recently, including my father’s, son’s, and husband’s birthdays. We celebrated David’s big day with a Star Wars party, which included a special visit from several of the movies’ characters (friends from our church in terrific costumes). David rescued Princess Leia, then defeated Darth Vader in a light saber duel, to the delight of his friends.
Elsewhere my venerable hometown, Phillipsburg, New Jersey, observed its 150th anniversary with week-long festivities.
And when I purchased stamps at the post office, I chose a sheet that commemorated the 50th anniversary of America’s first manned space flight, Alan Shepherd’s epic journey in April 1961.
Our nation is in the beginning stages of a four-year observance of the Civil War, which began in April 1861, at the same time that Phillipsburg was incorporated as a town.
It’s important to remember such dates in the middle of our everydayness, to honor those we love, as well as those who have contributed to America’s rich heritage, particularly the ones who gave their lives to defend our freedoms.
I think the most important aspect of remembering, however, is to recall what God has done. The Bible is filled with admonitions to remember, recall, look back, consider—the mighty works of God on behalf of His people.
Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “You shall remember the Lord your God.” In Psalm 42, the writer recalls happier times in his faith journey when God put great joy in his heart. Doing so helped him get through his tough, present experience. As God has been faithful in the past, He will prove faithful in the present, and future. He who does not change is faithfulness itself, and He will guide us now and always. Psalm 105:8 says, “He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations. . . . “
Tags: Alan Shepherd, NJ, Phillipsburg
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Although I haven’t followed the story closely about predictions that the end of the world will occur this Saturday, it does ring a distant bell for me as a historian. In Who Goes There? A Cultural History of Heaven and Hell, there is a story about another group who thought they knew the day and the hour of Christ’s return:
“On October 11, 1844, a misguided group of Christians dressed in white robes and climbed to the highest point of buildings, houses, and haystacks to await Christ’s second coming and their glorious ascent into heaven. They had quit their jobs and sold homes and businesses at the encouragement of their spiritual leader, a farmer-turned pastor named William Miller. He believed that according to certain “day-year” calculations of biblical prophecies, he could tell approximately when Christ would return to earth. Some of his zealous supporters thought they could determine the exact time and arrived at October 11, 1844. They were sorely disappointed, as well as discredited, when the sun also rose on October 12, but their premillenial proclivities remained a strong force in some Protestant circles for the rest of the century, and well into the new one.”
I don’t put much faith in those who say they know when Jesus will return because Scripture is clear that that isn’t for us to know, that His coming will take us by surprise. I do believe, though, that we are a lot closer to that hour than those people were back in 1844! Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.
Tags: Harold Camping, Jesus' Second Coming
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The day after Osama Bin Laden’s death, my neighbor and I discussed the event as we pushed our kids’ on their swings.
“I know it sounds bad,” he said, “but I feel like he didn’t suffer enough.”
“God will take care of him,” I assured him.
While the hope of being in God’s presence in heaven sustains believers in Christ who suffer in this world, hell also serves a purpose. It ensures that justice will be served. Joni Earickson Tada says, “Without hell, the ‘why’ behind so much pain will never be resolved. Without hell, there is ultimately no justice or fairness. For God to be God, for heaven to be heaven, there must be a hell. . . . Unless hell exists, there is no justice in the world.” She points to Hitler and his cohorts, those responsible for the monstrous anguish of millions and how “these people were never paid back remotely in proportion to the pain they caused.” Hell ensures that they will get what they deserve. (Excerpted from Who Goes There? p. 214)
This past week I was honored to be a guest on Debbie Chavez’s radio show, and we discussed some of this. If you’d like to listen in, here’s the link:
http://debbiechavezshow.com/2011/05/02/5-2-2011-how-christians-views-of-heaven-and-hell-have-changed.aspx
Tags: Hell, Osama Bin Laden
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It’s been a real privilege to be doing radio shows lately in response to Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins. Here’s a link to some of the comments I’ve made that I hope are helpful to you:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1326562
May you have a blessed Easter in the hope of our risen savior, Jesus Christ!
Tags: Easter, Heaven, Love Wins, Rob Bell
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My publicist at Moody just released the following statement that I’d like to share with you:
MOODY PUBLISHERS eRELEASE
WHO GOES THERE?- A CULTURAL HISTORY OF HEAVEN AND HELL
Rebecca is available for print, radio, television, and web interviews.
To schedule an interview or to request a review copy, contact:
Stephanie S. Smith
(In)dialogue Communications
steph.in.dialogue@gmail.com
443.955.2394 443.955.2394
Historian Says Bell’s Questions of Eternal Destiny Are Not New
Chicago, IL–An overwhelming eighty-five percent of Americans believe that they are destined for heaven, but is this hope taken for granted? In her book Who Goes There? Rebecca Price Janney traces “a cultural history of heaven and hell,” investigating how popular beliefs of the afterlife have been shaped by events such as JFK’s assassination, the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, and the September 11, 2001 attacks. And now, Rob Bell’s latest book, Love Wins, has sparked such a firestorm over his views of heaven and hell that it has opened a whole new chapter in history’s ongoing debate.
Bell’s controversial book poses many questions, Are heaven and hell real places? Who goes where? How do we know and why does it matter? These questions have all been asked before, Janney says, and with a biblical foundation and a panoramic perspective of American history, Janney identifies where these same ideas have shown up in the past and how they influenced popular opinion and lifestyle.
“We dislike the idea that those who die apart from Christ go to hell,” Janney writes in Who Goes There?, but are we willing to let our emotional preference take the lead over truth when souls hang in the balance? Current events, pop culture, and our own emotions color our perspective of eternity more than we may realize.
But Janney believes a right understanding of our eternal destiny is critical, and not just for the end of our lives, but for now, “Living with the hope of Jesus Christ to overcome sin and hell gives meaning and perspective to life, as well as hope, purpose in suffering , and a moral foundation for individuals and society. Believing that we get all this, and heaven too, apart from Christ, is the most dangerous kind of folly.”
SHARE:
Who Goes There? Video, Blog and Website
REBECCA PRICE JANNEY
is a theologically trained historian and the author of 18 books including Then Comes Marriage?- A Cultural History of the American Family, and two young adult series as well as hundreds of articles in magazines and newspapers. She began writing professionally as a teenager when she covered the Philadelphia Phillies for a New Jersey newspaper. Rebecca resides with her husband and son in suburban Philadelphia.
Sample chapter, video, blog and media resources at:
WhoGoesThereBook.com
www.moodypublishers.com
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I’m looking forward to teaching an adult Sunday School class at my church later this month, focused on my book, WHO GOES THERE? A CULTURAL HISTORY OF HEAVEN AND HELL. Seems like hell is actually a hot topic right now, pardon the pun! Pastor Rob Bell’s book, LOVE WINS: A BOOK ABOUT HEAVEN, HELL AND THE FATE OF EVERY PERSON WHO EVER LIVED is causing a sensation even before its official release. This superstar minister actually appears to be saying something very old, although it appears very new to many.
The apostle Paul referred to the gospel of Jesus Christ as a “scandal” because, apart from divine intervention, we can’t accept it. No one wants to hear that he/she is a sinner and will not be able to live eternally in God’s presence apart from the atoning blood of Christ. Nor do we like to acknowledge that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.” We dislike the idea that those who die apart from Christ go to hell. We have become comfortable with the idea of a grandfatherly (or grandmotherly for the ardent feminist) image of God in which He is nothing but loving. We dislike hearing that sinners cannot stand in His holy presence apart from a Savior.
Yet, these things are true. The message that all are saved, by whatever means, is universalism, and it is clearly “another gospel,” no matter who says it or how it’s packaged.
At the end of my book I write:
“Living with the hope of Jesus Christ to overcome sin and hell gives meaning and perspective to life, as well as hope, purpose in suffering , and a moral foundation for individuals and society. Believing that we get all this, and heaven too, apart from Christ, is the most dangerous kind of folly.”
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People often ask me if there were any surprises when I researched my book, THEN COMES MARRIAGE? A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FAMILY. Actually, there were.
I didn’t realize, for example, that in our distant past there were so many blended families. In fact, our nation’s first First Family was blended. George Washington married widow Martha Custis, who had two children, whom he adopted. This was a common pattern because disease and childbirth claimed the lives of so many husbands and wives. It was also a reality that lasted for a very long time; when Abraham Lincoln grew up a century later, he had a stepmother and stepsiblings after his widowed father remarried.
I recently discussed this on American Family Radio. You can “see” part of the discussion on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amibgIAhBUc&feature=youtu.be&a
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington
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My 6 year-old son and I were sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch, listening to the radio for storm information. Because a significant layer of ice had shut down his school and left roads unsafe to navigate, we hunkered down inside with good food, good books, games, and his favorite “Star Wars” video. We had plenty of batteries, candles, and flashlights ready just in case the power went out.
As we sat there listening to reports of a vicious blizzard striking the Midwestern part of the country, David was oblivious, happily chattering away, safe and content. It struck me—he trusted that all would be well because his father and I were there to take care of him.
I started thinking about a story I’d written years ago about Laura Ingalls Wilder and a memorable winter that she and her family endured. From mid-October until May, blizzard after blizzard savaged the Dakota Territory where they lived. Supplies ran dangerously low. The trains couldn’t get through because workers weren’t able to keep the tracks clear long enough for them to come and go. It became a matter of survival. And yet, her family was at peace because they believed in the rock solid stability of God’s provision for them. It was on this that they depended, and by that faith, they prevailed.
In every tempest of our lives, we can rest in the Father’s assurance, “be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Tags: Blizzards, Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Another anniversary is upon us, a sad one that many of you can relate to directly. It was 25 years ago this week that the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift off from Cape Canaveral. In the years following the dramatic Apollo program that took Americans to the moon, NASA began using a workhorse contingent of shuttles that conducted experiments as they orbited the Earth. By the winter of 1986, the flights had become somewhat routine in the eyes of most Americans.
The Challenger piqued the nation’s interest because it marked the first time that a teacher would be going into space. NASA selected New Hampshire social studies instructor Christa McAuliffe from some 11,000 applicants to bear that distinction. With her endearing personality, Mrs. McAuliffe captured the public’s imagination, and thousands of school children gathered in their classrooms to watch the flight on TV. Jennifer Irani Stewart recalls:
?We had closed circuit TV in our high school and they were televising it live for the whole school to watch. At first we all thought it was just extra exhaust. When reality set in what had happened, they shut down the TVs. But it was too late, we had all seen it.”
Jolee Lieberman was a teacher herself at the time and remembers:
“I was teaching kindergarten at a little private school in Virginia. It was a teacher ‘workday.’ The director called us into his office to watch on his TV – the only one in the building. It was awful. I remember my heart in my throat. I think we prayed together in his office. As a teacher I could identify personally with Christa McAuliffe. . . .”
President Ronald Reagan was preparing his State of the Union Address to be delivered that evening when news reached him of the tragedy. Instead, he postponed it and went on TV at 5 PM to speak to Americans about the disaster. His words provided comfort to a grieving nation:
“We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.
“For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. . . And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. . .
“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ’slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’”
(The full text of his speech is available at http://www.reaganfoundation.org/tgcdetail.aspx?p=TG0923RRS&h1=0&h2=0&sw=&lm=reagan &args_a=cms&args_b=1&argsb=N&tx=1745)
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