Sunday, October 19, 2003

Karen Armstrong on Heaven and Hell

This by Karen Armstrong in yesterday's Guardian:

This is Our Heaven -- or Hell

The opening line: "The Bishop of Durham has recently suggested that a belief in heaven or hell is not a core tenet of Christianity." This is not quite what he said (see previous blog entry) and my guess is we'll see a letter from Tom Wright in The Guardian before too long (watch this space). One or two other items in the article are a bit debatable, e.g.
When Jesus described the Kingdom of Heaven, he too expected its inauguration in this world. Indeed, in St Mark's gospel, he began his mission with the news that the Kingdom of God had already arrived. People would find it within themselves.

The first part of this is very C. H. Dodd; I don't think anyone defends that kind of realised eschatology for Mark now, do they? And the second part is at best Luke rather than Mark. But hey, Karen Armstrong knows loads more than I do about other religions and the history of God, so I'll shut up.

No comments: