Gene Edward Veith is most certainly to be commended for so much in “Only One Road to Heaven?” (September 2007), but he most certainly contradicts himself when he states, “The very concept of ‘heaven’ … is a distinctly Christian belief. Supplemented with the belief in the resurrection of the body, the Christian teaching … means that you yourself, in all your personality and memories and relationships, will live forever, purged of all your sins and weaknesses, and that you will know your loved ones and be in communion with Christ Himself.”
With all my personality and memories and relationships? I hope not. Does this mean I will still be impatient in heaven? Will I remember being in New York City and the horror of watching the towers fall on 9/11? When the Mormon missionaries came to our door some years ago and asked my wife, “Would you like to know how you can live with your husband forever in heaven?,” she responded, “Guys, you’re talking to the wrong woman!” When the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by asking Him about the woman who had been married to seven brothers, saying, “In the afterlife, whose wife will she be?,” Jesus responded by saying, “Don’t you know that marriage is for this life?” (emphasis added).
We dare not say too much— no more than the Scriptures say! I prefer to let God’s Word describe heaven in images I simply cannot yet understand: as a child playing safely with a cobra; as the Bride of Christ coming down out of heaven in all her beauty for her Husband; as the countless number of hosts around the throne of the Lamb, singing His praises; as an eternal blessed existence that is completely void of tears and sorrow and death. Yes, to depart and be face to face, in full communion with Christ! That’s enough for me to know right now. Anything
more than that is just speculation.
Rev. Mark Carnahan
Hot Springs Village, Ark.
I am writing in regards to your Sept. 2007 article Only one road to Heaven? by Gene Edward Veith. I felt like he contradicted himself and also stated a view that is not Biblical on page 8. He states in the beginning, John 14:6, that Jesus is “the way, and the truth and life…no one comes to the Father except through Me.” Under his paragraphs entitled ‘Isn’t it unfair for God to condemn non-Christians,” he states, “We, as well as the people we are witnessing to, need to realize that no one is condemned for not believing in Jesus. People are condemned for their sins.” Jesus already paid for our sins, and it is unbelief that is the “unforgiveable” sin that sends people to hell. That is what John 3:16 states! We are condemned for our unbelief or no faith in Jesus–not our sins! With God’s great commission, we are still waiting for His Word to be brought to the”ends of the earth.” It’s God’s business to know the hearts of people and not ours to determine ” who is holy and sinless,” as he
states on pg 9.
I feel it is your responsibility to reread these articles before they are published. You missed the boat on this one. We need to stand on the truths of Christ’s word and not waiver back and forth–even when writing an article.
Debbie Mueller
Cordes Lakes, AZ
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