Paradise in the New Testament (Non-Exhaustive)

Hawaii (trekearth.com)




Australia, Victoria

November 20, 2010

This post was completed in writing on November 20th, but the post date is December 1. Why? Well, I only want to generally publish four articles per month, two per blog. My last Biblical Studies post on this blog did better than I expected as far as public response. In December things may slow down due to Christmas time and so I very well may want to have my some of my 'December' public blog interaction done in November. With my new scanner recently purchased, I actually have a scanner once again, my old scanner was broken two years ago. I can now scan the New Testament Greek rather than having to look it all up online. This makes writing Biblical Studies posts more reasonable in my opinion. Also the work is now much less of a hassle than searching the web for a Greek root word with the proper ending and then copying and pasting, but still it is a hassle with scanning the books again and again with the machine and looking up technical words. A different kind of hassle than theological and philosophical posts but still a hassle. But hassle is my middle name apparently, well actually it is Norman, but at least now it starts with Dr.;)

Paradise from the New Testament Greek


Strong page 1035.


Strong page 72. The scan is not perfect but the best of several attempts! I do not have a personal assistant, nor is my scanner huge.


Marshall page 257. Paradise from Luke 43.


Marshall page 545. Paradise from 2 Corinthians. I tried to include more text but the way the book fit on the scanner it was distorted. I will leave distortion of the Scripture intentionally to the cults and those with major agendas.;)











Marshall page 727. Paradise from Revelation 2: 7.

Commentary


Bauer on page 614 describes Paradise from Luke 23, 2 Corinthians 12 and Revelation 2 as a place above the earth. Now from my philosophical/theological perspective I do not take this plain literally, as in some place in the clouds, or above the clouds, or even beyond the solar system or beyond the physical Universe, as in a place that can be physically found via space/travel.

The Bible teaches that Paradise is a place where spirits in Christ go after death, and Old Testament/Hebrew Bible saints went to spiritually after death.

The Bible teaches this using figurative literal language.

Therefore, I would conclude Paradise is a place of the non-physical spiritual realm.

Now, in discussion at church and with my theological/philosophical friends over the years I have speculated that because human beings are used to and made for physicality, Paradise may consist of, and I state may consist of, a simulated physicality that seems like earth to the persons that are there.

On the other hand there is the school of thought that when one dies in Christ he or she may almost immediately awaken in the resurrected body making the Paradise references strongly metaphorical as opposed to figurative literal. This will not be immediate, but will seem to be.

This is certainly orthodox and possible, but I question whether Jesus meant this by the use of 'today' to the criminal on the cross. Strong notes that it has to do with now and present. Strong (1890)(1986: 87).


There is also the issue of Paul's 2 Corinthians reference and his willingness to consider departing the body to be with the Lord in Philippians 1.

BAUER, W (1979) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Translated by Eric H. Wahlstrom, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.

MARSHALL, ALFRED (1975)(1996) The Interlinear KJV-NIV, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.

STRONG, J. (1890)(1986) Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Pickering, Ontario, Welch Publishing Company.