i’m gonna be changed!

This is a hoot. A strangely familiar view of heaven. Oddly enough, a less erethreal, more concrete, view of heaven is closer to the Biblical teaching on the subject than the other-worldly, cloud filled, view that seems to have hung around the Western church for so long.  Hebraic thinking sees more continuity between God’s creation and the life to come than the distinctly discontiunous Hellenistic idea of heaven.  NT Wright has been the scholar that has most thoroughly debunked the false, dualistic, vision of heaven so common to Christian theology. This is why this strange clip about heaven it is so oddly familiar. I just hope its not filled with boring, mindless, nerds! :-)

May 5, 2007 | Filed Under bizarre, funny |  

Comments

21 Responses to “i’m gonna be changed!”

  1. Matt Stone on May 5th, 2007 2:01 pm

    Haven’t I seen this before? Oh, I know, “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” from 1970. Weird mutants with a strange religion living under the remains of New York. The music and decore even matches.

  2. alan hirsch on May 5th, 2007 4:21 pm

    Matt, you’re right! So that’s why its strangely familar!

  3. Lance Macormic on May 5th, 2007 6:57 pm

    Wow. OK, put aside the cheesy production value. According to this film, not only will the clothes be all white, our skin will be too! And, apparently the preacher is the only one who can be excited about this given the lack of excitement in the crowd.

    Thanks for disturbing my sleep tonight Al.

  4. Andy on May 5th, 2007 11:01 pm

    that was just disturbing…… but on another note i had a chat about this with a mate the other day…. its amazing how the “ethereal heaven” idea is quite often not even questioned… yet ask most people WHY they belive it and you wont get much… at least not much of a biblical answer

    but seriously… disturbing ….

  5. therevhead on May 5th, 2007 11:37 pm

    I wonder if it is possible for us temporal beings to imagine the here-after any other way but anthropomorphistically.

    Whether wedding feasts of lambs, 18K gold street, giant cities descending from the sky, peasants sitting under their very own figtrees, lamb wedding feasts or whatever.

    I picture it as a time when the SAINTS finally get a coach who can get them a flag, for ever and ever amen!!

  6. Sarah Rooney on May 6th, 2007 12:42 am

    This is both funny and kind of creepy.

    It makes me realize how much I appreciate how far the Church has come, and that I live in an era of releasing heaven in the earth (your kingdom come here as it is in heaven), rather than waiting to get to (some warped version of) heaven. It’s sad that no one told the wheelchair bound woman that she didn’t have to wait until heaven to be healed. It also makes me think, what will my grandchildren think when they look back at how limited our understanding is today?

  7. Mike on May 6th, 2007 4:33 am

    Yeah, but you’ve got to admit… he had that congregation eating out of his hand.

  8. Jamie Arpin-Ricci on May 6th, 2007 6:06 am

    It seems like a misguided and thankfully lost episode of the original Star Trek. Entertainingly creepy. Thanks Alan… I think.

    Peace,
    Jamie

  9. Deebs on May 6th, 2007 10:12 am

    yeah mike,

    it was either eating out of his hand or completely perplexed… did you see the guy in the front row flicking through his bible like a good listener… but i reckon he was thinking “what the %”#$? where’s he getting this?” i don’t swear much, but that sermon would’ve driven me to the edge i think. ehehehehe

    my favourite part is the old scare tactic at the end - looking straight down the barrel of the camera, cos it is after all, a personal moment! and really, after the quality visuals provided and the great descriptions, how could one resist!

  10. Bob Carder on May 7th, 2007 12:24 pm

    If that is heaven, I think I’ll just stay home, well my home recently burned down and so did my Gold Wing, wife’s car and my truck. On second thought, I would rather stay in my apartment! Is that wrong?

  11. Alan Hirsch on May 7th, 2007 12:32 pm

    And miss the big new house, the nice new body, and the streets paved with gold? Yeah! Something is wrong with you Bob! :-)

  12. Janet on May 7th, 2007 7:47 pm

    My biggest concern is that fashion designers periodically try to revive the 70’s look. Come on folks, have a close look… it was horrible the first time. Never again… please.

    And while I’m writing hopelessly superficial comments… am I the only person who’s read one of those “near death experience” books? Reading “Return from Tomorrow” by George Ritchie was a spin out for me… not in the way this clip is… but this book and others seem to suggest there is a conscious life after death (and prior to the final judgment, resurrection, whatever).

    Not that I’m overly focused on the next life… but Paul seemed to think the resurrection really matters… “If the dead are not raised, ‘let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die’” (I Cor 15:32Open Link in New Window)

  13. Celtic Son on May 8th, 2007 3:00 pm

    C’mon Janet…

    the late 70’s brought in the punk movement, it was fantastic… or maybe that’s nostalgia upsetting reality again… like the film clip.

    Slainte

    A Celtic Son

  14. Celtic Son on May 8th, 2007 3:53 pm

    There was a juxtaposition when I went to YouTube - the other clips were Ted Haggard on “human sexuality” and a clip from Romper Stomper… I wondered if one was meant to be hell ;-)

    Slainte

    A Celtic Son

  15. Janet on May 8th, 2007 4:36 pm

    The punk look has never gone away… but I’d peg that crowd as very early 70’s, which is about as low as fashion can go.

  16. Alan Hirsch on May 8th, 2007 5:40 pm

    Actually I really like retro looks. Especially the furniture. Particularly the 60’s. Everything was genuinely original then. Now its just rehashes of past fashions.

  17. Peggy Brown on May 9th, 2007 4:26 am

    You know, Janet, I do hear a great deal about consciousness after death but before the resurrection. What do you think Paul meant when he said that to be gone from the body in this life was to be with the Lord?

    Just wondering what you think….anyone?

  18. Janet on May 9th, 2007 5:22 pm

    I agree the 60’s look is very cool… but seriously, take another look at that front row. That is the fashion equivalent of a crime against humanity. Revive the 60’s by all means… but the 70’s? Ugh, ugh, ugh.

    Peggy… I actually think it means to be with the Lord immediately, that biblical references to the saints who “sleep” is from an earthly human perspective, and that near death experiences are an actual phenomenon of the human spirit leaving the body, not some kind of “brain shutting down” hallucination.

    I have no trouble with people who disagree with me… it’s a non core issue in relation to faith… but with modern resusitation techniques there are literally thousands of people who’ve had “out of body near death experiences”… and I’m one of these people who thinks it’s quite legitimate to rework one’s theology based on new information (think Galileo).

    I have talked to some people who are adamant about “soul sleep” pre the return of Christ. Whatever. I think the NDE phenomenon points to conscious life continuing after death and before the final resurrection and judgment.

  19. Alan Hirsch on May 9th, 2007 6:18 pm

    Jan–the dag factor kicks in with the fact that these are 70’s Christians! You can’t judge an entire culture based on their fashion or lack of it!!

  20. Janet on May 9th, 2007 8:27 pm

    I suppose the fact I was raised as a “70’s Christian” means every photo of my adolescence is a deeply tragic image. But for the mercy of school uniforms. I’m a scarred soul, Alan….

  21. Peggy Brown on May 10th, 2007 12:21 pm

    Amen, Janet…and I had not the mercy of school uniforms…nor will I be sharing photos ;)

Leave a Reply




Comment spam protected by SpamBam

Copyright © 2008 The Forgotten Ways • Linear WordPress Theme • Powered by WordPress • Maintained by Noble Design