New Earth

[syo]

According to Christians, God will destroy this world and then he will create a New Earth, and he will take with him the good people who proved themselves in the current Earth. This means that the world as it is of now is an ugly world. Our world, our Earth are ugly and they need to be destroyed. Did I understood the message of christianity correctly?

At least it explains the atrocities christians did to the unbelievers.

 

[YmirGF]

I have always found it to be an utterly repulsive idea, myself. Just the psychology behind the idea is so warped as to underscore the preposterous nature of idea. How it ever gained traction I'll never understand completely. (I'm not altogether sure I want to understand.)

 

[WalterTrull]

I'm thinking the earth we see is merely our impression and rationalization of it. That'll improve. The idea of Christ is that we'll get help doing that. Hopefully, as the ship sinks, we won't huddle in our state rooms. That could be pretty painful.

 

[syo]

I'm thinking the earth we see is merely our impression and rationalization of it. That'll improve. The idea of Christ is that we'll get help doing that. Hopefully, as the ship sinks, we won't huddle in our state rooms. That could be pretty painful.

I'm a pagan and I see Earth as our mother. How can christianity say that our mother Earth is ugly??? Our thought of Earth is ugly? why? Why do we need a new earth?

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

The accepted western text starts with God creating a beautiful living garden Earth, filled with life...at the end of Revelations, the garden is replaced by a glowing city of stone and gold...with the only living things being those Saved by God to dwell there in the perfect unliving place...

at least that's how I've read the texts...and I've heard lots of Christians in my life that agree with that assessment. I've also met a lot that disagree with it, too...

 

[sun rise]

Did I understood the message of christianity correctly?

It's a message, with a different religious twist in many religions New heavens and a new earth - Oneness of Religions

 

[InChrist]

According to Christians, God will destroy this world and then he will create a New Earth, and he will take with him the good people who proved themselves in the current Earth. This means that the world as it is of now is an ugly world. Our world, our Earth are ugly and they need to be destroyed. Did I understood the message of christianity correctly?

At least it explains the atrocities christians did to the unbelievers.

No, I don't think you understand the idea or purpose of the new earth and heavens at all.

First, according to the biblical scriptures, God created the earth and it was beautiful and good. Human sin, greed. and abuse have caused the ugliness, harm and destruction. Just look around and read the news to see this is true. God's creation is beautiful, human destruction is ugly. Secondly, God is not taking with Him "good people who have proven themselves". He will remove all that is sinful and destructive and replace it with a new heaven and earth where there is no more damage, harm, pain, or suffering. Those who live in the new heaven and earth are those who desire freedom from sin and it's damaging effect, those whose lives have been transformed and made new by grace...not proving themselves, not by trying to be good or better than others, but through the love, grace and goodness of a new eternal life in Christ.

 

[WalterTrull]

I'm a pagan and I see Earth as our mother. How can christianity say that our mother Earth is ugly??? Our thought of Earth is ugly? why? Why do we need a new earth?

Well, I’m not a pagan, but I can sort of understand “mother earth”. Mothers provide a safe environment for us until we can stand on our own. We eventually leave our mothers and move on though. I don’t believe the earth is ugly, rather our impression of it. Again, I figure we’ll get help with straightening out those impressions.

 

[Axe Elf]

According to Christians, God will destroy this world and then he will create a New Earth, and he will take with him the good people who proved themselves in the current Earth. This means that the world as it is of now is an ugly world. Our world, our Earth are ugly and they need to be destroyed. Did I understood the message of christianity correctly?

First of all, I wouldn't call the few verses that talk about a new heaven and a new Earth "the message of Christianity," and secondly, no, you didn't understand it correctly.

God's not going to build a giant space ark to take all the righteous people to another planet while He destroys the Earth because it's ugly. As any astrophysicist knows, the Earth and the Sun and this solar system are all doomed anyway--even if you don't believe in God, we know the Earth will one day be destroyed as it is swallowed up in the fire of an expanding Sun.

Hey, that sounds an awful lot like 2 Peter 3:7&10...

"By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly."
"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare."

When John saw "a new heaven and a new earth" in Revelation 21:1-4, he wasn't seeing a new physical planet, he was seeing a new environment where God dwells with us--a new ground that wasn't the familiar ground (and there was no sea) and a new sky that wasn't the familiar sky--in short, what we typically call "heaven."

"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"

 

[syo]

First of all, I wouldn't call the few verses that talk about a new heaven and a new Earth "the message of Christianity," and secondly, no, you didn't understand it correctly.

God's not going to build a giant space ark to take all the righteous people to another planet while He destroys the Earth because it's ugly. As any astrophysicist knows, the Earth and the Sun and this solar system are all doomed anyway--even if you don't believe in God, we know the Earth will one day be destroyed as it is swallowed up in the fire of an expanding Sun.

Hey, that sounds an awful lot like 2 Peter 3:7&10...

"By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly."
"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare."

When John saw "a new heaven and a new earth" in Revelation 21:1-4, he wasn't seeing a new physical planet, he was seeing a new environment where God dwells with us--a new ground that wasn't the familiar ground (and there was no sea) and a new sky that wasn't the familiar sky--in short, what we typically call "heaven."

"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"

I see. But the new reality will be beautiful, while the current reality is ugly, no?

 

[Axe Elf]

I see. But the new reality will be beautiful, while the current reality is ugly, no?

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I believe in an omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipotent God, so I am forced to conclude that we live in the best of all possible universes--and I see a lot of beauty in that. But it's hard to say that heaven won't be "beautifuller."