Bringing Heaven Down to Earth: Connecting This Life to the Next

by Nathan L.K. Bierma

Heaven continues to be a neglected element of the Christian life. We profess it to be eternally important and then live as if it doesn't exist. By taking a new look at the biblical picture of heaven, Nathan Bierma shows readers how heaven can be a relevant, meaningful, inspiring engine of Christian faith and kingdom service. With this new outlook on our eternal destiny, we can live with godly purpose in our vocation, citizenship, recreation, and worship.

199 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

Reviews

[Benjamin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Nathan L.K. Bierma was ok. 2.5 stars. First the good. Two main points stand out, 1) Bierma helps the reader comprehend that heaven will not be a floaty, non-corporeal, place where everyone is singing worship songs and playing harps. 2) Chapter seven, “Thinking Big: Connecting Heavenly Hope to Daily Life”, is the highlight of the book. In this chapter he lightly connects the heavenization of earth with more than just saving souls to get out of earth, as many Evangelicals believe is the goal of Christianity. He labels that message as the small gospel (think the Billy Graham message of salvation), he corrects that perspective by affirming the importance of that personal salvific experience but reminds the reader that the “big gospel” is the story of how God is redeeming all things -nature, culture, and human beings. This helps Christians have more of a Kuyperian view (comprehensive Lordship). Now to the not so good. 1) Bierma being a journalist in my opinion took way to long to hit the punch line, around 80 pages in my opinion. 2) Had way to many. citations and quotes that seemed quite irrelevant 3) Based most of his argumentation on 2 Peter 3, and gave no exegetical backing for it 4) And here is my biggest qualm with it. The title gives way to a book that is about to teach/encourage you in how to agree with the Lord in heavenizing earth, bringing his will to full expression on earth, but that is not what the book is talking about. It is mainly correcting your views of the eternal state, so that you dwell upon it correctly, however, much of the book was very “two kingdom”, “amillennial”, “pietistic”, goo. Lots of Keller “third-way isms” quotations, heavy emphasis on the rich, the poor, etc. And even a quote from Ron Sider the social gospel advocate of the 80’s (David Chilton wrote a wonderful refutation of his works by the name of Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt-manipulators). I was looking for more of a Paradise Restored 2.0 and sadly this was not that!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how Bierma not only looks at what the Bible teaches about heaven (and what it does not, but what has seeped into our cultural consciousness), but also how those understandings should affect the very lives that we live from day to day. Bierma is an excellent writer. This book is easy to read, yet challenging in what it discusses. Definitely recommend.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The vision of heaven articulated in this book is powerfully attractive to me. Not only does it provide something to look forward to (in the way that a hazy clouds-and-bunnies picture cannot), but it also dignifies life in this world, the very world that is to be renewed and restored. I especially appreciated learning about the connection between the destroying fire of II Peter and the refiner's fire of Malachi, and how the inscription on the Roman denarius illuminates Jesus' instructions to "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." I hope this book will provide fresh insights to those that haven't given heaven much thought.

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book if you want to consider heaven and life from a different perspective - one that isn't all soft music, flying babies and shiny things. It's evident that Bierma has done his research as he paints a picture of a different afterlife and provides a meta-narrative worth considering.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read that has directly impacted my life and my worldview. No longer will I focus just on the salvation of myself, my children, and my husband. I intend to focus on impacting culture, community, family, and creation. Christ came to redeem the cosmos, not just people.