Here is a Spiritual Conundrum submitted to Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life by a reader named JoRena:
Hello, Lee. I’ve been reading on your website for a few years since my husband of 47 years went to Heaven. And I cannot wait to be with him again. We had a very deep and abiding love all those years.
My question is, if all the things John saw in Revelation are in the spirit, please explain the part of the second coming of Jesus where it says every eye will see him. Is He coming to earth?
And on another note, is the earth flat? I know heavenly bodies are mentioned in the Bible, but are literal planets mentioned?
Hi JoRena,
First, I’m glad the articles here have given you comfort and hope for reuniting with your beloved husband, who has moved on to the spiritual world. For those reading in, I have posted many articles about marriage as an eternal relationship. Here is one to start with: “How does Marriage Fit In with a Spiritual Life? Is There Marriage in Heaven?”
On to your questions. Really, they’re all connected. Revelation 1:7 says:
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. So it is to be. Amen.
If the earth is flat, this might be physically possible. Jesus could appear very high in the clouds, so that the eyes of everyone on the flat expanse of the earth could see him—especially if he came in “radiance and glory.”
But what if the earth is spherical? (Spoiler: It is!) No matter how high in the clouds Jesus appeared, most of the earth’s population would not see him. Only the eyes of people who were within a few dozen miles of the particular clouds he came in would see him. For everyone else, he would be hidden by the curvature of the earth.
Does this mean the Bible is ridiculously outdated and wrong, as many skeptics and atheists say, while pointing at passages such as this one?
Only if we take it literally. But if we read it spiritually, this verse takes on a whole new—and much deeper—meaning. And if the Bible is the Word of God, as Christians believe, doesn’t it make sense that it is meant to deliver a spiritual message?
For more on the physical and spiritual eyes, please click here to read on.
Oh yes, the memes are circulating!
These same Christians may get very discouraged when, after the excitement of converting and being baptized has passed, they return to their daily life and find themselves falling right back into some of the same evil desires and sinful actions they thought had been completely washed away by the waters of baptism.
Is spanking biblical?
What is lacking in these New Age ideas is a clear understanding of Swedenborg’s concept of distinct levels and gradual levels (“discrete degrees” and “continuous degrees” in traditional Swedenborgianese). This is the subject of Part 3 of Divine Love and Wisdom (#
During the time my wife and I have been living in Soweto, Johannesburg, since we moved here from the United States in January of 2020, it has become clear to me how strong a role the ancestors play in African community and spiritual life. Funerals here are not perfunctory affairs as they often are in the U.S. They are ongoing cultural observances that extend over weeks, months, and even years, highlighted by specific ceremonies and rituals. Recently, I was honored to attend a traditional Xhosa ceremony in Eastern Cape that took place over two decades after the person remembered in the ceremony had passed on from this world.
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