Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 73(2) May 2023
Book Review
As It Is in Heaven. Some Christian Questions on the Nature of Paradise
by Caitlin Smith Gilson Cascade Books.
Reviewed by Pravin Thevasathan
The
author of this excellent work argues that we have lost our desire for God.
We do not see our longing for heaven and for our resurrected bodies as
something so central to our faith. The work is somewhat difficult in parts
but the overall message is clear enough: our work, our friendships, our
marital lives, in short, everything needs to be immersed in God.
To have a "real" belief in God is a necessity of our faith. Part of the problem is that we have such a limited understanding of what is meant by heaven. Without this strong faith, we lose hope. We try and create heaven on earth, a socialist paradise. We know what a disaster that has been.
Or we tell someone who has lost a loved one that they have gone to a "better place." Death is still seen in an entirely negative way. This is hardly in keeping with St Paul's teaching that we should be looking forward to eternal life with great joy. This book reminds us that heaven is the summit of human existence. We suffer in this world due to our yearning for God, for our true home: heaven is our homecoming.
Heaven is realised in Christ. When we are united with Christ, our flesh and blood become much more than transitory things. Our desire for heaven completes us. We are unworthy of so great a gift and only Christ can give us this gift. Only Christ fulfils our desire for intimacy because only Christ can give us permanence: all other intimacies are but transient reflections of our union in Christ.
This book is for philosophers and theologians. But it can also be profitably used by counsellors.