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Grounded in Heaven

Eschatology and ethics are joined at the hip, says Michael Allen, and both need theocentric reorientation. In  Grounded in Heaven Allen retrieves the traditional concept of the beatific vision and seeks to bring Christ back into the heart of our theology and our lives on earth. Responding to the earthly-mindedness of much recent theology, Allen places his focus on God and the heavenly future while also appreciating ways in which the Reformed tradition provides a unique angle on broadly catholic concerns. Reaching back to classical ethics as well as its reformation by Calvin and other Reformed theologians,  Grounded in Heaven offers a distinctly Protestant account of the ascetical calling to be heavenly-minded and to deny one’s self.

Richard Belcher carefully sifts recent approaches to Old Testament wisdom . . . This thoughtful book, like the wisdom it seeks to explore, will open up fresh horizons of reflection, and . . . make its readers wiser than they were before.

D. A. Carson, Founder

“Christians the world over pray as Jesus taught them, saying, ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ Michael Allen digs up new treasures from this phrase, arguing that heavenly hope—for eternal life in fellowship with the triune God—ought to inform our earthly way of life. The four chapters in this book work variations on the theme that the norms for Christian behavior today (ethics) are related to our hope for tomorrow (eschatology). Contra Marx, it turns out that heaven is not the opiate of the people, lulling them into indifference to present injustices, but a potent stimulant to work for the good of others, denying oneself and, in the process, communicating God’s goodness and displaying God’s coming kingdom. Allen’s call to heavenly-mindedness on earth is a provocative corrective to the contemporary emphasis on earth-bound conceptions of heaven.”

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology

“Can we still say, with the disciple Philip, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied’ (John 14:8)? Is the desire of our hearts ordered to everlasting communion with the Holy Trinity, so that eternal life will rejoice us insofar as we share in Life? Instructed preeminently by John Calvin and John Owen, Michael Allen urges that our encounter with Jesus Christ’s eschatological words and deeds must give us the spiritual-mindedness and self-denial that configure us (and this world) to the Lord whom we love. Ecumenical readers will find this book to be, at its core, an exercise in sound biblical and Augustinian good sense.”

Matthew Levering , James N. and Mary D. Perry, Jr. Chair of Theology
Dr. R. Michael
Dr. R. Michael Allen
Dr. Damein
Dr. Damein Schitter

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