The new heavens and the new earth

As Christians, we speak a lot about the Resurrection of Christ. We consider it as a tangible, material and undeniable sign of God's love that saves mankind. We also speak of the resurrection of the dead, or resurrection of the flesh, at the end of time. We consider it as the quintessence of Christian hope, and we see in it an affirmation of the value of matter.

But we must ask ourselves further: where will the resurrected men be? What kind of material environment will they have? They are not angels, they are not pure spirits: they will have to step somewhere, they will have to relate to other people, they will have to relate to a "world".

"Term" or purpose?
In the seventh century, Julian of Toledo wrote: "The world, already renewed for the better, will be adapted according to men, who in their turn will also be renewed in the flesh for the better" (Prognosticon 2, 46). St. Thomas said that in the future life "the whole bodily creation will be modified in an appropriate way to be in harmony with the state of those who inhabit it" (IV C. Gent., 97). And the French writer Charles Péguy said it with great conviction: "In my heaven there will be things".

But, in reality, what is striking in the New Testament are the statements about the future destruction of the world. "Then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be" (Mt 24:21). Graphically, the Gospels describe a wide range of signs that indicate the approaching end: the collapse of human society, the triumph of idolatry and irreligion, the spread of war, great cosmic calamities.

However, it is not a question of a definitive destruction, of the world gradually or suddenly coming to an end, as the philosophers Michel Foucault and Jacques Monod thought. For the Christian faith, it must be said that the world has an end, in the sense of a finality, but not an end in the sense of the moment when it will cease to exist.

For this reason, Scripture speaks in various ways of "the new heavens and the new earth": already in the Old Testament (Is 65:17), but especially in the New Testament. Particularly important are two quotations, one from St. Paul and the other from St. Peter. Similar texts are found in the Book of Revelation (21:1-4).

Renewing redemption
To the Romans, Paul writes: "The anxious expectation of the creation longs for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation is subjected to vanity, not by its own will, but by him who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself also will be set free from the bondage of corruption to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Rom 8:19-21). Just as sin introduced death and destruction into the world, Paul tells us, the redemption that Christ won and by which he made us children of God will renew the world forever, filling it with divine glory.
And in the Second Letter of St. Peter (3:10-13) we read: "The day of the Lord will come like a thief.

Then the heavens will be shaken apart, the elements will be dissolved with a roar, and the earth with all that is in it" (v. 10, cf. v. 12). For this reason he exhorts believers to be watchful: "If all these things are thus to be destroyed, how much more ought you to conduct yourselves in a holy and godly manner, as you wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God!" (vv. 11-12).
Nevertheless, the text continues, "we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (v. 13). And again the faithful are exhorted: "Therefore, my dearly beloved, as you wait for these events, take care that he finds you in peace, spotless and blameless" (v. 14).

What remains?
Peter's message is spiritual and ethical, certainly, but it is based on the divine promise of a cosmic renewal. There will be destruction and renewal, there will be discontinuity and continuity between this world and "the new heavens and the new earth". But we can ask ourselves: of all that men do and build here on earth, what will remain forever? Is it merely the continuity of the virtues that men have lived and will retain forever in heaven, in particular charity? Or will there also be found in the beyond something of the great works that men have shaped together with others: works of science, art, architecture, legislation, literature, etc.? The Second Vatican Council's constitution Gaudium et Spes explains it this way: "We are warned that it is of no use for man to gain the whole world if he loses himself. Nevertheless, the expectation of a new earth should not dampen, but rather alleviate, the concern to perfect this earth, where the body of the new human family grows, which can in some way anticipate a glimpse of the new century. Therefore, although temporal progress and the growth of the kingdom of Christ must be carefully distinguished, nevertheless, the former, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human society, is of great interest to the kingdom of God" (n. 39).

Yet the new heavens and the new earth will be God's work. What we find in them is not of our own making. Even so, it seems logical that something of what we have made with God and for God will accompany us in some way forever. But only God knows how.