Will We Eat in the Resurrection?

[Josh]

Justus asked tonight, "will we be able to eat in heaven?"

What do you all think?

[moritz]

Oct 4, 2010 19:55:36 GMT -8 Josh said:

Justus asked tonight, "will we be able to eat in heaven?"

What do you all think?

Follow-up questions: will poo still stink in heaven?

Will there be obesity?

Man, everybody knows there'll be no eating in heaven. Eating is too profane for heaven. Souls don't have mouths to fill with food and no body or brain to provide with energy. ;D

Jokes aside, tell your son not to ask such troublemaking questions. He might uncover a lot of offputting incoherences.

[Josh]

Man, everybody knows there'll be no eating in heaven. Eating is too profane for heaven. Souls don't have mouths to fill with food and no body or brain to provide with energy. ;D

You do know that the Bible teaches a physical resurrection with physical bodies, right? The idea of a heaven where we are disembodied spirits is platonic, not Christian.

Jesus ate after his resurrection; I see no reason why that wouldn't be an example of what our resurrection will also look like, as mysterious or confounding as it may be.

One of the chief descriptions of the kingdom of heaven in Scripture is a feast. I'd like to think that that is not only pure metaphor but has some literal "bite" to it

[Michael]

I, for one, am looking forward to eating in the Resurrection and not gaining weight! And incoherent or not, what will resurrected poo be like? Hmmmm.

[Michael]

On a more serious note, I would concur with Josh that since Jesus ate after his resurrection, and we know that we will be raised just as he was raised, we can expect to be able to eat as well. Whether it will be necessary to eat for nourishment is another matter. Some things are just unknowable until that day.

Also, the imagery in Revelation 22, whether taken literally or figuratively, to my mind points to Eden restored. Physicality as it was meant to be: sinless, pure, beautiful and GOOD. Very good. And that goodness included all kinds of food that God created for man to eat.

So, yeah, I think we'll eat in the Resurrection.

[Josh]

Amen.

[Josh]

Mike,

I do have a follow-up question for you though.

You mentioned the "Edenic" nature of the description of the new heavens and the new earth. Are you merely focusing on the physicality of both the original Eden and the new Heavens and the New Earth, or do you think there are other similarities between the two as well?

For instance, and this is another huge topic which can be found here:Animal Death Before the Fall?, I think that in the original Eden there was plant and animal death and all the current laws of physics, but I lean toward the belief that in the fully dawned "new heavens and earth" such things will most likely not exist, having been fundamentally changed.

[Kirby]

Moreover, is it just the human soul that needs redemption, or is it all of creation? WIll the "new heaven and new earth" be different because redemption has been completed? Is the Edenic ideal because it is unfallen?

[Josh]

Oct 12, 2010 10:04:09 GMT -8 Kirby said:

Moreover, is it just the human soul that needs redemption, or is it all of creation? WIll the "new heaven and new earth" be different because redemption has been completed? Is the Edenic ideal because it is unfallen?

I'd agree it's all of creation. When Paul says:

Romans 8:19-21 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

I think he's saying that creation was made good but not perfect, on purpose by God in order to bring about his plan for mankind. So I don't expect creation in the new heavens and the earth to look exactly like it was in the beginning.

And I don't think Eden was ideal because it had not fallen; rather I think the final resting place of creation, fall and all, will be greater than the former, though still a physical place, as Mike was stressing.

[Michael]

Oct 11, 2010 19:58:40 GMT -8 Josh said:

You mentioned the "Edenic" nature of the description of the new heavens and the new earth. Are you merely focusing on the physicality of both the original Eden and the new Heavens and the New Earth, or do you think there are other similarities between the two as well?

By calling it "Eden restored," I didn't mean that the new heavens and new earth would be an exact replica of Eden, but that the pure, beautiful & sinless aspects of it (and yes, the aspect of physicality) would be renewed. And, of course, the curse would be removed (Rev 22:3). And there would be no more death, mourning, crying or pain (Rev. 21:4)

Clearly, huge differences exist:
1) As our free will to chose obedience to God or to reject Him will be resolved, and we will have been transformed, there will no longer be the propensity to (or the possibility of) sin.
2) Since the devil and his angels will be thrown into the lake of fire, there will no longer be a tempter (Rev. 20:10).
3) Depending on your interpretation of Revelation, there may no longer be any sea, there will be a new Jerusalem (I tend not to get too literal about those things, but some might).

And surely the list goes on.

I also tend to lean toward an older earth view (for which Josh argued in the "Animal Death Before the Fall" thread), and have no problem with animal and plant death before the fall. In fact, it would be silly to argue that plants couldn't die, because they were given to Adam & Eve for food. And, I hate to break it to the plant lovers out there, but when you pull up a lettuce plant, or carrot, or broccoli to eat it, YOU KILL IT! Oh the humanity!

Animal death could be argued either way from the scripture, but the Genesis account certainly doesn't preclude the possibility of it before the fall. You (Josh) referenced Hugh Ross in that other thread, and I think he brings a lot to the table (although I have found him in the past to be condescending at times, to those who disagree with him).

NOTE FROM JOSH: for some follow up on this convo about Hugh Ross, take this link to another discussion: www.aletheia.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=personalities&action=display&thread=2885)

So returning back to the subject of this thread, if we do indeed eat in the Resurrection, WHAT WILL WE EAT? If animals and plants do not die, then we're stuck eating inorganic material (yum)... or maybe just fruit, nuts and seeds only, in that I suppose you're not destroying the original organism that produced them. Or maybe we'd be vegetarians, as some would argue Adam & Eve were before the fall, but not omnivores.

If we ate meat, that would mean that an animal would have to die (unless we use replicators, like in Star Trek ). And that would be problematic to some. Jesus demonstrated that a resurrected body COULD consume fish, but that doesn't mean that WE will in the new heavens and earth.

So if you hold to the view that there is absolutely no death of any kind in the Resurrection, we probably won't literally eat much, if anything at all. Or maybe animals won't exist. OOOhh, I could be opening up a whole new can of worms there! Hmmm... will worms be in the Resurrection? What about cans for that matter? Or recycling? Or... environmentalists! But I digress.

I think the final resting place of creation, fall and all, will be greater than the former, though still a physical place

I couldn't agree more! However it turns out, I'm convinced it will be better than Eden AND our current state COMBINED! We'll be with Jesus forever! What could be better than that?!!

I just hope there's chocolate!

[Josh]

So if you hold to the view that there is absolutely no death of any kind in the Resurrection, we probably won't literally eat much, if anything at all. Or maybe animals won't exist. OOOhh, I could be opening up a whole new can of worms there! Hmmm... will worms be in the Resurrection? What about cans for that matter? Or recycling? Or... environmentalists! But I digress.

;D

[christopher]

Fascinating discussion, all originating from a question of a 7 year old. ;D

I think at minimum, in the resurrection, there will be the following foods:

-Angel food cake
-Angel hair pasta
-Divinity

and finally....

-Believer Double Red Ale by Ninkasi ;D


On a more serious note. I think if we take Rev 21 and 22 as a description of the resurrection, I think at minimum we have the tree of life as food.

I don't necessarily hold that view very firmly, I tend to take a more idealistic view of the passages speaking metaphorically of the church (the New Jerusalem) myself. But I won't go to the mat over it.

But I think you're right Mike that just because a resurrected body could eat something, it doesn't mean it needs to eat.

[Kirby]

Believer Double Red Ale by Ninkasi

I can imagine beer in heaven, but one brewed by a company named after a Sumerian goddess? No. Probably only Trappist beers brewed by monks.

But I think you're right Mike that just because a resurrected body could eat something, it doesn't mean it needs to eat.

Good point. How often do we eat when we don't NEED to? Angel Food cake comes to mind. We enjoy food, and we give thanks for it. Although it nourishes us, most of us eat what we want to eat because of the pleasure it gives us. The question becomes "What earthly pleasures will we enjoy?"

What is the reference for a ressurected Jesus eating fish? I know it's there, I just want to look closer at it.

[Michael]

Luke 24:36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
40 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.[f] 41 But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” 42 So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.[g] 43 And He took it and ate in their presence. (NKJV)

[Kirby]

Thanks, Michael!

[Michael]

Now back to resurrected food: I had a professor in Bible college who believed that fermentation was a product of the fall, since it's associated with the deterioration process, and wouldn't exist in the Resurrection. That means alcoholic beverages are out. Sorry, Chris.

Maybe there's near beer in Heaven.

I'm not saying I believe that, by the way....

[christopher]

Mike wrote:

I had a professor in Bible college who believed that fermentation was a product of the fall, since it's associated with the deterioration process, and wouldn't exist in the Resurrection. That means alcoholic beverages are out. Sorry, Chris.

I don't know Mike, I'm sure your prof was a wise man, but I'm going to have to disagree with him on that one.

The bible says God is pleased with wine, so He must have made alcohol before the fall. I’m sure of it. Here's my scriptural case (way outta context )


God commanded wine as a sacrifice to Him

...and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the LORD. -- Num 15:7

And when righteous Jotham prophesies to the men of Shechem, he said:

.. "Then the trees said to the vine,
'You come and reign over us!'
13 But the vine said to them,
'Should I cease my new wine,
Which cheers both God and men,
And go to sway over trees?' --Judg 9:12-13

Obviously God is cheered by wine.

But not only does He like wine, but He favors beer too. After offending the men of Shechem, it says….

...Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to Beer --Judg 9:20-21

See that? Righteous Jotham hit the beer, and God preserved his life. God must be a fan of the beer.

And here's the clincher, in the future, after the second coming, when all creation is restored, the mountains will even be dripping with the stuff (this is the one time I’ll take the futurist view on this passage…cuz it helps my case ;D)

"So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,
Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy,
And no aliens shall ever pass through her again."

18 And it will come to pass in that day
That the mountains shall drip with new wine, --Joel 3:17-18

And when all people are gathered to Him, we too shall hit the beer…in fact, the well water in paradise IS none other than....yep, you guessed it.....beer.

16 From there they went to Beer, which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water." --Num 21:16

I guess Moritz is right...you can make the bible say anything you want.