To Gaze Upon God: The Beatific Vision in Doctrine, Tradition, and Practice
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Today, the doctrine of the beatific vision has been woefully forgotten within the church and its theology. Yet, throughout history Christians have always held that the blessed hope of heaven lies in seeing and being in the presence of God, of beholding the beatific vision. With lucidity and breadth, Parkison reintroduces the beatific vision and affirms its centrality for the life of the church today. Parkison argues for the beatific vision’s biblical foundations and reminds us—through close readings of theologians such as Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Gregory Palamas, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards—of the doctrine’s historical and contemporary significance. The beatific vision is about seeing God, and as Christians have acknowledged across the tradition, seeing God is our ultimate end.
- Reintroduces the beatific vision.
- Affirms its centrality for the life of the church today.
- Reminds us of the doctrine’s historical and contemporary significance.
- Acknowledgments
- 1. What Is the Beatific Vision?
- 2. Biblical Foundations for the Beatific Vision
- 3. A Cloud of Witnesses, Part One: Pre-Reformation Historical Witness
- 4. A Cloud of Witnesses, Part Two: Reformation and Post-Reformation Historical Witness
- 5. Retrieval for Reformed Evangelicals
- 6. The Beatific Vision and the Christian Life
- Postscript: The Beatific Vision and Global Christianity
- Bibliography
- General Index
- Scripture Index
This is easily the best primer on the beatific vision today. Samuel Parkison’s scholarly yet wide-ranging treatment—Scripture, history, philosophy, theology—makes To Gaze upon God a valuable resource and accessible textbook. Grounded in a realist metaphysic, Parkison’s moderate Reformed approach judiciously encourages evangelicals to take seriously the tradition’s teaching on the transformative vision of God. Parkison effectively puts to rest the notion that the Reformation did away with belief in the beatific vision. Here is a book sure to rekindle our longing for happiness in God.
—Hans Boersma, Nashotah House Theological Seminary, author of Five Things Theologians Wish Biblical Scholars Knew
This is a book written from the heart, and it demonstrates a fruitful reception of the Christian theological tradition on eternal life. Samuel Parkison has put his finger on a doctrine that should animate the entirety of Christian life. He shows beautifully why and how this is so. Guided by the scriptural and theological testimonies he adduces, let us strive to attain the beatific vision, by God’s grace and through the saving cross of Christ.
—Matthew Levering, James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology at Mundelein Seminary
What is the end—the telos—of classical theology? The beatific vision. What could give the weary pilgrim greater comfort and hope than this promise: one day we will see God. Sadly, the significance of the beatific vision for Christian theology has been lost on the modern imagination. But if anyone can recover this lost jewel of Christendom, it is Samuel Parkison, who is one of the best young theologians today. In a breakthrough book, Parkison lets the beatific vision’s pedigree in the great tradition shine. With exegetical rigor and theological precision, he also demonstrates why the beatific vision puts all of Christian theology in motion, from creation to Christology to participation in God. No student of theology can afford to ignore Sam Parkison’s invitation to retrieve the beatific vision. This book is an irresistible summons to contemplate the beauty of the Lord himself.
—Matthew Barrett, professor of Christian theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of The Reformation as Renewal