#PARADISE

Daily Devotionals

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind, to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ, also… The abode of the righteous dead. The three Old Testament uses of paradise contribute little to the concept beyond a garden of delight. The three New Testament uses are also far from detailed and complete. At best, a scriptural doctrine of paradise, must be stated with care. In defense of the view that paradise was originally a portion of Hades, an illustration of this belief is given by Christ in the account of the rich man and Lazarus. That it was removed from Hades to the presence of God. The note on Hades in the original Scofield Bible distinguished between Hades before the ascension of Christ which had a compartment called paradise, or Abraham’s bosom and Hades after the ascension. The blessed dead were with Abraham, they were conscious and were comforted. No change has occurred for unsaved dead, but paradise has been removed from Hades and is now in the immediate presence of God. It is believed that it indicates the time of the change. The great gulf between Lazarus and the rich man may represent the difference between sheol and heaven as well as two compartments of sheol. The context of the passage on spiritual gifts may indicate only the incarnation and ascension of Christ, rather than a descent to Hades. Both views are possible and both views have scholarly advocates. Interestingly, the revisers of the Scofield Bible significantly moderated the note on Hades. It now reads, Some interpreters think that indicates that a change in the place of the departed believers occurred at the resurrection of Christ. All who are saved go at once into the presence of Christ. One could hope that this foreshadows a cessation of dispute on a subject where the evidence is so scanty as to forbid dogmatism. There can be no doubt that paradise is heaven. The Fathers made a distinction, between paradise and heaven, which is not found in Scriptures.