The New Earth is an expression used in the
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...
( & ),
2 Peter
The Second Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament of the Bible.
The text identifies the author as "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ" and the epistle is traditionally attributed to Peter the Apostle, but most criti ...
(), and the
Book of Revelation (
21:1) in the
Bible to describe the final state of
redeemed humanity. It is one of the central doctrines of
Christian eschatology
Christian eschatology, a major branch of study within Christian theology, deals with "last things". Such eschatology – the word derives from two Greek roots meaning "last" () and "study" (-) – involves the study of "end things", whether of ...
and is referred to in the
Nicene Creed
The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
as the
world to come.
Biblical references
The twenty-first chapter of the
Book of Revelation introduces the final state of perfection where, according to one commentator, "cosmic time has been turned into eternity." In symbolic and visual language, God allows John to see the glory and beauty of the inheritance of His people. The first thing the reader notices about this vision is that it includes a "new heavens and a new earth" (
21:1). To understand what the Bible teaches about eternity, the reader of the Apocalypse must understand the New Testament doctrine of the "
New Heavens and the New Earth."
The basic difference with
the promises of the Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
is that in Revelation they also have an
ontological value (: "Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth,' for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea...'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away") and no longer just
gnosiological (: "See, I will create/new heavens and a new earth./The former things will not be remembered,/nor will they come to mind").
Interpretation
In
Koine Greek, there were two words that are translated as "new" in the English Bible; ''neos'' and ''kainos''. One Greek resource states:
That ''kainos'' should not be taken as something totally new can be seen in a passage like the following:
Here the
Apostle Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
uses ''kainos'' in the expression "new creation." Paul did not intend to convey the idea that this is a completely different individual. There is continuity between the old person and the new person to such an extent that it remains the same person, but renovated. The person is the same, but the quality of that person has been transformed.
In the same way, the biblical concept of the New Earth is one of renovation and restoration. Either on this current earth or on a rebuilt new planet. This conclusion is supported by Peter's words in his public speech in the temple at Jerusalem.
This earth, however, will be either cleansed or destroyed by a great great very hot tempature of heat or fire, for the purpose of restoration as expressed in the following passage:
See also
*
New Jerusalem
In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the c ...
References
External links
Then I Saw a New Heaven and EarthManual for Cosmic Victory: The New EarthLamb & Lion: The New EarthA New Heaven and a New Earth: The Case for a Holistic Reading of the Biblical Story of RedemptionTour of Heaven: New EarthWhat are The New Heavens and New Earth
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New Earth
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Biblical cosmology
Book of Isaiah
Second Epistle of Peter