Early Christian Quotes on the New Earth
The Christian Sibylline Oracles
(2nd Century)
Book 2:384-403:
But the others, all to whom right and fair works
And devotion and just thoughts were dear,
Will angels, looking through the burning stream,
Lead to light and life exempt from care,
Where the immortal way of the great God comes
And fountains three--of honey, wine, and milk.
And equal land for all, not divided
By walls or fences, more abundant fruits
Spontaneously will grow, and the course
Of life be common and wealth not given to anyone.
For no longer will there be poor nor rich,
Slave driver nor slave, nor any great nor small,
Nor kings nor leaders; all alike in common.
No more at all will one say, "night has come,"
Nor "tomorrow comes," nor "yesterday has been”;
Nor will there be many days of anxiety,
Nor spring, nor winter, nor the summer-heat,
Nor autumn will be, nor marriage, nor death,
Nor sales, nor purchases, nor the setting of the sun
Nor the rising; for God will make one long day.
Irenaeus’ Against Heresies, Book 5
(Late 2nd Century)
Chapter 36, Paragraphs 1-2:
Neither the substance nor the essence of the creation will be annihilated (for He who has established it is faithful and true), but "the form of the world will pass away;" that is, those things among which sin has occurred, since man has grown old in them…But when this present form of things passes away, and man has been renewed and flourishes in an incorruptible form in which he won’t be able to grow old, then there will be the new heaven and the new earth, in which the new man will remain continually, always holding fresh conversation with God…As the elders say, those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven will go there, while others will enjoy the delights of paradise, and others will possess the splendor of the city; for the Savior will be seen everywhere according to the worthiness of those who see Him.
They also say that there will be a distinction between the home of those who produce a hundred-fold and those who produce sixty-fold and those who produce thirty-fold. The first will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, and the last will inhabit the city; as the Lord declared, "In My Father's house are many mansions." For all things belong to God, who supplies everyone with a suitable dwelling-place; His Word says the Father allots to each person his share according to how worthy they are.
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