Jesus said "for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven" Mt 22:30 (also Mk 12:25; Lk 20:34-35). These words may have considerable pastoral significance for many Christians who enjoy or look forward to their marriage.

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Despite the apparently obvious meaning (and implications) of this saying, I attempt in the paper below to present a positive case that a unique love relationship like a marital bond between a man and woman (and maybe even childbirth and child rearing in this context) might still exist in the resurrection age. This is the first "study" I know of that tries to bring all relevant OT data to bear and examine this issue from a variety of angles.

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Before reading it, please note the following points -

  • This paper is written in a semi-scholarly style and references mostly academic works available at a university.
  • Given the subject matter, I'll still try to assume an orthodox Christian protestant (evangelical) perspective on Scripture, theology and philosophy.
  • I am NOT a qualified Biblical scholar, but only a layman with an intellectual and pastoral interest on this subject. Thus the positive case I present may have serious flaws in it.
  • This study is a work in progress and much more work can be done. My time commitments prevent me from further developing and polishing my case. It is left for the interested reader to do this.
  • Note that this paper only attempts to present a good positive case. I will NOT say whether I think that this case is ultimately convincing or correct.
  • Nonetheless I hope the paper might help the reader see this issue from a fresh perspective. I hope the reader might find it interesting or maybe even encouraging.
  • Due to time commitments I can't edit this paper based on reader suggestions. It will be left to the interested reader to respond to and/or develop the ideas in this paper further.
  • The reader is free to use this document in whichever way he/she wishes. There is no copyright. Link to this web page if you feel like it.
  • Edits and/or updates to this article may or may not be posted in the future.

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Here is the paper -

Version 2 - 16 June 2008 - familial_structs_escha.pdf

 Differences with version 2 from version 1 (April 2008) - small changes to wording, added hyperlinks, additional footnotes, created appendices, added additional comment on Is 59; 61; 66, added new section on Pastoral Issues.

Other Christian websites/books that make a positive case (note I do not necessarily endorse all the content of these pages) -  

1.     http://www.ewtn.org/library/Marriage/zmarrheavn.htm  (Catholic perspective)

2.     http://members.aol.com/johnodhner/Marriageinheaven.html

3.     Meyendorff's book (Eastern Orthodox perspective)

4. The following website argues that marriage and begetting children can occur in the Millennial Kingdom (see parts 3, 15 and 16)  -

     http://chiliasm.blogspot.com/  

5.  http://www.nccg.org/FAQ133-Marriage.html (appears to be a Messianic Jewish website)

6. The following website discusses empirical evidence for the existence of soulmate bonds (including     romantic soulmates) that continue even after death.  This evidence also draws from some Near Death Experience (NDE) cases.  Note it does NOT have generally theological/biblical or even Christian content but the empirical evidence still seems interesting - 

    http://www.nderf.org/Soulmates.htm#Experiences

7. For those with access to the Expository Times journal, Peter Shepherd makes a positive case for   sexual relationships in heaven in the 2 articles below -

    Shepherd, P, "Sex in Heaven?", The Expository Times, vol 104, pp. 332-336, 1993.

    Shepherd, P, "Sex in Heaven (Correspondence)", The Expository Times, vol 105, pp. 84-85, 1993.

8. As a side project, I tried to do a search of all the writings of the Church Fathers who speak on this subject.  I did this by searching for keywords in the large files containing their writings available on the ccel website.  This is an extremely difficult and exhausting venture and I'm sure others can do a better job of it with more time.

Nevertheless, in my searches I got the impression that almost all the Fathers (including the chiliasts) who spoke on eschatology either had fairly ascetical leanings (i.e. no marriage, sexual activity etc after the resurrection) or simply didn't say anything relevant to this subject.  I could only find 3 Fathers who even came close to supporting the continued existence of marriage and childbirth after the resurrection.  These Fathers are also identified in the 4th website above.

These Fathers (note their names are hyperlinked to the appropriate writing) are - 

   Irenaeus -  where he speaks of the "fertility of the earth" 

   Lactantius -  where he says the resurrected saints will "produce an infinite multitude"

   Commodian - who says the saints are "marrying, beget for a thousand years"

Note all of these Fathers appear to be chiliasts (or pre-millennialists).  Commodian's statement is the most (if not only) explicit statement I can find (out of all the Fathers) that's in favour of marriage and childbirth (and thus presumably sex) after the resurrection.  Both Irenaeus and Lactantius aren't so explicit and a case can probably be made for a different interpretation of their writing.

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