No one can take the consolation and gift of immortality away from us, yet such promises have also made Christian people rather sloppy in our thinking and faith. It has allowed us not to take history seriously. It has allowed us to be, as it were, absentee landlords in this world, to just muddle through, to make sure we go to church on Sunday so we get the reward later — or avoid some punishment. Fire insurance is not happy or healthy religion.
