Author and theologian Will Willimon on salvation and heaven.

Questions For Reflection

1. To the question, “Who gets saved? ,” Willimon says that “I don’t know who gets saved.” Quoting 2 Timothy, Willimon responds, “since God desires for all to be saved then I ought to desire what God desires.” What would the church look like if we desired what God desired? How would this perspective help view people, especially those who we think do not deserve salvation?
   
2. Willimon asks, “Does salvation mean heaven and does heaven mean something less than salvation or more than salvation?” What might be the difference between salvation and heaven? For Willimon, John’s Gospel paints a picture of salvation or “eternal life” as being now. 
   
3. What might be the difference in seeing salvation as merely existence after death as opposed to salvation as a process that is working in the present?