This is a very interesting thread.
Yes.
Humans do fear oblivion. But is this fear unwarranted? Why would oblivion be desirable in any way, shape or form?
Infinite stuff, literally. The universe is…not exactly small.
The problem is that you are assuming that the glorified body works like our present body, but Scripture says says the opposite: the risen body is incorruptible and immortal, it’s not like you wpuld have to “keep it alive” at all. If bodily activities such as eating remain, they won’t exist as biological maintenance, but as freely enjoyed goods. Everything good comes from God.
And humans are naturally a unity of body and soul; we are not angels, and Christian salvation doesn’t turn us into disembodied beings. Grace perfects nature rather than abolishing it. So if what you find abhorrent is bodily decay, illness, and the need constantly to prevent death, then I agree and those are precisely what the resurrection overcomes, but if you find perfected human embodiment itself abhorrent, then you are effectively rejecting something Christianity regards as part of God’s good creation
Why do you assume that the only possibilities are amnesia or eternal regret? Revelation depicts the dead as still aware of what happened to them (Rev. 6:9–11), what Scripture says about the final state is not that memory disappears, but that suffering does: ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore’ (Rev. 21:4). So the biblical picture is perfectly compatible with retaining knowledge of one’s past while no longer being tormented by it. Redemption doesn’t erase your history, it heals your relation to it.
In a sense, that is exactly the biblical end-point: not the present earth left unchanged, and not merely disembodied souls in heaven like during the intermediate state, but a renewed creation in which God dwells with resurrected humanity.
2 Peter 3:13: “We are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
If by ruling you mean domination or having inferiors, I wouldn’t want that either, but biblical reigning means sharing in God’s wise care for a renewed creation, where authority is perfected into service rather than domination
I think you have to distinguish independence from individuality and satisfaction from stagnation.
If by “independence” you mean remaining a distinct person with your own will, identity, relationships and activity, then yes, Christianity never taught “absorption into God”. Revelation still speaks of distinct persons who “serve him” and “reign” (Rev 22:3–5). Jesus even prays that believers may be “one” while remaining distinct persons (John 17:20–23).
If by independence you mean absolute self-sufficiency, then no, Christianity never regards that as a human good. Even now we depend on other people, the world, and (on Christian premises ) God, and peace doesn’t require autonomy from everything; it requires the absence of conflict between genuinely good wills.
Also, absolute self-sufficiency is not the ideal of freedom; it’s far, far closer to the logic of satanic pride, namely the creature wanting to be its own ultimate source and law, rather than receiving existence and goodness from God.
On joy, Scripture explicitly rejects the idea that eschatological joy must be transient: “Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you“ (John 16:22)
And Psalm 16:11 describes God as containing “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore.”
, just joking uh). This is largely due to an emphasis on the beatific vision at the expense of the resurrection, even though the two aren’t only compatible, but the resurrection itself is explicitly affirmed in the Creed.