Inheriting the world: Heavenly citizenship and place

Abstract

Theological treatments of land, place, and the built environment are increasingly common. Most Christian theologies of place take their cues from the presence of the Triune God. However, a theology of place must also reckon with issues of diversity, pluralization, and tolerance, and thus the way that Christians practice citizenship in their ethnic and civic communities. In other words, a profoundly Christian practice of place might appear to be a threat to an authentically pluralistic society. New Testament scholars have renewed attention to the biblical claim that those united to Christ inherit the creation with him. This sort of language is implacably political and potentially troublesome; it forces theological ethics to wrestle with Christian citizenship directly. This article argues that returning to the resurrection is a particularly important ground for Christian habits of place. The resurrection grounds both an unvarnished Christian witness to the Trinitarian meaning of place while also framing Christian citizenship as an eschatologically anticipatory mode of life, along the lines of what Augustine describes in the City of God.