ACC ~ Revelation 20 v11

HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL COME TO NOTHING. TERTULLIAN: It is enough for us, both that it is certain that all things were made by God and that there is no certainty whatever that they were made out of matter. … The belief that everything was made from nothing will be impressed upon us [also] by that ultimate dispensation of God that will bring back all things to nothing. For “the very heaven shall be rolled together as a scroll”; no, it shall come to nothing along with the earth itself, with which it was made in the beginning. “Heaven and earth shall pass away,” he says. “The first heaven and the first earth passed away,”“and there was found no place for them,” because, of course, that which comes to an end loses locality. AGAINST HERMOGENES 33-34.

THE VISIBLE APPEARANCE OF THE WORLD WILL PASS AWAY. AUGUSTINE: John picks up again the theme of the last judgment (which is to accompany the second and bodily resurrection of the dead) and describes the manner of its revelation to him. … Note that he does not say, “One who sat upon it, and from his face earth and heaven fled away,” because this “flight” had not yet taken place, that is, not before the judgment of the living and the dead. What he says is that he beheld One sitting on the throne “from whose face earth and heaven fled away”—not then but subsequently. The fact is that it will be after the judgment is completed that heaven and earth will end with the beginning of the new heaven and earth. For it will be by a transformation rather than by a wholesale destruction that this world of ours will pass away. This explains Paul’s words: “This world as we see it is passing away. I would have you free from care.” It is, to be sure, the visible appearance of the world that is destined to pass away, not its nature. CITY OF GOD 20.14.

THE CORRUPTION OF THE HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL BE CAST OFF. OECUMENIUS: By the words white throne he speaks of a throne that is bright and radiant. By the figure of the flight of the heaven and the earth, the passage indicates their change and transformation. For if “the heavens will pass away with a loud noise,” as the holy Peter says,and as the prophet who says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands; they shall perish, but you remain, and they all shall grow old as a garment, and as a vesture you shall fold them, and they shall be changed,” then certainly the Revelation speaks of their passing away and their destruction, which signify their change, as a “flight,” since no place was found for them. For where would one find that corruption that had been cast off? Therefore, in the present passage he speaks of their change, while a little further on he says that they shall become new. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.11-12.

THE CREATION WILL RECEIVE A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: The image of the “white throne” signifies the divine rest that God will establish among the saints, who are resplendant with virtues and among whom God will be enthroned. The flight of the earth and sky signifies their transformation from what they were into something better. And there will be found no longer any place for change. For if the creation was subjected to corruption because of us, as the apostle says, it will also be transformed with us into the freedom of the glory of the children of God, being made new into that which is more brilliant.[The creation] will not be subjected to complete annihilation, as we learn from Irenaeus, Antipater and other saints. For the blessed Irenaeus writes, “For neither is the substance nor the essence of the creation annihilated (for faithful and true is he who has established it), but the fashion of the world passes away, that is, those things among which transgression has occurred, since humankind has grown old in them. And therefore this fashion has been formed temporary, God foreknowing all things.” Similarly, the great Methodius comments as follows in On the Resurrection: “It is not satisfactory to say that the universe will be utterly destroyed, and sea and air and sky will be no longer. For the whole world will be deluged with fire from heaven and burned for the purpose of purification and renewal; it will not, however, come to complete ruin and corruption.” And a little later he says, “And Paul clearly testifies this, saying, ‘For the creation waits with eager longing for the manifestation of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly but through him who subjected it in hope. Therefore, the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay’” and so on. But before these saints the holy David sang to the Lord, saying, “You sent forth your Spirit, and they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.”And Isaiah says, “There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered or come into mind; but they will find gladness and rejoicing in it.” Certainly in the superabundance of joy and in the greatness of their rewards they will forget the struggles and pains that they endured. In another place Isaiah says, “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, so shall your descendants and your name remain.” It follows, therefore, that the creation, which was made for our sake, receives with us a change for the better, not going into nonexistence, just as we do not go into nonexistence after our death. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.11.

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