The theme of inheritance has suffered from severe neglect in biblical
scholarship. Interpreters prefer to speak of heaven rather than eternal life in
the land promised to Abraham, i.e., the inheritance. One may speculate that
this is due to platonic or gnostic influences throughout the history of the church,
which deny the goodness of creation in favor of a bodiless existence in a realm
devoid of matter. Consequently, the goal of a new creation for mankind has largely
been forsaken, replaced by spiritualize themes such as “heaven” or “life in
Christ.” (Miguel G. Echevarria Jr., The Future Inheritance of Land in the
Pauline Epistles [Eugene, Oreg. Pickwick Publications, 2019], 1)
