I got this question from a friend with a three year old. They ask some of the most challenging questions!
Hi Gerry,
I wonder if anyone has ever asked you this… She wants to know if we poop in heaven? She was on the potty last night and we were having multiple toddler conversations including how everyone poops and talking about our dog in heaven. She combined the two thoughts and came up with, “mommy? do you poop in heaven?†I said i didnt know and we would find out when we got there. I told her to ask one of our pastors (kind of more for fun 
) she told me to ask you
just a light thought for your Wednesday afternoon!
thanks for any response you might have for a 3 year old!
And here’s the answer:
The immediate place after death is in heaven with Jesus and that’s probably a bodiless existence so no pooping (or eating). But I am with Randy Alcorn and many others that we will live in an Edenic existence on the New Earth. It talks about the marriage supper of the Lamb. That may be metaphorical but I think it will be exquisite. So tell her she’ll get to eat the most wonderful food with Jesus and He will be duly impressed with her timely pooping! Perhaps she and I should talk about it Sunday!
Good theology is important stuff!
On Saturday I’ll go to be Brad and Barb Little’s going away party. They’ve been at Burlingame Baptist for a long time. Now they head off to Minnesota for a whole new ministry assignment. Long time friends moving on. We’ll see another long time friend, Lisa Hotovec. She’s been the worship leader at the church for years, doing pastoral ministry. We’ve done most of our contact by email, doing “Hi on†and such. So a face to face meeting will be refreshing.
Sherry and I are looking at the possibility of getting another house so she doesn’t have to go up and down stairs. Her knees are making it hard for her. And her Mom can’t come visit since her knees are far worse. If we do, we’ll keep this home. It’s so good and so full of memories. So we see our first place near Adventist Hospital on Saturday morning.
I do not believe there will be an “waste products” in Heaven. The food would have to be imperfect. In the original creation, there wasn’t even any rain. Dew watered the earth without their being storms or rain or anything. The ground never needed our contribution. lol
In fact, though, this brings up something I was discussing with beleivers.
We have a theory that there was no blood prior to the fall. We believe that the bodies of Adam and Eve were at a completely different “level”before the fall. That in the fall, that’s where blood came from as the result and “fruit” of sin. (Which is partly why Jesus shed His blood to pay the penalty of sin.)
We believe the glory of God was moving through our veins before the fall – and the human body was radically altered through the fall from grace through sin. We went from never going to die – to dead.
That’s where poop came from, btw. You see, Satan, when he lied to Eve, was full of poop. Satan’s lies brought death and with death… poop.
lol I think it’s true.
Blood came into our veins and our bodies were altered as the result of sin. I just don’t believe there was blood in our veins prior to sin. I believe we were “fueled” by the “lifeblood of God” – His Glory – His Spirit – completely… but then fell and became the humans we are today.
No devil in Heaven – no poop either. 😉
Good point about the “plumbing,” Matt. I hadn’t thought of that.
My friend was telling me the other day that he thought there was no poop in Eden… sort of the same line of reasoning as you, Tom! He said that Adam and Eve would have had perfect bodies (etc) and thus would have had no need for poop. I just think it’s weird, if that’s true, that God created all of the biological things necessary to poop at the time of the Fall.
Personally, I think poop is a good thing and that it was always meant to be part of the ecosystem and we’ll have that grand fertilizer in the new Earth, too.
Here’s an important book on this topic:
http://tinyurl.com/ldnlx8
That’s a good question. I wonder…if the food is perfect, and our bodies are perfect (including digestion), would there be any impurities that our bodies would need to dispose of?
For me, this is not a DIE or DIVIDE issue, but perhaps a DEBATE. My conclusion: no poop on the new earth.
That is vital theology, for sure!! Good to know. I have 2 little boys who will be thrilled to know this information. 🙂