Heaven

Religions view Heaven as a transcendental realm in which people who have died continue to exist in an afterlife. While at the same time the term “Heaven” may refer to the physical Heavens, the sky, or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond.

There are abundant and varied sources for conceptions of Heaven but the typical believer’s view appears to depend largely on his religious tradition and particular sect. Many religions conceptualize Heaven as pertaining to some type of peaceful life after death related to the immortality of the soul. Heaven is generally construed as a place of eternal happiness. It is often described as the holiest possible place, accessible to various standards of divinity, goodness, and piety.

Religions that speak about Heaven differ on how and if one gets there. In most religions, entrance into Heaven is conditional on having lived a righteous life within the terms and conditions of that particular spiritual system. A notable exception to this is the “sola fide” belief of many mainstream Protestants which teaches that one does not have to live a perfectly good life but that all one must do is to accept Jesus Christ as their savior and then He will assume the guilt of one’s sins. Here believers will be forgiven regardless of any good or bad works done during their lifetime.

Many religions state that those who do not go to Heaven will go to Hell, a place without the presence of God, which is eternal. Some religions believe that other afterlives exist in addition to Heaven and Hell such as Purgatory, where one is purged and purified of sin and made ready for acceptance into Heaven. One belief, Universalism, believes that everyone will go to Heaven eventually no matter what they have done or believed on earth.

Traditionally Christianity has taught Heaven to be a place of eternal life and a kingdom to which all the elect will be admitted rather than an abstract experience. In most forms of Christianity belief in the afterlife is professed in major Creeds, such as the Nicene Creed, which states, “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

During the time St. Paul was writing people looked forward to a divine future on earth. When the Kingdom of God was not forthcoming Christians gradually refined their hopes so that they came to look forward to an immediate reward in Heaven after death, rather that to a divine kingdom on earth—despite churches continuing to use the major creeds’ statements of belief in a coming Resurrection Day.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates “This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of kingdom, the Father’s house, the Heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: ‘no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’.”