In the Roman Catholic faith, I hear that Heaven is "eternal life." However, how is this a reward for a loyal and faithful earthly life? By the sound of it, it is basically life on earth except it lasts forever: all the suffering in life (the headache every other day, the fatigue from work, the despair when things go wrong) lasting forever. Is this what people mean when they say Heaven is "eternal life?" Or is Heaven, in the Roman Catholic faith, a place without suffering, where all earthly desires, both practical and impossible on earth, are fulfilled, with nothing but pure happiness and enjoyment, as others will say?
I get excited and ambitious to pursue the Catholic faith when I hear some people say the reward is Heaven, which they say is pure happiness and everything is perfect and there's no suffering: getting everything you wanted on earth, spending eternity with good friends and family, etc. but then I get confused when Heaven is "eternal life": daily earthly life, but forever.
2006-10-23 21:08:29 · 6 answers · asked by phone_tv_dsl 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I don't know what the Bible says, I am not as religious, as I guess I probably should be. In addition, "life without sin" is just as confusing and meaningless to me as "eternal life." Life without sin-- does that mean it is earthly life, just without the sins? I feel sick, that's not a sin to feel sick, does that mean I will still feel sick in Heaven? I am looking for informative answers that clarify things, not rewords them, and I have limited knowledge about the Bible.
2006-10-23 21:22:52 · update #1
I am asking what "eternal life" means--is it earthly life, but forever, or what? What is appealing and desirable about Heaven? I do not know these things, and am sincerly curious and interested to learn.
2006-10-23 21:25:46 · update #2
:\ The answers so far have confused me even further than before I asked the question.
2006-10-23 21:58:32 · update #3
The Scripture only give glimpses of what heaven is like. No one living really knows for sure. This is just one more opportunity to trust God.
The Catholic Church teaches:
Heaven is eternal life with God; communion of life and love with the Trinity and all the blessed.
Heaven is the state of supreme and definitive happiness, the goal of the deepest longings of humanity.
With love in Christ.
2006-10-24 16:16:38 · answer #1 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Psalms 37; 11 & 29 point to a continuing life on earth for the righteous. This indicates that wicked people have been removed. that in turn indicates the timing is after Armageddon. But if the Catholic belief is that EVERYBODY goes to heaven after they die, who are these ones living on the earth? And WHY is the resurrection necessary? IF a wonderful future for EVERYBODY is in heaven, why worry about wickedness on the earth?
And what about Revelation 7;4 and 14;1. The 144,000., ??? So many questions. And none are satisfactorally answered by Catholic teaching.
The REAL truth is that ONLY 144,000 have a heavenly outcome. All the rest of the billions who have ever died will be resurrected BACK to a fleshly life on earth, IF they agree to complky with the syustem they find in place on their resurrection. Their reaction is what they will be judged on. Not on what they did in their past lives. That behaviour was paid for with their death. Ezekiel 18;4.
2006-10-23 21:54:32 · answer #2 · answered by pugjw9896 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Catholics understand that heaven exists anywhere that God chooses to dwell, in his fullness.
Catholics believe that all the baptized who persevere in grace until the end of their earthly existence will be judged worthy of heaven by Jesus, and will share in all that he is, and all that he has, for eternity.
That covers a lot of territory, and should be enough to guarantee eternal bliss for anyone.
In the end, we must simply maintain our faith in a loving and generous God, and trust in him to know us better than we know ourselves.
Because he surely does.
2006-10-24 12:53:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
For the person who accepts Jesus as Lord and Saviour, whether RC or other eternal life begins now and is infinite.
I Cr 13;8a
10-24-6
2006-10-23 21:17:14 · answer #4 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read what the Bible says about Heaven. Don't take anyone else's word for it - they haven't been there...
2006-10-23 21:14:13 · answer #5 · answered by azar_and_bath 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
perfection--life without sin....
2006-10-23 21:13:01 · answer #6 · answered by cork 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋