Where do we get these ideas about Heaven? Please read details?

Question

I tried to ask this before and just got a bunch of Bible verses that didn't really answer the question.

If a non-Christian asks a Christian about Heaven, most of us have these ideas about what it's like that really seem to have no foundation. Sometimes these questions will be valid, such as if we will mourn our loved ones who aren't with us. Christians answer with something like "We won't care, we will be too busy praising God." Sometimes they say we won't remember our life on earth at all.

That's just one example. Most Christians seem so sure that the know what Heaven will be like, who exactly will be there, and what we will do. Can we acknowledge that this is nothing more than unbiblical speculation, or are we going to cling to what we were taught?

For the record, I am a Christian myself. I'm just baffled right now at some things other Christians are convinced are true.

Answer 1

most Christians shouldn't tell you they know, because we don't know..as a christian i go by the bible, and to make a long story short its more amazing then you can imagine..your taught that there is a heaven and its worth striving your whole life for, what you interpret it to be is up to you.

is this a question or another christian attack?

Answer 2

The Bible has it's own version! Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. Act 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: ... Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Answer 3

Well...

I have no idea. I know some things from what I've read in the bible and it is really different than popular belief.

I believe heaven will be a state of mind. The kingdom of heaven is in our hearts right now when we're walking according to the image of the living God. Much like Jesus did.

Now however, in regards to the end of the age. We're supposed to be living on earth in a kingdom ruled by the Messiah. Like in Dune. But the kingdom is an earthly kingdom and there will be other nations present which is interesting.

I'm unclear about all of this though so...

As far as where I got my first idea of heaven? traditional doctrine and teachings.

Answer 4

Most of what christians believe about heaven and hell comes from literature, not the bible. If you had to pin the blame on two people, it would be Dante and Milton.

Their works were speculative fiction with a very small biblical basis. But they were very popular and people began to confuse their writings with those of the bible. In the modern era, books, plays, and, later, television and movies have built on them to give christians what they now conceive of as heaven.

The reality is that the bible never really focuses on heaven. Other than saying that god is there and that if you believe and/or do the right things you will join him, there's not a lot of detail in the bible.

Answer 5

I think Revelation ch 21 and 22 say that heaven is 12,000 furlongs cubed. A furlong is 1/8 mile so that makes heaven about 1500 cubic miles. That's the only scripture I know of that gives a good description. This leads me to think that Christians believe heaven is an actual physical place instead of spiritual.

Answer 6

Of course we don't know everything but there are people who have died and gone to heaven and returned and their stories line up with the scripture and the spirit of the Word so to discount them just because it may not all be spelled out in the Word is narrow mindedness.

Some good books on the subject are
We Saw Heaven - Roberts Liardon
Close Encounters of the God Kind - Jesse Duplantis
Within the Gates - Rebecca Springer

Answer 7

No one on earth can fully understand, or even imagine heaven, Those Bible verses do give us little glimpses, but we know little before we go there.

Maybe we get ideas that go beyond the Word of God, because we "meditate" on the Scriptures we have, and forget that we dreamed up those details that we not fully explained in the Bible.

If we had no "inside information," we could only speculate; but fortunately, we have some solid data to build on: divine revelation.

God wants us to read His word, and ALSO use our reason, ...yes, EVEN our imagination!!! Why should we neglect any God-given mental abilities at our disposal?!?

Who is to say who is right? None of us has been there. It's all good.

Beyond all we can ask, or even think!.

There will be a great "cloud of witnesses" in heaven (mentioned in Hebrews 12:1) who "swamp" & surround us. This throne of God, our Father, is where we go, as believers, to meet Him, and worship our GOD!

It is written, "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). We are His beloved children! Trust in His everlasting love and acceptance in heaven!!!

I do not endorse this web site (linked below), on this subject, but what do I know? Check out the "prophesy facts" HEAVEN web page linked under sources, for what it's worth.....

Answer 8

I'm gonna do both at the same time~ how's that grab ya?
I do not know what lies in store for us in the here after, but I know what I like to believe. Since I am Catholic and believe in the communion of Saints, I believe that we will not only still know our family and loved ones after death, but can actually act as an intercessor for our prayers. I ask my grandma frequently to pray with me/ for me, so my prayers may be heard. How could I do this if I for one second thought she didn't know me anymore? I don't believe that God would bind us so closely together on earth, just to have us not know each other in Heaven.



Hey guy before me~ You missed the parable Jesus tells about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than to enter the gates of heaven. It's all about not being able to take worldly possessions with us. Look it up, I'm sure that you probably missed all the ones that actually give us rules to live by so we can get to heaven in the first place.

Answer 9

Probably a little of both. I have my own ideas about what it'll be like, and I hope I'm close, but I've got to leave it up to God cause He knows better than I do as it regards what's best. Hopefully, it'll involve playing guitar with several hundred Marshall amps turned up waaaay loud.

Answer 10

I'd like to draw a parallel between the Christian faith and the Jewish faith they originated from. The holy texts of the Jewish faith (Torah, Tanakh) are considered sacred, and are held to be inspired from God. However, there is a body of interpretations and clarifications in the oral Jewish tradition (the oral torah, which I understand to be known as the Talmud, Midrashim, and Halakha), and that is drawn from just as much as the sacred texts themselves when the Jewish people look to apply their faith to their daily lives and to the questions they have.

Christians have a similar tradition of combining the written sacred text (Bible, comprising of a shortened Torah and the New Testament) and an oral tradition. For 1200 plus years it took the form of the Catholic church. The papal bulls and growing accumulation of legends, myths, rituals, sermons, decrees, and interpretations through the centuries enriched the perhaps simpler message of the written apostolic scriptures into a deeper and more complex faith, into the roots of what are the plethora of expressions of christian faith today.

What i'm trying to say is that concepts, such as redemption, salvation, and heaven/hell may start simply, but undergo deeper and deeper metamorphoses as they transmit from generation to generation, as each believer understands them and experiences them.

Popular culture influences our attitudes, our lives, and consequently our beliefs. Dante's "Inferno" dramatically impacted the concept of hell in his day, just as movies about Jesus' passion influence our perception in our day.

I am reminded of a passage I once read about a monk who wrote that heaven would be filled with the finest clothes, the finest foods, the finest wines, the finest songs. So he abstained from his earthly pleasures in this life for his belief that he would be rewarded in the afterlife. This was many centuries ago, if i remember correctly, but the point is that heaven can mean many things to many people. I have no doubt that this monk was a very dedicated man, a very devout christian. But how many people nowadays would agree with his belief? Probably not as many as in his day.

If you can place your faith in the interpretations and writings of the early church fathers (Aquinas, Iranaeus, etc) or in the decrees of the following church leaders throughout the years (Pope John Paul II, for instance), then you may rest assured.

I don't, but then again, I'm not Christian. =)

Follow your heart, reason well, and enjoy life the best you can, it may be the only one you'll ever get.

Answer 11

The Bible says that to be gone from the body (i.e., dead as a human) for the Christian means to be present with God.

The Bible gives us some glimpses of what heaven will be like, but who cares??? The bottom line of the issue is that we will be WITH GOD. As far as I'm concerned the rest is up to Him. Whatever it is, it will be HEAVEN.

The real question here is why people spend so much time worrying about issues that aren't really at the heart of faith. Sure, it's great to think about heaven...but more importantly, ARE YOU GOING TO BE THERE?????? If you aren't it doesn't matter.