Heaven

Judaism and Christianity

In early Hebrew thought, life with God was considered in community terms: Israel as a nation had its covenant with the Lord, and the welfare of the community depended on whether it was following the covenant. From the sixth century BCE, the focus gradually shifted to individuals. The ideas of life after death and of resurrection became a prevalent discourse, including the idea of divine judgment of individuals. Talmudic Judaism continues to proclaim resurrection and the justification of the faithful.

Perhaps under the influence of Zoroastrianism, many nonbiblical Jewish writings between 200 BCE and 150 CE emphasized a cosmic struggle between good and evil spirits, a struggle in which each human chooses sides and, thus, is brought into eternal light or sent into eternal darkness. About the same time, gnostic movements added to this spirit-spirit dualism the idea of a conflict between spirit (good) and matter (evil), where salvation depended on freeing oneself from matter. In [Page 505]contrast, although “soul” and “spirit” are often confused, both Jewish and Christian traditions tended to consider the soul as something integrated with the whole person, body and spirit. For Jews, Christians, and Muslims, heaven is, quite simply, God and those who are with God. Heaven is always theocentric, though the egocentrism of humans in practice often shifts the emphasis to me, with God as chiefly an aid to me.

In the Christian Bible and the Christian tradition, the Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God is absolutely central. Whether heaven is a place, a state of being, or the state of the soul in the present life has never been settled, nor has the relationship between “afterlife” and “eternal life.” Heaven is now among us, it is an eternal state of being with the eternal God, or it is the “new heaven and new earth” at the end of the world. When viewed temporally, the Resurrection, followed by the Last Judgment, puts the eternal seal on the state of the individual's soul. Heaven is the joyous fulfillment of the loving person in the company of the loving God. This is known as the Beatific Vision (Catholic), the Vision of God (Protestant), or theosis (becoming infused with the divine; Orthodox). Even when in the presence of God, even in the highest spiritual state, the individual does not lose his or her identity but rather feels the inexpressible joy of experiencing the filling, the perfection, of the self in the mutual love between Christ and humans. Christian images of heaven include a city of gold and jewels, lush meadows and fountains, music and dancing, and joyful interaction among the saints.

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