Heaven

All of the monotheistic faith traditions (Jewish, Christian, and Islam) have a concept of the meaning of the term heaven. For some it is just the sky, for other traditions there is more theological insight placed on the term. A nonmonotheistic tradition such as Hinduism also has an idea of the afterlife, Moksha. One's understanding of the meaning of heaven is often reflective of one's stage of religious and spiritual development. Young children often see heaven as a physical place whereas others, more mature in thought, recognize heaven as a symbolic place.

In the Jewish sacred texts (the Old Testament) there is no clear evidence of belief in heaven, as a place of bliss or reward. The meaning of heaven is more a place in the cosmology. Heaven refers to the sky or the vault that seems to appear to arch over the earth. Generally, heaven is seen as a place reserved for God, i.e., a sanctuary. It is also the place of God's throne. But no place can contain God. The physical place of heaven serves as merely a symbol for the Divine transcendence. Later Jewish writings, or intertestament literature, develop the concept of heaven into a many tiered or leveled place, filled with spirits, and nine levels of angels.

It is in the Christian sacred texts (the New Testament) that the idea of heaven becomes a place of eternal bliss, where God's faithful people find their reward. Heaven is from where Jesus the Christ comes down from and, after his resurrection, ascends back to sit at God's right hand. The Christian scriptures continue to see heaven as a place of final reward, the Kingdom of God. Paul, in his writings, calls all believers “citizens of heaven” in Philippians 3:20. But with further reflection the early Christian community moves from a concept of heaven as a place to a concept that is more about the quality of human life in its full maturity and oneness in the presence of God.

The early church had a profound belief in eternal life thanks to Jesus' resurrection. This concept of eternal life became the idea of the beatific vision, that [Page 196]of beholding the Divine presence. The most recent statement from one Christian group, the Roman Catholic Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a statement in 1979, “The Letter on Certain Questions Concerning Eschatology.” The conclusions are very guarded in regards to heaven. The letter affirms the foundational belief in the resurrection of the body, the continuation of the human self after physical death, and the ultimate reward for the just that will one day be with the Christ. Then it warns against arbitrary imaginative representations since neither sacred scripture, sacred tradition, nor theology provide sufficient light for a proper picture of life after death.

This beatific vision, the full union of the human person with God, has been written about in literature and in elaborate paintings. Dante's Divine Comedy, the epic Italian poem, traces all the various levels of hell, purgatory, and heaven. Michelangelo's The Last Judgment also shows the various stages of those in torment and those believers arising to heavenly reward. The great Christian theologian Augustine prayed that “Our hearts are restless, oh God, until they rest in Thee.”

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