HEAVEN

1. HEAVEN “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, what God has ready for those who love him” 1 Cor 2:9 & Is 64:3 Heaven can not properly be defined Lack of experience or data Heaven is unique with nothing to compare But WE CAN SPEAK ANALOGICALLY We can say what it is not and What it is like

2. Earthly Analogies What does not appear in our experience cannot be defined, only related to what does appear in our experience by analogy Heaven is to earth as the butterfly to the caterpillar or the adult to the fetus

3. Earthly Analogies for Heaven Three steps in thinking about God Dionysius the Aeropagite Positive Theology Begin with earthly analogies Negative Theology Correct them Superlative Theology Note that the reason for correction and negation of the earthly analogy is not that heaven lacks anything earthly but that it is so much more Positive Theology gives positive analogies Isaiah 55:8-9 1 Cor 2:9 Words are too definite and specific

4. Earthly Analogies for Heaven There are six earthly activities that continue in heaven They are our fundamental task, the meaning of life To understand God To love God To understand others To love others To understand yourself To love yourself There are two distinctively human activities Knowing & Loving There are three infinitely precious objects God, neighbor & self

5. HEAVENWhat Does Scripture Say? Biblical descriptions of the salvation and perfection humans enjoy eternal life glorification immortality incorruptiblity light peace harmony with the animals and the cosmos banquet wedding feast homecoming reign with God vision of God union with Trinity union with Christ Communion with angels and saints

6. HEAVENWhat Does Scripture Say? Dwelling place of God 1 Kgs 8:30; Ps 2:4; Mk 11:25; Mt 5:16; Lk 11:13; Rv 21:2 Dwelling place of the angels Gn 21:17; Lk 2:15; Heb 12:22; Rv 1:4 Dwelling place of Christ Mk 16:19; Acts 1:9-11; Eph 4:10; Heb 4:14 Dwelling place of the blessed Mk 10:21; Phil 3:20; Heb 12:22-24

7. HEAVENWhat Does Scripture Say? Two basic visions of heaven “Theocentric” Heaven as an intimate union with and contemplation of God “Anthropocentric” Heaven as reunion with spouses, children, relatives, and friends Heaven is the fulfillment of the human heart’s deepest longings

8. HEAVENWhat Does Scripture Say? “The clean of heart will see God” Matthew 5:8 “We shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2 “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully as I am fully known.” 1 Cor 13:12

9. “Beatific Vision” “Benedictus Deus” (1336) Pope Benedict XII “Since the passion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and see the divine essence with intuitive vision and even face to face, without the mediation of any creature by way of object of vision; rather the divine essence immediately manifests itself to them, plainly, clearly, and openly, and in this vision they enjoy the divine essence.”

10. HEAVENSeven alternate theories • Atheistic materialism - We are simply material organisms when we die its over • God but no life after death - God either does not love us enough or lacks the power to save us • Skepticism - No one can ever know what happens • Ancient Paganism - We become pale copies, ghosts inhabiting a gloomy dark underworld • Platonism - The body dies forever the spirit lives forever • Pantheism - We are part of the cosmic ocean at the end we melt back into the sea • Reincarnation - We get another earthly mortal body until we are enlightened enough to reach either Pantheism or Platonism

11. HEAVENTen refutations of reincarnation • It is contradicted by scripture (Heb 9:27) • It is contradicted by orthodox tradition • It would reduce the Incarnation to a mere appearance, the crucifixion to an accident • It implies that God made a mistake imprisoning our souls to live in bodies • It is contradicted by psychology and common sense (no natural unity)

12. HEAVENTen refutations of reincarnation • It entails a low view of the body as prison or punishment • It blames sin on the body’s power to confuse and darken the mind • We can’t remember our former lives so how can I learn from my mistakes • Rememberings of past lives are really mental contact with souls in heaven, purgatory or hell • The beginning of the process that began our entrapment in bodies must have occurred while spiritual. How could we have committed evil in the state of heavenly bliss?

13. The Christian Alternative Resurrection of the Body After death the whole self, including the purified, perfected soul and a new, immortal body given by God’s supernatural power, is destined to live forever What might this be like?

14. Objections to Heaven Answered The idea of heaven is pre-scientific superstition This objection is not scientific since it uses no evidence to refute the idea Many “pre-scientific” ideas are valid, true, and important birth, death, life, good, evil,beauty, pleasure, pain etc. etc.

15. Objections to Heaven Answered There is no scientific evidence for heaven There is no scientific evidence for the notion that nothing exists except what is proved by scientific evidence This is simply an assumption that arbitrarily limits the bounds of reality to the bounds of the scientific method without the use of evidence or intellect

16. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is obviously wishful thinking. If there were no heaven, we would have to invent it. It is a necessary dream. • The heaven of the Bible is selfless, self-forgetful,love and saintliness, not the gratification of selfish desires • Even the physical details or symbols of heaven do not correspond to the popular picture • Even if there is a correspondence between our dreams and heaven it does not eliminate the possibility of God having created us for it • If an effect can not exceed its cause, how can the idea of heaven be caused by our finite minds

17. Objections to Heaven Answered The very form, or structure, of the idea of heaven is mythic or legendary. The golden streets are just another version of the “happy hunting grounds” or the Elysian Fields • Distinguish imagery from substance. To disbelieve in the substance because you take the imagery literally is a foolish mistake • The fact that all religious cultures have imagery for heaven is proof for its existence not vice versa • The biblical version of heaven does not appeal to natural, worldly, selfish desires

18. Objections to Heaven Answered Believing in heaven is escapist • Who talks the most against escapism? The jailers! (C. S. Lewis) • Heaven is not escapist it is the fulfillment of all good earthly desires • The first question about any idea cannot be whether it is escapist but whether it is true • Even an escapist idea can be true

19. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is a diversion. Whether true or false, it distracts us from our present tasks. • Heaven is our ultimate destination our present tasks are most often a distraction from it • Concern for a higher thing does not lessen or demean a concern for lower things. Our concern for the future does not demean our concern about the present • Throughout history it has been those who believed most strongly in heaven who have made the greatest difference to earth

20. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is irrelevant to the here and now. You can love or hate this world whether you believe in the next or not • Heaven is more than relevant to the present; it actually begins in the present • The joy of heaven begins now for the believer in Jesus Christ • If heaven is not in us now, it will never be in us forever, because heaven is where God is. • If God is in our souls now then heaven is in us now • This is one of Jesus’ central teachings (Mt 13:45-46, Mk 8:36, Rev 22:17) What could be more relevant?

21. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is a bribe. It makes religion selfish. You work for heavenly reward, not for pure love. Its’ mercenary. • Some rewards are not mercenary but natural and right • They are not artificially tacked on to the activity but are the result of the activity in its perfected state Heaven is not a reward externally added on rather It is love of God and neighbor perfected

22. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is too dogmatic. How can we know anything about heaven? I f eye has net seen, ear not heard, nor heart conceived then it can only be faith or speculation not knowledge • Analogical and negative knowledge is knowledge. Knowing what a thing is like or what a thing is not is knowledge • Faith is accepting divinely revealed data • Philosophical reasoning and reasoned speculation can lead to truth

23. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is egotistical. What arrogance to think you are destined to be spiritually married to God. God said it not us It is indeed amazing God is amazing

24. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is too selfish. It is the idea of infinite and eternal happiness. What makes you thing your little ego is so important, or that it can carry such a heavenly load of happiness? • Heaven is wholly unselfish and self-forgetful • Egotism is illusion and will be destroyed • In heaven everyone will be standing themselves in unselfconscious ecstasy • They will be so in love with God and others they will not notice themselves.

25. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is too unselfish; too spiritual, too mystical for ordinary human tastes • Those who lose their life for my sake will find it • Self-forgetfulness is our supreme joy because we are made in the image and likeness of God whose very essence is self-giving love Heaven’s self-abandonment brings the greatest self-fulfillment We can test this theory even now!

26. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is too earthly. Golden streets and jewelry and city gates and a sea of crystal this is obviously a mere projection and extension of some of the earthly things valued by a past culture. • Images are mere analogies, pointers • The objection confuses culturally relative imagery with the not culturally-relative substance or essence of heaven

27. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is too unearthly, too spiritual. How can we be human and be happy without sex, food, clothing--even some frustrations and challenges? Perfection would be terrible for us. • How do we know what will be too spiritual for the changed beings we will be after death? • Why set limits on human growth? • The objection is too limited in imagination and too bound to present worldly goods as if it were impossible that higher possibilities existed.

28. Transformation • Heaven’s transformation of earth (Rev 21:1) and the new humanity (1 Cor 15:44) neither simply extends and perfects, nor simply transcends and abolishes, the present humanity and earth but transforms it caterpillar to butterfly tadpole to frog frog to prince God goes around kissing earthly frogs and transforming them into princes!

29. Transformation Transformation answers all questions of form: Will we have X in heaven? Emotions - YES! Aquinas, But rather than coming from the body into the soul they will come from soul into body We will control our emotions not our emotions us Joy - Yes! Augustine, The love we receive from God will “overflow in a torrent of joyful pleasure” All will be greater because sin harms and never helps any good

30. Objections to Heaven Answered Do we become part of God in heaven or not? If so, this is pantheism, not Christianity. If not, if we only approximate and approach and imitate him from without; this is not enough, for we still have something more (God himself) to aspire to and desire. Such a heaven would not be complete fulfillment. • We do not become God but we do more than just imitate or approximate him • We share his own inner life but by grace (gift) not by nature • God pours himself into us In heaven everyone will be wise and content with what they are not prideful or envious of what God is

31. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven will be boring. Nothing to do but worship--an unending church service. Sheer happiness without unhappiness is boring. We appreciate everything only by contrast with its opposite. We need darkness to set off light, if heaven has no pain we won’t appreciate its pleasure. • The wiser one is the less one needs pain to appreciate pleasure • No word for boredom exists in any pre-modern language. Only the spoiled and jaded experience boredom even now. • The picture of a heavenly church is symbolic of God’s total presence • Heaven is not the mere lulling and satisfaction of desire. It is not mere contentment. It is passionate and dynamic and stimulating pure joy. • Heaven is perfect love and work. Love is a work, not just a feeling, and good work must be a work of love, Even Freud said the two things that make life worth living are love and work

32. Objections to Heaven Answered How can we be happy in heaven if any of our loved ones are in hell? If we stop loving them we are not good; if we keep loving them, we are not happy. • We know that there will be no sadness in heaven but we do not know how (Rev 21:4) • In whatever way God manages not to be sad, even though some turn away from him, he will teach us • He can not see the damned because they have chosen to step outside reality (Mt 25:31-46) • Hell is a place of eternal death not life • If your love for another is that strong then God placed you here to bring that person to him now in your own lifetime

33. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven is eternal. But eternity seems inhuman because without time there is no change, no progress, no work,. Passive, changeless adoration perhaps seems fit for angels, but not for us. • Eternity includes all time rather than excluding it. • Love is hard work. Only after the fall did work become onerous (Gen 3:17-19) • Heaven will surpass all the good in in work, change and time

34. Objections to Heaven Answered If all time is present at once in heaven, there can be nothing future, only present, and thus nothing left to hope for. But we cannot live without hope. “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.” • If that were true how could anyone travel hopefully. There would be nothing to hope for. • If “arriving” is threatening, boring or less joyful than hoping then we do not hope to arrive Heaven is far better than hope it is : fulfillment, consummation

35. Objections to Heaven Answered The “resurrection body” and the “new earth” seem impossible, mythological and anthropomorphic • The God who created this earth can surely create a new earth and if an earth then a new body as well • Myths are but dim confused foreshadowings of this truth • The new earth and new body are not a reduction of God to present human proportions but are rather beyond our present power to comprehend

36. Objections to Heaven Answered Are we free to sin in heaven? If not, we are unfree robots, not free willed humans. If so, heaven is dangerous, like earth. And if anyone chooses to sin, it’s Eden and the Fall and earth all over again • Free to sin is like healthy disease. It means freedom of enslavement • Free will is the means to a higher freedom • the means is freedom from compulsion • the end is the freedom from evil • In heaven no one will sin because no one will want to • We are now enslaved by sin and ignorance in heaven we will be free. Sin will loose its attractiveness

37. Objections to Heaven Answered If we will all be perfect saints in heaven, where will individuality be? • God is like a diamond with infinitely diverse facets not dull but infinitely interesting • It’s the tyrants and sinners that are alike individuals are the saints who dance to God’s music • God is like salt that brings out the individual flavor of each food it seasons Rev 2:17 Our heavenly individuality is so real that only God knows its secret

38. Objections to Heaven Answered Then heaven sounds so individualistic that it is egotistical • He that loses his soul will save it • Love is self-giving. • Through self-giving we touch a rhythm not only of all creation but of all being • Self exists to be given away Outside the system of self-giving is not earth, nor nature, nor “ordinary life,” but solely and simply hell.

39. Objections to Heaven Answered Will we all be equal in heaven? The traditional picture is one of inequality: a hierarchy of greater and lesser rewards. But this seems to make God and elitist, an aristocrat • We will all be equal in heaven in the same sense that we are all equal now • equal in worth and dignity as possessing human nature, the image of God, and equal in being totally loved by God with nothing held back. • This does not mean we will be the same • We will be totally filled with the love of God but some vessels will hold more than others • One of the chief joys of this life and the next is sharing differences and experiencing the pleasure of humility, to look up to, admire and learn from another who knows

40. Objections to Heaven Answered If God’s light and truth permeate heaven, there will be no privacy. That will be intolerable • Privacy is needed only because of sin • We hide from others because • we feel shame • we fear misunderstanding and rejection In heaven there is no shame (for all sin is gone) and no misunderstanding or rejection by God or his saints. We will share there the intimacy we long for but fear here

41. Objections to Heaven Answered Is there sex in heaven? If not, most people today will not want to go there. If so it just seems too earthly. • That many will not want to go there says much about our society • Sexuality, or sexual identity, is part of our divinely-designed humanity, and is not abolished but transformed • Sex is first something we are, not something we do • Since we will have real bodies, physical copulation will be possible, just as it will be possible to eat (Christ did that). • But we will probably never give it a thought since total intimacy and oneness with other souls is available versus the clumsy, partial, temporary oneness of intercourse

42. Objections to Heaven Answered To love heaven is to be a traitor to earth, leaving it behind like a rat leaving a sinking ship. • Unless the Bible lies earth is not our true home heaven is • Earth is only the setting of the play remove the people and it will no longer be dear to us • The people left behind will join us • Perhaps we do not even leave them behind • Perhaps the blessed dead are present but invisible observers of us the living (Heb 12:1) We are now surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses

43. Objections to Heaven Answered Given a choice most people would prefer earth to heaven Earth and heaven are not rivals Earth is related to heaven as: shadow to substance, seed to plant, courtship to consummation, pregnancy to birth, hope to fruition An eternity of earth would grow boring Earth is the just the nest when we are meant to fly

44. Objections to Heaven Answered Heaven sounds so alien, far, other, threatening, unfit for human habitation. Like trying on new clothes that just aren’t you We are designed and made for heaven it is our home A place is set at the table with our name on it Our Father has been waiting for a long time He knows us each by name When the time comes We will gladly put away our toys and go home.

45. Heaven Our Relationship With God Grace a foretaste and anticipation of eternal life Sanctifying grace God’s supernatural created gift infused in the soul truly transforming it and enabling it to partake in the divine nature Uncreated grace The Triune God dwelling in the just

46. Heaven Our Relationship With God Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: • TRUTH - by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. • OMNIPOTENCE - As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. • LOVE - He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church. A proper and truly differentiated relationship

47. Heaven Our Relationship With God The Christian is the son or daughter of the Father (and not of the Son and the Spirit) The brother or sister of the Son (and not of the Father or the Spirit) The temple of the Holy Spirit (and not of the Father or the Son) These relationships are not interchangeable thus it is more proper to pray to God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in different ways rather than to God in a generic sense. Heaven will maintain these relationships

48. Heaven Our Relationship With God Our immediate “beatific vision” of God in heaven is “mediated” to us through the humanity of Christ Bishop Joseph Ratzinger “Heaven, therefore, must first and foremost be determined christologically. It is not an extra-historical place into which one goes. Heaven’s existence depends on the fact that Jesus Christ, as God, is man, and makes a space for human existence in the existence of God.” One is in heaven when and to the degree that one is in Christ

49. Can We Lose Our Blessedness? Each will receive the degree of happiness according to his or her merits Council of Florence (1439) • “The blessed see clearly God himself, one and three, as He is, though some more perfectly than others, according to the diversity of merits” • All are perfectly and fully happy but in diverse manners • All the blessed are forever united with God and therefore are no longer subject to the possibility of ever losing God