In Christianity, heaven is traditionally the location of the throne of God and the angels of God,Ehrman, Bart. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend. Oxford University Press, USA. 2006. and in most forms of Christianity it is the abode of the righteous dead in the afterlife. In some Christian denominations it is understood as a temporary stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints' return to the New Earth.
In the Book of Acts, the resurrected Jesus ascends to heaven where, as the Nicene Creed states, he now sits at the right hand of God and will return to earth in the Second Coming. According to Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox teaching, Mary, mother of Jesus, is said to have been assumed into heaven without the corruption of her earthly body; she is venerated as Queen of Heaven.
In the Christian Bible, concepts about Christian eschatology, the future "kingdom of heaven", and the resurrection of the dead are found, particularly in the book of Revelation and in 1 Corinthians 15.
Description
The Bible does not provide much information on what Heaven is supposed to be like. As a result, Christian theologians are usually not very specific when describing heaven.
The Book of Revelation states that the New Jerusalem will be transported from Heaven to Earth, rather than people from Earth going to Heaven. The idea of the Pearly gates, which is the informal name for the gateway to heaven according to some Christian denominations, comes from a description of the gates of New Jerusalem in : "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass."
Philosophy
One argument about the nature of heaven is whether it is possible for someone in heaven to have free will, which would normally include the freedom to sin. The nature of the issue varies depending on the specific type of freedom being discussed. One claimed solution is Augustine's view that people in heaven will no longer be tempted to disobey God.
Another issue is how happiness could be possible with the knowledge that some loved ones are suffering eternally in hell. This argument was published as early as the 1800s by the theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, who said that the knowledge of anyone's suffering is incompatible with salvation. This can be framed as an argument against the doctrine of eternal hell, but also against the concept of heaven. Traditionally, theologians said that knowing the suffering of the damned would actually glorify God and therefore increase the joy in heaven. More modern responses to this argument include that bliss in Heaven would overwhelm this knowledge, that people would be at peace with the idea of eternal suffering, or that they would have no knowledge of Hell.
Philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche have criticized the notion of heaven as a doctrine which was developed by people with suspicious motivations, who desired to prove that God favored their group at the expense of others, or who tried to enforce their conception of religion or morality using methods that often involved manipulation and intimidation.
Theology Early Christianity
Scholars say that 1st-century early Jewish-Christians, from whom Christianity developed as a Gentile religion, believed that the kingdom of God was coming to Earth within their own lifetimes, and looked forward to a divine future on Earth. The earliest Christian writings on the topic are those by Paul, such as 1 Thessalonians 4–5, in which the dead are described as having fallen asleep. Paul says that the second coming will arrive without warning, like a "thief in the night," and that the sleeping faithful will be raised first, and then the living. Similarly, in the earliest of the Apostolic Fathers, Pope Clement I, expresses belief in the resurrection of the dead after a period of "slumber"1 Clement 26:2: "For he saith in a certain place, And thou shalt raise me up, and I will give thanks unto thee; and again: I slumbered and slept; I arose up because thou art with me." at the Second Coming.E. C. Dewick, Tutor and Dean of St. Aidan's College, Birkenhead, and Teacher in Ecclesiastical History in the University of Liverpool. Primitive Christian Eschatology: The Hulsean Prize Essay for 1908. 2007 reprint, p. 339 "resurrection is 'that which shall be hereafter'; and neither salvation nor resurrection will be accomplished till the Lord has come again".
In the 2nd century AD, Irenaeus, a Greek bishop, quoted presbyters as saying that not all who are saved would merit an abode in heaven itself: "[T]hose who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere the Saviour shall be seen according as they who see Him shall be worthy."
Orthodox Christianity
Eastern Orthodox cosmology Various saints have had visions of heaven (). The Orthodox concept of life in heaven is described in one of the prayers for the dead: "…a place of light, a place of green pasture, a place of repose, from whence all sickness, sorrow and sighing are fled away".Book for Commemoration of the Living and the Dead, trans. Father Lawrence (Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville NY), p. 77. In the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, only God has the final say on who enters heaven.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, heaven is the parcel of deification (theosis), meaning to acquire the divine nature by grace and complete one's hypostasis via behavior, due to Jesus having made human entry into heaven possible by his incarnation, hence evidence of one's deification is usually miracles akin to those of Christ.
Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900), a philosopher with a Russian Orthodox background, wrote of "the Creator's aim, that earth may be oned with Heaven".
Catholicism Official teaching In Catholic teaching, heaven is the state of perfect communion with God, centered on the beatific vision. Because God transcends created understanding, heaven cannot be fully comprehended or described by human language, except insofar as God has revealed it through Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church.
Inhabitants According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, angels and saints inhabit heaven and enjoy the beatific vision. The angels and saints are Catholic - members of the Catholic Church - as members of the Church Triumphant, one of the three states of the church of heaven and Earth.
The Church specifies known angels, including: one's guardian angel, seraphim, cherubim, Michael the Archangel, Gabriel the Archangel, and Raphael the Archangel. According to , it is not known if angels are the only non-human creatures in heaven or just one of many types of creatures in heaven.
Known saints include canonized Catholics, such as those listed in the Litany of the Saints: the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old Testament, King David, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, John the Baptist, the Holy Innocents, the Penitent Thief, the Apostles (sans Judas Iscariot), Saint Paul, and the Doctors of the Church. Jesus as perfect man is not considered a saint, as he is not a human person but a Divine Person.
Going to heaven In Catholic teaching, entry into heaven requires the grace of baptism, which can be obtained outside the sacrament of baptism, such as through baptism of blood or baptism by desire, for God is not bound by his sacraments. The Church commends the unbaptized dead to the Divine Mercy, since the Penitent Thief was saved without baptism.
Those Christians who die still imperfectly purified must, according to Catholic teaching, pass through a state of purification known as purgatory before entering heaven.
Description
The church teaches that heaven "is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness" and "is the perfection of salvation." This is because in heaven one enjoys the beatific vision, the source and summit of heavenly happiness, peace, glory, honor, and all good things. The church holds that,
The "fruits of the redemption" is eternal life, i.e., freedom from and immunity to all evil (temptation, sin, error, inconvenience, boredom, ignorance, weakness, lack of something (basic needs, beauty, etc.), corruption, misfortune, unfulfillment, sorrow, condemnation, fear, dishonor, hostility, imperfection, suffering, and death), and possession of all good things, via the beatific vision.Roman Catechism, Everlasting Life The Virgin Mary is "the most excellent fruit of the redemption" because of her Immaculate Conception, since she was redeemed at the moment of conception. Mary is also "the eschatological image of the church", meaning she represents the church in heaven and at the resurrection on Judgement Day, because of her assumption into heaven, whereby she enjoys heaven with her resurrected body.
Symbolic description in the Bible In the Bible heaven is described symbolically, using images from everyday Jewish life during biblical times. The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates several images of heaven found in the Bible:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes heaven as "God's own 'place' — 'our Father in heaven' and consequently the 'heaven' too which is eschatological glory. Finally, 'heaven' refers to the saints and the "place" of the spiritual creatures, the angels, who surround God."
Properties of eternal life The Roman Catechism and the Catechism of the Catholic Church both explain that, by enjoying the beatific vision, everyone enjoys happiness, glory, honor, and peace. As the CCC teaches:
There will true glory be, where no one will be praised by mistake or flattery; true honor will not be refused to the worthy, nor granted to the unworthy; likewise, no one unworthy will pretend to be worthy, where only those who are worthy will be admitted. There true peace will reign, where no one will experience opposition either from self or others.
As the Roman Catechism teaches:
For the blessed always see God present and by this greatest and most exalted of gifts, being made partakers of the divine nature, they enjoy true and solid happiness...For the blessed shall enjoy glory; not only that glory which we have already shown to constitute essential happiness, or to be its inseparable accompaniment, but also that glory which consists in the clear and distinct knowledge which each (of the blessed) shall have of the singular and exalted dignity of his companions (in glory). And how distinguished must not that honour be which is conferred by God Himself, who no longer calls them servants, but friends, brethren and sons of God!Roman Catechism, Beatific Vision
The Roman Catechism adds that human concepts of heaven (living like a king, heaven being the most perfect paradise, one enjoying the ultimate union with God, the realization of one's potential and ideals, the achievement of godhood, materialistic fulfillment (wealth, power, feast, pleasure, leisure, etc.), eternal rest, reunion with loved ones, etc.) are nothing compared to what heaven is really like:
the happiness of the Saints is full to overflowing of all those pleasures which can be enjoyed or even desired in this life, whether they regard the powers of the mind or of the perfection of the body; albeit this must be in a manner more exalted than eye hath seen, ear heard, or heart conceived. Who will desire rich apparel or royal robes, where there shall be no further use for such things, and where all shall be clothed with immortality and splendour, and adorned with a crown of imperishable glory?. And if the possession of a spacious and magnificent mansion contributes to human happiness, what more spacious, what more magnificent, can be conceived than heaven itself, which is illumined throughout with the brightness of God ?Roman Catechism, Accessory Happiness