Questions tagged [heaven]
Heaven is a place of eternal life, in the presence of God.
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Can there be free will in heaven? [closed]
The most common explanation I heard from Christians for the theodicy is that suffering is caused inevitably by the free will of humans. The argument is essentially that a world without suffering is ...
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Will suicide keep me out of Heaven? [closed]
I don't want to set off any red flags here. I am not pursuing a suicidal lifestyle, nor do I have the desire to end my life. That being said:
Perhaps the greatest thing a person can hope for is to ...
anon
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Why should a sinner suffer forever in hell fire? [closed]
In my little knowledge I believe any form of punishment is a way of curbing crimes or wrong doings and for others to learn not to do wrong. When this life ends some would be in heaven and the rest in ...
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According to the Bible, do animals have souls? [closed]
Randy Alcorn claims in his book Heaven (page 374) that animals have souls, though not necessarily like humans. Is there any Biblical support for this?
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Are there multiple levels to Heaven, for different levels of reward? [closed]
1 Corinthians 15:39-41 (KJV)
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial ...
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What Bible verses suggest that humans can become angels? [closed]
There a number of biblical passages (such as 1 Corinthians 4:9) that are worded as such indicating angels were created separately from and and are different from humans.
For it seems to me that God ...
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Can an atheist go to heaven? [closed]
The question of who goes to heaven and who to hell seems to result in very different answers depending on which tradition the Christian answering belongs to. Some traditions, especially evangelical ...
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What is the Biblical Basis for a Good person going to hell simply for not believing?
The scenario is as follows:
Believer, average life, many mistakes/sins. Asks forgiveness and tries everyday to be better. Goes to heaven.
Non-believer, better life than the believer, fewer mistakes ...
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From where does the doctrine that there is no time in heaven originate?
I'm quite familiar with the fact that God himself is outside of time, this is very easy to show through scripture.
However it seems to be an increasingly popular conception that there is no time in ...
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Is Hell eternal, or do some/all escape it? [closed]
In his recent book, Love Wins, author and pastor Rob Bell caused quite a bit of controversy (and anger) by making the argument that Heaven is the state that we are in when we follow God's will and ...
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What is the Bible basis for the idea of a temporary holding place?
A friend once told me about the idea that there are two temporary "holding places", so to speak. If a person died and would go to Heaven, but that time had not yet come, they would go to a ...
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Will there be "new people" or reproduction in heaven or "the next life?" [closed]
I'm looking for a Biblical answer to this question: will there be any new people in heaven? An equivalent question: are the people created in this life (on Earth) the only people who will ever exist?
...
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How can Heaven exist if we know that people in Hell will suffer? [closed]
Suppose for the following scenario that both the Christian Heaven and Hell exist.
My mother is a good Christian and loves me dearly.
I am an atheist, and will therefore go to hell upon death. [If ...
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Did Dante's Divine Comedy describe or define Christian views on the afterlife?
Dante's Divine Comedy, the 14th century epic poem describing a journey through the various levels of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven and the persons or types of persons who inhabit each level (including ...
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What exactly do we know about Heaven? [closed]
Most of us probably have a lot of vague ideas about Heaven, the place where the faithful are said to spend their afterlife. But when I really start to think about it, I can't back most of my ideas ...
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Christian significance of Tolkien and C. S. Lewis putting "heaven" across the sea?
It is interesting that both of the most prominent Christian fantasy authors (not as in "Christian Fantasy" but Christians who wrote fantasy) put paradise across the sea. I realize that Tolkien's ...
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Is/will there be time in heaven? [closed]
An answer suggests that "time is meaningless in heaven." Do we know this to be true?
It seems like an easy conclusion to draw, based on the following:
God created the entire universe, including all ...
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Heaven/Paradise/Sheol, Hell/Hades/The Lake of Fire [closed]
What is the difference between Heaven/Paradise/Sheol
How about Hell/Hades/The Lake of Fire?
Are they synonyms, are they different places?
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Was Jesus' resurrected body the same as his glorified body that he now has in heaven?
Most people understand that the Scriptures teach that the body in which Jesus was crucified was the same body that came out of the grave. But regarding the body in which He now dwells, was that ...
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Jesus said no one had gone into heaven except the Son of Man, but what about Elijah?
I've found two verses which seem to be contradictory, so I'm hoping someone can explain how they can be reconciled.
No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of ...
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What is life in Heaven going to be like? [closed]
How is life going to be once you get to Heaven?
ie: What activities are you going to perform every day, for all eternity?
I am interested in responses that are backed up by verses from the Bible, ...
user729
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Is it possible to get into heaven, but then be cast out at a later date? [closed]
People struggle to enter Heaven, but what guarantees you that once you get there you won't be cast out from Heaven? In the Bible there is no guarantee about that. What will prevent you from making bad ...
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According to the Catholic Church, will we have physical bodies in heaven?
I've heard and read that when we die, and we go to heaven, we won't have bodies. We'll be spirits only, but so happy that we won't need bodies or objects.
In School we were taught that when we go to ...
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Is there a 'Third Heaven'?
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (New International Version)
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the
third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not
know—...
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Is it a sin to do "works" for the sake of "rewards" in heaven? [closed]
I was reading up on an article that was talking about rewards in heavens. Then it struck me, is it a sin to do "works" for the sake of "rewards" in heaven ?
What does the Bible have to say regarding ...
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What is the Biblical basis for the belief that a living person may visit heaven or hell?
As you may know there are many books where people have said they had been in hell and in heaven, and that even Jesus guided them. And that sounds a lot like Divine Comedy.
I'm pretty sure that's not ...
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What is the biblical basis for seeing Saint Peter at the gates of heaven?
I was taught that Saint Peter is at the gates of heaven, and you have to pass him to get in. Answers to a recent question suggest this is not true.
What is the biblical basis for seeing Saint Peter ...
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Why is it hard for a rich man to go to heaven?
Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. Why would this be?
Does this mean that it will be hard for e.g. Warren Buffett to go to ...
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Why did the pope say gender is a property of essence?
In his 2012 Christmas address, Pope Benedict XVI said:
According to the biblical creation account, being created by God as
male and female pertains to the essence of the human creature.
The use ...
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How can I be sure someone I know is going to Heaven? [closed]
I am sure that through my faith my sins have been forgiven and I will get into Heaven. However, how can I be sure someone else will be forgiven and allowed in Heaven? Are there any good questions I ...
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What is the "Kingdom of God" supposed to be? [closed]
everlasting blissful happiness and peace on earth
heaven after death / afterlife
a metaphorical way to describe that righteousness would be made on earth by the power of the holy spirit, and that ...
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Why do Christians appeal to personal gain and inducing fear when attempting to "convert" people? [closed]
I have many times witnessed christians trying to convince or convert atheists or people of other religions to christianity as well as all sorts of arguments and quarrels regarding christianity. I'm ...
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What is the Biblical Basis for saying that we "go to heaven"?
I have found hundreds of Bible verses with heaven or heavens in them. But none of them said we "go to heaven".
We pray for the kingdom to come here. Revelation has the new Jerusalem descending to ...
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Do people go to heaven immediately when they die? [closed]
When someone passes away, at their funeral the priest will usually say something that gives the idea that the deceased is in heaven. And a lot of people also like to give the idea that people who die ...
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If a Mormon man turns from Mormonism, what happens to his Mormon wife when she dies?
I'm told that according to Mormon doctrine, a Mormon woman has to be granted entry into heaven by her Mormon husband. Assuming my impression is correct, what would happen if the husband turned from ...
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How do we reconcile the futility of Ecclesiastes with the reward of heaven? [closed]
There's no question that Christianity believes in heaven. We have a tag here heaven filled with questions about it.
Having said this, there are many places in the Old Testament that speak of the ...
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If Satan fell because of sin, then was there sin in heaven at that point? [closed]
Assuming that God cast Satan out of heaven because of his sinful pride and attempt to dethrone God, then doesn't that mean that there was, at that point in time, some sin in heaven? This seems like it ...
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What did the Early Church Fathers think about pets (animals) going to Heaven upon death?
Many people believe that a pet goes to Heaven upon its death. I was curious, what did the Early Church Fathers (e.g., Augustine, John of Damascus, Tertullian, etc.) say about this?
user900
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Will we be perfect in Heaven?
I think most (if not all) Christians would agree that there will be no sin in heaven. However, we often make mistakes that aren't sinful: accidentally spilling a glass of milk isn't a sin. We don't ...
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Does Jesus eat food in heaven? [closed]
Jesus said there will be no marriage in heaven, but after He rose He ate food. Does Jesus eat food in heaven? Is there any reason for us to suppose He does not?
This is the kind of question kids ask ...
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If we will have free will and be sinless in Heaven at the same time, then why did God not create a world with sinless free creatures to begin with?
This question is scoped to those who believe that:
We have libertarian free wills
We will retain our free will in Heaven
We will be sinless in Heaven
Question: If Heaven demonstrates that it is ...
user50422
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Why can't there be another fall?
Some disagree on whether a Christian in this life may fall utterly and lose or forfeit eternal life. However, most Christians do agree that after death, the Christian is eternally secure in heaven (...
user971
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How does our work on this earth transfer into the new earth when God returns?
I recently read Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller and also Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. Both are amazing books, focused on the resurrection theology that God will raise up a new heaven and a new ...
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What is the biblical basis for the belief that people do not go to heaven or hell immediately when they die?
Touch poignantly stated in a now closed question,
But if people are already in heaven this means that there really isn't much reason for Jesus Christ to return, because all those that believe in Him ...
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What is the "paradise" that Jesus references in Luke 23:43? [closed]
Luke 23:43 - Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
At first glance, I casually assumed "paradise" was referring to heaven, but if Jesus was dead for 3 ...
user3353
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Does the Bible say anything about our human relations being kept after death?
Does death separate us from the people we love forever? Do we keep our human relations or do we start over?
I'm looking for any scripture passages that backup this claim or the contrary.
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What happens to marriage on the New Earth [closed]
I think I can safely say that humans were designed not to operate as a single solitary person but as part of a unit of two -- both as referenced by Gen 3:16-17 (see mentions of husband and wife in ...
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What are the requirements for each of the three levels of Glory?
In LDS theology, there are three levels of Glory for the Saints. What are the requirements for reaching each level? (In other words, what determines who goes to which?)
Also, who goes to Hell (The ...
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Is one who is "least in the kingdom of heaven" still in heaven? [closed]
Recently I read something that quoted this verse from the bible:
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches
others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of ...
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What is the Biblical basis for the belief that there are humans in heaven now?
Most Christians believe that Enoch, Elijah, Moses, the thief on the cross who was pardoned by Jesus and all the saints who were resurrected during the crucifixion were all translated to heaven.
What ...
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