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CS Lewis keeps calling the joy of the ressurection 'infinite joy'. I brought this up on a site (like this one) and someone replied that he probably meant it as a huge amount of joy...but not infinite because we are finite. God is the only One who has infinite qualities. After that I also noticed Cs Lewis call our joy 'transfinite'...and, in Letters To Malcolm, argue that time will not be all present for us upon death (though different) because of our finite nature.

I guess we can't judge exactly how happy we will be!!!- But, well, any clues anywhere...in the Bible, in some philosopher's handbook, in Lewis....???

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  • I question your premise. For Lewis, there is a qualitative difference between pleasure (i.e. a physical satisfaction) and the joy of the sehnsucht - the "echoes of heaven working their way backwards." Its not a difference in the "quantity" of good feeling, but rather a qualitative difference in the character between the two. One "scratches an itch"- the other fulfills the purpose for which one was created.
    – Affable Geek
    Aug 7, 2013 at 20:33
  • So 'infinite joy' is hardly a technical term... Are there no 'levels' of happiness?
    – Sehnsucht
    Aug 8, 2013 at 22:12
  • Put it this way: I don't think there will be any complaints.
    – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE
    Aug 26, 2013 at 13:18

3 Answers 3

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Yes, the Bible says:

That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

and no mind has imagined

what God has prepared

for those who love him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9, quoting Isaiah 64:4.

So we don't know if it will be infinite (whatever that would mean in this context) but we do know that it is way beyond what anyone has even considered.

To put it another way: I don't think there will be any complaints.

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The word "infinite" is difficult in this context. This is because it can have several meanings:

  • Infinite meaning all time
  • Infinite meaning starting at this size and ever ending
  • Infinite meaning starting at this point and never ending

Graphically we might represent the first:

<----------------------- Time ----------------------->

This is clearly impossible, for there will be a point when we are in heaven but were not in heaven before.

The second might be this

 ^
 | Joy
 |            Time
 *---------------------------->
 |
 \/

But this is also impossible because we are finite beings. We cannot reach the infinite point.

On the other hand, there is "infinite" in the sense that it will be inexhaustible:

    /
   /
  /
 /
* (perpetual growth in time and joy)
 \
  \ 
   \
    \

In that sense it is not only possible, but it is something which I think is directly conveyed by, for example, Lewis's description of heaven in The Last Battle (further up, further in). And, if you're wondering, this is a concept that I've found in the writings of the Saints (John of the Cross comes to mind, but I seem to recall reading a couple of treatises on love which relate a similar idea).

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CS Lewis keeps calling the joy of the ressurection 'infinite joy'.

Since he is referring to the resurrection and mostly likely is pairing that term with salvation we would have 'infinite joy'. Because all will be resurrected Good or Evil

John 5:29 - And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Job 19:26 - And though after my skin worms destroy this abody, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Resurrection is a inseparable union between the spirit and the body forever. Thus CS Lewis understanding realized that if a person attains salvation and is resurrected he will have 'Joy' because he is in the presence of God and he will be 'infinite' because he is immortal and cannot die.

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