Defining Heaven

There has been a fair share of "return from death" stories where heaven is described in glowing terms. They all seem to have the same imagery. That is unless you are a Muslim or Hindu. Their "after death stories" carry the imagery of their faiths.

So as we form ideas of heaven in our own imaginations, we need to be very careful that we are doing so based on historical faith and not pop culture speculation. Even more so we need to be careful not to form our thoughts based on our passions. I had one person tell me that their mothers' perfect heaven would be a swimming pool full of beer. Aside from the nastiness of drinking something that you have been swimming in, the imagery is completely fleshly. Heaven is not about the fulfillment of our base desires. This is the kind of thing we see in Islam and Viking lore. For devout Muslim males, heaven is eternity in the company of seventy two maidens. For the Viking killed in battle, Valhalla (heaven) is an eternity of drinking and feasting in comforting warmth. Both of these images are centered on self and fleshly gratification. For the follower of Christ, heaven is being in perfect communion with God and his church, free from the battles against sin.

It is interesting to note that Scripture gives us very little description of eternal life, both the time immediately after death and the time following when we pass through the final judgment with new physical bodies, the faithful moving onto eternal life, the unfaithful to spend eternity away from the presence and blessing of God.

This, like so many others things in the Christian faith, shows us that we need to live by faith and not by sight.