Heaven: Encyclopedia II - Heaven - Conceptions

Heaven - Conceptions

While there are abundant and varied sources for conceptions of Heaven, the typical believer's view appears to depend largely on his particular religious tradition. Various religions have described Heaven as being populated by angels, demons, gods and goddesses, and/or heroes (especially in Greek mythology). Heaven is generally construed as a place of eternal happiness. The relationship between this concept and the celestial sphere is generally believed to have been first proposed by the ancient astronomer-priests (see also: astrologer).

The concept of heaven was allegedly imported into Judaism from Zoroastrianism, perhaps by the prophet Daniel through his exposure to the Zoroastrian Magi of the court of Darius I. The belief in heaven appears to have supplanted the earlier concept of Sheol (mentioned in Isaiah 38:18, Psalms 6:5 and Job 7:7-10).

Jewish converts to this concept of heaven and hell included the group known as the Pharisees. The larger, dogmatically conservative Sadducees maintained their belief in Sheol. While it was the Sadducees that represented the Jewish religious majority it was the Pharisees who best weathered Roman occupation, and their belief in Zoroaster's heaven and hell was passed on to both Christianity and Islam (in which heaven is referred to as Jannah).

In Christianity, heaven is a return to the pre-fallen state of humanity, a second and new Garden of Eden, in which humanity is reunited with God in a perfect and natural state of eternal existence. Christians believe this reunion is accomplished through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ in having died for the sins of humanity on the cross.

In Eastern religions (and some Western traditions), with their emphasis on reincarnation and moksha or nirvana(ultimate salvation), the concept of Heaven is not as prominent, but it still is present. In Hinduism or Buddhism, for example, there are several heavens, and those who accumulate good karma will go to a heaven; however their stay in the heaven is not eternal — eventually they will use up their good karma and be reincarnated in another realm, as human, animal, or other beings. While heaven is temporary, the permanent state that members of these religions aspire to are Moksha or Nirvana. In the native Chinese Taoist traditions Heaven is an important concept, where the ancestors reside and from which emperors drew their mandate to rule in their dynastic propaganda, for example. In Hindu belief, likewise, heaven—called Swarga loka—is seen as transitory place for souls who did good deeds but whose actions are not enough for moksha or absolute bliss with God.

It is important to remember that the popular notion by believers of most faiths (especially in the West) is that one enters heaven at the moment of death; this is not part of the doctrine of most of Christianity (see Swedenborgianism for a Christian religion that does have this doctrine), however, or of any other major religion, that still maintain that entry into Heaven awaits such time as, "When the form of this world has passed away."

Two related and often confused concepts of heaven in Christianity are better described as the "resurrection of the body", which is exclusively of Biblical origin, as contrasted with "the immortality of the soul", which is also evident in the Greek tradition. In the first concept, the soul does not enter heaven until the last judgement or the "end of time" when it (along with the body) is resurrected and judged. In the second concept, the soul goes to a heaven on another plane immediately after death. These two concepts are generally combined in the doctrine of the double judgement where the soul is judged once at death and goes to a temporary heaven, while awaiting a second and final physical judgement at the end of the world. (*" JPII, also see eschatology, afterlife)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Conceptions", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki