What is heaven?

<p>An old e-friend of mine on a messageboard a while back (I know this sounds bad, but it's not) said that imagining heaven is like imagining a new colour. I thought that was terribly poignant.</p>

<p>"Buddhists don't believe in heaven in the idea that Christians do. They believe in reincarnation until you reach enlightment: pure happiness. Yes, some buddhists have identified a type of heaven, but it isn't where you spend the rest of your afterlife with god, rather it is just another rebirth in a very large cycle of reincartnation."</p>

<p>I agree. I was just curious what Fides thought. Since he DOES believe in heaven (rather than reincarnation) I was curious if he thought people of other religions got there.</p>

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<p>"God is pure love..."</p>

<p>I actually agree. That's why I think that war and judgment have no place in a spiritual view.</p>

<p>"Consider a 9th century A.D. Japanese man who has never heard the word of Christ. As he has not accepted the "one true God," is he burning in hell for not worshipping a man he had never heard of?"</p>

<p>In modern Catholic theology, it has for the most part been established that people who have never heard of Christ will be judged based on thier deeds: whether they, even though Christ never existed in their world, lived their lives in a Christian way (love, compassion, forgiveness, etc). Since not accepting Christ as their Savior is not their fault, they cannot be held accountable for it. Notable is the Catholic belief that all peoples, regardless of religion or culture, have within them the natural propensity to live Christian lives. The way of Christ is inherent in all of us; all people are born with it. This is why all infants and young children, regardless of the faiths they are born into, go straight to Heaven upon death.</p>

<p>HEAVEN is listening to Stairway to Heaven....this song is the greatest ever.</p>

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<p>I have to disagree with that. The Quran says that anyone who does good in the world will go to heaven, provided of course that they believe in God.</p>

<p>"HEAVEN is listening to Stairway to Heaven....this song is the greatest ever."</p>

<p>I totally agree! It is the #1 greatest masterpiece OF ALL TIME. There are thousands of great songs out there, but NOTHING COMES CLOSE. Every note is sheer perfection. It is deep, profound, and emotionally evocative, both lyrically and musically. It contains the greatest guitar solo ever recorded. It is a masterpiece!</p>

<p>Just as nothing can come close to the #1 song, so too can nothing come close to the #1 greatest album of all time - Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon. Again, there are thousands of great albums out there, but Dark Side stands out as a masterpiece, just as Stairway stands out.</p>

<p>yeah...I get goosebumps everytime I hear the solo in the middle...Page is absolute genius !!!!!!!!!!</p>

<p>Yes, he is! And did you know that he recorded that solo in just 2 takes? He decided he would record 2 solos and take the best one. It was TOTAL IMPROVISATION!!!</p>

<p>I once read an interview with Kirk Hammett who said how he needed to compose his solos ahead of time, which is probably pretty normal for most guitarists, at least when they're cutting an album, and he really admired Page because Page didn't have to do that.</p>

<p>You are of course familiar with the live version on 'The Song Remains the Same,' right? Not as neatly and perfectly composed of course, but totally expanded and with an enormous amount of emotional depth. Like another incarnation of the song.</p>

<p>My #1 fav artist of all time, who is, imo, THE MASTER musician of all time, Peter Gabriel (actually quite a deep artist - do NOT, I repeat, do NOT judge him purely on Sledgehammer and In Your Eyes, ok?) said that he considers each of his songs to be dynamic, ever-changing, like living entities. I collect live performances of him because no song is ever performed exactly the same.</p>

<p>Well, the mighty Led Zep was exactly like that. If you've ever seen any live footage, they were masters of improv. And they pulled it off and each event was a magical moment in time. They are among the greatest musical masters of our era, along with Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd.</p>

<p>Heaven is the fictitious place that organized religion has created to provide positive incentive to follow the religion throughout life.</p>

<p>Candy Mountain!!!</p>

<p>Heaven is supposed to be a happy, wonderful place. But, I do not think you are supposed to know truly what Heaven is like until you get there........if you believe in it.</p>

<p>I have heard of sacred texts detailing Heaven as a place with a beer volcano and a stripper factory. </p>

<p>Wait... which god were we talking about again?</p>

<p>I heard heaven is where rivers will stream with chocolate. YUMMY! Or maybe that was just WILLY WONKA?????????</p>

<p>Or better yet, maybe heaven is a place where everyone is atheist.</p>

<p>For the pious, Heaven is the culmination of spiritualism; for the scientist, Heaven is the reason why his blood pressure is a world record. :D</p>

<p>Hahaha --> "for the scientist, Heaven is the reason why his blood pressure is a world record." </p>

<p>That's a good one. </p>

<p>just a curious question: what do you do once you're in Heaven? Do you just "live" a life somewhat to life on earth? Spend days relaxing or is there still school? O_o</p>

<p>you spend your days worshipping god and you get to bask in the glory of his presence</p>

<p>alternatively, blow up some infidels and you get to partayy with 72 virgins,</p>

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you get to partayy with 72 virgins,

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<p>Or raisins. Which are way better if you ask me.</p>

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Heaven is a state of consciousness.

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<p>Agreed.</p>

<p>In my opinion, it has nothing to do with death. Personally, I believe there's just nothing when you die.</p>

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What is the Jewish view anyway? I've heard talk of the Book of Life or such, but I never got a clear sense of it.

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<p>My World Cultures class visited a Jewish synagogue's Shabbat service last semester. Someone asked that question to the rabbi. His response was that they believe there is a life after death, but they really don't think about it much. They are mostly concerned with life on earth, and the afterlife doesn't really matter. Anyway, I'm not sure if that's what all Jews believe, but that was one conservative Jewish rabbi's response.</p>

<p>Personally, I'm a Christian, and believe that heaven exists. I'm not exactly sure what it or Hell is like, as the Bible is not 100% clear, but I know it's a perfect place ("place" being not exactly the currect term, since it's not in the physical universe). And yes, non-Christians do not go to heaven. I'm not answering specifically the Buddhist example, though, as some Buddhists claim to be Christians, and it's not up to me to judge if they really are or not. Anyway, why does God "send" people to hell? God is perfect, and cannot tolerate imperfection. Christians are purified through faith because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross (an act that is a perfect example of God's love), but non-Christians are not. God loves non-Christians (he sent his son to die for them), but they chose their way, and being perfect, he cannot allow imperfection in his perfect place. And if he made it so we all HAD to love him, we would be nothing more than robots.</p>

<p>Another interpretation, that I don't think I agree with it, is that everyone goes to "heaven" where God's love is, but to non-believers, it is "hell", because they know they've rejected God all their lives. I believe this is the current Eastern Orthodox position. (See wikipedia.com on the Christian view of Hell).</p>

<p>Anyway, I'm still figuring things out, and probably won't be able to answer all objections. But I'll try, and hopefully will learn something in the process (whether or not that something confirms my current beliefs or changes them).</p>

<p>Please pardon my theological naivety here, but if we assume that the Christian God is perfect, and that because Jesus is God incarnate then he is perfect as well (thought that's debateable because of what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane), and that God is the only perfect thing in the universe, then are you suggesting that when devout Christians go to heaven they become part of God? If God "can't tolerate imperfection", then I wonder why God bothered creating us at all. </p>

<p>Hmm....not sure if that makes any sense at all, but...</p>