# Christians: what is heaven like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654 "2013-12-18T16:13:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/21 "2013-12-19T00:14:48Z")
The church I grew up in (though I am an atheist now) teaches that it is a place where you worship and praise God for all eternity. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/22 "2013-12-19T00:29:24Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Is that the same as the soul? Or does your soul go one place, and your personality to another? Same same … What do Ozzie Nelson, Fred Astaire, George Gobel, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye all have in common? Personality that’s what and that’s all that’s left when you die … don’t make me prove it:D ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/23 "2013-12-19T00:54:10Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > We all do? 😉 A lot of us believe there will be a new heaven and a new earth when Jesus returns and the dead will be resurrected at that time (as Revelation 20-21 talks about). > > Maybe that sounds semantics to you, so I’ll address the rest: > > I have no idea about what activities are at the end, I just believe that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and God will once again live with His people. > > I also believe everyone gets to participate in the Age to Come. What about the 144,000 - whats in it for them? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/24 "2013-12-19T01:37:29Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > The church I grew up in (though I am an atheist now) teaches that it is a place where you worship and praise God for all eternity. Damn that sounds boring. Is heaven not described at all in the bible? I have a vague recollection of a city being described somewhere in there. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/25 "2013-12-19T01:50:53Z")
I’m not Christian any more, but when I was a kid, I came up with an idea based on this verse from 1 Corinthians: > [@](#): > > 9 However, as it is written: > > “What no eye has seen, > what no ear has heard, > and what no human mind has conceived”— > the things God has prepared for those who love him— If heaven is, by definition, better than anything my mind can conceive, then it would be to my benefit to imagine all the best things I can to set the bar as high as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/26 "2013-12-19T02:02:25Z")
Now, I see as in a mirror, darkly, but then, face to face. ---
**Author:** ![Kable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kable)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/27 "2013-12-19T02:08:29Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > I like the idea that, having once chosen to obey God while it was possible for me to refuse, I will reach a state in which I am no longer capable of desiring to choose wrong over right… So you are hoping that in heaven you will reach the state in which you no longer have free will? If that’s a preferred state, why wouldn’t God make us like that in the first place? Just him working in mysterious ways? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/28 "2013-12-19T04:22:56Z")
> [@simster](#): > > What about the 144,000 - whats in it for them? Most Christians don’t believe in the rapture ;). No, seriously… Catholicism and mainline Protestantism consider the rapture a heresy (I think the PCUSA called it a “dangerous heresy”) and misreading of Scripture. So the 144,000 aren’t necessarily Jews who get converted (as rapture folk believe), but is likely a symbolic number for all the redeemed. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/29 "2013-12-19T07:23:33Z")
> [@Kable](#): > > So you are hoping that in heaven you will reach the state in which you no longer have free will? > > If that’s a preferred state, why wouldn’t God make us like that in the first place? Just him working in mysterious ways? What a shame we have not had any other threads in which you could challenge Christians to prove that their religion is not a load of horse-crap. If you don’t want to participate in this thread according to the premise, why bother posting in it at all? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/30 "2013-12-19T13:11:21Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > What a shame we have not had any other threads in which you could challenge Christians to prove that their religion is not a load of horse-crap. If you don’t want to participate in this thread according to the premise, why bother posting in it at all? Thanks. I have to admit that I had wondered the same thing as **Kable** , but I kept my mouth shut for the exact reason you state: I don’t want to turn this into yet another debate. I just want to listen this time. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/31 "2013-12-19T15:03:55Z")
It’s a place where nothing… nothing ever happens. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/32 "2013-12-19T16:17:48Z")
[She’ll tell you.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrGCutoHa7A) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/33 "2013-12-19T16:36:58Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > The church I grew up in (though I am an atheist now) teaches that it is a place where you worship and praise God for all eternity. So your church taught you that Heaven is like…church? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/34 "2013-12-19T21:40:06Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Thanks. I have to admit that I had wondered the same thing as **Kable** , but I kept my mouth shut for the exact reason you state: I don’t want to turn this into yet another debate. I just want to listen this time. It’s a reasonable thing to wonder. I _think_ it makes a difference that someone was born with the ability to choose not to accept God, and chose of their own free will to accept Him, and having done so is free not to be tested any more. That is, in a meaningful sense, different from never having had the means, motive or opportunity to choose defiance over obedience - and I think not even God can make them be the same any more than He can create a beef burrito too hot for Him to eat. > [@Simmerdown](#): > > It’s a place where nothing… nothing ever happens. I think this is perhaps the complete opposite of the truth. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/35 "2013-12-19T22:11:40Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > I have no idea about what activities are at the end, I just believe that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and God will once again live with His people. > > I also believe everyone gets to participate in the Age to Come. This is true for me as well. Heaven and earth will be reconciled and everything we feel deep in our bones that is ‘wrong’ with the world will be set right – there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more disease, or death, or injustice. Those on the outside (‘hell’) will be like people who stand in the corner during a celebration and refuse to participate: they will be missed and encouraged to join in, and when they do will be welcomed with open arms. :shrugs: As far as I can tell, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/36 "2013-12-19T22:21:10Z")
> [@Kable](#): > > So you are hoping that in heaven you will reach the state in which you no longer have free will? No, you still have free will but there’s no reason to choose anything else because everything is clear. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/37 "2013-12-19T22:29:27Z")
So basically, you’re all just guessing and basing it on zilch. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/38 "2013-12-19T22:41:05Z")
I don’t much care for Islamism, but when it comes to heaven they nailed it: A thousand virgins waiting for you to arrive and pork em. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/39 "2013-12-19T22:42:26Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > I think this is perhaps the complete opposite of the truth. 🙂 [Perhaps, but…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zNdMc6wGtU) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654/40 "2013-12-19T22:42:27Z")
I’m going to respond here before I read the other posts, so I can put things in my own way without being influenced by other answers. Heaven if being eternally in the presence of God\*. Just what form it will take, or what we will sense, I don’t know. Based on the parable of the rich man and the poor man, it seems we will be able to recognize other souls in heaven. I’d like to think it will be like a pleasant life here in this world, with no stress, no worries, and all of eternity to meet and greet those that have gone on before us. A Bible verse states “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” so there will be no pain. If we have humanoid bodies I’ll guess that means we all will be fit, no physical or mental disabilities. I hope there are pets. I read a quote from Martin Luther once in which he said something like it wouldn’t really be like Heaven if there were no dogs. There will be endless opportunities to praise the God that made us. \*Hell, on the other hand, is being eternally seperated from God. I don’t take literally descriptions of eternal physical torture, burning and such. I imagine it’s an eternity of bleak despair. that one didn’t make the right choices. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christians-what-is-heaven-like/676654.md?page=3)