# Is heaven boring? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 27, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527 "2001-11-27T16:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/21 "2001-11-28T17:23:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LiquidLobotomy \* > **…Heaven … is supposed to be an eternal paradise right? … That said, wouldn’t you get bored of it after a while?** If it’s possible for heaven to get boring, it is neither eternal nor a paradise. Your question as originally stated can’t be answered. If all chickens were white, would a red chicken still taste like chicken? ---
**Author:** ![dierson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@dierson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dierson)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/22 "2001-11-28T20:22:18Z")
**If you like church and worshipping god, that’s what heaven will be like. A church service that never ends. To me that would be hell…but several different churchies have told me that heaven is Everlasting Worship [of God]. So since I think even an hour of church is boring…I think any multiple of hours that eternity comprises would multiply the bordom by that number. Hence, Heaven is infinately boring.** ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/23 "2001-11-28T23:15:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dierson \* > \*\***If you like church and worshipping god, that’s what heaven will be like. A church service that never ends. To me that would be hell…but several different churchies have told me that heaven is Everlasting Worship [of God]. So since I think even an hour of church is boring…I think any multiple of hours that eternity comprises would multiply the bordom by that number. Hence, Heaven is infinately boring.** \*\* I’m going slightly off-topic here, but it’s a bit of a shame that people think that heaven will just be one indefinite church service; not that I don’t like the services at my church, but I consider that worship is a far broader concept than “face front and sing”. **Polycarp** , where are you? ---
**Author:** ![dierson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@dierson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dierson)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/24 "2001-11-28T23:31:09Z")
thing is; church is boring. If only they served some beer and had a big screen for football…oh…that is the thing I do instead of church! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/25 "2001-11-28T23:47:51Z")
To each his own; I’ve only ever managed to sit through one complete football game in my life without losing interest. I’ll admit that I do find beer slightly interesting though. But there’s no particular reason why church (or heaven for that matter) _must_ be boring. An English writer named Adrian Plass said that God would have to make heaven at least _as_ interesting as your favourite things, or you simply wouldn’t want to go. (yes, I know that proves nothing, but this thread is more IMHO than anything else really) ---
**Author:** ![dierson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@dierson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dierson)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/26 "2001-11-29T03:39:33Z")
if in heaven we could rule our own universe capriciously like god does now…I could handle that. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/27 "2001-11-29T10:13:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dierson \* > \*\*thing is; church is boring. If only they served some beer and had a big screen for football…oh…that is the thing I do instead of church! \*\* My understanding is that, should you find yourself in heaven, then this is pretty much what heaven will be like _for you_- author Adrian Plass described his expectation of heaven as like going in to bat for England at Lord’s. But then he’s a Brit… This is how I have thought about the question of animals in heaven - if heaven **wouldn’t be heaven** without Muffie/Rover/etc, then I wouldn’t be too surprised to find them there for you… Gp ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/28 "2001-11-29T15:20:29Z")
> [@](#): > > thing is; church is boring. If only they served some beer and had a big screen for football…oh…that is the thing I do instead of church! I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but this is _exactly_ what one of the Future Religions depicted in Robert Heinlein’s **Stranger in a Strange Land** actually does. After services a screen slides down and people (men especially) stay in the pews to watch the game. I don’t recall if they get beer, too, but I think so. Not surprisingly, this religion is phenomenally popular. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/29 "2001-11-29T15:36:25Z")
It’s _supposed to be_ “a state of total joy and fulfillment.” Obviously, for a “my life is my churchmanship” junkie, it’d be a time when the most satisfying church service you ever attended extended to infinity. But for most of us, that would not be adequate. Glory in one’s presence before the Godhead? Yeah. But in a way gratifying to the individual. For JAB or David B., for example, a time when one’s quest for the truth is always fulfilled and never satiated, coupled with a personal inner satisfaction (similar to the pleasuere many people get from time with family and/or friends) would be the ticket. I think the last reward God would consider adequate is something that is, in and of itself, no reward to the people receiving it – kind of entering a contest and finding out that “you’re a winner – your prize is two weeks in beautiful Grand Forks, North Dakota!!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HalberMensch242](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@HalberMensch242](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HalberMensch242)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/30 "2001-11-29T19:42:27Z")
cal wasn’t familiar with the story…but, “No beer and no TV make Homer go crazy!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/31 "2001-11-29T20:06:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dierson \* > \*\*if in heaven we could rule our own universe capriciously like god does now…I could handle that. \*\* So you’re saying heaven is playing a neverending game of **The Sims?** 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/32 "2001-11-29T21:50:46Z")
LiquidLobotomy wrote: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > > \*\*After St. Peter gives you your complimentary “Welcome to Heaven” lobotomy, you’ll never be bored by _anything_ ever again… \*\* > > As funny as that sounds, that’s the fear I have… that I’ll cease to be who I feel I am. I’ll go farther than this: **IN HEAVEN, THERE IS NO FREE WILL!** Consider:[ul][li]According to Christian tradition, mankind was able to sin because God gave mankind free will. Without free will, it is impossible to sin.[/li][li]With free will, it is inevitable that, given an infinite amount of time, someone somewhere will sin.[/li]Heaven is supposed to be 100% sin-free for all eternity. Not 95% sin-free, not 99.99999999999% sin-free, 100% sin-free. God, in His omniscience and perfect knowledge of the future, has ordained that there will **never** be so much as one eensy-weensy sin committed in heaven, ever.[/ul]Since eternity is an infinite amount of time, then _if free will existed in heaven_, someone somewhere in heaven would eventually sin. But we already know that no sins will ever transpire in heaven. Therefore, heaven has no free will. Q.E.D… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/33 "2001-11-29T22:23:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > **Since eternity is an infinite amount of time…** A possibly flawed assumption - quite a few people seem to be saying that eternity is quite different from ‘an infinite amount of time’ in that it exists outside the context of space and time. However, that doesn’t detract much from the rest of your point about free will, which I can’t personally refute. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/34 "2001-11-29T22:43:01Z")
I don’t know if Heaven is boring, but I do know this: If the anti-abortion types are right, and life begins at conception, then Heaven is knee-deep in the sludge of the 7 out of 10 fertilized eggs that fail to anchor themselves to the uterine wall and get flushed out as waste. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/35 "2001-11-29T22:47:16Z")
No, no, no, Cervaise – hell is knee-deep in the sludge of the 7 out of 10 fertilized eggs that fail to anchor themselves to the uterine wall and get flushed out as waste. Remember, those blastocysts were never Baptized. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/36 "2001-11-29T22:54:00Z")
Oh dear. Do the anti-abortion types™ believe that fertilised eggs have a tiny little egg-shaped soul then? (I honestly don’t know). ---
**Author:** ![dierson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@dierson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dierson)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/37 "2001-11-29T22:56:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by dierson \* > > \*\*if in heaven we could rule our own universe capriciously like god does now…I could handle that. \*\* > > So you’re saying heaven is playing a neverending game of **The Sims?** 😉 \*\* Never done sims games…do you recommend one that would give me capricious god-power? remember…I really wanna tease my sims…like our god does! ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/38 "2001-11-29T23:07:33Z")
What about David Byrne of the Talking Heads: Everyone is trying to get to the bar. The name of the bar, the bar is called Heaven. The band in Heaven plays my favorite song. They play it once again, they play it all night long. … It’s hard to imagine that nothing at all could be so exciting, could be so much fun. Heaven is a place where nothing every happens. Heaven is a place where nothing every happens ---
**Author:** ![dierson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@dierson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dierson)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/39 "2001-11-29T23:15:33Z")
TRACER SAID ------ IN HEAVEN, THERE IS NO FREE WILL! Consider: According to Christian tradition, mankind was able to sin because God gave mankind free will. Without free will, it is impossible to sin. With free will, it is inevitable that, given an infinite amount of time, someone somewhere will sin. ## Heaven is supposed to be 100% sin-free for all eternity. Not 95% sin-free, not 99.99999999999% sin-free, 100% sin-free. God, in His omniscience and perfect knowledge of the future, has ordained that there will never be so much as one eensy-weensy sin committed in heaven, ever. Since eternity is an infinite amount of time, then if free will existed in heaven, someone somewhere in heaven would eventually sin. But we already know that no sins will ever transpire in heaven. Therefore, heaven has no free will. Q.E.D… Seems you left out some possibilities; a)it could be that all sins are repealed so that there is no sin. After all, Laws are the cause of crime! (without laws there would be no crime) b)we fail to exist in heaven (or anywhere after death–a strong contender!) can’t sin without existing! c)It’s really a buncha bullshit made up to keep you inline in this life by autocratic religious folks throughout the ages ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527/40 "2001-11-29T23:38:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LiquidLobotomy \* > \*\* > As funny as that sounds, that’s the fear I have… that I’ll cease to be who I feel I am. \*\* OTOH, maybe you’ll change from what you feel you are to what you could and should be, and that might not be a bad thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-heaven-boring/95527.md?page=3)