# Where in the Bible does it say you'll be reunited with loved ones in the afterlife? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536 "2008-04-23T13:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Burton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burton)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/1 "2008-04-23T13:05:54Z")
Being stuck with your famility for eternity could be rather uncomfortable too. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/2 "2008-04-23T13:24:18Z")
Jesus said that there is no marriage in heaven. [Cite.](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=22&verse=30&version=31&context=verse) FWIW. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/3 "2008-04-23T13:30:55Z")
If I remember correctly my (Catholic) Bible classes, those that end up in Paradise are given the privilege of contemplating God in all His glory. That is in St Paul - _videmus nunc per speculum et in aenigmate, tunc autem facie ad faciem_ - “Now we see through vague images and enigmas, but then (in Paradise) we’ll see face to face”. A teacher of mine said that we’d contemplate God for all eternity, and so have no spare attention for anybody and anything else; time would stop having meaning. Do you find this view appealing? I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![ignis\_glaciesque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ignis\_glaciesque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignis_glaciesque)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/4 "2008-04-23T13:47:21Z")
Yeah, there’s nothing the Bible that says you’ll spend all eternity with your folks. Not even your wife. This whole tradition is just that — a folk tradition built up by countless generations of believers, just like the Pearly Gates and the physical appearance of Christ as a sort of red-haired, blue-eyed proto-hippie. ---
**Author:** ![Osakadelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c68b51/32.png) [@Osakadelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osakadelica)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/5 "2008-04-23T14:06:39Z")
[QUOTE=Lars Aruns] If I remember correctly my (Catholic) Bible classes, those that end up in Paradise are given the privilege of contemplating God in all His glory. That is in St Paul - _videmus nunc per speculum et in aenigmate, tunc autem facie ad faciem_ - “Now we see through vague images and enigmas, but then (in Paradise) we’ll see face to face”. A teacher of mine said that we’d contemplate God for all eternity, and so have no spare attention for anybody and anything else; time would stop having meaning. Do you find this view appealing? I don’t. [/QUOTE] This is all original research from me: If you believe that religious types are effectively getting the same experience as termporal lobe epileptics and a feeling of one with the universe (you can also experience this with halluciongenic drugs: I strongly recommend doing this at least once) and they interpret that as God. I can see why they’d like the pure form of that. That would indeed be heaven of asort. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/6 "2008-04-23T15:08:39Z")
Yeah, Heaven in mainstream Christian tradition is the eternal contemplation of God and the praising of his name. No time for family reunions, this is one deity who demands constant attention. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/7 "2008-04-23T15:19:15Z")
[QUOTE=ignis\_glaciesque] … and the physical appearance of Christ as a sort of red-haired, blue-eyed proto-hippie. [/QUOTE] - “Behold, the Ginger Jesus!”\* ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/8 "2008-04-23T16:00:45Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] - “Behold, the Ginger Jesus!”\* [/QUOTE] Played by Willem Dafoe 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/9 "2008-04-23T16:01:18Z")
[QUOTE=ignis\_glaciesque] …a folk tradition built up by countless generations of believers, just like the Pearly Gates… [/QUOTE] No, the pearly gates are from [Revelation 21:21](http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Revelation+21:21&version=51) - “The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/10 "2008-04-23T16:11:06Z")
Judges 2:10: > [@](#): > > After that whole generation had **been gathered to their fathers** , another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. [Emphasis mine]. The rabinnical interpertation of the phrase “gathered to their fathers” (variations of which appear several times throughout the Tanakh) is that after death, one is rejoined with his anscestors - and presumably other family members and loved ones. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/11 "2008-04-23T16:34:53Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] Jesus said that there is no marriage in heaven. [/QUOTE] Isn’t that an euphemism for “when I’m back, you can forget all about sex. You will contemplate God, like ‘an angel in heaven’. - _Muahahaha!_” ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/12 "2008-04-23T17:55:05Z")
Stepping back into my own past, going into take-the-bible-somewhat-literally mode: The picture we have at the end of Revelation (I’m talking about chapter 21 specifically) seems to involve an afterlife in which the (new) Earth is still organized into kingdoms. These kingdoms are (as far as I’ve been able to figure out) part of a world empire with its capital at Jerusalem and with God and Christ as co-regents. So in a situation like this, it seems plausible that one at least _could_ be reunited with his friends and relatives if he _wants_ to. The image in Rev 21 isn’t one of disembodied spirits contemplating the glory of God for all eternity–it appears to depict a situation which couldn’t exist without people interacting (indeed, bodily in some sense at least) with other people as well as with God. There are other passages in scripture which I suspect may point to a time _past_ the time depicted in Rev 21, in which God is “all in all” whatever that might mean. This _may_ refer to a state similar (but not identical to) the traditional conception–a situation in which everyone (and everything, apparently) turns out to be God joyfully contemplating God’sself. But if that’s what happens ultimately, it’s still not the whole of the afterlife if Rev 21 is to believed. Shortly after the resurrection, before God sort of swallows up everything in some sense, it appears people are continuing to interact politically and economically, in an empire ruled by Jesus Christ (and God himself I think), and given that, it is not hard to imagine that one could be reunited with one’s loved ones. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/13 "2008-04-23T18:07:46Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] - “Behold, the Ginger Jesus!”\* [/QUOTE] I like [Big Butter Jesus](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq01UYiMyHg) myself. We had the whole family, including **elfbabe** and her beau singing this beautiful spiritual song together in the car. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/14 "2008-04-23T18:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] The image in Rev 21 isn’t one of disembodied spirits contemplating the glory of God for all eternity–it appears to depict a situation which couldn’t exist without people interacting (indeed, bodily in some sense at least) with other people as well as with God. [/QUOTE] More Biblical support for this might be [I Corinthians 15](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=53&chapter=15&version=31) in which Paul talks about the resurrected dead having “spiritual” or “heavenly” bodies. (This is the source of the line from Handel’s Messiah: “The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.”) C. S. Lewis addressed the issue of what the afterlife, or Christians’ heavenly reward, would be like in an essay/sermon called “The Weight of Glory” which is available [here](http://www.doxaweb.com/assets/doxa.pdf) as a PDF file. In it he says > [@](#): > > The promises of Scripture may very roughly be reduced to five heads. It is promised, firstly, that we shall be with Christ; secondly, that we shall be like Him; thirdly, with an enormous wealth of imagery, that we shall have “glory”; fourthly, that we shall, in some sense, be fed or feasted or entertained; and, finally,that we shall have some sort of official position in the universe—ruling cities, judging angels, being pillars of God’s temple. Nothing there or, as far as I can recall, in the Bible itself about being reunited with loved ones, at least not directly, but if you are with Jesus and so are they, then presumably you’re all with each other? ---
**Author:** ![ignis\_glaciesque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ignis\_glaciesque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignis_glaciesque)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/15 "2008-04-24T01:32:48Z")
[QUOTE=Gary T] No, the pearly gates are from [Revelation 21:21](http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Revelation+21:21&version=51) - “The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.” [/QUOTE] _looks up_ Oh. Consider me corrected. But I stand by my statement that a ginger Jesus would have died of sunstroke in less than ten minutes in the Holy Land! ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/16 "2008-04-24T13:53:52Z")
According to Ephesians 3:14-15, if I’m reading it properly, there will be only one family in heaven: > [@](#): > > For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. RR ---
**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:** [April 24, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/17 "2008-04-24T18:32:56Z")
For those interested in the topic of what the Biblical description of heaven is versus the contemporary mythology of heaven, I highly recommend [_Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church_](http://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Hope-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission/dp/0061551821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209061763&sr=1-1) by New Testament scholar and Anglican Bishop of Durham N.T. Wright. > [@Amazon](#): > > What happens when we die? How should we think about heaven, hell, purgatory and eternal life? Wright critiques the views of heaven that have become regnant in Western culture, especially the assumption of the continuance of the soul after death in a sort of blissful non-bodily existence. This is simply not Christian teaching, Wright insists. The New Testament’s clear witness is to the resurrection of the body, not the migration of the soul. And not right away, but only when Jesus returns in judgment and glory. The “paradise,” the experience of being “with Christ” spoken of occasionally in the scriptures, is a period of waiting for this return. But Christian teaching of life after death should really be an emphasis on “life after life after death”-the resurrection of the body, which is also the ground for all faithful political action, as the last part of this book argues. ---
**Author:** ![h.ergaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/848f3c/32.png) [@h.ergaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.ergaster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/18 "2008-04-24T20:27:57Z")
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, \*\*even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. \*\* 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1st Thess Ch5 Abraham “died . . . and **was gathered to his people** ” (Genesis 25:8) **King David believed that he would see his son again,** “But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). “And I say to you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and recline at the table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 8: 11). **According to this passage, we will know them by name in Heaven.** There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead **[The rich man in hell remembering his brothers]** ---
**Author:** ![shigyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@shigyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shigyu)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/19 "2008-04-24T21:16:22Z")
Well, St. Dismas at the very least: > [@](#): > > _Luke 23 (NAB)_ > 42 Then [the thief] said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” > 43 [Jesus] replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” He’s with Jesus in the afterlife. If a whole bunch of people are all with Jesus, they must be with each other too. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536/20 "2008-04-24T21:48:53Z")
“Till death do us part” is the traditional Christian marriage vow. Once you’re widowed you’re free to marry again in the eyes of the church, and, of course, many Christians do. So which family are they supposed to be reunited with in heaven? (Mickey Rooney is gonna have a real headache when he gets ther). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-in-the-bible-does-it-say-youll-be-reunited-with-loved-ones-in-the-afterlife/446536.md?page=2)