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| | The modern [[English language|English]] word ''Heaven'' derives from the word ''heven'' around 1150, which developed from the [[Old English]] ''heofon'' around 1000 referring to the [[Christianization|Christianized]] "place where God dwells" but earlier meaning "sky, firmament"<ref>The Anglo-Saxons knew the concept of Paradise, which they expressed with words such as ''[[neorxnawang]]'', lit. (place of) no toil nor worries.</ref> (attested from around 725 in ''[[Beowulf]]''); this is cognate with other [[Germanic languages]] - [[Old Saxon]] ''heƀan'' ("sky, heaven"), [[Middle Low German]] ''heven'' ("sky"), [[Old Norse|Old Icelandic]] ''himinn'' ("sky, heaven"), [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''himins'', and possibly with the addition of an ''-l'' suffix; [[Old Frisian]] ''himel'', ''himul'' ("sky, heaven"), [[Old Saxon]] ''himil'', [[Middle Dutch]] and modern [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ''hemel'', [[Old High German]] ''himil'' and modern [[German language|German]] ''Himmel'', all of which derive from the [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] [[Proto-Germanic]] *''Hemina-''.<ref name=BARNHART346>Barnhart (1995:357).</ref> | | The modern [[English language|English]] word ''Heaven'' derives from the word ''heven'' around 1150, which developed from the [[Old English]] ''heofon'' around 1000 referring to the [[Christianization|Christianized]] "place where God dwells" but earlier meaning "sky, firmament"<ref>The Anglo-Saxons knew the concept of Paradise, which they expressed with words such as ''[[neorxnawang]]'', lit. (place of) no toil nor worries.</ref> (attested from around 725 in ''[[Beowulf]]''); this is cognate with other [[Germanic languages]] - [[Old Saxon]] ''heƀan'' ("sky, heaven"), [[Middle Low German]] ''heven'' ("sky"), [[Old Norse|Old Icelandic]] ''himinn'' ("sky, heaven"), [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''himins'', and possibly with the addition of an ''-l'' suffix; [[Old Frisian]] ''himel'', ''himul'' ("sky, heaven"), [[Old Saxon]] ''himil'', [[Middle Dutch]] and modern [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ''hemel'', [[Old High German]] ''himil'' and modern [[German language|German]] ''Himmel'', all of which derive from the [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] [[Proto-Germanic]] *''Hemina-''.<ref name=BARNHART346>Barnhart (1995:357).</ref> |
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| − | ==General origins==
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| − | While there are abundant and varied sources for conceptions of Heaven, the typical believer's view appears to depend largely on his religious tradition and particular sect. Some [[religion]]s conceptualize Heaven as pertaining to some type of peaceful life after death related to the immortality of the soul. Heaven is generally construed as a place of [[happiness]], sometimes [[eternity|eternal]] [[happiness]]. A psychological reading of sacred religious texts across cultures and throughout history would describe it as a term signifying a state of "full aliveness" or wholeness.
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| − | In ancient [[Judaism]], the belief in Heaven and afterlife was connected with that of ''[[Sheol]]'' (mentioned in [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 38:18, [[Psalms]] 6:5 and [[Book of Job|Job]] 7:7-10). Some scholars asserted that ''Sheol'' was an earlier concept, but this theory is not universally held. One later Jewish sect that maintained belief in a [[Resurrection of the dead]] was known as the [[Pharisees]]. Opposed to them were the [[Sadducees]] who denied the doctrine of Resurrection (Matt. 22:23). In [[Christianity]], heaven is either an eternally blessed life after death or 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 and generally they believe this afterdeath reunion is accomplished through faith that Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity on the cross, was resurrected and "bodily" ascended into heaven. Examples of the different terminology referencing the concept of "heaven", in the Christian Bible are:
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| − | <blockquote>the [[Kingdom of Heaven|kingdom of heaven]] (Matthew 5:3), the kingdom of the Father (Matthew 13:43), life (Matthew 7:14), life everlasting (Matthew 19:16), the joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:21), great reward (Matthew 5:12), the kingdom of God (Mark 9:45), the kingdom of Christ (Luke 22:30), the house of the Father (John 14:2), city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebr., xii), the holy place (Hebrews 9:12; D. V. holies), paradise (2 Corinthians 12:4), incorruptible crown (1 Corinthians 9:25), crown of life (James 1:12), crown of justice (II Timothy iv, 8), crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4)</blockquote>
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| − | The diversity of references make it probable that the term refers to a direct experience of full spiritual aliveness or unity with God.{{Fact|date=May 2008}}
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| − | Some [[Eastern religion]]s and some Western traditions believe in [[reincarnation]] and [[moksha]] (liberation) instead of Heaven, but some still include a concept of Heaven similar (but not necessarily the same) as the concept held by [[Christianity]]. {{Fact|date=January 2007}} For example, in [[Buddhism]] there are several heavens, all of which are still part of [[Samsara]] (illusionary reality). Those who accumulate good [[karma]] may be reborn<ref>(but no soul actually goes through rebirth; see [[anatta]])</ref> in one of them. However, their stay in the heaven is not eternal—eventually they will use up their good [[karma]] and will undergo a different [[rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]] into another realm, as [[humans]], [[animals]], or other beings. Because Heaven is temporary and part of [[Samsara]], Buddhists focus more on escaping the cycle of rebirth and reaching [[Bodhi|enlightenment]] (Bodhi). In the native [[China|Chinese]] [[Confucian]] traditions Heaven ([[Tian]]) 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 a transitory place for souls who did good deeds but whose actions are not enough for [[moksha]] or merging (union) with Brahman.{{Fact|date=January 2007}}
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| − | Some faiths teach that one enters heaven at the moment of death, while others teach that this occurs at a later time. Some of Christianity along with other major religions maintain that entry into Heaven awaits such time as, "When the form of this world has passed away." (*[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_21071999_en.html JPII])
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| − | 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.(*[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_21071999_en.html" JPII], also see [[eschatology]], [[afterlife]])
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| − | The idea of Heaven as a physical place has existed since the dawn of religion and human civilization.{{Fact|date=January 2007}} In some early religions (such as the [[Egyptian mythology|Ancient Egyptian faith]]), Heaven was a physical place far above the Earth in a "dark area" of space where there were no stars, basically beyond the Universe. Departed souls would undergo a literal journey to reach Heaven, along the way to which there could exist hazards and other entities attempting to deny the reaching of Heaven.
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| − | One popular medieval view of Heaven was that it existed as a physical place above the clouds and that God and the Angels were physically above, watching over man. With the dawn of the [[The Age of Enlightenment|Age of Reason]], science began to challenge this notion; {{Fact|date=January 2007}} however Heaven as a physical place survived in the concept that it was located far out into space, and that the stars were "lights shining through from heaven".
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| − | Several works of written and filmed [[science fiction]] have plots in which Heaven can be reached by the living through technological means. An example is [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] film ''[[The Black Hole]]'', in which a manned spacecraft found both Heaven (or another dimension) and [[Hell]] located at the bottom of a [[black hole]].<ref> [http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/black_hole_retrospective_000602.html Does The Black Hole still suck?] Movie review by Joshua Moss, June 2, 2000.</ref>
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| − | In the modern age of science and space flight the idea that Heaven is a physical place in the observable universe has largely been abandoned. {{Fact|date=January 2007}} Religious views, however, still hold Heaven as having a dual status as a concept of mind or heart, but also possibly still physically existing in some way on another "[[Spiritual plane|plane of existence]]", dimension, or perhaps at a future time. {{Fact|date=January 2007}} According to science there are unobservable areas of the universe (everywhere beyond earth's [[Particle horizon]]), although by their very nature it is not possible to observe them. {{Fact|date=January 2007}} In Christianity it is believed that Heaven is a spiritual place, unreachable by humans and only to be entered after death. As a spiritual location it could be located somewhere within the known universe and as humans we would be unaware of its presence and unable to see it, or it could be located in another dimension or plane of existence. {{Fact|date=January 2007}}
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| − | Many of today's Biblical scholars, such as [[N. T. Wright]], in tracing the concept of Heaven back to its Jewish roots, see Earth and Heaven as overlapping or interlocking. Heaven is known as God's space, his dimension, and is not a place that can be reached by human technology. This belief states that Heaven is where God lives and reigns whilst being active and working alongside people on Earth. One day when God restores all things, Heaven and Earth will be forever combined into the 'New Heavens' and 'New Earth'.
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| | ==Entrance into Heaven== | | ==Entrance into Heaven== |