heavenHEAVEN
From a cross-cultural perspective, in the Western religious traditions,
heaven is conceived as a location beyond the mundane world, whereas
devotional Buddhism envisions Pure Lands located in a westerly direc-
tion. Whether East or West, heaven is usually conceived as a place of
beauty, harmony, peace, and pleasure. Heaven stands in sharp opposition
to hell, which is conceived as an absence of reality in comparison to
heaven. Heaven is best grasped by a metaphor, such as a kingdom, tem-
ple, court, garden, city, or celestial sphere in Hebrew thought. Diverse
religious traditions conceive of its particular aspects differently and use
different metaphors.
During its historical development, the Christian tradition demonstrates
a variety of opinions about the nature of heaven. Within the New
Testament, it is not possible to find a single view about heaven or even
much of a description of it. This is because the earliest Christian writers
expected the imminent return of Christ and the end of the world, which
renders superfluous any speculation about the nature of heaven. The
apostle Paul stresses the present nature of heaven because Christ’s sal-
vific action is eternal. Following the Pharisaic Hebrew tradition, Paul
envisions a delayed reunion with God, although the future promises a
bodily resurrection. The resurrection of the body, a notion inherited from
Jewish thought, conflicts with the immortality of the soul that comes
from Greek influence. Although heaven might be theoretically universal,
it is often conceived as a place of exclusion for those who do not accept
Jesus as the Messiah, pagans, or sinful people.
The early Christian church father Irenaeus (c. 140–200), bishop of
Lyons, capital of Gaul, conceives of heaven as a continuation and com-
pletion of a person’s present life. This suggests that heaven resembles life
on earth in a glorified material world. Once the earth is freed from the
control of pagans, the righteous will live for a thousand years, a mille-
narian vision, and enjoy life under the earthly rule of Christ. Irenaeus
also advocates a notion of compensatory paradise, which means that any
new life after death is a compensation for persecuted Christians and a
continuation and completion of the present life. Following the thousand-
year reign of the kingdom of the Messiah, the kingdom of God will
follow.
During the fourth century of the church and the growth of monastic
life, the Christian heaven is conceived as an ecclesiastical community.
Within the context of his early career, Augustine, bishop of Hippo in
North Africa, conceives of heaven ascetically as an immaterial place, full