Essay Example on Heaven: A Place of Belief In Many Religions

Introduction

The earth hosts many religions, and each of them carries different beliefs and values. Followers of these religions believe that one day when they die, their souls will be taken to a mysterious place where God and all the righteous angels live. For Christians, this place is heaven. The New Testament derives the phrase heaven from the Greek name 'auranos.' It defines heaven as firmament, sky, air or any other area beyond the earth. Heaven is a place that is believed to exist in many religions

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Biblical Origin of the Word "Heaven"

Christians have used the term heaven for many centuries and from diverse cultures and religions. This word heaven was derived from an earlier word 'heven,' which was derived from another phrase 'heofon' almost a millennium ago (Xiang, 2019). Heaven, according to the book of "Hebrews" in the "Old Testament," is a region located above the earth, way beyond our earth's atmosphere where stars, airs and sky are located (Xiang, 2019). The book continues to define heaven as the invisible empire of God. These terms refer to a Christianized holy place where God resides, although initially, they used to refer to the firmament or the sky. Early Christians used different words and phrases to refer to heaven, with every culture and language having a unique name to refer to heaven. These early civilisations believed that there is a holy place away from the physical earth, where righteous Christians go when they die. These people believed that there is another life after this world and that righteous people will go to a designated place without death and sufferings.

Hebrew holy book divides the world into two realms; earth and heaven. The same book continues to add a possibility of another third-place referring to the underworld or the seas and other large water bodies (Genesis 1:10). The book of Job (26:5) refers to this third realm as the 'land of the dead' or a vague land that has no in-depth explanation. The Hebrew Bible does not portray a clear picture of the structure of heaven, but the continued use of the plural word "samayin' shows that heaven had more than a single layer (Swedenborg, 2019). Heaven is depicted as an inaccessible place for human beings in the Hebrew bible. Although there are stories of prophets claiming to have accessed heaven, these stories only talk about a voice but no single person has a clue of the exact structure of heaven. The Hebrew holy book did not view heaven as a place meant for the afterlife for humans. Instead, heaven is a place where God lives and when people die, they 'rest' in a dark place where their spirits live (Deuteronomy 34:6, 1Kings 2:10).

Biblical Appearance of the Word Heaven

In the book of "John" the word heaven is being compared to a series of mansions in a big unit where Christians who serve God will live after they die. The book says, "In my father's house are many mansions...I go prepare a place for you...I will come again and receive you to myself..." (John 14:2-3). In this verse, Jesus was assuring his disciples that he will die and after his death, he will go to heaven and prepare a place to live for all righteous people who follow and observes God's will. Because of his love for the disciples, Jesus is heard assuring them that even after building or preparing a place for them, he will come for them himself. For believers, the mansions that Jesus is offering to make dos not matter as long as they live together with him.

The book of Hebrew contains a rich, detailed, and beautiful description of heaven. It says, "But you have come to Mount Zion and the city of living God, the heavenly Jerusalem..." (Hebrews 12:22). Heaven is being compared to a city only that the city is meant explicitly for worship. Since the city will be designed by God himself, his city will be a perfect destination full of unimagined blessings. The death of Jesus on the cross will be the ticket to heaven for all Christians who lead a holy Christian life. This city of the living God will host all righteous people as well as uncountable saints and angels before their everlasting father or God.

Another biblical appearance of the word heaven is seen in the book of revelation, where heaven is used to describe the great powers that God has over the world. "Then, the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in his temple. And there was lightning, noises, thunders, an earthquake and a great hail" (Revelation 11:20). Heaven in this context is used to reveal the infinite powers of God that manifest in natural occurrences such as earthquakes and storms. The thunders and storms of heaven are describing as something no human has ever seen, and God's mightiness and voices will be heard throughout the world and the heavens. "...and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end" (Luke1:33). The power of God is again being praised and his kingdom, heaven., will be so vast that it has no end.

Connotation of the Word "Heaven"

The phrase heaven can have many meanings to different people. Since people follow different religions and distinct cultures, they also have varying perceptions and understanding of heaven. Generally, heaven is the residence of the angels, the spirits of humans after they die, and God himself. It is the state or place of life of the blessed after the end of life on earth (Habib, 2018). Christians believe that heaven is a real place where their souls will go and leave their physical being here on earth (Philippians 1:23). The souls of the righteous leave the bodies behind and they will be united when Jesus comes back again to take his people (2 Corinthians 5:8). Despite different people having different understandings of heaven, they all believe that it is the place where God and his holy angels and saints reside. Some believe that it is a place where their souls will have eternal life after they die.

Conclusion

Heaven is the place above our earth where the skies, air, and the stars are situated. It is the region beyond our atmosphere where God himself lives together with his angels and saints. Heaven is a place where the righteous souls live after the end of life on earth. The term was derived from different notions from ancient civilisations and the Bible portrays several instances where the presence of heaven is being discussed. In the Bible, before the death of Jesus, he promises to prepare a place in heaven for the faithful and come back for them in the second coming.

References

Habib, S. (2018). Heaven and hell: A cross-linguistic semantic template for supernatural places. RASK, 48, 1-34. https://www.sdu.dk//media/files/om_sdu/institutter/isk/forskningspublikationer/rask/rask+48/rask50+1-34.pdfSwedenborg, E. (2019). Heaven and its Wonders and Hell. BoD-Books on Demand.

http://www.bahaistudies.net/asma/Heaven_and_its_wonders_and_hell.pdfThe English Standard Version Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. (2009). Oxford University Press.

Xiang, L. (2019, July). Heidegger's Pot-The Gathering of the Four Elements of Heaven, Earth, God, and Man. In 4th International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH 2019). Atlantis Press. https://download.atlantis-press.com/article/125911779.pdf