In the fairy tale movie “Princess Bride”, Buttercup is kidnapped by three bandits who think they have escaped without being detected. When the head bandit notices they are being followed, he exclaims, “inconceivable.” Four more times he thinks he has evaded his pursuer only to find the man in black gaining on him, and each time he cries, “inconceivable.” At this point his partner-in-crime says, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Essentially all religions teach the hope of reward in the afterlife. For the longest time, I thought that we were all just using different words to describe the same place and type of eternal rewards. Thankfully these days I am seeing more clearly that when many folks speak of Heaven, it does not mean what they think it means.
Summarizing how different religions describe the afterlife risks oversimplification, and there is some resemblance to the Biblical descriptions of Heaven in other religion’s eternal resting place, but the differences matter. In Islam, Paradise (Jannah) is described as a garden of pleasure with cool shade and flowing rivers. In this Paradise, the faithful remain as mere humans who wear gold, pearls, diamonds, and garments made of the finest silk. This garden is furnished with beautiful couches and carpets. There are full cups of non-intoxicating wine and a banquet with every meat and fruit. While the Quran never mentions Allah being in the Garden, the faithful are promised the opportunity to gaze upon his face.
The Indian religions of Buddhism and Hinduism believe that we are experiencing repeated cycles of life, death, and re-birth, which can ultimately culminate in either Nirvana (Buddhism) or Moksha (Hinduism). Buddhism denies the existence of an eternal soul and teaches that an individual is merely a transient combination matter, sensation, perception, predisposition, and consciousness. Nirvana is the “blowing out” or “quenching” of all one’s desires, hatred, ignorance, greed, suffering, etc., which ultimately results in the complete cessation of everything. Nirvana is compared to a candle being extinguished. Hindus believe that Moksha (salvation) is the ultimate liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and nature, ending in communion with Brahman (the supreme spirit) and an eternity of peace and rest. This communion with Brahman is compared to a drop of water joining the ocean. Moksha is losing yourself and becoming “one with everything”.
There is relatively little teaching about the afterlife in Judaism, and even less agreement. Perhaps the most common Jewish view of the “world-to-come” resembles Eden before the fall; a garden where God dwells with His people. The physical descriptions of Heaven in the New Testament are amazing, but they risk diminishing and distracting from the hope and promise of being with God forever; Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples, “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14) Paul encouraged the early church with this description of heaven, “we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4) John’s vision of Heaven included, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.’” (Revelation 21)
When my wife and I were still dating, we returned to college one fall after the long summer vacation. For those many months we had only seen each other once. She returned to campus with a new hairdo and a new outfit. I was probably a bad boyfriend because I didn’t notice that she had gone to a lot of trouble to look her best for our reunion. But how she looked was so much less important to me than just being with her again. My desire for Heaven is becoming more like that. I am thinking less about the streets of gold, my resurrection body, who else will be there, or what food will be served at the marriage supper of the Lamb. I am increasingly hoping for a time when I will be with God. John Milton said that God’s presence makes our Paradise, and wherever God is that’s Heaven. Many non-Biblical descriptions of the afterlife don’t even mention God. When these people describe a Heaven without God, I do not think Heaven means what they think it means.