Is Heaven's joy greater than any joy to be had here?

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Jonathan Edwards said terms like ‘joy’ and ‘ecstasy’ were too meager to describe the greatness of the happiness in Heaven. Was Edwards right in saying our strongest words come nowhere near the reality? Are there levals to happiness (as Thomas of Aquinas thought) or is utter bliss available- but short lived and tainted by sin- here? For instance, romantic love is fairly spectacular- can we guess it is beyond even that? I guess it’s the difference between the idea that Heaven as ineffible VS the idea that Heaven is basically Earth without the problems that come with it. –

Obviously this is all guesswork and we won’t truly know until death. Yet can we make an educated guess or is it all shots in the dark?

Apparently the ‘Eye hath not seen’ quote in Corintheans goes on to (put basically) say that ‘but God has revealed it to us’…so, contrary to what many of us (including myself up until recently) believed as related to that quote, seems mislead. Maybe not incorrect? But, if based on that quote, misunderstood in that instance.
 
As St. Paul [1 Cor 2:9] says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.”

So, not only is Heaven’s joy greater than that which we have on Earth, but it is beyond our imagination.
 
bsroufek said:
As St. Paul [1 Cor 2:9] says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.”

So, not only is Heaven’s joy greater than that which we have on Earth, but it is beyond our imagination.
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Thanks but, sadly, that quote is from a speech that goes on to say (put very basically): “but God has revealed it to us.”

So, in other words, ‘we had no way of knowing until we were handed the info.’ Doh.😉
 
Thomas_Jennings said:
Jonathan Edwards said terms like ‘joy’ and ‘ecstasy’ were too meager to describe the greatness of the happiness in Heaven. Was Edwards right in saying our strongest words come nowhere near the reality? Are there levals to happiness (as Thomas of Aquinas thought) or is utter bliss available- but short lived and tainted by sin- here? For instance, romantic love is fairly spectacular- can we guess it is beyond even that? I guess it’s the difference between the idea that Heaven as ineffible VS the idea that Heaven is basically Earth without the problems that come with it. –

Obviously this is all guesswork and we won’t truly know until death. Yet can we make an educated guess or is it all shots in the dark?

Apparently the ‘Eye hath not seen’ quote in Corintheans goes on to (put basically) say that ‘but God has revealed it to us’…so, contrary to what many of us (including myself up until recently) believed as related to that quote, seems mislead. Maybe not incorrect? But, if based on that quote, misunderstood in that instance.
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Read the saints. It’s beyond anything we have to compare to here-happiness and delight on an uncompromised scale, on a scale we can’t even imagine exists.
 
Hi Thomas,

Heaven is the contemplation of God. God is infinite, so our happiness should be infinite. But we are finite. Our happiness will be proportional to the merits we have accumulated during our earthly life.

When I was a kid, I would ask my mother things like, “Will there be ice cream in heaven?” And she would answer, “If you want ice cream, you’ll get ice cream”. My mother was a great theologian. We will lack nothing that we might wish for. But can we wish for anything else when we can enjoy God?

As far as our life after the universal resurrection, Revelation speaks of a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no kind of suffering, sickness, or death. And we will enjoy the privileges that Jesus had after His resurrection.

Heaven is a hell of a good deal.

Verbum
 
fhansen said:
Read the saints. It’s beyond anything we have to compare to here-happiness and delight on an uncompromised scale, on a scale we can’t even imagine exists.
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Thanks, I’m protestant but interested in what you say- can you tell me what saints so I can look up their quotes?
Again, many thanks.
 
Thomas_Jennings said:
Thanks but, sadly, that quote is from a speech that goes on to say (put very basically): “but God has revealed it to us.”

So, in other words, ‘we had no way of knowing until we were handed the info.’ Doh.😉
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There’s still a difference between having something revealed and actually experiencing it, though.

The Trinity has been revealed to us, but there hasn’t been a Christian yet, even among the truly great minds, who could fully grasp or explain it without running aground on a partially incorrect/heretical metaphor.

Some things have been revealed to us about Heaven, but those of us who are still alive have not really experienced it, so our eyes and ears and hearts are still to some degree ignorant.

Usagi
 
Thomas_Jennings said:
I guess it’s the difference between the idea that Heaven as ineffible VS the idea that Heaven is basically Earth without the problems that come with it. –
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“Earth without the problems” is closer to the theoretical idea of “Limbo” that Catholic theology has sometimes put forth as a possible fate for those who are not Christian but have no personal sin (such as unbaptized infants who die very young). That’s supposed to be a place or state of “perfect natural happiness,” but still lacking the most important component of Heaven – what Catholics call the Beatific Vision, the experience of being in the direct unveiled presence of God.

Heaven is, by definition, better than that. 😃

Usagi
 
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