Question about heaven, please help

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I’m no theologian, so I leave such questions and answers to God. On the other hand, my four-year-old son is all about the concrete. There is no way he’s going to get excited about a heaven where all we do is be in the presence of God – developmentally, he just can’t grasp the unspeakable joy and beauty of that.

My friend’s son (also 4yo) came up to my son one day and whispered (loudly), “Aeddon, I have some good news for you. When you die, you go to heaven, and you get to do whatever you want.” That’s been my son’s idea of heaven ever since then. And he really looks forward to his mom not having any homework to do, and everyday being a “stay home” day 😃

Incidentally, when I was ten, I couldn’t bear the thought of my cat not being with me in heaven. So I used my strong knowledge of the Catholic faith to baptize my cat on the kitchen floor. The cat did NOT like it.

Gertie
 
AgnosTheist said:
personally i prefer the muslim heaven. you dont only get to be with god, but you also get 72 sex slaves!!! yeah baby!
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No, 72 Virgins not sex slaves. But this might be a mistranslation…some have suggested the text should read “72 year old virgin” while others suggest it should read 72 Virginians. Either is a daunting prospect.
 
ralphinal said:
Would anyone dispute this question and answer?

Question: Is there ice cream in heaven

Spiritually Immature answer: Heaven is a place of absolute happiness, so if you need ice cream to be happy, yes.

Spiritually Mature Answer: It does not matter. OUr happiness will be derived from being in the presence of God with nothing in our way.

Would everyone agree that the Spiritually Mature Answer is theologically correct? Our happiness in heaven is predicated upon the face-to-face presence of God?
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NO I do not believe this to be true.

For everything on earth will be GONE you do
not take any of it with you. All of earthly things will be gone
when you go to heaven.

“And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, Who created Heaven, and the things that therein are, and the Earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer” (Revelation 10:6).
 
Thank you everyone for your answers. I am a little surprised that no muslims posted on here, as they do view heaven in a very physical sense.

For those of you who feel that the pleasures of heaven will need to include the physical, do you think it is just food or will there be movies, books, and sex?
 
ralphinal said:
Would anyone dispute this question and answer?

Question: Is there ice cream in heaven

Spiritually Immature answer: Heaven is a place of absolute happiness, so if you need ice cream to be happy, yes.

Spiritually Mature Answer: It does not matter. OUr happiness will be derived from being in the presence of God with nothing in our way.

Would everyone agree that the Spiritually Mature Answer is theologically correct? Our happiness in heaven is predicated upon the face-to-face presence of God?
Click to expand...
Yes theologically that is correct. Whatever we don’t have in Heaven doesn’t matter. We won’t miss it or feel the need for it.

But I sure do hope there are some great golf courses. I’d love to play 18 with Jesus 🙂
 
ralphinal said:
Would anyone dispute this question and answer?

Question: Is there ice cream in heaven

Spiritually Immature answer: Heaven is a place of absolute happiness, so if you need ice cream to be happy, yes.

Spiritually Mature Answer: It does not matter. OUr happiness will be derived from being in the presence of God with nothing in our way.

Would everyone agree that the Spiritually Mature Answer is theologically correct? Our happiness in heaven is predicated upon the face-to-face presence of God?
Click to expand...
The Spiritually Mature Answer is the theologically correct one, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be ice cream in heaven.
 
Gertabelle said:
I’m no theologian, so I leave such questions and answers to God. On the other hand, my four-year-old son is all about the concrete. There is no way he’s going to get excited about a heaven where all we do is be in the presence of God – developmentally, he just can’t grasp the unspeakable joy and beauty of that.

My friend’s son (also 4yo) came up to my son one day and whispered (loudly), “Aeddon, I have some good news for you. When you die, you go to heaven, and you get to do whatever you want.” That’s been my son’s idea of heaven ever since then. And he really looks forward to his mom not having any homework to do, and everyday being a “stay home” day 😃

Incidentally, when I was ten, I couldn’t bear the thought of my cat not being with me in heaven. So I used my strong knowledge of the Catholic faith to baptize my cat on the kitchen floor. The cat did NOT like it.

Gertie
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I think your cat probably could have been said to have baptism of desire, don’t you think? 🙂
 
ralphinal said:
Would anyone dispute this question and answer?

Question: Is there ice cream in heaven

Spiritually Immature answer: Heaven is a place of absolute happiness, so if you need ice cream to be happy, yes.

Spiritually Mature Answer: It does not matter. OUr happiness will be derived from being in the presence of God with nothing in our way.

Would everyone agree that the Spiritually Mature Answer is theologically correct? Our happiness in heaven is predicated upon the face-to-face presence of God?
Click to expand...

Without “the face-to-face presence of God”, Heaven would not be Heaven - it would be hell 😦 And perhaps hell would be the heaven of heavens, were God there.​

ISTM that ice cream is like faith - it’s a gift, but in Heaven it will be superceded by more “grown-up” things, by real pleasures, that do not fade away. The lesser things - if there is anything in this - are given until then; they are not meant to last beyond that time.

Ice cream may belong to an order of existence which is simply too “ghostly” for the Blessed to fit into it - & maybe this can be seen in the Resurrection: Jesus is too alive to stay dead: He is a living man, in a world of unreality & shadows; He is too “multi-dimensional”, too huge & heavy, to be held in the world of the dead; a bit as the Atlantic cannot be held in a tea-cup.

Something like that may be true of the Blessed (according as they are Christ-like) in relation to us, & true of earthly pleasures in comparison to those of Heaven. As C.S. Lewis said (IIRC), we don’t want enough: we are very easily pleased - too easily. Maybe ice-cream is just far too small a good for the Blessed to enjoy.

St. Paul has this in 1 Corinthians 2.9, which seems rather appropriate:

However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"a]

Footnotes:
 
Gottle_of_Geer said:

Without “the face-to-face presence of God”, Heaven would not be Heaven - it would be hell 😦 And perhaps hell would be the heaven of heavens, were God there.​

ISTM that ice cream is like faith - it’s a gift, but in Heaven it will be superceded by more “grown-up” things, by real pleasures, that do not fade away. The lesser things - if there is anything in this - are given until then; they are not meant to last beyond that time.

Ice cream may belong to an order of existence which is simply too “ghostly” for the Blessed to fit into it - & maybe this can be seen in the Resurrection: Jesus is too alive to stay dead: He is a living man, in a world of unreality & shadows; He is too “multi-dimensional”, too huge & heavy, to be held in the world of the dead; a bit as the Atlantic cannot be held in a tea-cup.

Something like that may be true of the Blessed (according as they are Christ-like) in relation to us, & true of earthly pleasures in comparison to those of Heaven. As C.S. Lewis said (IIRC), we don’t want enough: we are very easily pleased - too easily. Maybe ice-cream is just far too small a good for the Blessed to enjoy.

St. Paul has this in 1 Corinthians 2.9, which seems rather appropriate:

However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"a]

Footnotes:
Click to expand...

  1. Wonderful post
 
Gottle_of_Geer said:

Without “the face-to-face presence of God”, Heaven would not be Heaven - it would be hell 😦 And perhaps hell would be the heaven of heavens, were God there.​

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we are not exactly face-to-face with god and yet some of us are enjoying a heavenly life. i know i do. 🙂
 
I think heaven is going to be whatever makes you happy. I believe as soon as I get there i will get to see God, The BLessed Mother, my Brother and My Daddy. I cant wait! And if they have ice cream that will be great too! But knowing my brother it will be a Ice Cold Bud!
 
rinnie said:
I think heaven is going to be whatever makes you happy. I believe as soon as I get there i will get to see God, The BLessed Mother, my Brother and My Daddy. I cant wait! And if they have ice cream that will be great too! But knowing my brother it will be a Ice Cold Bud!
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I’m sure there is beer in Heaven, my Dad is up there making sure of it…so your brother will be OK! 😉

I sometimes worry my Dad is up there, giving God “constructive criticism” (as he used to call it). Wouldn’t surprise me! 😃
 
HashemEchad said:
I’m sure there is beer in Heaven, my Dad is up there making sure of it…so your brother will be OK! 😉

I sometimes worry my Dad is up there, giving God “constructive criticism” (as he used to call it). Wouldn’t surprise me! 😃
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I am sure if he is with my brother he is having the time of his life. My brother is probally showing him a life that he never thought could exist. My Brother was so funny. I can see why God called him home early. And my Dad is just laughing, anyone who was around my brother would do nothing but laugh. With them up there thinking of death makes it more of something to look forward to instead of a dreaded thing. That constructive criticism OH YES i remember that. Your Dad did that too. I bet you miss it!
 
rinnie said:
I am sure if he is with my brother he is having the time of his life. My brother is probally showing him a life that he never thought could exist. My Brother was so funny. I can see why God called him home early. And my Dad is just laughing, anyone who was around my brother would do nothing but laugh. With them up there thinking of death makes it more of something to look forward to instead of a dreaded thing. That constructive criticism OH YES i remember that. Your Dad did that too. I bet you miss it!
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I know what you mean, rinnie, thinking of our loved ones like that definitely does make death something to look forward to.

People sometimes think I’m nuts because I say I look forward to death…there is actualy only one reason why I’m not ready to die just yet…I want to finish homeschooling my kids, and I need to get my will drawn up.

Other than that, as SpongeBob says, “I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready!”
 
HashemEchad said:
I know what you mean, rinnie, thinking of our loved ones like that definitely does make death something to look forward to.

People sometimes think I’m nuts because I say I look forward to death…there is actualy only one reason why I’m not ready to die just yet…I want to finish homeschooling my kids, and I need to get my will drawn up.

Other than that, as SpongeBob says, “I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready!”
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You know, the sad thing is that it is today’s culture that makes you seem nuts. Our final unity with God is the destination of this road of life, assuming we stay on the course. If you are on a trip, no matter how fun and wonderful, is it not uncommon for you to say “I can’t wait to get home?” Heaven is our home. This is just the road. We need to pray that everyone follows the correct path and makes it home.
 
ralphinal said:
Would anyone dispute this question and answer?

Question: Is there ice cream in heaven

Spiritually Immature answer: Heaven is a place of absolute happiness, so if you need ice cream to be happy, yes.

Spiritually Mature Answer: It does not matter. OUr happiness will be derived from being in the presence of God with nothing in our way.

Would everyone agree that the Spiritually Mature Answer is theologically correct? Our happiness in heaven is predicated upon the face-to-face presence of God?
Click to expand...

What happens if someone is allergic to a flavour of ice cream favoured by someone else ?​

Someone’s idea of heaven may contradict someone else’s - so what happens then :confused: ?
 
I’ll bet it is difficult to get ice cream in Hell. Who would deliver it? How would they get their tip? 😉
 
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