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georgemiller
Guest
Even though procreations will be no more, will the joy that comes with sexual intimacy be enjoyed in Heaven?
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Gorgias
Guest
If you’re asking whether there will be sexual intercourse in heaven, I would answer ‘no’, since there will be no marriage in heaven.
If you’re merely asking whether there will be joy in heaven, then ‘yes’.
If you’re merely asking whether there will be joy in heaven, then ‘yes’.
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e_c
Guest
No. Everyone lives the Evangelical Counsels in Heaven, as a completion of detachment from the things of Earth… Poverty, Chastity (as celibacy), and Obedience.
Notice that the individual “need” for sexual pleasure (as distinct from its need as a means to “be fruitful and multiply”) happens only after the Fall. Before, it is mainly about spiritual friendship - this was Adam’s longing and God’s intention. They did not even realize they were unclothed… the mind was in a different mode, and so will ours be in Heaven. Once our nature was broken, so too was that schema. Read the text closely, and you will see this clearly.
Our Lord said we will be like the angels… Angels do not have bodies, we will live almost just as if we did not have bodies.
Interpersonal communion in Heaven is a secondary joy, and its mode is spiritual, not physical. Such is better anyway.
Notice that the individual “need” for sexual pleasure (as distinct from its need as a means to “be fruitful and multiply”) happens only after the Fall. Before, it is mainly about spiritual friendship - this was Adam’s longing and God’s intention. They did not even realize they were unclothed… the mind was in a different mode, and so will ours be in Heaven. Once our nature was broken, so too was that schema. Read the text closely, and you will see this clearly.
Our Lord said we will be like the angels… Angels do not have bodies, we will live almost just as if we did not have bodies.
Interpersonal communion in Heaven is a secondary joy, and its mode is spiritual, not physical. Such is better anyway.
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drac16
Guest
Yes, I believe there will be. Frankly, I’m looking forward to it. 
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fbl9
Guest
will this be between monogamous couples?Yes, I believe there will be. Frankly, I’m looking forward to it.
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drac16
Guest
For me personally? yes. I’m a monogamist at heart. For others, I suppose that depends on what they prefer. Surah 41:31 of the Qur’an says “…And you will have therein whatever your souls desire, and you will have therein whatever you request”. You’ll have what you desire to have, so if that’s more than one wife or more than one husband, you can have it.
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RPRPsych
Guest
Sounds like a good title for an Eric Clapton song. 
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GEddie
Guest
Sorry, but I got to take issue with this one item.
We are not spirits; we are human beings, and just as much body as spirits. The experience of our LORD, **bodily, **will be awesome in itself. Embracing HIM, being embraced by HIM, breathing with HIM!!!
ICXC NIKA!
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Nigel7
Guest
No. Sex will never even cross your mind when staring into the face of God, the Beatific Vision. In heaven no creature will stand between God and the soul. He himself will be the immediate object of its vision. Scripture and theology tell us that the blessed see God face to face.
,expressly defined by Benedict XII (1336):
newadvent.org/cathen/07170a.htm
Nothing can compare to THAT!
So, no sex in heaven. I know that as a mortal/carnal being then sex sounds real exciting, but the pleasures of the flesh are tiddlywinks compared to the Beatific VIsion.
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“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
1 Cor; 2*
,expressly defined by Benedict XII (1336):
Code:
"We define that the souls of all the saints in heaven have seen and do see the Divine Essence by direct intuition and face to face [visione intuitivâ et etiam faciali], **in such wise that nothing created intervenes as an object of vision**, but the Divine Essence presents itself to their immediate gaze, unveiled, clearly and openly; moreover, that in this vision they enjoy the Divine Essence, and that, in virtue of this vision and this enjoyment, they are truly blessed and possess eternal life and eternal rest"Nothing can compare to THAT!
So, no sex in heaven. I know that as a mortal/carnal being then sex sounds real exciting, but the pleasures of the flesh are tiddlywinks compared to the Beatific VIsion.
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“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
1 Cor; 2*
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Tomdstone
Guest
So this is what Muslims believe?Yes, I believe there will be. Frankly, I’m looking forward to it.
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Catholic1954
Guest
Nope. The only joy in heaven one needs is GOD.
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phil_at_dayboro
Guest
Lots will be disappointed , for similar reasons others will be happy about it,
I’ll be happy just to make it to Heaven , I’ll worry about Minor details then,
I’ll be happy just to make it to Heaven , I’ll worry about Minor details then,
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John_Martin
Guest
In heaven you will have what your souls desire. That is so very true.
And we Catholics fully know that will be this way in heaven.
The question will be, what does the soul desire, what will the soul desire, in heaven.
The primary desire will be to look upon God. To know him. To know our being with him, to know our union with him. And our operation in the resurrection will be that we understand ourselves and him in union. Our bodies will be manifestations of our union with him, manifestations of knowing God one with us, manifestations of the Children of God our Father. We will shine, like the burning bush burned before Moses, and like Jesus shined on the Mountain. And our desire will be satisfied desire, not desire that we need to fulfill.
We will be in the condition of always being satisfied, the sensation you have after sex sometimes. But we will never have the desires and sensations leading up to and during sex - these are the desires that are trying to be satisfied, which is why there is such passion to sex - the urgency of needing what we desire but do not yet have. But we will be fully and already satisfied - with no need for some added pleasurable addition to completeness. So we will not go after sexual union, as if we were incomplete without it, because we will already know we are complete.
Think about the feeling you have immediately after sex, completeness, quiet, goodness. You need nothing more at that moment. You will always know in the resurrection that you need nothing more, you are happy, complete, in your oneness with God. And you will not seek for “more” completeness, even though you see you want more completeness right now. The feeling of completeness you now have with your wife after sex is a foretaste of how you are promised you will always know yourself in heaven, always know yourself feeling that all is good and satisfied and complete, because you are now one with God, knowing him, knowing yourself in his presence and loved.
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MaryT777
Guest
Exactly.
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NeedImprovement
Guest
Part of what I perceive would concur with Gorgias ’ post. : Personally, I don’t see the title of the topic as being totally congruous with the wording in the OP.
Two distinct impressions could possibly be conveyed.
*]The title sex in Heaven can definitely imply a question of whether there will be sexual intercourse in Heaven.
*]While the question in the OP . . .
. . . *appears *to ask whether a particular joy “will be enjoyed in Heaven”
But asking “will the joy that comes with sexual intimacy”, fails to disassociate the *joy *from the intimacy. Essentially we are left to conclude the question asks equally whether there will be sexual intimacy in Heaven.
It would probably be helpful to clarify the differences between “joy” and “sexual pleasure.”
The OP acknowledges “procreations will be no more” and Fr. Hardon clarifies that sexual pleasure is intended to “aid the act of procreation.”
The prevalent thought is that “the joy that comes with sexual intimacy” has a twofold purpose intended exclusively for married couples ; which are unitive and procreative. It is meant exclusively for married couples , and the marriage vows specify, “until death do us part”. And when our Blessed Lord said that we will be like angels in Heaven (if we make it There- God willing), what he was confirming was that, in Heaven men and women do not marry as we do on earth:
Despite the certainty that at the General Judgement we shall be reunited with our bodies (and the just shall have their bodies glorified), the fact that we will not marry again makes it considerably difficult to posit from any practical standpoint ,an actual need in Heaven for sexual intercourse or its associated joy - all of which appears to be intended to benefit the husband and the wife and procreation within marriage -here,during our earthly sojourn.
But there is still a profound analogy to be seen in that we , the Church, are the bride of Christ. And the joy we will experience in the beatific vision because of this, is said to be beyond what we can even imagine, but we should still dare to dream. And it’s better to think BIG. Heavenly joy is frequently referred to as bliss. Here’s Father Hardon’s definition of bliss:
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e_c
Guest
Yes, it is true. But the Beatific Vision itself is not a corporeal act. Whatever pleasures occur in the body are secondary (just as we ought to strive to have as our habitus while still in this life).
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Stephen_says
Guest
Disappointed?!Lots will be disappointed , for similar reasons others will be happy about it,
I’ll be happy just to make it to Heaven , I’ll worry about Minor details then,
Marriage and sexual intimacy are mere shadows and imperfect analogies to the relationship and joy that we will all share with God in heaven. Heaven is perfect communion with God and all the angels and saints How can anyone be disappointed in that?
All the love that you didn’t have on earth, everything you ever wanted in a relationship will be fulfilled in heaven. Joy from intimacy on earth is over in minutes, but our joy in heaven will be complete, and will last forever.
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phil_at_dayboro
Guest
I think my comment was regarding the existence or non existance of sexual thingies
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fisherman_carl
Guest
How would it be possible for everyone to get what they want? People’s wants would contradict with one another. For instance one person might want several women slaves. But, what do those women slaves want? Perhaps they don’t want to be married to only one man. So you can see how getting whatever you want would actually contradict with what others want. Unless your religion doesn’t care about what the women want. So they would be in a kind of hell for all Eternity.
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djames99
Guest
“have therein whatever your souls desire”
Absolutely my friend, but does the condition of the soul have any meaning at the moment it presents itself in Divine judgement to account for it’s time on earth in the service of God?
In my interpretation of your quote, I take the context to mean that the soul has already qualified, and as you correctly state, the soul would be rewarded with whatever the soul desires. I think we would agree that a soul, out of friendship with God, would never make it this far. Now attained entry, God is not concerned of what the soul would choose to make it happy at this point in his new existence. That is as it should be for one reason, as part of the gift of heaven, now choices the soul will make can only be in conformity with the desires of God, and for the sake of God’s happiness. The soul only obtains happiness when God is happy and God’s happiness is antecedent to the soul’s. The singular person, that ‘me’ of the temporal world is now ‘Us’. The desires that made a person happy on earth, are now Divine desires, and what is allowed depends on the degree of beatification the soul deserves, and none of them are the will to satisfy earthly wants or necessities for personal reasons(for instance, desires required on earth to propagate the species).
I would guess the new man in heaven would desire to help out human kind in very way, including guiding others on the correct path a priority. A very pleasant existence that will be.
So we need to look elsewhere at where the soul would have been tested to prove itself qualified at this juncture in the Surah. We can see that the soul on entry to this temporal world needed to roll up it’s sleeves, and get at the task at showing that he qualifies for an eternal life with his Father. He would need to aspire to Divine things. He would need to better his temporal world but remain detached from it’s delicacies. He would need to use his charismic gifts has his tools to carry on this work. He would need to fill his earthly ‘diary of life’ with a long unbroken series of cases of his Divine expression of love.
The body is our weakness in this world. It may use it’s senses and appendages for personal pleasure rather in the service of God or his people, thus shackling the soul to join the body to it’s reward. The soul needs a controlled environment to function got by the right use of the will and good works, and by maintaining a friendship with God.
St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Ch V:
*Of this we have a figure in Exodus, wherein we read that God gave not the children of Israel the food from Heaven, which was manna, until the flour which they had brought from Egypt failed them. By this is signified that first of all that it is meet to renounce all things, for the angels’ food is not fitting for the palate that would find delight in the food of men. And not only does the soul become incapable of receiving the Divine Spirit when it stays and pastures on other strange pleasures, but those souls greatly offend the Divine Majesty who desire spiritual and are not content with God alone, but desire rather to intermingle desire and affection for other things. *
Thank you for bringing us to light.
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