Will my Protestant friends go to a different heaven?

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Amac1

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Will they go to heaven at all (if worthy)? What are our thoughts on this?

Husband has many Protestant friends and is encouraging me to ask this question. I don’t have the brain power to think of this tonight and thought I would ask you lot.

Thanks.
 
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Amac1 said:
Where do faithful followers of Islam and Judaism go after death?
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only God knows.

He does tell us only those who accept Him will enter the kingdom of heaven… but bottom line only God knows.
 
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There is only one Heaven. If a Protestant, Jew, Muslim, or atheist does make it to Heaven, they’ll be there with all us Catholics that make it there.
 
I think there is only one Heaven for all people who loved God while they were alive.
On a lighter note your question reminded me of a very funny Simpsons episode

 
I heard a Catholic once jokingly say that Catholics will live in the heavenly mansions in paradise whereas Protestants will live in campers in the driveways of the Catholic mansions.
 
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This means a fundamental question raised throughout the centuries of Catholicism. The Catholic response to this question is provided by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches that every person could be saved:
“Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery. Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of His church but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. ” (Catechism, 1260).
I wouldn’t be surprised if all of us find that we have misconceptions that will be taken away when we enter heaven and see and learn from God. Then, I would think, non-Catholics will that Catholicism has been true all along. Will Hindus still believe there are many gods when they live in heaven, and, in fact, see God Himself? I don’t think so. Will Protestants still think Catholics are wrong for honoring the Virgin Mary so much when they encounter her soul-to-soul in heaven? I don’t think so.
 
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There is only one heaven. Also important to recognize is that there is also a hell.
 
Third heaven maybe? 2 Corinthians 12:2

I think this is related to merit, that those reflect closeness to God, not different gods.
 
Third.

Even today, we can use “heaven” or “the heavens” to refer to the sky, to space, or to God’s presence. Those are generally understood to be the three.

So Paul’s acquaintance (who is almost always interpreted as being an “asking for a friend”-style reference to one of Paul’s own experiences, though I don’t know where that got started) was caught up to the third heaven, the God one, not the one with birds or the one with stars.
 
Tommy999 said:
I heard a Catholic once jokingly say that Catholics will live in the heavenly mansions in paradise whereas Protestants will live in campers in the driveways of the Catholic mansions.
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My mother used to tell a joke from the era of Feeneyism.

St. Peter was showing some new souls around Heaven, pointing out different neighborhoods: “Over here’s the Anglicans. And across that river is where the Baptists go. And this area is for the Jewish folks,” etc.

Then St. Peter said, “Now when we pass through this next area you must be very, very quiet. Shhhh.” The souls asked him why and he said, “Because it’s where the Catholics all go, and they think they’re the only ones here.”
 
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I was wrong. He mentions the third heaven. A google search and Wikipedia have more information about the seventh heaven.

Paul’s Visions and His Thorn
2Co 12:1 I have to brag. There is nothing to be gained by it, but I must brag about the visions and other things that the Lord has shown me.
2Co 12:2 I know about one of Christ’s followers who was taken up into the third heaven fourteen years ago. I don’t know if the man was still in his body when it happened, but God certainly knows.
2Co 12:3 As I said, only God really knows if this man was in his body at the time.
From CEV

Commentary in my Catholic bible says the third heaven reflects a common Jewish tradition that the Lord stacked the heavens three levels high. The first heaven is the atmosphere of birds and clouds. Above that stands the realm of the sun and stars. And beyond that the dwelling of God.

I remember from the course on the Pathways of the Just that I took with Rabbi Skobac that there is a belief in a greater reward in the world to come for people who act better in this life, and a greater closeness to God. (Maybe a front row seat in the beatific vision).
 
Karen said:
I remember from the course on the Pathways of the Just that I took with Rabbi Skobac that there is a belief in a greater reward in the world to come for people who act better in this life, and a greater closeness to God. (Maybe a front row seat in the beatific vision).
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I’ve heard something sort of similar. It’s not that God withholds some of Heaven from anyone who isn’t super worthy. I’ve heard it described that - whether a swimming pool or a thimble - both will be filled to the brim. But one soul has greater capacity to receive God than the other, and it is our actions in this life that at least partially determine the size of the ‘container’. But that limitation isn’t force on us by God, it’s partially determined by us.

To look at it another way, it be like two people looking at a picture through different lenses, one crystal clear and the other a little dirty. They both get the same Beatific Vision, but what they can see is limited by their lens.
 
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I love that Simpsons scene too. But I confess I did get a good laugh out of Jesus choosing to party with the Catholics.
To be ecumenical, I presume he comes over for a game of croquet from time to time as well.
 
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