Heaven is not a literal place per the Bible

(Basis of Christian belief in Heaven being a literal place)

“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

(Acts 1:11)

Symbolic nature of “ascended to heaven”

(Despite the Bible asserting Christ came down from heaven, He did not do so literally, so being in heaven or ascending to heaven is likewise not literal)

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

(John 3:13)

“...For I came down from heaven.”

(John 6:38)

“They (the Jews) said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’”

(John 6:42)

Notes

• It is clear that being “in heaven,” “ascended to heaven,” and “come from heaven” all have spiritual meanings. What does it mean when Christ states, while His feet are walking on the earth, that He is already in heaven? Are Christians making the same error the Jews did in denying Christ by demanding the Return of Christ come bodily to earth from heaven?

(Heaven is not a literal place or it must have windows above it with water)

“And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven.”

(Genesis 1:6-8)

“...and the windows of the heavens were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”

(Genesis 7:11-12)

Notes

• Taken literally, there is a body of water above Heaven that causes rain when the windows of Heaven open. Heaven must be understood other than literally as Heaven is referred to with a capital “H”.

(If heaven had literal pillars/foundations, they should be detectable physically)

“....the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he (the Lord) was wroth.”

(2 Samuel 22:8)

“...The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his (God’s) reproof.”

(Job 26:11)

Notes

• Heaven has pillars that hold it up and foundations that move and shake, but these must be other than literal as they are undetectable physically.

(If no one has ascended to a literal heaven, then Elijah, Enoch, and Melchizedek could not have done so)

“I tell you this brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

(1 Corinthians 15:44)

“...No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

(John 3:13)

Notes

• Yet Elijah (2 Kings 2:11), Enoch (Hebrews 11:5) and Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:16) all arose bodily into heaven. Only a spiritual interpretation allows a resolution of the literal contradiction.

(If literal, Peter being given keys of the kingdom of Heaven and being Satan would mean Satan could determine who went to heaven)

""I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

"From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

"Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

"Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”"

(Matthew 16:19-23)

Notes

• A literal reading would have Christ’s church founded on Satan (Peter) who was given the keys to heaven by Jesus and who decides who gets into the Kingdom of heaven. See Devil in the Bible.

Notes

• In that heaven and hell are to be destroyed (see Hell is not a literal place per the Bible), all those “rewarded in heaven” and “punished in hell” would have the equal ultimate fate of destruction. Heaven as the dwelling place for eternal life would be contradicted by a literal understanding of the fate of heaven as outlined in both the Old and New Testaments.

• Summation: Heaven as a physical location skyward for physical bodies to ascend to for eternal life is not supported when all of the Bible verses on the subject are examined and only a spiritual interpretation of the nature of Heaven will reconcile all Biblical references. However, heaven as a spiritual state or condition is consistent with both Biblical and Bahá’í scriptural references.

See also

• Heaven
• Hell