Muslim\nViews of Heaven<\/a>,” Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies].\nIV. The Mormon view<\/p>\n
A. Joseph Smith claimed there are three heavenly realms<\/p>\n 1. The Celestial realm is blessed by the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy\nSpirit. It is reserved for the faithful who accept the fullness of the Mormon\nbelief, those who would have accepted it if they had been given the\nopportunity, children who had not each an age to accountable for their\nactions, and those who entered the covenant of “celestial marriage.”\nEventually, all of these can eventually evolve into gods.\n 2. The Terrestrial realm is blessed by the presence of the Son and the Holy\nSpirit. It is for those who reject the Mormon belief, but are still morally\ngood. It is also for those who had accepted the gospel but did not remain\nfaithful and those who had “benefitted” from the baptism of the dead”\n(post-mortem salvation). Also, it includes those who never were exposed\nto the truth.\n 3. The Telestial realm (a made-up word) is for those who reject the Mormon\ngospel, liars, murderers, adulterers, and whoremongers. These experience\nthe fires of hell but will be rescued from torment when Christ finishes his\nwork. In other words, this is modeled after the Roman Catholic idea of\npergatory. Only the Holy Spirit visits this place.\n 4. Only Satan, his angels, and those who commit the unpardonable sin are\nleft in the Telestial realm.\n
V. The Jehovah’s Witnesses view<\/p>\n A. The Jehovah’s Witnesses concluded “the final number of the heavenly church will\nbe 144,000, according to God’s decree” [Let God Be True, p. 113, 1946].\n
B. The rest of humanity will live on God’s glorified earth.<\/p>\n C. This idea is actually not unique to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was popular in the\nlate 1800s\n
D. Commonly sited passages:<\/p>\n
1. Isaiah 65:17<\/p>\n
a. But notice that Isaiah 65:20 says people still die.<\/p>\n
b. And people are still working and having children – Isaiah 65:23<\/p>\n
c. Jesus said in heaven there is no marriage – Matthew 22:30<\/p>\n
d. This is talking about a new order: the age of the church<\/p>\n
2. Isaiah 66:22<\/p>\n a. Notice that Isaiah 66:20 talks about God’s holy mountain (Isaiah\n2:2-4), which is a reference to the church.\n
b. There is still death – Isaiah 66:24<\/p>\n
c. There is still a moon and a counting of days – Isaiah 66:23<\/p>\n d. This is again symbolically talking about the new age when the\nchurch is established.\n
3. II Peter 3:13<\/p>\n
a. It cannot be this present world – II Peter 3:10-12<\/p>\n
b. This is referring to another new order: life in heaven<\/p>\n
4. Revelation 21:1<\/p>\n
a. Again, it says the current earth passed away<\/p>\n
b. This again is referring to heaven symbolically<\/p>\n
VI. The Atheist’s view<\/p>\n
A. They deny that there is any after life, and thus, there is no heavn.<\/p>\n B. Death is merely a mechanical process. The brain stops functioning, and your\nexistence ends.\n C. But have you notice that we have funerals and cemeteries for loved ones, but not\nfor cars?\n D. If there is nothing after death, what is the difference between a mass murderer and\nan exterminator eliminating bugs?\n
VII. The Scriptures present a view of heaven that no other religion offers<\/p>\n
A. No longer are we separated from God. <\/p>\n
B. No longer are we under the curse that Adam brought upon the world<\/p>\n
C. Revelation 21:22-27<\/p>\n
D. Do you want to go home? You can’t reach heaven while remaining in sin.<\/p>\n
\n
Based on “A Study of Heaven” by Wayne Jackson<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Revelation 21:1-4 I. Most cultures have some view of an afterlife A. It is a logical conclusion. Either there is an afterlife or there is not. 1. If there is no afterlife, then life becomes meaningless. There is no reason to go through hardship and suffering. There is no reason…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[46,361,355,698,687,362],"class_list":["post-93284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-heaven","tag-islam","tag-jehovahs-witnesses","tag-life-after-death","tag-mormons","tag-muslims"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19750,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-near-death-experiences-reflect-the-afterlife\/","url_meta":{"origin":93284,"position":0},"title":"Do near-death experiences reflect the afterlife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have heard about different accounts that people have had in the afterlife.\u00a0 I have heard people who were unbelievers say that nothing happened and it was simply dark, but no experience of hell.\u00a0 I have also heard an account of a pastor who was in a car accident\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52686,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-sinners-physically-burn-in-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":93284,"position":1},"title":"Will sinners physically burn in hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The Bible says after the judgment we who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior will see eternal life, but those who did not will go and burn forever. 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