Heavens in World Religions
All over the world many religions believe heaven is located in many different places. Some have been lead to believe it is actually an undiscoverable, unreachable place on earth; only those who have died can seek and dwell in it. Whereas some religions believe heaven may not even be located on earth. In fact, heaven isn’t always just a place; some believe it is a state of being (Zaleski).
Heaven is often only seen as somewhere free from hunger, thirst, pain, deprivation, disease, ignorance, and strife although heaven may be free of all these things they are not the only gifts that await you. Other more rewarding gifts to look forward to are complete contentment, perfect knowledge, everlasting rest, overwhelming peace, communion with God, and ecstatic joy (Zaleski). Most cultures, if not all, have multiple images of heaven, this wonderful place abundant with gifts and happiness is mostly portrayed with order. It contains the blueprints of all the creations on earth, the resting spot for all earthly rulers to direct and govern, and the values by which to determine the beauty, goodness and truth (Zaleski). It’s pretty much safe to say all religions preach that your one way ticket to heaven is through praiseworthy activity such as performing sacrifices, or enduring great suffering. On the other hand, heaven is also understood as the reward for a life well lived, the fulfillment of the hearts deepest desire and the ultimate reference point for all human motivation and hope (Zaleski). Yet many view that heaven is accessible only as the free gift of a divine being. Either way all religions have different understandings of after life, and different beliefs and teachings.
Religions, such as Islam, ...
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... Judaism and Islam shared the most similarities with their Gods, YHWH and Allah, and their system of reincarnation, those who are righteous will dwell in happiness in future rebirth. When it came to the image of heaven all three had no similarities they all believe heaven in a different light. They all see heaven positively but out of all three the one that stands out the most is Buddhism, it is the only one that has suffering in one of its heavens or realms. This religion is the most unique and enriched religion I’ve heard of. They do not believe in a God but trust in three things, they do not have a heaven, but have six realms of rebirth, all six unique in there own way. To conclude all religions have three things in common: we must earn our spot in heaven, they believe in some type of God or ruler, and have an image of how heaven was created and what it looks like.
While the body decomposes, the soul ascends to Heaven to meet God, and is given a choice as to whether to accept or reject the salvation of God. This belief is closely linked with the belief in life after death because in Catholic belief the soul is immortal, therefore after death the soul must live on. After bodily death, the soul goes to either Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. Hell, according to Catholic belief, is a state of everlasting separation of the soul from God. Those who commit a mortal sin (that is a sin of a grave matter, committed willingly by the sinner, and with the sinner’s full awareness of the sin they are committing) and do not repent before their earthly life is over will be sentenced to eternal suffering in Hell. Purgatory is a place where souls which are not pure enough to enter the holiness of Heaven go. These people are willing to accept the love and grace of God, but their souls must be completely purified before they can ascend to Heaven. Heaven, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church is ‘the ultimate and and fulfilment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness’. Heaven is different for Catholics, and it is considered a state of complete happiness and peace, whereas Moksha, or ‘liberation’ for Hindus is the state of being one with the Supreme Being Brahman. Heaven and Moksha are considerably different, but similar because for Catholics and Hindus achieving liberation or ascending to Heaven is their ultimate goal, and all their actions are performed in order to increase the likelihood of them achieving these goals. In Hindu tradition, the teaching of Moksha is related to Atman because of the nature of the unity which a liberated soul achieves. Although the majority of Hindus believe Moksha is the state of unity with God, some believe the soul remains distinct from God and
When the soul comes out of the body and reaches the last step – the throat - you look at the dying person but you never see what surrounds him. If the dying person was good in his first life he will be rewarded by paradise, if he was bad and unbeliever he will go to hell to stay forever.
In today’s society, there are roughly around 4,200 religions that exist on this planet. Some define "religion" as a cultural system of behaviors and practices that help people make important decisions in life. Out of the many religions, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism have many similarities that connect them to one another. Themes of morality, justice, love are found through both the Buddha's teaching and the Hebrew and Christian Bible.
...did not die’. Islam belief in human nature is also different from Christianity; but the same in Judaism, that human nature has the equal ability to do good or evil. Means of salvation in Islam is closely the same to the other Abrahamic beliefs. In addition, good and bad afterlife beliefs are closely related as well. Interestingly, Christianity views Islam as a false religion and Islam views Judaism and Christianity as ultimately having wrong beliefs and ‘only partial revelation’. Ultimately, these Abrahamic religions are the most influential religions in the world. Their impact on the world is very deep and all trace their history to Abraham in the Hebrew Bible. The brief overview of the similarities and differences of the three monotheistic faiths enables people to enrich or at least receive a concrete vision of what can possibly come with death and the afterlife.
Christians ultimately believe in two places to go after death, Heaven where eternity is spent in a state that is beautiful beyond our ability to conceive, or Hell, where eternity is spent with Satan and his demons. All are tormented and tortured, in isolation from God, without any hope of mercy or relief (Robinson).
There are multiple views on death and the afterlife and each view is different depending on the religion or belief that someone practices. Some religions believe in a heaven but not a hell, some believe in both and others do not believe in either. The religions that are practiced today were created by our ancient ancestors who had the ability to think beyond themselves. Practicing a religion and having an idea of death and an afterlife back in ancient times laid a foundation on how religion is seen and practiced today. Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Hindu’s created the concept of death and life after death through what they believed and practiced in ancient times.
Religion is an important aspect for understanding both life and death in many cultures. It provides a structure and set of moral guideline for many people all over the world. Religion especially plays an important role in the process of dying and in death because it is often what people turn to in their last days of life in anticipation of what, if anything, comes after life. While the belief in an afterlife is not consistent throughout all religions and cultures, many of them do believe in some sort of an altered state of existence or consciousness.
Every religion has its own goal, and their own path and believe to reach their goals, however there are also many similarities in believes. Although the followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam may see things differently, they all fundamentally hold the same values and codes. To Islam, the Prophet Mohammad’s teaching is a complete and final revelation. On the other hand, according to the bible, Christianity believes that Jesus Christ is the true lord and savior will grant you the access to heaven in the afterlife. Judaism is founded by Abraham, and it is the base from which both of the other two religions sprung. Even though the three religions differ in many areas and on many aspects, they also agree on the monotheistic, the belief in ‘One True God.’ Those religions have many similarities and a number of significant differences about God, role of women, prayer, and salvation.
Now we will compare both Buddhism and Christianity. In the afterlife of Buddhism, they believe that they go to Nirvana to get reincarnated and go into a different body. In Christianity they believe that they go to Heaven or Hell. As in if you're good throughout your life you go to
At the first glance, Islam and Christianity appear to have nothing in common, however; as you go beyond the surface, they appear to have many similarities such as their beliefs of God, their beliefs of life after death, their holy scriptures, and their prayers. These religions, although are two entirely different beliefs, share a similar origin. Like many other religions, they both claim to be the one and only true way to God. In order to truly see and understand their similarities, one must date back to the rise and birth of Christianity and Islam. Throughout the course of this essay, I will compare the many facets that show the alikeness between these two growing religions.
It is clear that there are more similarities than differences in all three ancient Eastern religions. The first point unifying all three trends is that the Brahman in Hinduism, Buddha in Buddhism, and Vardhamana Mahavira in Jainism were all sacred figures that used to be people who lived a comfortable and socially privileged life due to birth into a privileged family but then recognized the nature of the Universe, the wrongness of living in idleness, and started wanderings that lasted for many years until enlightenment and understanding of their true destination. After their enlightenment, they all started teaching and spreading what they had learned through the insight they had gained, attracting followers of both sexes, and continued to wander and communicate a religious truth, a religious way of living and the ways to achieve liberation from the wheel of life (McKay et al., 2008)
The major similarities that all three religions share are that they are all monotheistic. This all means that they believe in one god and that he is the supreme ruler of all things. They also believe that all things are created equal under one God. They all have books of what they believe to be God's word. The Jews have their book known as the Torah.
I thought that, like many other religions, there was a desirable and undesirable place to go to after death. Hindus do not believe in a heaven or hell. They believe in rebirth and this happens depending on their karma. Karma is the computation of a person’s actions. An individual’s karma will decide on what they will be reincarnated as in their next life. Their goal in life is to become one with Brhaman and this happens when there is no more karma. There is no more rebirth and karma has equalized, meaning it has balanced. The person is immersed into Brahma and they are forever with the ultimate. An example of this is how a river flows into an ocean. This stage is called Moksha and that is the ultimate
One would think that Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism have nothing in common, but in some ways they are. Generally, there are also differences between the five. Actually they are not so much a religion as a religion-social system. All religions share common goals and two main ones are to connect an indiv...
Where is heaven? In a similar question, where is hell? From where does our desire to be at peace come from? However you feel at any particular moment is a product of your own making. We will all end up in the same place, but what that place will be to us is dependent on how we live our lives. God forgives, and if we too forgive and succumb to love, we will be in heaven. If we are guilt ridden, well, I suppose we shall do time in purgatory. And all of us with hate in our hearts will burn forever in the pits of our own damnation. While on this earth we are allowed to give these places a go. We are allowed a taste of all that is above, and, I suppose, below as well. We are given a chance to decide our fates. I won't tell you which to choose. It's up to