The Truth As I Experience It

My research into the heaven that Jesus actually taught The purpose of  this paper is to take an in-depth look at two questions: “Where is heaven?” and “What is heaven?” Because of the large scope of this topic, we will be using the New Testament as our primary source, focusing on the direct quotes from Jesus found in the Canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Many religious ideologies have a concept of heaven, or describe a place similar to the idea of the Biblical heaven, but our focus will be on the ideas contained in the Bible and the various Christian interpretations of heaven. For the purpose of this paper, it was necessary for consistency to choose a specific version of the Bible, and I have chosen the New Revised Standard Version. The reason behind this choice is twofold: First and foremost, I believe in its accuracy of translation and second, I am personally familiar with this version from my years of Bible study. As the reader begins this analys...

For the sake of the question I am about to ask you, I am going to use the word "Christianity" as a catch-all term referring to every modern religion that has spawned from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The question is this: "Does Christianity today mirror the essence of the actual life and teachings of Jesus Christ?" This is a very broad question which will come with a plethora of different answers. For myself and many others, I think when we look at the actual words Jesus spoke and the actual way he lived his life, our answer to that question is "No". Christianity has become a collection of organizations that have unintentionally traveled far from the the original intent and message of the Christ. Jesus Christ was clearly inclusive and accepting of everyone, nonjudgmental, and he taught a message of love, of the Christ within each of us, of a heaven on earth to be experienced in this lifetime and of a God who was accessible to all, in all, ...