Who Stole Heaven?

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 analysis, the first question that might come to mind is “Why choose such a specific topic?” The idea of heaven is one that has spawned much debate in the lives of people throughout all religions across time. “Where is it? What is it? Does it have a physical location? Are God, gods, Jesus, Buddha, or any other beings there? Does it even exist?” These are fascinating questions to which no one has concrete answers and for which the layperson often turns to religious leadership for explanation and understanding.
As a Minister in the Unity movement and a New Thought Christian, it is a particularly fascinating topic for me because our definition of heaven is one of the things that sets our understanding of the Bible apart from most other Christian movements. This idea will be covered more in-depth later on but is worth noting now, as we discuss the reasons why this paper was written.
The goal of this paper is to come to a better understanding of what Jesus Christ had to say about heaven, in his own words. All of the New Testament writings, the very foundation of the Christian movement, are based on the words of Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is only logical that we should return to the source of our religion to better understand something as immense and important as the idea of heaven.
In the four Canonical Gospels, “heaven”, including other words that contain it as their root such as “heavens” and “heavenly”, appears 123 times, by my calculations. Of the 123 times that heaven is mentioned, 89 of those are quotes from Jesus in a direct statement or in the telling of a parable. With this knowledge in hand, we will now begin our analysis of the first question “Where is heaven?”
There are many different theories on its location, such one from The Catholic Encyclopedia:

In general… theologians deem...that there should be a special and glorious abode, in which the blessed have their peculiar home and where they usually abide, even though they be free to go about in this world. Theologians, therefore, generally hold that the heaven of the blessed is a special place with definite limits. Naturally, this place is held to exist, not within the earth, but, in accordance with the expressions of Scripture, without and beyond its limits. All further details regarding its locality are quite uncertain. The Church has decided nothing on this subject.

This does not give us a specific and clear location of heaven but it does at least show a line of thinking that heaven is not a part of this physical world nor bound by its physical limitations. Interestingly, according to this statement, even the Catholic church is a bit fuzzy surrounding the topic of heaven and its location.  
Bibleinfo.com answers the question “Where is heaven?” in this way:

The Bible says that Jesus is building mansions in heaven for those who accept salvation. Therefore it must be a tangible material place...The Bible even refers to

heaven as a country... Before sin came into this world, the world was a physical paradise - a beautiful garden full of fruits, trees, and animals. Similarly, when sin is finally eradicated from this universe, we will finally get to live life as God originally intended for mankind when He first created the Garden of Eden - not as wispy spirits on clouds, but in a tangible, material heaven.

Unlike our previous Catholic view of heaven, this site is sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and considers the location of heaven a physical place. They make it very clear that it has physical attributes with familiar things from the physical world. No specific location is given, but they allude to the conclusion that our own physical planet earth will be transformed into heaven - returning to its original form as the Garden of Eden.
The idea that heaven is a physical place is also supported by world famous Christian evangelist, Billy Graham, who states:

Heaven is a literal place. It is not an imaginary world or fantasy land in which to dwell. God created heaven with its vast array of authentic characteristics (Genesis 2:1). Jesus did not ascend to a lofty dream world following His resurrection, but returned to sit at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). Abraham didn’t cling to the promise of living in a state of mind; he looked forward to ‘the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God’ (Hebrews 11:10)...That place is Heaven and Christ our Savior is there now, preparing for our arrival. Having confidence that Heaven is a literal place is important, but even more so is that we know how to get there.

Rev. Graham is very clear that heaven is a literal, physical place. Unfortunately in this entire article, he does not give us the location of heaven, even though he attempts to address that question in several different spots. The closest explanation to a location comes when he says “Just because Heaven is beyond the reach of man’s satellites and telescopes, however, does not mean that Heaven is beyond the reach of our hearts.” One might surmise that he believes heaven to be somewhere in physical space but beyond the scope of man’s current discoveries or possibly even beyond our ability to ever see that far. Either way, he is clear that heaven definitely exists in some location.
For our final look at heaven, in the various religions spawning from Jesus Christ, we find The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ (LDS) "Mormon" definition as follows:

The celestial kingdom is the highest of the three kingdoms of heaven in Mormon beliefs. The other two kingdoms are the terrestrial and telestial. In 1 Corinthians of the Bible the celestial kingdom is compared to the sun in its glory and brightness, the terrestrial and telestial are compared to the moon and stars respectively. In the celestial kingdom the righteous will live with God and Jesus Christ.

This would represent the most complex depiction of heaven so far, and one that has specific requirements for how members, and non-members, can access one of the three levels of heaven.  Depending on how someone lives this current life and also behaves in their afterlife, a placement in a heavenly tier will be decided for them. In terms of a location, LDS may have the most specific description yet, which states that heaven is “the place where God lives, which is the ultimate home of the faithful” and “Mormon authorities and scripture teach that God resides near a planet or star named Kolob.” This is similar to Rev. Graham’s idea that it is “beyond the reach of man’s satellites and telescopes,” putting it definitively in space somewhere. Thus far, Kolob has not yet been discovered and there is debate on whether it is a planet or a star. Unfortunately, the the most specific reference to its exact location is the Book of Abraham, Mormon scripture allegedly translated from ancient Egyptian papyri by LDS founder, Joseph Smith, which does not provide geographical or astronomical reference points.
Up to this point, it is worth noting that when people use Bible quotes to support their idea of heaven, they often use the Old Testament. For example, in our quote from Rev. Billy Graham, he references three Bible verses to support his ideas. Two are from the Old Testament and only one is from the New Testament, Mark 16:19, which is not a quote from Jesus. This brings me back to my inspiration for my research: Jesus mentioned heaven many times throughout the gospels, yet so many of the Bible quotes used to justify someone’s idea of heaven do not quote Jesus directly. Why as Christians are we not quoting Jesus Christ himself?
This is not to say that the Bible writers are unreliable people to quote or reference, but in researching any topic, it is always best to return to the original source. In Christianity, I would argue that source is Christ and, more specifically, Jesus Christ. We, as followers of Christ, should know his thoughts on the topic of heaven without confusing the issue with a multitude of other sources and ideas. This is significant because Jesus shared a new understanding of heaven that redefines the heaven of old.
In looking at the 89 times Jesus mentioned some form of the word “heaven”, it is rarely in reference to any specific location, except in the following nonparabolic examples. In Matthew 11:23 he states “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.” This quote is also mentioned in Luke 10:15 and, although heaven is not given a direct location, Hades is considered “down” from somewhere. So if Hades is down, and heaven is the opposite of Hades, then heaven must be up, right? Jesus does not say heaven is up, but it is usually assumed that is his meaning. Even the word “down” should be scrutinized since understanding a word is subjective and depends on the subject’s definition of the word. The word “down" can be a direction, but it can also be used as in “feeling down,” which is a lowering of your current mental state. Dictionary.com has seven definitions of down, with the final three being “to or at a lower value or rate”, “to a lesser pitch or volume”, “in or to a calmer, less active, or less prominent state”. So we should not immediately assume “down” refers to a location or physical direction, and therefore cannot conclude that heaven is “up” from Capernaum’s present location.
Later in Matthew, we see what could possibly indicate a location for heaven in 24:29. “Immediately after the suffering of those days the ‘sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven’” This idea of stars falling from heaven appears again in Mark 13:25 and would seem to indicate that heaven is above and among the stars. But, in reading the verse in its context, Jesus is actually quoting a passage from Isaiah 13:10 and Isaiah 34:4, as it is found in the King James Version of the Bible. Therefore, this is a reference to the old view of heaven and is not necessarily his own view.
If we continue reading the gospels, we come upon another quote from Jesus that might indicate a location. Matthew 24:30 states “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory.” This same reference to clouds is repeated in both Matthew 26:64 and Mark 14:62. The reader’s assumption here is that the word “cloud” refers to the white puffy masses we see in the sky today and that this phrase states that heaven is there among them. But according to the website BibleStudyTools.com, “cloud” is being used in a different way. When the Bible uses the word cloud, “the Hebrew so rendered means ‘a covering’, because clouds cover the sky. The word is used as a symbol of the Divine presence, as indicating the splendour of that glory which it conceals.” So “cloud” does not refer to the clouds in the sky, but more of a Divine fog or covering upon which Jesus is revealed. Without a specific mention of where he will be revealed, it opens up the possibility that this divine covering could reveal him from anywhere.

Jesus mentions heaven again in Luke 10:18 “He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.” Though it is not the the direct focus of this paper, the idea of Satan in this sentence is worth noting. “The Hebrew word satan means ‘an adversary, one who resists’.” So Jesus is likely speaking about an adversary or something that resists us in our lives. Here, again, the meaning of words is important and we need to have a common understanding of the word “fall.” Due to the law of gravity, one might be quick to assume that something falling always moves from a higher location towards a lower location, which, in this case, would put heaven above. But out of the seven definitions for the word “fall” on Dictionary.com, there are three that differ from that idea - “to become less or lower; become of a lower level, degree, amount, quality, value, number, etc.; decline…”, “to subside or abate…”, and “to become lower in pitch or volume.” So this instance of “fall” could be likened to the common statement “the fall of man,” which does not refer to a movement from higher to lower elevation, but rather becoming lesser or lower in quality or declining in value. Again, this demonstrates that Jesus did not necessarily state that heaven is above.
The Gospel of Luke also has another possible reference to heaven’s location in 17:29 when Jesus says “but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them.” When something is referred to as having “rained,” I think it is safe to assume that something came down on something else, from higher to lower elevation, once again indicating heaven is above. But, like our earlier analysis of Matthew 24:29, we find that Jesus is again quoting the Old Testament here, from Genesis 19:24. This, again, is not necessarily his own belief or understanding of heaven.
In our final search to determine if Jesus mentioned a location for heaven, we visit the Gospel of John. The first instance of “heaven” is in John 1:51. “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” If he had just referred to the angels ascending OR descending, we might have been able to pinpoint a direction for heaven. But to have angels ascending AND descending out of this opening in heaven, places it both above and below the “Son of Man.” In saying something is above and below, he might be indicating that angels are surrounding him, which might lead us to look up and down at the same time. As if to clarify his point, Jesus again refers to heaven in John 3:13 when he says “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” So here we have what seems like the clearest indication from Jesus that heaven is above, and that he came down from heaven to earth. Dictionary.com has seven definitions of the word “ascend” with five of them referring to something other than an upward movement in space: “to rise to a higher point, rank, or degree; proceed from an inferior to a superior degree or level…”, “to go toward the source or beginning; go back in time…”, “to rise in pitch; pass from any tone to a higher one…”, “to go or move upward upon or along; climb; mount…”, and “to gain or succeed to; acquire”. This in itself is not proof that Jesus was not referring to a heaven which is up above us somewhere, but it does introduce a reason to question that conclusion. But, again, John 1:51 is a reference to the Old Testament, as in the story of Jacob’s Ladder, Genesis 28:12 “And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” It is also the same type of wording that Jesus is using as a reference to it in John 3:13. As I see it, when Jesus references these Old Testament stories, he is appealing to the old, common understanding of heaven in order to relate to the listeners of that time and attempt to bridge the gap between the new heaven of which he teaches and the old heaven with which they are familiar.
The final nonparabolic statement from Jesus that might refer to heaven’s location, comes in John 6:33-58 where he uses the word “heaven” five times in reference to the statement “the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Though, here again, context is important because Jesus is quoting from Exodus 16 - the Old Testament tale of Moses and the Israelites wandering the desert. It appears that he is using this quote to compare himself to the bread, which is a gift from God.

So far we have only discussed direct quotes from Jesus that were not a part of a parable. Because the words in parables often have meaning beyond their ordinary definition, this could make the task of understanding the use of the word “heaven” more difficult. That being said, there are twelve times that Jesus mentions heaven in all the parables of the Canonical gospels. Ten of these instances occur in the phrase “kingdom of heaven” and do not give any indication of a location. The last two are mentioned in the parable of the Prodigal Son and refer to the son having “sinned against heaven,” which again neglects to provide an indication of location.
Looking at these quotes from Jesus, an argument could be made that he never indicated that heaven was a physical location. So if that is the case, why is there such a widespread assumption that heaven is above us in some way? One could easily have been mislead if they heard the aforementioned quotes from Jesus out of context or without some deeper Bible knowledge. But more likely is the fact that many places in the Old and New Testaments actually support this idea. We need not look further than the scope of this paper: the four writers of the canonical gospels. For example, Matthew 14:19 “Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves.” Here the Gospel writer describes that Jesus “looked up to heaven,” a description we will also find mentioned in Mark 7:34, Mark 6:41, Mark 7:34, Luke 9:16, Luke 18:13 and John 17:1. These examples seem to indicate that Jesus looked, prayed and blessed toward a heaven that is above him. It could also indicate that he simply liked to lift his head skyward when praying and the writers themselves assumed he was looking toward heaven.
These writers also illustrate descension from heaven, as mentioned in Matthew 28:2.  “And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.” This visual of something “descending from heaven” is reiterated in Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, Luke 9:54 and John 1:32, painting a powerful picture of, and convincing argument for, a heaven above us. Possibly the most convincing and powerful of these images comes from the very same one that Rev. Billy Graham referenced in Mark 16:19 “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” That statement alone could be evidence enough to “close the case” and say that heaven is definitely above us and Jesus now lives there. Although, it is unlikely that even if anyone saw Jesus ascend, that they also saw him sitting beside God. If that were the case, then heaven would have to be within sight of the human eye and only a few hundred feet above the ground. It is far more likely that if someone did see him ascend, the assumption was that his final destination was next to the throne of God.
The important thing to remember is that the gospel writers were real human beings who were, on some level, influenced by their own beliefs and memories. Their familiarity with the Old Testament may have influenced their idea of heaven and what they assumed they saw and heard from Jesus. If the written words are not direct quotes from Jesus, then they are the words and opinions of the gospel writer. Intentional or unintentional, their writings are based on their own perception and understanding of the life, events, and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Thus far we have not addressed the second question, “What is heaven?” The most common answer is that heaven is a place you go when you die. This afterlife idea of heaven has been covered in movies, books, articles and sermons all over the world more times than one could count. Examples from recent years include Newsweek’s article “Proof of Heaven”, about a doctor’s afterlife experience, and the book, Heaven is For Real, describing a young boys afterlife experience in heaven. It is interesting to note that Jesus never mentioned the word heaven in relation to death or afterlife, ever. Not once. Christian movements are buzzing with teaching about heaven as an afterlife experience, yet there is nothing from Jesus Christ to confirm, support, or even suggest that idea.
In Jesus’ quotes containing “heaven”, we find, time and again, a description of how to obtain, exist in, or experience heaven in your current life. Using the parables as an example, Jesus compares heaven to a number of common earthly themes: separating the good from the bad, learning how small things can become great things, discovering what has real value in life, determining why many are called and few are chosen, seeing that we are equal in the eyes of God, being prepared, teaching forgiveness, and more. These are all lessons about what a person can do in the here and now to improve one’s life and relationship to God. None of these require you to go somewhere else and they especially don't require you to die.
Furthermore, when we are observe Jesus’ direct quotes about heaven, we tend to find a deeper meaning. Matthew 18:18-19 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” Both of these references to heaven indicate that actions on earth reap results in heaven, reiterated in Matthew 16:19 and Luke 12:33. So when do those results appear? Do they materialize when we die and go into heaven, as some may believe? Again, Jesus never inferred a passage of time between the action on earth and the result in heaven.
In fact, in Matthew 19:14, Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” A similar quote referencing children and heaven can be found in Matthew 18:3-4. In terms of age and one’s proximity to death, children would logically be the furthest away. Yet, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. How is it, then, if heaven is a place we go after we die, it belongs to children who are the furthest from dying?
Another verse worth noting is Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.” Unless Saint Peter was fired and the Pharisees are now the keepers to the gates of  heaven, this quote cannot fit with the idea of an afterlife heaven. It is clearly indicating that Jesus was addressing a problem that was taking place at that moment, here on earth. Not some other place, at some other time, and not in the afterlife.
Probably the most poignant and descriptive Jesus quote about heaven, doesn't actually use the word heaven. Luke 17:20-21 says, “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” Another possible translation of the word “among” is “within,” which would place the “kingdom of God” among us or even within us. The problem with Jesus not using the word heaven here is that some would argue the kingdom of God is in fact different from heaven. They argue this point because to accept this quote, as Jesus’ most clear description of heaven, would shatter the very foundation of their belief system. If we say that “kingdom of God” and “heaven” are interchangeable here, then this leaves no doubt that Jesus did not believe in an afterlife heaven in the sky, or it being a planet in space, or having physical attributes, different spiritual tiers, or gates, clouds, harps, or any of the other stereotypes attached to the idea of heaven.
In his blog “Where is the Kingdom of God? Is It Heaven?” writer and Christian consultant Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts makes an attempt to separate the two, in order to support his belief system.

The kingdom of God is not what we call heaven…as a boy…If you had asked me “Where is the kingdom of God?” I would have answered “In heaven.” This answer wouldn’t have been completely wrong, because God does reign over heaven... In fact, we misconstrue Jesus’ teaching if we think that his proclamation of the kingdom was telling us something about God’s rule up in spiritual space or in the afterlife….Currently, in heaven, God reigns and therefore his will is done. We are to pray for God’s kingdom to visit us, for his will to be done on earth.

He proceeds to offer quotes from Jesus as evidence for this argument, in an effort to prove that God’s kingdom and rule is in fact over both heaven and earth, but heaven is a separate place from earth. He also goes so far as to try and differentiate between the kingdom OF heaven, the kingdom IN heaven, the kingdom of God, Jesus’ kingdom, and God’s reign. It becomes a bit difficult to decipher and, unfortunately, never addresses Luke 17:20-21.
If it is true that the kingdom of heaven is not the same as the kingdom of God, Jesus and the Bible writers were not aware of that fact because they seem to use the terms interchangeably. For example, if we look again at Matthew 19:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” We then compare to almost the exact same quote from Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”
Many sources go through complicated efforts to try and mold Jesus’ teachings on heaven to match the Old Testament view, the modern stereotypical view, or even their own religious view. This is not to point blame, but to illustrate the human need to justify one’s own beliefs. Even the gospel writers themselves may have fallen victim to this human attribute and written some of their own beliefs into the description of events surrounding Jesus’s life. With all of these opportunities for the corruption and confusion of the message, I think it is vital to go back to the source, back to what Jesus Christ himself said. In the 89 times he mentioned heaven in the Canonical gospels, he almost exclusively taught a heaven that is available to be experienced in the here and now. Overwhelmingly, his lesson was about what one can do in this life, to experience heaven in this life. He told us that the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God is “within you” and I believe that the only thing separating someone from heaven, is the perception that it is not.

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