As we posited in the last column, Pope Francis did not go to heaven when he died, despite the diehard beliefs of millions. Nor did any of the popes that came before him. This is not to denigrate any of those men, though some may deserve denigrating. It’s simply a statement of fact about what happens when we die.
Where did that idea of going to heaven after we die originate?
People have believed, since almost the beginning of humanity, that they have a spirit or soul that continues on after death. Some attach the idea of an immortal soul to Satan’s false promise to Eve: “You certainly will not die.” (Genesis 3:4) But he wasn’t trying to teach this very inexperienced human a new philosophy. He was talking about her current, present, fleshly life. That was the life that she feared losing if she disobeyed God’s command about eating from the tree. She clearly understood that eating from the tree would end her life. She had no concept of life being temporary, of a soul that could pass on to some other world if her flesh died.
However, some time after she did in fact die Satan began spreading the lie that people didn’t really die when they seemed to; that some part of Eve, some part of every human descended from Adam and Eve, has had some spirit part of themselves that lived on.
It makes great fiction. But it has no basis in fact.
When false religion arose – or rose again, perhaps – in the days of Nimrod a couple centuries after the flood, Satan was able to use those religionists to teach that souls or spirits from dead people continued. Satan or his pet religious leaders eventually settled on the idea that promising good people a better afterlife, and promising those who disobeyed them a horrible one, was a great tool for persuading folks to do their bidding. The plentiful finds of archaeologists of food, wine, canoes, etc., in ancient tombs proves that the idea of life continuing after death has been around for a long time.
The belief was refined for the western world by Plato more than 400 years before Christ. According to Josephus , by the time Jesus came along the teaching of an immortal soul had infected even the Jews, who should have known better. Their scriptures, inspired by God, said clearly: “The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) ‘[When] he returns to the ground, on that very day his thoughts perish.’ (Psalm 146:4) They also knew what reward they could properly look forward to: “The meek will possess the earth, and they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:11)
Did Jesus teach contrary to this? That people had an immortal soul,
that they would go to heaven when they died? No!
Jesus reiterated Psalm 37: “Happy are the meek, because they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) He had grown up in the synagogue and had no doubt memorized this and all the scriptures. Further, Jesus had been there when his father told Adam and Eve, ‘fill the earth and subdue it.’ (Genesis 1:28) And he had been there when Satan lyingly told Eve she wouldn’t die.
So if Jesus didn’t teach it, where did everyone get the idea that they’re all going to heaven when they die? They got it at church. But the church didn’t get it from the Bible. They got it from Plato, who got it from Socrates, who got it from earlier pagan Eastern religions, all influenced by Satan.
Now, wait though: The Bible does talk about people going to heaven, doesn’t it? Yes, it does. But not everybody.
Here’s a rule you have to follow when reading the Bible: If one straightforward verse (correctly understood) contradicts your belief – even if your belief is based on another verse – it isn’t the Bible that’s contradictory. It’s your belief.
So Jesus told the apostles: “If I go my way and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you home to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” (John 14:3)
'AHA! There you go! We’re going to heaven to be with Jesus!' But that's not what it says.
Can we safely assume that the apostles have joined Jesus is heaven? Yes. But did Jesus say that to you and me? No.
On one occasion Jesus told Peter to go throw a fishhook into the sea and the fish he caught would have a coin in its mouth with which to pay their taxes. So does that mean that we all should expect to find a coin in the mouth of a fish when we go fishing? Of course not.
The belief that all good people go to heaven can’t be based on Jesus telling the apostles that they would be going to heaven. That belief contradicts Matthew 5:5 and Psalm 37:11.
What about this one: “But now they are reaching out for a better place, that is, one belonging to heaven. Therefore, God is not ashamed of them, to be called on as their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:16) Doesn’t that say that all Christians have a ‘city’ prepared for them in heaven? Not at all.
We have to ask, about whom is Paul speaking? In this chapter, Paul lists many faithful people from the past, such as Abraham and Sarah. Was Paul saying they went to heaven? No. “In faith all of these died, although they did not receive the fulfillment of the promises.” (Hebrews 11:13) Who is Paul speaking to, then? “Those who speak in such a way” – speak, present tense, in Paul’s day, about Abraham and Sarah’s example of living their lives in the Promised Land as temporary residents, dying faithful without receiving their reward – “make it evident that they” – the speakers, the Hebrew Christians Paul was writing to – “are earnestly seeking a place of their own.” (Hebrews 11:14)
Paul reassured those Hebrew Christians that they could have faith in a reward in heaven, even as Abraham and Sarah had faith in a future reward of being resurrected to inherit the earth.
So, can Hebrews 11 be used to back the belief that all good people go to heaven? No. That belief contradicts Matthew 5:5 and Psalm 37:11.
What about this one: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52) Does that say that everyone goes to heaven? No. Paul’s hope for the future had been changed, by God, from inheriting the earth to a hope of heavenly life. That was true also of those faithful Christians he wrote to in Corinth. But it cannot mean that everyone is going to heaven. That belief contradicts Matthew 5:5 and Psalm 37:11.
Other passages in the Bible add details about those humans whose future hope got changed, by God, from earth to heaven. It tells us that this arrangement of people going to heaven is a special arrangement rather than the future hope the rest of us have been promised. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The Bible tells us the people in heaven will be kings and priests, that is, intermediaries between God and humankind on earth. (Revelation 5:10) And it tells us that the ones going to heaven are a very small percentage of the human race. (Revelation 14:1-4; Luke 12:32)
Imagine this: my neighbor hands me a letter he received. I read it, and it says ‘Coming for a visit, Son. Look forward to seeing you. Love, Mom.’ What would you think of me if I read that and said, Oh! My mom’s coming for a visit!’ Idiotic, right? The letter is not telling me what is in my future, it is telling me what is in his. Paul was telling some of those Christians in his day what was in their future.
What is in my future? ‘Happy are the meek, for they will possess the earth.’
Please feel free to leave a comment. To read another of my columns on a similar subject click here.
Bill K. Underwood is a columnist and author of several books. You can help support this channel by clicking on this link to purchase one of his books at Amazon.com.
