by Ben Hughes

Created on: February 21, 2009

What strikes me about the idea of a heaven for everyone is how childlike this approach is to religion. Although it sounds a nice idea, it really doesn't make sense when we think of an afterlife. If we think of a life after death which is simply heaven for everyone, it means that there's no motivation to be good in this life; we know that we'll go to heaven whatever happens.

In contrast, the notion of both a heaven and a hell is the driving force between being moral and being immoral. Whatever someone's beliefs about God, many people still believe in a heaven and hell.

It also makes more sense to believe in both heaven and hell because the terrible conditions of hell contrast with the goodness of the promises of heaven. It just makes more sense to have the contrasting conditions of the fiery furnaces and torture of hell and damnation and the peace, love and paradise of heaven.

This isn't to say that we can't all go to heaven, which is another approach to this question. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." The Bible tells us that we are all capable of reaching the glory and perfection of heaven if we follow the right path; so even though the two places exist, it doesn't mean they both have to be "used", just as people have two cars and leave one on the street.

We can also think of heaven and hell on Earth. People who live in harsh conditions of poverty, suppression or ill health can rightly describe their lives as a living hell. The conditions they live in can be described as controlled by the devil and cause such pain and misery that they are similar to popular notions of hell.

There are also those people who live a "heavenly" life on Earth and sometimes the word is used to describe certain experiences. Think of the chocolate bar which is advertised as "heavenly" or the idea of certain experiences like a wedding. In a very simplistic way, this is a glimpse of heaven.

But I think it's important to remember that it is only a glimpse of heaven and hell. If we describe our experiences in this life as heaven or hell, think how much more intense these feelings will be in the next life.

So religiously and philosophically I don't think it seems right to talk of just heaven. Unless we take examples of near death experiences, the scriptures or mediums and spiritualists, we can never really know whether heaven and hell exists; and we can never fully know until we actually die. But faith in God's promise of reward in the afterlife makes me believe in heaven and experience of the devil makes me fearful of hell; both here on Earth and after death.

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