Dictionary Definition of "Heaven" Webster's 1828 Dictionary
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Man's dictionaries do not reflect the truth or falsehood of words. They only site the way men use the words, right or wrong. In this lesson we will explore the way the Bible uses the word "heaven" and the way the various heathen thought about heaven.
Man has always wanted to live without ever dying. For centuries mankind has searched for security and happiness in the hope of going to heaven at death. However, the concept of Christians spending eternity in a place called "heaven" cannot be found in the Old Testament and Jesus's teaching did not include the idea either. Heaven, described as a sacred place or paradise, does appear in the myths and legends of cultures around the world. According to these legends, Heaven can be the dwelling place of the god or gods or the place where people who have lived virtuously find their reward after death. |
Osiris Jesus |
According to This Believing World, by Lewis Browne, the Egyptian god Osiris was thought to have been killed, resurrected and taken to heaven: “Osiris came to life again! He was miraculously resurrected from death and taken up to heaven; and there in heaven, so the myth declared, he lived on eternally”.
Browne explains: “The Egyptians reasoned that if it was the fate of the god Osiris to be resurrected after death, then a way could be found to make it the fate of man, too…The bliss of immortality that had formerly been reserved only for kings was then promised to all men… . |
Gnosticism
Gnostic = from Greek "gnosis" (knowledge). Meaning: of or relating to knowledge, esp. esoteric mystical knowledge. Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge, and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme devine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit. |
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The Eight Taoist (Chinese) Immortal Beings
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Sakaru at Tian-Yuan Gong - Temple of Heaven Pagoda
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Japanese Amida Budda
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Islamic Concept of Heaven
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Norse God, Odin ruler of Asgard
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The Elysian Field of the Greek Underworld
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Ishtar (goddess of love)
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