Heaven’s appeal and mystery make it a popular topic in America today.
Polls have revealed that Americans believe in heaven, but opinions differ on what heaven might be like. Even Christians are unsure about what they believe on the theologically difficult topic.
A 2000 poll by Opinion Dynamics concluded that 88 percent of Americans believe heaven is a “real place” and a 2003 survey by the Barna Research Group found that 76 percent of respondents believe that heaven exists. Among respondents in the Barna survey, there were mixed opinions on what heaven might actually be like, with 46 percent calling it “a state of eternal existence in God’s presence,” 30 percent saying it’s “an actual place of rest and reward where souls go after death” and 14 percent calling it a “symbolic” place. Five percent said they didn’t believe in heaven.
Such findings may be keeping heaven a popular topic in American culture today. From television shows such as “Touched by an Angel,” to songs like the amazingly popular “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me, to numerous books about heaven, the topic continues to be a popular one that ignites the imagination.
For Jay Wolf, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Montgomery, the topic of heaven will always be a prominent one for humans. “There is a perennial interest in heaven because Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that God has set eternity in our hearts. Also, as people get older and stare death in the eyes, they confront their mortality,” Wolf said. “It prompts thinking about heaven.”
Wolf also agreed that there are mixed ideas about the reality of heaven. Most people, he said, tend to focus on heaven as a place. “The more important emphasis, from Jesus in John 14, should be the idea of sharing unbroken fellowship with Him for eternity,” Wolf said. “I would describe heaven as sharing forever with King Jesus.”
David Bains, professor of religion at Samford University in Birmingham, echoes the idea of heaven being a state of union with Christ. He said our images of heaven often come from passages in Revelation 4, 21 and 22. Imagery in Christian hymns about heaven comes from those passages.
“If pressed to describe heaven, I’d probably borrow a concluding phrase from one of Charles Wesley’s great hymns,” Bains said. “It describes it as ‘lost in wonder, love and praise.’ ”
According to Anthony DeStefano, author of the new book “A Travel Guide to Heaven” (which received a six-figure advance from Doubleday Books), the topic of heaven is one that appeals to almost everyone — but one that has not always been written about in a way that readers can identify with. “The Christian teaching on heaven is incredibly consoling, but it’s not being put forth in a way that is resonating with people,” he said. “If heaven is anything at all, it’s fun. It’s a place of unlimited happiness and unlimited joy.”
DeStefano found much of popular culture’s view of heaven to be one of “easy images” and many of the traditional views to be those of “pale choirs of angels plucking harps on cottony clouds.” His book approaches the topic of heaven with a travel theme and bases its ideas on the Bible as well as classic theologians such as C.S. Lewis and Augustine.
With heaven such a compelling topic for Christians today, it’s not surprising that it surfaces from the pulpit. Alabama pastors agree it’s a topic that needs to be addressed.
Wolf said, “I preach on the topic of heaven very often. Whenever I call people to salvation in Jesus I am compelled to paint for them a picture of heaven.”
There are many books on heaven — “Heaven: My Father’s House” by Anne Graham Lotz, “The Book of Heaven” by Carol Zaleski, “All the Way to Heaven” by Elizabeth Sherrill, “The Glory of Heaven” by John MacArthur and “Heaven” by Joni Eareckson Tada.
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