This question is like asking, “Aren’t tigers very much like kitty cats?” While there are certainly many characteristics of tigers that parallel domestic kittens, the contrasts far outweigh the comparisons. The Bible’s teachings on heaven have some similarities to other religions, but the contrasts are substantial and numerous.
The most dramatic dissimilarity between the Christian faith and all other religious systems is in the condition(s) by which one gets to paradise or heaven in the afterlife. The Bible makes it repeatedly clear that faith alone (just one condition) brings a person into a right relationship with God. This faith must be placed in Jesus as the only one who can give eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). (See questions #1 and #2.)
All other religious groups—for instance, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism—teach that good works (some form of moral/ethical living) along with faith in their teachings (two conditions) gain one entrance into paradise. The Qur’an states, “As for those that have faith and do good works and humble themselves before their Lord, they are the heirs of Paradise . . .” (Sura 11:23, italics added). Various minor groups that claim the Christian faith, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, also emphasize both good works and a moral lifestyle in order to get to heaven.
Good works and faith in Jesus are the conditions given for heaven within Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, distinguishing them from most of evangelical Protestant Christianity. The apostle Paul addressed this issue: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Eph. 2:8–9 NLT).
In Islamic faith, heaven is pictured as a paradise or garden of Eden with wonderful fruits and flowing rivers. Paradise is gained by following diligently the five pillars of Islam: faith in Allah as the only God and Muhammad as his messenger; five ritual prayers each day; almsgiving; fasting during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; and pilgrimage to Mecca (if at all possible). Heaven is composed of various levels (seven or eight) providing different degrees of comfort. The highest heaven is reserved for the elite who are chosen by Allah, such as the prophet Muhammad.
According to the Bible, there are no varying degrees of heaven. Everyone who genuinely believes in Jesus will live with Jesus forever in the highest comfort and deepest happiness. No one in heaven will be excluded from being personally in the presence of God.
In contrast to the teachings of Jesus, Islam claims that there will be marriage in heaven. (See question #19.) In paradise all the longings and passions of this life will be fulfilled. The Qur’an and other Islamic sources describe men in heaven as having multiple wives involving lustful pleasures. But according to the Bible, all sinful desires will disappear in heaven.
Christianity is monotheistic. But some groups within Hinduism are pantheistic and others are polytheistic. Christians believe in a bodily resurrection, but Hindus believe in reincarnation, i.e., a migration of the soul to a new body (animal or human) after death. (For the differences between resurrection and reincarnation, see question #29.)
Some Hindus believe in many gods and conduct priestly rituals and sacrifices. Others hold to one single divine reality called Brahman, an impersonal force that is part of every living person. In this latter form of Hinduism, there is no “heaven.” Instead, the goal of life is to escape the cycle of reincarnation by suppressing individual consciousness and uniting with the one Divine Principle of the universe. This is achieved by mindless meditation and forms of yoga designed to lose one’s individual identity and blend with Brahman. Heaven is not a place but a state of the soul or self. “Hell” is existing in a physical body and continuing in the cycle of reincarnation.
Buddhism shares some common beliefs with Hinduism yet is nontheistic. The Buddha taught that there is no eternal god. Buddhism rejects both resurrection and reincarnation because it does not believe in a “soul” of an individual. Since there is no eternal self or soul, there is no heaven or hell either. The self is made up of “parts” that rearrange themselves as a “rebirth” in a new life-form. Impermanent gods exist, but they also need to escape rebirth like us. Although this rebirth seems similar to reincarnation, Buddhists reject reincarnation because they do not believe in a soul.
In Hinduism, “nirvana” (i.e., a state of pure happiness, a “heaven”) is reached when one blends completely with the Divine Principle. In Buddhism, nirvana is reached when the “self” and all desires are extinguished through asceticism or meditation. The goal of life is to lose all appetites and desires. Our desires lead to suffering. So to eliminate suffering, one must deny all longings.
The Bible, however, affirms that God created every individual to exist eternally. He also placed within us many desires that, when one is yielded to God, are pure and holy. When one is spiritually united to Jesus by faith, his individual identity is renewed, not obliterated. Suffering is caused by the entrance of sin in the universe. Christians are called to deny sinful longings, not all longings.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Matthew 5:8; 10:29–31; Romans 15:23; Galatians 5:22–24; Philippians 2:1–3; Titus 3:5; Revelation 21:27