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Questions & Answers

Heaven

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Our Lord and the Faith › Heaven

The question

Is the so called "third heaven" or "the Paradise" the place where all the departed saints and good people exist at present? Is "the new haven" the same place as the " third heaven"? If so, why following the Day of Judgment will the good people and saints go again to the third heaven or the new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem? If not so, does this mean that the people who died and live now in the third heaven are not enjoying the description of chapter 21 of the Holy Book of Revelation?

The answer

"Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea" (Rev 21:1).

The righteous will be raised in glory and power with spiritual bodies and the Lord will put them in a new heaven. The heaven and earth that we see today will disappear.

"Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet 3:11-13).

The new heaven and the new earth in the Holy Book of Revelation are not that of the waiting place (paradise) where all the righteous who passed away await the Judgment Day. Entrance to the new heaven and new earth will only be on Judgment Day with our spiritual and glorious bodies.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 676 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.