Why Some People Think Heaven Will Be Hellish

In American culture, some people have strange ideas about what heaven will be like. One popular image is of a person (with wings and a halo) sitting on a cloud and strumming a harp. Even among churchgoers, there are misconceptions, including the idea that in heaven, the only thing we’ll be doing is singing praises to the Lord. While that will certainly be an important part of heaven, the idea that it will be our sole activity sharply diminishes the wonderful reality of what it will be like.

I recently came across an article from a few years ago by psychologist and writer Valerie Tarico about why she thinks heaven will actually be hellish. I will list her ten reasons here, with a brief rebuttal to each.

• Perfection means sameness. Tarico says, “Perfect means finished and complete. It means there’s no room for improvement—for change and growth.” This quote reflects a misunderstanding of the word “perfect,” which in the Bible means “without sin.” She also ignores the wonderfully unique personalities which we have here, and which believers will also have in heaven.
• Your best qualities are irrelevant. Tarico rightly says that in heaven, forgiveness will no longer be needed. She also says that compassion, generosity, creativity, courage, resilience, decisiveness, and vision will be useless. I will not attempt to address each of these, but the Bible is very clear that we will have work to do in heaven. What that work will be, I don’t know, and it won’t be the same for everyone. However, I have no doubt it will require creativity and vision, both of which we will have.
• Gone is the thrill of risk. Tarico mentions jumping out of airplanes and surfing as examples of activities that produce an adrenaline rush in life here. I think that, as Randy Alcorn and Michael Youssef have written, there will be plenty of other activities that will give us unbridled joy and wonder. They have written, for example, that we will be able to easily visit other planets and explore; now that would give me an adrenaline rush! Admittedly, this is speculation, but we won’t need the “thrill of risk” in order to exult in experiences that we’ve never had before.
• Forget physical pleasures like food, drink, sleep, and sex. The Bible is very clear in Revelation 19 that we will be eating and drinking in heaven! Whether we will sleep or not is something we don’t know, but it doesn’t seem likely that our glorified bodies will need it. Regarding sex: since there will be no marriage in heaven (Matthew 22:30), we will not experience the wonder and pleasure of sexual union with a spouse. However, there will be so much else to occupy us that we won’t miss it!
• Free will ceases to exist. By this, Tarico means that we will no longer have the option to sin; in this, she is right, and thank God! However, the idea that we will no longer have the option to make any choices is simply not true.
• 98% of Heaven’s occupants are embryos and toddlers. Tarico cites researcher Greg S. Paul, who suggests that if we include the unborn, more than 98% of heaven’s inhabitants would be embryos and very young children. First of all, I believe that unborn children and children of (at least) believers (and maybe also of unbelievers) who die too young to comprehend the Gospel will be in heaven. In 2 Samuel 12:23, after David’s child with Bathsheba dies, David says, “Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” This indicates that David would see his child again in heaven and, I believe, gives us assurance that when young children of believers die, we will see them again. However, I don’t think that they will be at that preborn or young child stage in heaven. Alcorn speculates that everyone will be in the “prime of life,” roughly around the equivalent age of 30; admittedly, this is only speculation. As for the 98% figure: I’m not interested in probing exactly how the researcher came up with that number. However, I disagree sharply with Tarico’s contention that “the vast majority of the heavenly host would be moral automatons or robots.”
• Gems and streets of gold define heavenly wealth and beauty. While it is true that there will be “gems” and streets of gold in heaven, to say that they will “define heavenly wealth and beauty” reflects a profound misunderstanding of the new heaven and earth. In Revelation 21:1-3, John sees the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. Alcorn says (I believe rightly so) that we will literally have heaven on earth. I enjoy being in nature like nothing else, and I love to imagine what wonders the Lord will create on the new earth!
• Take your pick of sadism or ignorance. By this, Tarico refers to the response of those in heaven to those in hell. “Either the faithful are blessedly blissfully indifferent to the endless suffering of the damned, or their joy depends on them being unaware, meaning ignorance is a condition of their eternal bliss.” When I think of people in hell now, I don’t gloat (which she also suggests some will do), but I think of God’s justice; they rejected Him here, so God rejects them there. I think that we will have that same understanding in heaven, but that we won’t dwell on it.
• Your celestial day (and night) job is to sing God’s praises. I referred to this in the intro since even some churchgoers have this misconception. It should be clear by now that heaven will be so much more than this. “It has been said that the only god worthy of worship is one who neither wants nor needs it,” says Tarico. First of all, like many people, including Christians, Tarico has a misconception of worship, thinking that it is only singing to God. However, worship is everything we do that is pleasing to God. Second, God doesn’t need our worship; He deserves it, which is profoundly different!
• This heaven goes on forever. Like most of us, Tarico can’t imagine eternity. The fundamental problem is that our thinking about it is always clouded by our sin. When I think about those who desire immortality here, on this earth, I am repulsed. I don’t want eternity on this earth in this body and mind, always tainted by sin. On the other hand, when I think about being in heaven, having no ability or desire to ever sin again, I rejoice!

I understand that for an unbeliever like Tarico that it is impossible to comprehend what the eternal home of believers will be like. This is in spite of the fact that she is a “former fundamentalist Christian,” which is a misnomer; there is no such thing as a “former Christian,” since we cannot lose our salvation. Speaking of: I have prayed for her, that she will turn to Jesus Christ in saving faith.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you probably have some idea of how much I am looking forward to heaven. If you are a believer that I will never meet face to face on this side of eternity, I look forward to meeting you on the other side. If you are not a believer, I pray that you will investigate the claims of Christianity; you may find and experience, as I have, peace and joy, as well as the answers to your questions.