There's much talk, in the "144,000 " thread about HEAVEN. . .

Which Biblical word for HEAVEN?? :P
There are TWO:

One refers to the SKY ("hashamayim," literally "the
waters", which is the only
way ancient Hebrew could describe the non-solid/underfoot Cosmos) and the
other, in Aramaic, is a take on the Persian for Garden"(the contemporary Hebrew
is "gan eiden"("Garden of Eden") which relates most
closely to the English term
"Paradise"(from the Persian for "garden"). . .

So there's:

[the ]HEAVEN[s]: "the sky" which is most often used to refer to the
governmental abode of "YHVH," the Almighty Creator of Earth and
the Heavens(all
that beyond Earth); hashamayim is really rather a generic catchall term for "up
there" as the non-understood domain of God, who is far higher than here/man,
both higher in a qualitative sense (superiority) AND quantitative (directional)
one. . .

PARADISE: is the term the pre-Common Era(Second Temple) rabbis came up with to
help give solace to the people who questioned how it can be that evil men
profit so much in life, but good ones suffer so greatly -- a seeming
contradiction to the goodness & justice of God. . .

The rabbinical answer, said to be inspired by God(on the same basis any of the
Scriptures were thusly claimed), was that those seeming inequities would be
corrected in the "World to Come". . . with those who suffered
lack/persecution(esp.,but not limited to, the people of Israel, as the obvious
example) in "This World" receiving time in Paradise after Messiah comes and
sets right the errors of this world/time. . .

Your friend,

<+]::-{(} ("Cyberpope," the Bishop of ROM!)
Ask me how to connect with me in any of 5 Instant Messengers

        (Please quote with "gapope wrote...")
-=-
In essentials, unity;
In non-essentials, liberty;
in all things, charity.  -- Baxter quoting Augustine
-=-


... nfx v3.1                                                                 
--- SBBSecho 2.00-Win32