Paradise (religion)

In a religious context, paradise is a place of supreme beauty, peace, and happiness that has been depicted as the home of the gods or as the ultimate reward for the righteous in the afterlife. The word paradise developed from ancient Greek, but has its origins in the Persian pairidaeza, meaning “walled garden.” In general, the concept of a paradise exists on two basic levels. The most common is that of a place set aside as a spiritual reward after a life of earthly troubles; the other focuses on an idealized time in the mythological past when humans shared a world with the divine. The first interpretation of the term is often synonymous with the concept of heaven, while the second can be seen in references to the Garden of Eden, the mythical paradise on earth found in Judeo-Christian texts.

Background

Scholars have long believed that the world’s three major Western religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—can trace their origins back to Zoroastrianism, a faith that thrived in ancient Persia thousands of years ago. Zoroastrianism is based on the teachings of the prophet Zarathustra, a figure who may have lived as far back as 1500 BCE in the region that is today Iran. The religion was the first to introduce concepts that have become ingrained in the teachings of other major faiths. Zoroastrianism is considered to be the world’s first monotheistic faith, with its followers believing in only one God, Ahura Mazda. It was also the first to introduce the idea of a spiritual battle of good versus evil and a day of final judgment when humanity must answer for its actions.

Zoroastrianism is also believed to be the first religion to include the idea of a heaven and hell as a way to reward or punish souls in the afterlife. According to Zoroastrian belief, the souls of the dead have to cross the Chinvat Bridge to move from the world of the living to the afterlife. As the soul crosses, the person’s good and bad deeds during their lifetime are weighed and judged. Each bad deed causes the bridge to narrow, eventually reaching the width of a razor. If the soul’s bad deeds outnumber the good, the bridge narrows to the point the soul falls into the chasm below, where it faces unimaginable torment. If good outnumbers the bad, the soul crosses the bridge and is welcomed into paradise, where it will dwell with Ahura Mazda.

Overview

While Zoroastrianism was likely the first faith to develop the idea of paradise as a heavenly reward, the concept itself dates back thousands of years earlier. The world’s first civilization, the Sumerians, believed their gods inhabited a garden that was hidden away from humans. This beautiful and peaceful garden contained a wealth of plants, animals, and precious stones. Because the Sumerians and the Mesopotamian cultures that followed them lived in the arid climate of the Middle East, the idea of a lush “walled garden” would have made a fitting paradise to serve as the home of the gods.

This concept may have evolved to become the inspiration for the biblical Garden of Eden, a paradise on earth created by God to be the home of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman. In the Old Testament Book of Genesis, the Garden is described as similar to the home of the Sumerian gods, a place of beauty, lush vegetation, and an abundance of animals. At the center of this garden is the fruiting tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of which Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat. Adam and Eve disobey God’s command and are expelled from the garden, losing access to paradise for all of humanity. In some branches of Judaism, the righteous will regain access to the Garden of Eden at the end of time.

The shift from a divine paradise on earth to a heavenly paradise as an eternal reward began in Zoroastrianism and later was absorbed by other faiths. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed the heroic dead spent the afterlife in the Elysian Fields, an eternal land of plenty. However, Zoroastrian ideas were more fully realized in the teachings of Christianity and Islam. Christians believe that heaven is a paradise where the righteous will experience eternal life in the presence of God. In this context, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness, peace, joy, and spiritual fulfillment. The first mention of paradise in the New Testament is found in the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus is dying on the cross and tells the repentant thief next to him, “today you will be with me in Paradise.” In the book of Revelation, paradise is described as a place of eternal light where the water of life flows in a river from the throne of God, and on the side of the river is the tree of life.

Islam, which grew from Judaism and Christianity in the seventh century, describes paradise in more detail. In the Muslim view, paradise is called Jannah, a place of supreme happiness where the righteous live in luxury and receive everything their hearts desire. There, they are waited on by immortal youths who serve them drinks from silver and crystal chalices. Rivers of water, milk, and wine flow endlessly in Jannah, and every fruit grows in abundance.

While the concept of paradise is predominant in the major Western faiths, other religious traditions have also embraced similar ideas. Buddhism does not have a traditional concept of a heavenly paradise but does believe that humans who achieve enlightenment can break away from the cycle of mortal suffering to reach Nirvana, a state of supreme happiness. In a similar vein, followers of Hinduism believe that humans live in a world of illusion, ignorant of the ultimate reality of the universe, a reality known as Brahman. Only upon freeing themselves of the cycle of illusion and by understanding true reality can humans achieve fulfillment.

Bibliography

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