Beatific vision

In Christian theology, the beatific vision (Latin: visio beatifica) is the ultimate direct self-communication of God to the angel and person. A person or angel possessing the beatific vision reaches, as a member of the communion of saints, perfect salvation in its entirety, i.e., heaven. The notion of vision stresses the intellectual component of salvation, i.e., the immediate contemplation of God, though it encompasses the whole of the experience of joy, with happiness coming from seeing God finally face to face and not imperfectly through faith. (1 Cor 13:11–12).[1][2][3]

It is related to the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief in theosis,[4][5] the Wesleyan notion of Christian perfection,[6] and is seen in most church denominations as the reward for Christians in the afterlife.[7]

In Islamic theology, those who die as believers and enter Jannah will be given the vision of Allah.[8]

  1. ^ K. Rahner. "Beatific Vision". Sacramentum Mundi. An Encyclopedia of Theology. Vol. 1. pp. 151–153.
  2. ^ Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church 163, 1028, 1045
  3. ^ Cf. Gregory of Nyssa. De Beatitudinibus 6, PG 44, 1265A.
  4. ^ Faulk, Edward (2007). Questions and Answers on Eastern Catholic Churches. aulist Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-8091-4441-9. What is theosis? Both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches feature this idea as a central point in their theology
  5. ^ Inbody, Tyron (2005). The Faith of the Christian Church: An Introduction to Theology. Eerdmans. p. 229. ISBN 0-8028-4151-1. Eastern and Roman Catholic churches typically describe salvation as theosis or deification or divinization
  6. ^ Wesley, Charles. "Maker, in Whom We Live." The United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989. 28 May 2018. <https://hymnary.org/hymn/UMH/88>.
  7. ^ "Deification". Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2005.
  8. ^ Qur'ān 75:22-3