Question:

What are some scriptures in the Bible that speak about heaven that I could share with someone who loves and follows God but has apeirophobia (fear of eternity) [editor’s note: I looked this up and it is a real word]? I want to help them anticipate heaven rather than fear it.

Answer:

To me, the best place to go is 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 (Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting).   Other encouraging scriptures concerning our final destiny with God are found in Ezekiel 47:7-12, Daniel 12:2-4 and Revelation 21:1-4 and 22:1-5.

We need to be sensitive about this with a certain minority of people for whom ANY picture of an afterlife is threatening and scary.  For some, even the most encouraging picture of a life after we leave this body invokes a certain kind of fear.  They have an inherent fear of the unknown. This is even true of some otherwise faithful Christians.   It is always a bit fearful for some to anticipate passing through death and leaving the physical bodies we occupy in order to pass on to a better place.  This is to some extent only natural as we, as physical creatures, have a certain fear of death.  Our bodies are built to fear the unknown, and especially pain and physical death. You cannot completely eliminate such fear in your friend, but you can perhaps alleviate her fears to some extent by showing her what God has in store for us.  Let  me leave you with one more encouraging scripture about life after physical death for those who choose to love God.  It is 1 Corinthians 2:9-10.  “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human mind has conceived the things that God has prepared for those who love him.”

John Oakes