Cold Case Christianity: Is Heaven Reasonable? No, and thanks for asking

This is my reply to an article by J. Warner Wallace entitled:

Cold Case Christianity: Is Heaven Reasonable? (Free BibleInsert)
Posted: 09 Nov 2018 01:00 AM PST

Humans have been thinking about life after death from the earliest of times. Heaven has been the topic of ancient authors and contemporary thinkers. Countless books, movies and television programs have been produced on the topic. This year’s entry, Heaven is for Real, continues the long tradition of fascination with the afterlife. But is Heaven reasonable? Are the any good reasons to believe there might be a life beyond the grave, aside from the very obvious teaching of the Bible? This week, I’ll spend some time examining the case for Heaven and we’ll look briefly at the nature of Heaven as described in Scripture. We’re also providing a Bible Insert for March 2014 summarizing this information.

As a theist, I obviously believe the evidence for God’s existence is strong. I didn’t always believe this to be the case, but having arrived at this conclusion, the following reasoning would incline me to consider the existence of Heaven, even if I didn’t have access to a Bible:

The Evidence Persuades Us a Good God Created Our World

There are good, reasonable arguments for the existence of a Creator God and the mere existence of a world in which love is possible (in spite of the presence of evil) is an indication this God is good.

Then the mere existence of a world in which hatred is possible (in spite of the presence of evil) is an indication that this 'god' is evil.  Same logic.

A Good God Would Not Create a World in Which Justice, Satisfaction and Joy Are Unattainable

If God is good, He wouldn’t create beings for whom justice, satisfaction and joy are elusive and unavailable.

 Speak for yourself.  There are millions of people today and in the past whose every waking moment was filled with undeserved misery and suffering.  Assuring us that justice will surely be served from another dimension is nothing but the hope of the hopeless, and irrational.  Atheism provides the only rational spark to give a shit about correcting injustices during a person's physical life.

Justice, Satisfaction and Joy Is Often Unattainable in This Temporal Earthly Life

Yet our common experience tells us justice is not always served here on Earth (bad people often get away with their crimes) and while we continually pursue satisfaction and joy, we find that it is fleeting and transient.

Therefore, If There is a Good God, It Is Reasonable to Believe He Has an Eternal, Heavenly Life Waiting for Us in Which Complete Justice, Satisfaction and Joy Will Be Realized

So where is justice, satisfaction and joy to be found? If God has designed us for eternity, and offers complete justice, satisfaction and joy in the next chapter of our existence, He will accomplish all we expect of Him and everything His nature demands.

 The ending of the Book of Revelation does not teach that evil will finally be eradicated, it only teaches there will come a day when god's heavenly city is on earth, and evil-doers will continue to live outside of it:

 10 And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
 11 "Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy."
 12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
 13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. (Rev. 22:10-15 NAU)

 Wallace continues:

If the case for God’s existence is reasonable, the case for Heaven’s existence is also reasonable.

 But the goodness of heaven doesn't necessarily follow.  You would never insist that the man who built a house was good merely because what he did will shield some people from rain and wind.  So it doesn't matter if there is a god and he created this world.  That doesn't get you to the "he is good" part.

Furthermore, your god "stirs up" the Medes to rape women in Isaiah 13:16, see context, so you need to stop with all of his luvy duvy god shit already...unless you suddenly discovered in the last few seconds that Isaiah isn't supposed to be part of the biblical canon?

Thoughtful consideration of this reality (in light of God’s nature) can also tell us something about the nature of Heaven. Even if I knew nothing about what Christian Scripture teaches about the afterlife, I would still be inclined to believe Heaven is a place of perfection:

If there is a Creator God, He created everything from nothing; matter from non-matter, life from non-life.

 No, there being a creator god does not automatically imply he created everything from nothing, that's just you importing biblical assumptions of creation ex nihilo into your comment here.

If God can do all that, he has unfathomable power

 Mafia bosses and dictators have unfathomable power too.  Not sure if they descended morally so far that they caused men to rape women, the way your god does in Isaiah 13:16.

If God has unfathomable power, he has the power to eliminate imperfection

No, the fact that his power is "unfathomable" doesn't mean it has no limits, it just means we humans would conclude god is very powerful.  The power to eliminate perfection is not something that logically follows from having great power.

Worse, if your god were perfect, then he'd have been perfectly content before creating anything, and by being so content would have no motive to create anything...just like if you are perfectly content after a big meal, you have no motive to eat.  So if there is a god and he created the universe, he cannot have been perfectly content, he must have been lonely, or he must have thought his existing righteousness could be surpassed by complicating his life and creating things that were not necessary to his own happiness.

If God has the power to eliminate imperfection, He can certainly eliminate it from the realm in which He exists

Then because you think God exists in the physical realm too and not just the spiritual realm, he can also elimitate imperfection from sinful humans, in which case you lose the "god gave Adam and Eve freewill" defense to the charge of evil.  God is clearly willing to have creatures serve him even when they are incapable of doing wrong (i.e., what the saints are doing who are dead, whose spirits are allegedly in heaven), so you can no longer say god's desire that we worship and love him authentically requires that he give us freewill.  The departed saints now in heaven are incapable of choosing evil, so apparently god himself thinks those who cannot possibly chose evil, can still authentically love and worship him.  Thus God could have given such constitution of the will to Adam and Eve, and they would have avoided making evil choices.

Therefore, Heaven is a place of perfection

Then lying must be a sign of perfection:

 19 Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.
 20 "The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that.
 21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.'
 22 "The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.'
 23 "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you."   (1 Ki. 22:19-23 NAU)

Wallace continues:

Even from this simple line of reasoning, it’s easy to see why we might believe Heaven is a place of perfect justice, satisfaction and joy. This reality ought to give us reasons to rejoice and reasons to be concerned. While Heaven will certainly be a place of perfection, all of us should think earnestly about our own imperfection. Are any of us qualified, based on our own merit, to enter such a prefect, holy realm?

 Yes.  Aaron and the Levitical prieists were capable of entering the Holy of Holies into the presence of God, without becoming perfect.  So sinners can indeed dwell in the presence of God.  All this talk about how God is too righteous for our sinful selves to be around, is nothing but high and mighty systematic theology.

The case for Heaven’s existence and perfect nature should cause us to examine the nature of Salvation as offered through the sacrifice of Christ.

 The smarter Christian humbly follows the gospel that was taught by the very words of Christ alone, that is, the form of the gospel before Jesus died.  The fact that such is not sufficient for you, speaks volumes.

The reasonable existence of Heaven points to the reasonable necessity of Jesus’ death on the cross.

 That's just stupid, heaven was considered a reality by all pre-Christian Jews, most of whom shunned any idea that God would accept human sacrifice.