Can you have whatever you want in heaven?

Answer 1

A:

Many now believe that heaven is a notion created by religious leaders, to provide an incentive for ordinary people to follow them and their teachings. On this view, heaven is whatever they, the religious leaders, wanted it to be. Religious leaders were careful to make heaven attractive to their followers, in other words whatever the faithful wanted it to be. An extreme example of this is the Islamic belief that those who die as martyrs in jihad will have many perpetual virgins waiting for them in heaven.

Answer:

Billions of people believe in heaven and the afterlife. The Hebrew Bible doesn't go into detail concerning the rewards of the afterlife; partly because they are far beyond our comprehension, and also to preclude others from offering competing promises.

Will we be able to ask for what we want? Perhaps. But our situation there will depend foremost on our behavior while we were alive.

Catholic AnswerHeaven is most definitely NOT whatever you want it to be. Heaven is a very specific state which is only given to those who die perfect, or die in a state of grace, and are perfected in purgatory. Heaven is the immediate enjoyment of the vision and love of God for eternity. Heaven is the state of being in union with the Almighty. Heaven is what each one of us is created for, and the only reason we are on earth is to make the decision to go there (or not) and to prepare ourselves for it. There is no change after you die, so your place in heaven, your degree of beatitude for all eternity is fixed the instant you die. The only possible change after you die is either purgatory where any imperfections would be removed so that you may enter heaven, or an eternity of pain and suffering in hell.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Heaven. The place and condition of perfect supernatural happiness. This happiness consists essentially in the immediate vision and love of God, and secondarily in the knowledge, love, and enjoyment of creatures. Until the final resurrection, except for Christ and His Mother, only the souls of the just are in heaven. After the last day, the just will be in heaven in body and soul. Although the same God will be seen by all and enjoyed by all, not everyone will have the same degree of happiness. The depth of beatitude will depend on the measure of God's grace with which a person dies, and this in turn will be greatly conditioned by the merits that one earns during life on earth. Heaven is eternal because it will never cease. It is continuous because its joys never stop. It is communal because the happiness is shared with the angels and saints and the company of those who were known and love on earth.

Answer 2

Hopefully