Will There Be Sex in Heaven ?

Not Just Hanky-Panky, But Who We Really Are

A question for the ages - especially our sex crazed age.

Will there be sex in heaven ?

Heavenly hanky panky, as it were.

That’s what our minds tend to - sex as intercourse.

Will there be intercourse in heaven ?

Well, that’s only half of the question.

We’re going to tackle this topic in two parts :

1. What is Sex?

2. Philosophical underpinnings ( foundations ) that form our view of sex

What is Sex ?

Sex isn’t something we do.

Sex is something we are.

Ruminate on that for second - we all have a sexual life that goes beyond intercourse. That is, intercourse is one expression of a deeper sexual reality.

The Christian tradition holds, in varying capacities, to a God Designed Creation.

At the center of that belief is the idea that God created humankind - as being with sex.

“God created them,” so Genesis says, “male and female.”

Sexual beings.

Or, another way, gendered beings.

Our sex is core to who we are - vital to our human identity.

In this sense, firstly, we will “have sex” in heaven.

That is, forever and always, we will retain our human sexuality.

Nature and Value

The next thing to work through is both the nature and value of the person. And to do so, we’re going to look at some of the thoughts and ideas that permeate our cultural moment.

First off, as I’m sure you’ve heard, there are misogynists and misandrists - people who are prejudiced against the opposite sex; believing that one sex is superior to the other. These folk assume there is a fundamental difference in the nature of the sexes.

Does that make sense ?

If one sex is superior to the other, it must be due to their fundamental differences in nature - which ends up, sadly, in a fundamental difference in value.

That’s one viewpoint we see in our moment. One that sees a complete and fundamental difference in nature, and therefore a difference in value.

There is another view, however.

This view, and the people who hold to it, would work backwards :

“Well,” they say, “one sex is not better than the other, therefore there must be no fundamental difference in nature - no difference between male and female.”

It is a flattening - a separation without distinction. All “differences” are superficial ( on the surface, I mean ).

Anyways.

That’s where the vast majority of our culture stands, either on one side or the other :

1. all sexual differences are one of nature

2. there are no sexual differences at all.

The whole sexual conversation of our time, as it seems to me, circles around either sameness ( nature ) and superiority ( value ).

So what’s a person to do in all this ? What’s our way forward ?

The Best of Both Worlds

That’s a bit of a mischaracterization - because we’re not actually cherry picking our favourite ideas, nor are we middling every road we come upon.

We’re trying to build from the ground up without making any bad assumptions.

The Christian Tradition would say something like this :

1. The sexes are equal in value

2. the sexes are fundamentally different

I would take these ideas and frame them as such :

Complementarity Without Hierarchy

That means by nature all the sexes are equal; and by nature the sexes are different. More on this later.

Sex as Who We Are

Sex involves the whole person.

Sex isn’t simply a bodily function - it’s not only physical.

The body, so says John Paul II, reveals a living soul - and the two are in a deep union.

Which means, as I understand, the soul is sexual.

Sexuality is our whole person. Body and soul.

This concept is pretty central for understanding ideas of “Will there be sex in heaven?”

Heaven, if you didn’t know, is the fulfilment and completion of everything we are - no more gaps, no more holes, no more shadows.

There is fullness, there is wholeness, there is substance.

Our whole self, in heaven, will be made complete - perfectly expressing our whole identity.

Inadequate Views of Sex

This intro post is getting a bit long - but stay with me, we’re almost at the end - and this point is pretty key.

We have a very localized view of sex.

We tend to focus primarily on the act ( hanky panky ).

And we tend to mix our identity in with the act, primarily.

We are who we sleep with.

Here’s a better way to process all this :

If an expression of the Divine Image is sexuality, male and female, God must have, in some sense, all the qualities that make up what we call sexual.

God is the source of all Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.

Who we are, as sexual beings, is much more than knocking boots.

We are expressions of His Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. Male and female. The same value, but different natures - expressing, in unique ways, the Transcendent Glories of God.

Summaries

Let’s wrap this up.

1. Sex is who we are ( maleness and femaleness )

2. We have, in our sexuality, a sort of complementarity without hierarchy

3. We are fully sexual - body and soul

4. Human sexuality is an expression of the Divine ( we are the shadows, He is the substance )

And there you have it - part one of :

Will there be sex in heaven ?