Editing Paradise (section)

==Christianity==
{{See also|World to Come|Kingship and kingdom of God|Hades in Christianity}}

[[File:Mead Bradock, Paradise According to Three Different Hypotheses, 1747 Cornell CUL PJM 1023.01.jpg|thumbnail|Braddock Mead, Paradise According to Three Different Hypotheses, 1747]]
[[File:Праведни Авраам и прaведни (покајани) разбојник у рају, живопис у светој обитељи Грачаница, Србија.jpg|thumb|[[Abraham]] in paradise, [[Gračanica Monastery]], Serbia]]
In the 2nd century AD, [[Irenaeus]] distinguished paradise from [[Heaven (Christianity)|heaven]]. In ''[[On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis|Against Heresies]]'', he wrote that only those deemed worthy would inherit a home in heaven, while others would enjoy paradise, and the rest live in the [[New Jerusalem|restored Jerusalem]] (which was mostly a ruin after the [[Jewish–Roman wars]] but was rebuilt beginning with [[Constantine I and Christianity|Constantine the Great]] in the 4th century). [[Origen]] likewise distinguished paradise from heaven, describing paradise as the earthly "school" for souls of the righteous dead, preparing them for their ascent through the celestial spheres to heaven.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04122.htm Church fathers: De Principiis (Book II) Origen] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720032710/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04122.htm |date=2008-07-20 }}, newadvent.org</ref>

Many early Christians identified [[Abraham's bosom]] with paradise, where the souls of the righteous go until the [[resurrection of the dead]]; others were inconsistent in their identification of paradise, such as St. Augustine, whose views varied.<ref name="Delumeau1995">{{cite book|author=Jean Delumeau|title=History of paradise|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ubJDLvEV0vEC&pg=PA29|access-date=3 April 2013|year=1995|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-06880-5|pages=29–}}</ref>

In Luke 23:43, Jesus has a conversation with one of those crucified with him, who asks, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". Jesus answers him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+23&version=NIV|title=Luke 23|work=Bible Gateway|access-date=2 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719035039/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+23&version=NIV|archive-date=19 July 2017}}</ref> This has often been interpreted to mean that on that same day the thief and Jesus would enter the intermediate resting place of the dead who were waiting for the Resurrection.<ref name="Zwiep1997">{{cite book|author=A. W. Zwiep|title=The Ascension of the Messiah in Lukan Christology /|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIW7JywiBhIC&pg=PA150|access-date=3 April 2013|year=1997|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-10897-4|pages=150–}}</ref> Divergent views on paradise, and when one enters it, may have been responsible for a punctuation difference in Luke; for example, the two early [[Syriac language|Syriac]] versions translate Luke 23:43 differently. The [[Curetonian Gospels]] read "Today I tell you that you will be with me in paradise", whereas the [[Sinaitic Palimpsest]] reads "I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise". Likewise the two earliest Greek codices with punctuation disagree: [[Codex Vaticanus]] has a pause mark (a single dot on the baseline) in the original ink equidistant between 'today' and the following word (with no later corrections and no dot before "today"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2013/06/the-significance-of-a-comma:-an-analysis-of-luke-23:43|title=The Significance of a Comma: An Analysis of Luke 23:43 – Ministry Magazine|website=Ministry Magazine|access-date=8 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417154457/https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2013/06/the-significance-of-a-comma:-an-analysis-of-luke-23:43|archive-date=17 April 2017}}</ref>), whereas [[Codex Alexandrinus]] has the "today in paradise" reading. In addition, an adverb of time is never used in the nearly 100 other places in the Gospels where Jesus uses the phrase, "Truly I say to you".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forananswer.org/Luke/Luke23_43.htm|title=For an Answer: Christian Apologetics – Luke 23:43|website=www.forananswer.org|access-date=8 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418182314/http://www.forananswer.org/Luke/Luke23_43.htm|archive-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

In Christian art, [[Fra Angelico]]'s ''[[Last Judgement]]'' painting shows Paradise on its left side. There is a [[tree of life]] (and another tree) and a [[circle dance]] of liberated [[Soul (spirit)|souls]]. In the middle is a hole. In Muslim art it similarly indicates the presence of the Prophet or divine beings. It visually says, "Those here cannot be depicted".

===Jehovah's Witnesses===
{{See also|Jehovah's Witnesses and salvation}}
[[Jehovah's Witnesses]] believe, from their interpretation of the [[Book of Genesis]], that God's original purpose was, and is, to have the earth filled with the offspring of [[Adam and Eve]] as caretakers of a global paradise. However, Adam and [[Eve]] rebelled against God's sovereignty and were banished from the Garden of Eden, driven out of paradise into toil and misery.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that disobedient and wicked people will be destroyed by Christ at [[Armageddon]] and those obedient to Christ will live eternally in a restored earthly paradise. Joining the survivors will be the resurrected righteous and unrighteous people who died prior to Armageddon. The latter are brought back because they paid for their sins by their death and/or because they lacked opportunity to learn of Jehovah's requirements before dying. These will be judged on the basis of their post-resurrection obedience to instructions revealed in new "scrolls". They believe that resurrection of the dead to paradise earth is made possible by [[Blood of Christ|Christ's blood]] and the [[ransom sacrifice]]. This provision does not apply to those whom Christ as Judge deems to have sinned against God's holy spirit.<ref>''What Does the Bible Really Teach?'' (Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, 2005), Chapter 7</ref><ref>''Insight on the Scriptures'' (Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, 1988), 783–92</ref>

One of [[Sayings of Jesus on the cross#2. To day shalt thou be with me in paradise|Jesus' statements before he died]] were the words to a man hanging alongside him, "you will be with me in Paradise."<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|23:43}}</ref> The [[New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures|New World Translation]] places a comma after the word 'today', dividing it into two separate phrases, "I tell you today" and "you will be with me in Paradise". This differs from standard translations of this verse as "I tell you today you will be with me in Paradise".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biblehub.com/luke/23-43.htm|title=Luke 23:43|access-date=2 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20141003144036/http://biblehub.com/luke/23-43.htm|archive-date=3 October 2014}}</ref> Based on scriptures such as [http://bible.cc/matthew/12-40.htm Matthew 12:40], [http://bible.cc/matthew/27-63.htm 27:63], [http://bible.cc/mark/8-31.htm Mark 8:31] and [http://bible.cc/mark/9-31.htm 9:31], Witnesses believe Jesus' expectation that he would be bodily resurrected after three days precluded his being in paradise on the same day that he died.<ref>"Meeting the Challenge of Bible Translation", ''The Watchtower'', June 15, 1974, page 362–363</ref>

===Mormonism===
In [[Latter Day Saint]] theology, paradise usually refers to the [[Spirit world (Latter Day Saints)|spirit world]], the place where spirits dwell following death and awaiting the resurrection. In that context, "paradise" is the state of the righteous after death.<ref>Duane S. Crowther – [https://books.google.com/books?id=ku4t9ONW7L4C&dq=In+Latter+Day+Saint+theology%2C+paradise+usually+refers+to+the+spirit+world%2C&pg=PT71 Life Everlasting] Chapter 5 – Paradise of the Wicked – Retrieved 8 July 2014.</ref> In contrast, the wicked and those who have not yet learned the gospel of Jesus Christ await the resurrection in [[Spirit world (Latter Day Saints)#Spirit prison|spirit prison]]. After the universal resurrection, all persons will be assigned to a particular [[degrees of glory|kingdom or degree of glory]]. This may also be termed "paradise".