Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Affirms

Eternal life; bodily resurrection; glorification; direct presence of God

The Wesleyan Church affirms that heaven is the eternal home of the redeemed, where they will dwell in God's presence forever, clothed in glorified, immortal bodies. Heaven is not merely a spiritual realm but involves bodily resurrection—the transformation and continuation of the material creation. The church emphasizes both the continuity and transformation: the redeemed in heaven will be recognizable but perfected, freed from sin, pain, and death.

Heaven is understood as the ultimate fulfillment of salvation and sanctification: there all believers will be fully conformed to the image of Christ, perfectly holy and perfectly loving. The beatific vision—direct, unmediated sight of God—is the supreme joy of heaven. Heaven is not a reward earned by merit but the gracious gift of God to those who have trusted in Christ. The church's eschatology emphasizes the bodily resurrection of all people and the making new of all creation in the eschaton.

Key Distinctions

Heaven nature:
direct presence of God; perfected existence; recognition of other believers
Bodily resurrection:
affirmed; transformation, not mere spiritualization

Scripture References

Sources

  • The Wesleyan Church Discipline (2016), §2320
  • Wesleyan Articles of Religion, Article VIII
  • John Wesley, Sermons on Heaven