a person living in paradise

Question

Do we use the word 'heavenly' for a person who is in paradise? Or should it be 'paradise-dweller'?

Like, can we say: He is a heavenly man. We mean: This person is destined for being in paradise.

Look, when one dies we hope he is in paradise. We fear he is in hell. We guess. We're not sure. So in this case which is the suitable choice:

1. Paradise-dweller

2. Heaven-dweller

3. heavenly man

This [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79421.The_Heavenly_Man] seems to say that 'heavenly man' is supernatural person, is this so?

Does the phrase "heavenly man" refers to a 'supernatural person' or 'a person living in paradise'?

Answer 1

First the technically correct answer: A person who is in heaven is called a "saint".

However "saint" is also used generally for "good (Christian) person", and more specifically for "person canonised by the Roman Catholic Church", so using "saint" may cause some confusion. You can say "He is a saint" and it may be understood as "He is a very good person" or "He is a very good Christian" or "He is destined to go to (Christian) heaven".

You can't say "He is a heavenly man" as heavenly in this context would be understood to mean "very handsome or kind".

While saint is the correct word to use, we could also just say

John is in heaven.

or use any of a number of euphemisms such as:

John is with the angels.

(Both imply that John is dead)

There is one other phrase, that is rather formal and old fashioned (but when talking about the dead we tend to be rather formal) and that is "denizen of Heaven". I suppose you could also say "the inhabitants of heaven" or "... of paradise".

Answer 2

You are talking about someone who is destined for heaven rather than already there.

I can suggest, "He is a blessed soul."

Let's see if others agree.