The Universe Revealed

The Heavens ambiguity

The Heavens ambiguity

For as long as religions have been in existence, they have referred to the Heavens as being equivalent to Heaven, the abode of the gods or God and spiritual entities. The reason I discuss this subject is because of the confusion that persists to this day about where Heaven really is.

The ancients saw the Heavens as being up in the sky. This is completely understandable because ancient peoples had no idea that they were standing on a large rocky sphere floating in space and that up in the sky was essentially out in space. The fact that storm clouds and rain fell from the sky also reinforced their mistaken concept of Heaven.

Now we know better, but this symbolic language persists in our prayers and in the Nicene Creed. We talk about the resurrected Jesus ascending into Heaven and sitting at the right hand of the Father. The ancients assumed that God was holding reign over the Heavens and therefore his throne would be up there in the sky. Remember that the Nicene Creed was adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and revised at the Council of Constantinople in 381. What we see in the English version of the creed is a translation from Greek.

The Apostles Creed is even stranger in that it talks about Jesus descending into Hell before rising from the dead. This is throwback to the idea of Hyades or the underground location of Hell. To the ancients Heaven was up and Hell was down.

That's why the second coming of Christ is pictured as Him coming on a cloud from the Heavens, which would make him an alien coming from outer space. Who knows, maybe that is the case. Maybe heaven is out in space somewhere.

However, I think that neither Heaven nor Hell exist in our space-time continuum. They are in the spiritual realm of existence, which lies on a different plane. However, we still ascribe to the ancient ways by looking up to the sky to talk to God, and we still imagine devils and demons coming from the depths of the Earth. It's hot down there so it has to be Hell, right?

This is yet another case in which we are applying symbolic references to things that we can't possibly understand. It's the human way of conceiving abstract ideas. I don't have a problem with that. What bothers me is that we still have this misguided language in our prayers and in our creeds. We are a stubborn people unable to change easily. One thing that changes very slowly is theology and beliefs.
These ancient concepts are not the only thing that still pervades our religions. We even petition for expiation for our sins using this archaic language, invoking blessings and indulgences that have no real meaning. Forgiveness is ours; all we need do is ask for it.

In a way, modern faiths have retained some aspects of pagan religions. There are many aspects of Christianity that harken back to the early religions. They have been syncretized into Christianity and continue to this day without anyone questioning them. That's the main reason the ambiguity of the Heavens persists. It's a pagan concept embraced by modern Christianity.

The only religious reference to this idea that is more like we understand it today is in the Qur'an. I found a reference to the heavens as follows:

"It is He Who created everything on the earth for you and then directed His attention up to heaven and arranged it into seven regular heavens. He has knowledge of all things."
(The Qur'an, 2:29)

"Then He turned to heaven when it was smoke. In two days He determined them as seven heavens and revealed, in every heaven, its own mandate."
(The Qur'an, 41:12)

The Qur'an refers to the heavens as the sky above the Earth and the entire universe. The Qur'an also correctly refers to the Earth as having seven layers and the concept of tectonic movement.

God is not necessarily up there in the sky. God is everywhere. So, you can look down to talk to God. He'll still listen.

Thanks for reading.