The Seven Heavens

Reflections on the Heavenly Spheres and their Spirits

Did you know that Christianity has traditionally said there isn’t just one heaven? This may rock your view of the heavens, but it’s true nonetheless.

At some point this year, I’m going to write about this in fuller detail in The Inklings Option. But, until then, you can consider this “pre-reading.” I wrote this a year ago and thought it was worth re-sharing here.

For those unaware of the traditional cosmology of the ancient world, you can see bits and pieces of this scattered throughout Scripture. One of the clearest places this is found is in Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians where he talks about knowing a man (Most likely himself) who was caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12). That there is a third heaven also means that there is a first and second heaven by good and necessary consequence. The reality is there cannot be a third heaven without a first or second.

Christians traditionally have understood the first heaven to be the sky below the moon. You see this language used for the sky in the Scriptures. It is said that the birds fly not in just the sky, but in the heavens (Ez. 31:6). Everything beneath the moon is mutable, which C.S. Lewis called the “sub-lunary” world. This is the area that Satan was said to have dominion over and why Saint Paul referred to him as “the prince of the power of the air.”

You also see this in Tolkien’s work where Sam and Frodo are sitting in Mordor. With the sub-lunar skies dark and dim, there’s a break. Sam sees a twinkling star above and realizes there is light and high beauty in the heavens that no shadow can touch. This is the way that everyone traditionally viewed the heavens. The heavens above the moon were immutable.

The second heaven contains the seven planets or seven celestial spheres. Traditionally, these seven planets were called the seven heavens. You can think of there being seven heavens in the second heaven. The “seven heavens” are the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Christians also traditionally associated the planets with certain spirits and angels. This subverted the ancient pagan belief that the planets were gods. Christians said “no, these are created beings who fall in the hierarchy of heaven.” It is no mistake that all in all, that the churches hierarchy of angels maps onto their medieval vision of the cosmos. This also allowed them to retain the belief that the heavens did influence things on earth, though they did not determine their destiny. Only God alone did that.

You also see this in various places in the Bible.

The author of Judges 5:20 records “they fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.”

The author of Job 38:31 mentions the “sweet influence of Pleiades.”

Summarizing Michael Ward, who wrote on this matter in the thought of C.S. Lewis, the planetary powers just not be worshipped. They are, rather, an extension on to the cosmic scale the biblical idea of thr “sons of God” who are assigned by Yahweh as guardian angels to the nations in earth.

What kind of spirits were associated with the planets?

According to Dante’s classic work “Paradiso,” the Moon is the place where the souls of those who had taken religious vows and who were forced to violate them resided. Mercury is the place where the spirits of those who for the love of fame achieved great deeds resided. Venus is the place where the spirits of lovers resided. The Sun is where the spirits of the theologians and doctors of the church resided. Mars is where the spirits of the martyrs and crusaders who died fighting for the true faith resided. Jupiter is where the spirits of righteous kings and rulers resided. Saturn is where the spirits of the contemplatives resided.

I’m personally still chewing on Dante. At the very least, I appreciate his view of the cosmos because it is the view of Medieval Christendom (Which in my mind, is weighty if you’re into respecting your elders), and it gives a re-enchanted Christian view of the planets, which I think is much better than just viewing them as lifeless spheres floating in the cold dead vacuum of space.

Beyond the second heaven is the third heaven, which has been traditionally called the Empyrean (It’s a shame that this was common knowledge in Christendom but most reading this will have never heard of it). This is where God dwells and where Jesus ascends out of sight to in the Book of Acts. Saint Paul himself alludes to this in Ephesians 4:10 saying that Jesus “ascended far above all the heavens.” It’s clear that Paul has this cosmology in mind.

You also see this structure in Israel’s temple, which was a microcosm - A miniature version of the world. You had the Outer Court where there were water basins, which corresponds to the waters above in the firmament. You had the Holy Place where there was where the menorah with seven candles resided, which corresponds to the seven heavens. Beyond that, you have the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God resided, which corresponds to the Empyrean. This three-part structure is also repeated fractally in the world model - heavens above, earth below, and waters beneath the earth, and then again at the local level with Eden - the garden of Eden, the land of Eden, and the world beyond.

For more info, see Dante’s “Paradisio,” C.S. Lewis’s “The Discarded Image,” and Michael Ward’s “Planet Narnia.”