Heaven and the Heavens

For the authors of the Hebrew scriptures, "the heavens" are a physical reality. "Hashamayim" is plural in Hebrew, just as "heavens" is plural in English.

The Christian concept of Heaven is an eternal state of complete, perfect, everlasting bliss caused by unblemished union with God. "Heaven" in this sense is not a part of the physical universe at all.

The Heavens

Ps 19:2

οἱ οὐρανοὶ διηγοῦνται δόξαν θεοῦ ποίησιν δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ στερέωμα

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.

Heaven

2 Cor 12:2

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven.

God Himself dwells in the "highest heaven" (sheme hashamayim, the "heaven of heavens").

Hebrew constructs superlatives by using the bound form. So, for example, "King of Kings," "Lord of Lords," and "God of Gods" may be translated as "the highest King," "the greatest Lord," and "the supreme God." The "highest heaven" is "sheme hashamayim," the "Heavens of the Heavens" or the "Sky of the Skies." There is always a sky of sorts involved in our imagination. We cannot picture any thing at all without supposing (or imposing) a background and horizon behind it. Logically, there must be a highest heaven, a sky that bounds all skies, a background that has no background. And, as Thomas says at the end of each of His Five Ways, "and this everyone understands to be God." God is not in the Heavens; the Heavens are in God.

What we mean by "heaven" in ordinary discourse is union with God in eternity.

"Heaven" in this sense is a state, not a place.

Peter Kreeft

The man to whom I look to teach me how to think about Heaven is Peter Kreeft. He reasons from the Catholic Deposit of Faith, which includes Scripture and Tradition.

"How Heaven Transforms Our Lives."

Restoring a practical and operative faith in heaven would go very far toward restoring vigor, joy and spiritual health to our society. But we can’t give what we don’t have. We must be sure we are living this central article of our faith first. If the salt has lost its saltiness, it is good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot on icy sidewalks.

The fundamental reason heaven is so life-transforming is not what is there but Who is there. Heaven does not contain God. God contains heaven. Heaven is relative to God, God is not relative to heaven. Heaven is heaven only because it is the full presence of God. Without God, whatever else heaven may have becomes completely worthless. So does earth. (St. Paul’s word for it, in Philippians 3, was skubala, which the old Douay and King James Bibles translated "dung.") And with God, nothing else is needed.

• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven.
• "Heaven."
• "What Will Heaven Be Like?"
• Heaven, the Heart's Deepest Longing.
• "Fourteen Questions About Heaven."
• "How Heaven Transforms Our Lives."