I am currently reading a book called "On the historicity of Jesus" by Richard Carrier. As part of the background information included in the book, Carrier explains pre-christian cosmology. Note: forget everything you know about space for this!

As I understand Carrier's explanation, the sky was thought to be made up of several layers of "heavens". The lowest layer was called "the firmament", which included the ground and all of the sky up to the moon. Like I said, forget everything you know about space. The firmament would have been dome shaped. The sun, moon, planets and stars, which move independently of each other, would have been in different levels of the heavens, each of which would have been spherical. There were thought to be seven heavens.

The heavens (the sky) was thought to be populated with life, based on the fact that every environment on earth was known to be populated with life. Life in the sky was obviously invisible to us, but it was thought that one could see the living creatures in the heavens "in your mind's eye", eg during dreams or visions. Up to this point was pretty much the secular cosmology of the time common to most religions.

The highest levels of heaven were thought to be the most perfect and the least corrupt, with all sorts of wickedness and corruption at our level. God was thought to occupy the highest level of heaven, the seventh heaven. God would NEVER come down from that level, but instead would send angels down to the next level, who would send more angels down another level etc. "Paradise" = garden of Eden was thought to occupy the 3rd level of heaven. I think some people believed that the first or second levels of heaven contained the "real" copy of earth and its inhabitants. Satan and his evil minions were all cast down to our level to tempt us and lead us astray :(

Having a basic understanding of the seven level theory of heaven seems to have opened my eyes up to understanding what the biblical authors actually meant. Here are some examples:

In the creation account, there is a confusing passage about separating the waters under the firmament from the waters above the firmament, which makes sense if the firmament included the atmosphere up to the clouds. Seven days to create everything on earth? No problem, just Xerox everything from the second level of heaven. Create all of the stars just for us? Just light a few candles up in heaven. God creating everything just by speaking? Yep, because there was no way he was going to move down from the 7th heaven to personally dig the grand canyon. His minions could deal with all the details of the creation.

Adam's "fall" from the garden of Eden makes more sense as a literal fall from the 3rd heaven... it certainly resolves the issue of why it was NOT in Missouri.

Need to flood Mount Everest for Noah? No problem, just send some water down from heaven. Then to dry it up again send a strong wind to evaporate it back up to heaven.

An entire city is just too darn good? No problem, Enoch can rise up to heaven.

If the seven heaven theory was true, then it would be possible to build a tower tall enough to go up a level or two. Thus there needed to be a myth about how someone had already tried it, which pissed off god because it is cheating, so god stopped them.

Joshua needs a few extra hours to kick ass in battle? No problem, just stop the heaven that contains the sun from moving forwards for a while.

Need a star to guide the way to Bethlehem? All it would take is a candle in heaven.

Anyhoo, on to the part that really hits mormon doctrine: Paul's references to heaven. I can think of 2 parts that mormonism uses to show that mormonism = Paul's gospel. Firstly, there is the bit about someone Paul knows seeing the third heaven. Mormons assume that it means there are 3 heavens... nope there were thought to be 7 but 3 is as high as a mere mortal was permitted to see.

Secondly there is the bit about there being "bodies Terrestrial, bodies Telestial, bodies Celestial" etc, and a comparison with the glory of the Sun, moon and stars. Once again, it is referring to the lower levels of heaven, and there is a limit to how high physical bodies could go, with the highest level being level 3 in "paradise", where one would NOT live with god forever.

Then there is the reference to paradise by Jesus on the cross, which was NOT a reference to a temporary holding area, but instead it was a reference to level 3 of 7 heavens.

Given the amazing level of insight the seven heaven theory has on biblical study, has anyone come across it before? Other than a few references to 7th heaven in popular culture, I had never really heard of it until I read Carrier's book. Do they teach it in theological colleges? Is my understanding of it correct? Are there other implications for understanding the bible that I haven't thought of?

New to me and very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

No problem Fax 3.

read section 130 at gospeldoctrine.com. Verse 10 discusses higher orders above the celestial.

the slavonic book of enoch (not the ethiopian one) talks of enoch being shown seven heavens, and whilst in the 7th was able to see God on his throne in the 10th heaven, far away.

Yes, I've known about it for some time. The "seven heavens" idea was held by the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians, and picked up by the Hebrews. They got 7 heavens from the "heavenly bodies" they could see -- moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Sun. That's the same reason 7 is such a commonly mentioned (and considered "magic") number in the bible -- it's astrology.

Muslims maintain the 7 heavens idea even today. The Quran is even more full of it than the bible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Heavens

I had vaguely heard of 7 heavens but not explained in this much detail. Very interesting, thanks!

The earliest writing on the seven heavens comes through the Pyramid texts of Egypt. They speak of seven upper heavens, where Adam represents the fifth heaven. In the council of God's, Horus (Christ) and Sett (satan) presented their plan, and since Horus' plan won, Sett played his role. Sett was sent to earth as the first Adam. Both were from the seventh heaven.

But Sett planted corrupted into the creation, and convinced the watchers from the heavenly hosts to have intercourse with women, making giants, and ruling over the earth, disconnected from the seven heavens. Thus God called another Adam ("our father Adam" as opposed to "that Adam" Moses 6:48-ish) to prepare the earth for the fall.

It took seven generations to build Zion, and Enoch was able to preserve a city prior to the flood, on a high mountain, in a white cloud. Then, a few generations later, Noah preserved people in the Bark of Millions, or in other words, an ark of the covenant. This was a location on the top of a mountain, surrounded by a protective white cloud, with an ark in the midst of them. And then the Earth fell out of orbit, through the heavens, often referred to the as the great deep, to be drowned in the depths of the water. Thus the symbolism for baptism by emersion.

When the earth dropped out of orbit, it was unstable, with earthquakes, storms, meteorites, major flooding, and drastic hot and cold. Building towers were the man-made solutions for balancing the Earth. One of the many towers were the tower of Babel, but this is the older tradition of the fall of the Earth.

The Egyptians place the seven heavens above the firmament, then twelve lower heavens beneath the firmament, and then four spheres that govern this earth, represented by: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. In the three facsimile's in Abraham, the first represents overcoming the world, at the bottom is the symbol of the twelve gates that must be passed through, in the lower heavens. The second facsimile is about an ascension through the twelve gates, with a personal guide, transforming your body into a renewed body that can contain greater light (and not a broken cistern as we have now). And the third facsimile is the making of a King on the throne, in the seven heavens.

This is the same pattern in the Ancient Hebrew, and in the ancient Christian texts as well. My favorite ascent text is called "The Ascension of Isaiah." It outlines the seven heavens probably the clearest.

Thank you for sharing this. Where might I find more information on this subject? I am interested in further light and knowledge -snort-

BB

Mythology at its finest. Thank you for sharing this. When I think back on the temple ceremony it is just a mythical play.

Ifichouldhietokolob has it right.

The idea was Babylonian, based on the seven visible planets. You won't find it in Egypt as early as in Mesopotamia. It does not show up in the earliest Hebrew texts (earliest as in chronology, not in the sense of the first books of the Bible). It entered the Hebrew canon during the Exile, when the elite class was deported to Babylon and socialized with Babylonian and Zoroastrian (Iranian) religious leaders.

The adoption of Babylonian and Iranian ideas during this period was extreme. The Book of Job is lifted almost verbatim from the Iranian religious documents--Satan appearing with God and betting with him. The Babylonian idea of seven also makes its appearance, with seven days of creation, seven heavens, seven archangels, seven millenia of earth's existence (including the millenium), and even (a quorum of) seventy religious leaders.

The idea of three heavens, with three degrees in the celestial heaven, is, I believe, separate. JS picked that up from Swedenborg. I do not think he knew enough ancient mythology to know that he was using different sources in an incompatible way.

The Father's face is stern and strong,
he sits and judges right from wrong.
He weighs our lives, the short and long,
and loves the little children

The Mother gives the gift of life,
and watches over every wife.
Her gentle smile ends all strife,
and she loves her little children

The Warrior stands before the foe,
protecting us where e'er we go.
With sword and shield and spear and bow,
he guards the little children.

The Crone is very wise and old,
and sees our fates as they unfold.
She lifts her lamp of shining gold
to lead the little children.

The Smith, he labors day and night,
to put the world of men to right.
With hammer, plow, and fire bright,
he builds for little children.

The Maiden dances through the sky,
she lives in every lover's sigh.
Her smiles teach the birds to fly,
and gives dreams to little children.

The Seven Gods who made us all,
are listening if we should call.
So close your eyes, you shall not fall,
they see you, little children.
Just close your eyes, you shall not fall,
they see you, little children.