Biblical cosmology is the bible's understanding of the universe as an organised, structured entity, including the origin, order, meaning and destiny of all that exists, and the question of what "reality" embraces.[1][2]
The Old Testament shared with other ancient near eastern cultures the concept of a three-level cosmos with a flat disc-shaped earth between the heavens above and the underworld below, with a cosmic ocean surrounding the whole.[3] At the centre was Jerusalem, the navel of the earth.[4]
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The bible's ideas on cosmology are not always consistent, and were subject to change over time.[5]
The Wisdom tradition (as in e.g. the Book of Proverbs) develops the idea that Wisdom, later identified with Torah, pre-existed creation and was used by God to create the universe.[6]
The Old Testament conceived of the earth as a flat circular disk with the heavens above and the underworld below.[7]
The stellar vault, conceived to be situated above the firmament, is compared by Isaias to a tent stretched out by the Most High. The abode of the stars is described as a raqiya (rä·kē'·ah, Hebrew for an extended solid surface or flat expanse, considered to be a solid layer above the Earth,[8] from raqa, Strong's 7554. "properly, an expanse, i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky").[9]
According to Genesis 1:6-7 , this raqiya was "in the midst of the waters" and "separated the waters which were below the raqiya from the waters which were above the raqiya". There were also lights placed in the raqiya, or firmament, to give light upon the earth (Genesis 1:14-17 ), being the Sun, Moon, and stars.
Psalm 19:1 states the raqiya "is declaring the work of His [God's] hands" and Psalm 150:1 uses raqiya as a location for God's power. In Daniel 12:3 raqiya ("expanse of heaven") is compared to those who have insight, both shining brightly. In Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 1 ) the raqiya resembled ice or crystal (Ezekiel 1:22 ).
According to Job 26:11[10] the heavens have pillars.
The host of heaven, a frequently recurring Scriptural expression, has both a general and a specific meaning. It designates, in some passages, the entire array of stars; in others it particularly applies to the sun, moon, planets, and certain selected stars; the worship of which was introduced from Babylonia under the later kings of Israel.
The portions of the Bible which describe stars as being knocked out of the sky sometimes refer figuratively to angels, who are known also as "stars". Examples include Daniel 8:10, Matthew 24:29, Revelation 9:1 and Revelation 12:4. Where the Bible describes the end of the universe, then literal stars are meant, as in Mark 13:25, Revelation 6:13. The swipe of a dragon's tail which dislodges "one-third of all the stars in the sky" in Revelation 12:4 refers to Satan, as is later explained in Revelation 12:9, "The huge dragon was hurled down. That ancient serpent, called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down to the earth, along with its angels." Speaking of the end of this universe, the Bible describes "the heavens" (space) as being "rolled back like a scroll" in Revelation 6:14.
The various authors of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh, or Old Testament) have provided various names to stars and planets. The ancients did not recognize a distinction between planets and stars. Venus and Saturn are the only planets expressly mentioned in the Old Testament. Isaiah 14:12 is about one Helel ben Shahar, called the King of Babylon in the text. Helel ("morning star, son of the dawn") is translated as Lucifer in the Vulgate Bible but its meaning is uncertain.[11]
The Biblical writers most often speak of "heaven" as the place where God, and his angels, dwell. None the less, Biblical words for heaven are used at different times in the same ways that the English word is used. It can mean (1) the atmosphere, (2) the place where stars are, and (3) the throne of God.
The Jewish concept of the afterlife, sometimes known as olam haba, the World-to-come, is not precise. Originally, the two ideas of immortality and resurrection were different but in rabbinic thought they are combined: the soul departs from the body at death but is returned to it at the resurrection. This idea is linked to another rabbinic teaching, that men's good and bad actions are rewarded and punished not in this life but after death, whether immediately or at the subsequent resurrection.[12] Around 1 AD, the Pharisees are said to have maintained belief in resurrection but the Sadducees are said to have denied it (Matt. 22:23).
The Mishnah (c. 200) lists belief in the resurrection as one of three essential beliefs necessary for a Jew to participate in it. The Mishnah has many sayings about the World to Come, for example, "Rabbi Yaakov said: This world is like a lobby before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquet hall."[13]
While all classic rabbinic sources discuss the afterlife, the classic Medieval scholars dispute the nature of existence in the "End of Days" after the messianic period. While Maimonides describes an entirely spiritual existence for souls, which he calls "disembodied intellects," Nahmanides discusses an intensely spiritual existence on Earth, where spirituality and physicality are merged. Both agree that life after death is as Maimonides describes the "End of Days." This existence entails an extremely heightened understanding of and connection to the Divine Presence. This view is shared by all classic rabbinic scholars.
Although Judaism concentrates on the importance of the Earthly world, all of classical Judaism posits an afterlife. Jewish tradition affirms that the human soul is immortal and thus survives the physical death of the body. Orthodox Judaism maintains the tenet of the bodily resurrection of the dead, including traditional references to it in the liturgy. Conservative Judaism has generally retained the tenet of the bodily resurrection of the dead, including traditional references to it in the liturgy. However, many Conservative Jews interpret the tenet metaphorically rather than literally.[14] Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism have altered traditional references to the resurrection of the dead ("who gives life to the dead") to refer to "who gives life to all". Conservative Judaism has retained the traditional language although some interpret it non-literally.
Traditionally, Christianity has taught Heaven as a place of God, angels, and the elect.[15] In most forms of Christianity, belief in the afterlife is professed in the major Creeds, such as the Nicene Creed, which states: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." Different denominations and groups have been divided over how people gain this eternal life. Roman Catholics also generally believe in a state of Purgatory for a period of purification and suffering until one's nature is perfected, valid only for venial sin.[16] Other denominations believe in an Intermediate state between death and resurrection from the dead.
In Christianity, concepts about the Kingdom of Heaven are also professed in several scriptural prophecies of the new (or renewed) Earth said to follow the resurrection of the dead — particularly the books of Isaiah and Revelation and other sources of Christian eschatology. The resurrected Jesus is said to have ascended to heaven where he now sits at the Right Hand of God and will return to earth in the Second Coming. Many also believe Elijah and Enoch were taken into heaven. The Book of Revelation mentions a War in Heaven between Michael the Archangel and his angels against the Dragon (or serpent) and his angels, the later commonly known as the Fallen angels.
The Old Testament authors, like other ancient near eastern peoples, conceived of the earth as a flat disk (although sometimes it has "corners", implying a more rectangular form) floating in the cosmic ocean. It was not until the 1st millennium that Greek philosophers developed the idea that the earth was spherical and suspended in space without support. This idea gradually replaced the older one.
In addition to its normal geography of rivers, seas and mountains the earth had a cosmological geography of sacred mountains and rivers and other places through which it communicated with the heavens and the underworld. God spoke to Moses and handed down the Torah at the sacred mountain of Sinai, for example, while the mountain of Zion, the site of the Temple, was the "navel of the world" (Ezekiel) and centre of the universe. God had his divine garden of Eden located somewhere in the east, and from it four cosmic rivers encircled the world.
The original Old Testament Sheol was simply the home of all the dead, not a place of punishment. In the Hellenistic period the Greek-speaking Jews of Egypt, perhaps under the influence of Greek thought, came up with the idea that the good would not die but would directly to God, while the wicked would really die and go to the realm of Hades, god of the underworld, where they would perhaps suffer torment. (These ideas are reflected in the Book of Wisdom 3:1, 1:14 and 2:1). By the time of Jesus the idea had developed that the wicked began their punishment in Hades immediately on dying, as reflected in the parable of Dives and Lazarus.[17]
Hades in the New Testament is a temporary holding place, to be used only until the end of time, when its inhabitants will be thrown into the open-air pit of Gehenna, or the lake of fire, along with Hades himself, Death, and the Devil (Revelation 20:10-14).[18] This lake of fire is either underground, or will go underground when the "new earth" emerges.[19]
The Devil does not inhabit or supervise the underworld - his sphere of activity is the human world - and is only to be thrown into the fire at the end of time.[20] He is not yet fallen, although his future fall is predicted, and he appears throughout the New Testament not as God's enemy but as his minister, "a sort of Attorney-General with investigative and disciplinary powers" as in the Book of Job.[21] It was only with the early Church Fathers that Satan was identified with the Serpent of the Garden of Eden and came to be seen as an active rebel against God, seeking to thwart the divine plan for mankind.[22]
Judaism has a tradition of describing Gehenna (Hebrew: Gehinnom), but it is not Hell. It is rather a sort of purgatory where one is judged based on his or her life's deeds, or rather, where one becomes fully aware of one's own shortcomings and negative actions during one's life. In both Rabbinical Jewish and Christian writing, Gehenna, as a destination of the wicked, is different from Hades, or Sheol.
Gehenna is a term derived from a geographical site in Jerusalem known as the Valley of Hinnom. The site was initially where apostate Israelites and followers of various Ba'als and false gods, including Moloch, sacrificed their children by fire (2 Chr. 28:3, 33:6; Jer. 7:31, 19:2-6). In time it became deemed to be accursed and an image of the place of destruction in Jewish folklore.[23][24]
Eventually the Hebrew term Gehinnom[25] became a figurative name for the place of spiritual purification for the wicked dead in Judaism, a site at the greatest possible distance from heaven. According to most Jewish sources, the period of purification or punishment is limited to only 12 months and every shabbath day is excluded from punishment.[26] After this the soul will ascend to Olam Ha-Ba, the world to come, or will be destroyed if it is severely wicked.[27]
Daniel 12:2 proclaims "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt." The Book of Isaiah does not mention Gehenna by name, but the "burning place" 30:33 in which the Assyrian army are to be destroyed, may be read "Topheth", and the final verse of Isaiah which concerns the corpses of the same or a similar battle, Isaiah 66:24, "where their worm does not die" is cited by Jesus in reference to Gehenna in Mark 9:48.
The picture of Gehenna as the place of punishment or destruction of the wicked occurs frequently in the Mishnah in Kiddushin4.14, Avot1.5; 5.19, 20, Tosefta t.Bereshith 6.15, and Babylonian Talmud b.Rosh Hashanah 16b:7a; b.Bereshith 28b. Gehenna is considered a Purgatory-like place where the wicked go to suffer until they have atoned for their sins. It is stated that the maximum amount of time a sinner can spend in Gehenna is one year, with the exception of five people who are there for all of eternity Sanhedrin 7.
The Kabbalah explains it as a "waiting room" (commonly translated as an "entry way") for all souls (not just the wicked). The overwhelming majority of rabbinic thought maintains that people are not in Gehenna forever; the longest that one can be there is said to be 11 months, however there has been the occasional noted exception.
According to Jewish teachings, hell is not entirely physical; rather, it can be compared to a very intense feeling of shame. People are ashamed of their misdeeds and this constitutes suffering which makes up for the bad deeds. In addition, Subbotniks and Messianic Judaism believe in Gehenna, but Samaritans probably believe in a separation of the wicked in a shadowy existence, Sheol, and the righteous in heaven.
Gehenna, or Hell, is cited in the New Testament and in early Christian writing to represent the final place where the wicked will be punished or destroyed after resurrection. To Biblical authors, Hell exists already. For example, 2 Peter 2:4 speaks of it in the past tense.
Hell, in Christian beliefs, is a place or a state in which the souls of the unsaved will suffer the consequences of sin. The Christian doctrine of Hell derives from the teaching of the New Testament, where Hell is typically described using the Greek words Gehenna or Tartarus. Unlike Hades, Sheol, or Purgatory it is considered an ultimate destination for the soul, and those damned to Hell are without hope. In the New Testament, it is described as the place or state of punishment after death or last judgment for those who have rejected Jesus.[28] In many classical and popular depictions it is also the abode of Satan and of Demons.[29]
Hell is generally defined as the eternal fate of unrepentant sinners after this life.[30] Hell's character is inferred from biblical teaching, which has often been understood literally.[30] Souls are said to pass into Hell by God's irrevocable judgment, either immediately after death (particular judgment) or in the general judgment.[30] Modern theologians generally describe Hell as the logical consequence of the soul using its free will to reject the will of God.[30] It is considered compatible with God's justice and mercy because God will not interfere with the soul's free choice.[30]
In the synoptic gospels Jesus uses the word Gehenna 11 times to describe the opposite to life in the promised, coming Kingdom (Mark 9:43-48).[31] It is a place where both soul and body could be destroyed (Matthew 10:28) in "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43).
Only in the King James Version of the bible is the word "Hell" used to translate certain words, such as Sheol (Hebrew) and both Hades and Gehenna(Greek). All other translations reserve Hell only for use when Gehenna is mentioned. It is generally agreed that both sheol and hades do not typically refer to the place of eternal punishment, but to the underworld or temporary abode of the dead.[32] Hades is portrayed as a different place from the final judgement of the damned in Gehenna. The Book of Revelation describes Hades being cast into the Lake of Fire (Gehenna) (Revelation 20:14). Hades the temporary place of the dead is said to be removed for ever and cast into the Lake of Fire commonly understood to be synonymous with Gehenna or the final Hell of the unsaved.
Many modern Christians understand Gehenna to be a place of eternal punishment called hell.[33] On the other hand, annihilationists understand Gehenna to be a place where sinners are utterly destroyed, not tormented forever.
Most descriptions of angels in the Bible depicte them as messengers of God or in military terms. For example in terms such as encampment (Gen.32:1-2), command structure (Ps.91:11-12; Matt.13:41; Rev.7:2), and combat (Jdg.5:20; Job 19:12; Rev.12:7).
The angels are represented throughout the Bible as a body of spiritual beings intermediate between God and men, and that angels are created beings, per Psalms 8:4-5, Psalm 148:2-5, and Colossians 1:16.
Many Christians regard angels as asexual and not belonging to either gender as they interpret Matthew 22:30 in this way. Angels are on the other hand usually described as looking like male human beings. The few names that are given are also masculine. And although angels have greater knowledge than men, they are not omniscient, Matthew 24:36.
Cherubim are depicted as accompanying God's chariot-throne (Ps.80:1). Exodus 25:18-22 refers to two Cherub statues placed on top of the Ark of the Covenant, the two cherubim are usually interpreted as guarding the throne of God. Other guard-like duties include being posted in locations such as the gates of Eden (Gen.3:24). Cherubim were mythological winged bulls or other beasts that were part of ancient Near Eastern traditions.[34]
This angelic designation might be given to angels of various ranks. An example would be Raphael who is ranked variously as a Seraph, Cherub, and Archangel.[35] This is usually a result of conflicting schemes of hierarchies of angels.
The New Testament includes many of interactions and conversations between angels and humans. For instance, three separate cases of angelic interaction deal with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. In Luke 1:11, an angel appears to Zechariah to inform him that he will have a child despite his old age, thus proclaiming the birth of John the Baptist[36] And in Luke 1:26 the archangel Gabriel visits the Virgin Mary in the Annunciation to foretell the birth of Jesus Christ.[37] Angels then proclaim the birth of Jesus in the Adoration of the shepherds in Luke 2:10.[38] Angels also appear later in the New Testament. In Luke 22:43 an angel comforts Jesus Christ during the Agony in the Garden.[39] In Matthew 28:5 an angel speaks at the empty tomb, following the Resurrection of Jesus and the rolling back of the stone by angels.[40] Hebrews 13:2 reminds the reader that they may "entertain angels unaware".[41]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.