Heavens and the Sky

I have been thinking about the terms "heaven(s)" and "sky" because I am reading Michael Ward's Planet Narnia: the Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (2008). Lewis saw a meaning in the medieval (pre-Copernican) hierarchical cosmos that I have not, but the book also makes me wonder whether I am missing something, that I have demythologized the heavens/sky (in favor of space) and thereby lost something that must be recovered. I can only hint at what has been lost because I have not yet put my finger on it, but it may be reflected in the dialog between Eustace and an old star, Ramandu. In the story Eustace has been a symbol of the modern person who believes that a star is a "huge ball of flaming gas." Ramandu's response: "Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of" (Voyage of the Dawn Treader).

In the biblical languages the same term signifies both heaven(s) and the sky: shamayim in Hebrew, ouranios in Greek. But I envision sky as space, and space in my modern worldview is empty of life and alienating -- even though I am a fan of science fiction. Heaven is sacred space, the enchanted realm of God. But heaven is not "up there"; sky/space is "up there." I may be wrong here, but my impression is that modern Christians share this view -- at least most of my students do, even if they point to heaven "up there."

The "up there" heaven is clearly an element of the biblical story, however: at the Baptism, in the revelation of the Holy Trinity, the Spirit descended and a voice came from the heavens (Mk 1:10); Jesus ascended (Acts 1:9), and will descend and his people meet him in the clouds (1Thes 4:16-17); the new Jerusalem descended (Rev 21:2). [Note: descend = "go down"; ascend = "go up."]

For years I have told my students that they should think of "heaven" as Eden, the sacred space for which each person longs, the realm in which God is present and the person wears the glory and partakes of the living water and fruit from the tree of life. The Edenic heaven and heaven "up there" are both part of the biblical story. But can modern Christians reconcile these two concepts with the sky that signifies lifeless and seemingly limitless space? Remember, there is no separation in the biblical story between heaven(s) and the sky: "the sky (shamayim) declares the glory of God" (Ps 19:1)! [5.16.08]