There's been a lot of "belief" posts recently. Me - my questions are bigger than my beliefs. One in particular.
I've been asking this question since I was a small child, and no one can answer me. I'm older than dirt now and I still haven't found the answer.
If you open the King James Bible, the Book of Genesis [ch 1] says;
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Okay. Wait.
The waters below are called the seas.
I am assuming the waters 'above' are the clouds?
But they can't be. Because then in between the waters "above" and "below" -- between the clouds and the seas -- is the firmament and the firmament is called Heaven.
I have never found an explanation. So I have to ask...
Is this Heaven?
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Comments
Interestingly, it was after the passage you quote that God creates the dry land, the sun, and the stars. So apparently, the waters existed in a dark, shapeless mush. But even after the dry land and heavenly lights are created, they are said to be part of the "firmament", which is called heaven.
So yes, I guess we are in heaven. As a preacher's kid, I should have noticed that before. But where are the streets of gold?
I wish I was tequila and donuts' mother so I could growl.
Wait. There's streets of gold? Where?
But if just taking the words as translated (and altered) from the original ancient Hebrew (Aramaic), the interpretation I’ve heard most consistently is that the creation/separation of the waters above and below represents earth’s water cycle. Clouds, as you say. And I was never bothered by the problem you mention – in what part of the creation sandwich all the items were, up or down. Mostly because I’m not sure many of the ancients (at least until the beginning of the classical era of Greece around 500 BC) had much knowledge of astronomy, geology or meteorology. So did they really have a concept that rains probably fall from somewhere below the ‘heavens’ instead of above?
But hey, I'm no scripture expert. I'll be interested to see if anyone (who is) adds their comments.
Zumalicious - that is absolutely beautiful. Smile of the day stuff.
14 And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Heaven is a fantasy, or more aptly described as delusion. There is no god, no afterlife, and definitely no ghosts. There is only life and death.
Thomas... it's all guesses, I guess. There's really no "proof" (per se) one way or the other. Until our day comes. Then we either go somewhere... or we don't.
Lisa... thank you! Do come back and let me know what she says. For that matter, maybe I should invite RLP over, too, and see what he says. :)
What I find fascinating about Gen it starts over again in ch 2. The first one is closer to the Babylonian creation story. The second one is a much later version that shows the transition to a patriarchal society from one that was more equal.
Bottom line, it's confusing and doesn't really make sense. So I don't quite subscribe to the literal interpretation any more.
Bradley... yes, I was taught to read it literally, too. Except for the questions no one could answer. Like this one. lol.