Growing up, I was that kid who was always asking questions. I wanted to know about everything. I was also raised in a family that was very devoted to their religion, and some of the things they said really made me question things. Luckily, I had books and scriptures to answer many of the questions that came up, but I found that some were not as easy to understand as you might think.
There is, beyond the azure blue, a God concealed from human sight.
Today, I am only remembering one of those many questions that I pondered as a child, and that question is, why is heaven up? The question appeared in my mind because when people would reference heaven, they would often point to the sky as though heaven was up there in the clouds somewhere. There’s even an old hymn I remember, that has a line about God being beyond the azure blue (sky). Sky is even one of the definitions given for heaven in the dictionary, but sky and heaven are not the same thing. So why do we believe heaven is up?
To answer this question, let’s start with the truth and work our way backwards. The scriptures actually tell us quite a bit about heaven, but it is written in a mysterious way. The meaning is hidden to most people, because most people are materialists. There is another viewpoint that reveals the truth. It is the viewpoint of spirituality, which is essentially idealism. The old religions were founded on idealism and the new religion of science was founded on materialism. Unfortunately, thanks to science, materialism has almost completely replaced idealism in the mainstream, so most people have no idea how to understand scriptures. Sadly, it looks like a book full of mythology to them.
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. — Luke 17:21 (KJV).
One of the scriptures that is key to understanding why heaven is up is Luke 17:21 where Jesus mentions something about the kingdom of God being within us, or in our midst. He is saying quite specifically that no one will be able to say here it is or there it is. This means it is totally naive for us to point towards the sky and say that heaven is up there somewhere. Jesus knew the kingdom of heaven was already in existence.
Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” — John 18:36 (NLT).
In another scripture, he tells us something else about heaven. He tells us that his kingdom is not an earthly kingdom at all. In John 18:36, he says, “my kingdom is not an earthly kingdom” and that his “kingdom is not of this world.” Once again, we must return to idealism to understand what he is meaning. His kingdom (heaven) is not part of the material world (earthly kingdom) at all. It exists in a very different place. Through the viewpoint of idealism, we are able to realize that the kingdom he is referring to is the realm of ideas. The whole mystery now dissolves, and heaven appears in front of us. It is actually inside of us, and we are inside of it. It is all encompassing. The realm of the material is very limited, but the realm of ideas is infinite. The material world is actually a tiny subset of the realm of ideas, since the world of ideas encircles everything.
The whole mystery now dissolves, and heaven appears in front of us.
Now we just have to put it all together. The realm of ideas (heaven) encircles everything in existence, because nothing can exist unless there is at least an idea of it, because the idea is the primal existence of everything. Think about it. If no one could ever form the idea of something in their head, how could they ever prove it even exists? Truthfully, it wouldn’t exist. Ideas are the basis of everything in existence.
Just like the sky encircles the earth, the realm of ideas encircles everything in existence. This is why we think heaven is up. It has something in common with the sphere of azure that seems to contain everything on earth. The realm of ideas (heaven) is the sphere that contains everything in existence, including the material realm. Heaven is up, like the sky is up, because they both surround and contain us.
What questions did you ponder as a child? Did you ever consider why heaven is up? Are there any questions you have left to answer? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!