This idea of a plurality of heavens as it appears in the Biblical writings, however, is free from the extravagances and puerilities wliich we tind associ- ated with it in the extra-canonical literature. In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, e.g., carious details are given of each of the several heavens. The first is full of darkness and gloom ; the second, of tire, ice, and snow. The third con- tains the hosts that are to execute judgment on the spirits of deceit and of Beliar. In the fourth are thrones and authorities ; in the fiftli and the sixth are angels with different otficcs. In the seventh dwells the Great Glory. In the Slavonic Enoch there is a still more elaborate description. In the first heaven, it is there said, are 'a very great sea,' and ' the elders and the rulers of the stars,' and treasuries of snow, ice, clouds, and dew. In the second are the prisoners reserved for eternal judgment. In the third are found the Garden of Eden, and the tree of life and an olive tree ever distilling oil. In the fourth are seen the course of the sun and moon, the angels, and the phoenixes and the chalkidri that wait upon the sun. In the fifth are the watchers, troubled and silent, on account of their fallen brethren. In the •;ixlh are seven bands of angels, very bright and glorious, students of the courses of sun, moon, and stars, also the angels over the souls of men, with seven phuenixes, seven cherubim, and seven six- winged creatures. In the seventh are the heavenly hosts, the ten great orders of angels, and the Lord Himself on His lofty throne. In the R^libinical books we find similar trivialities. In tlio Bi-n-jf/i. rabba, c. 6, the Bammidbur rabha, c. 17, and the CKagiqa, xii. 6, e.g., the dill'ereoces between the
several heavens are given in extreme and fanciful detail. The first or lowest heaven is called Vilun (pSi, Lat. velum), and is em|ity. The second ia called I!af:ia, and contains the sun, moon, and stars. The third is called Shechnhim, and contains the mills th.at grind the manna for the righteous. The fourth is called Zcbul, and in it .-re the heavenly Jenisalem, the temple, the altar, and Michael. The fifth is named Mnon, in which are the ' hosts of angels, praising God by night, but keeping silent by day that God may bear the praises of Israel. The sixth is named ."ifac/mn, and it holds the treasuries of the snow, hail, rain, and dew. The seventh is known as Arnvath, the seat of judgment and righteousness, with tlie treasuries of life, peace, and blessing. In it, too, are the souls of the righteous dead, the spirits and souls of men yet to be bom, and the dew with which the dead shall be awaked. And in it are the Seraphim, Opliannim, Chayyoth, and other orders of angels (cf. Dante, Par. c. 27), and (iod Himself on His eternal throne. The Ascension of Isaiah gives another incongruous description of the series of heavens.
Similar speculations, and, if possible, even more tasteless and absurd, appear to have been indulged in by certain heretical leaders and their sects. Irenoeus (Cont. Hitr. bk. i. c. v. 2) and Tertullian (Adv. Valent. 20) speak of the fancies of the Valentinians on the subject. From Irena;us (Adv. Hier. bk. i. c. xxx. 4, 5), Origen (Con. Cels. vi. 31), and Epiph. (IlrEr. xxvi. 10), we learn also that the Ophites lield the doctrine of a Hebdomad of heavens ruled by seven potentates. Others, e.g. the Gnostic Marcus (Iren. Adv. Plcer. bk. i. c. xvii. I), reckoned ei''lit heavens, and Basilides (August. De Ii(rr. i. 4) held there were 365. Nor are the Christian apooa lypses, such as the Apoc. Mosis, the Apoc. Esdrae, the Apoc. Johannis, less given to such specula tions. The belief in a series of seven heavens, with some of the curious theories which prevailed so extensively on the subject, penetrated indeed into the Christian Church, and was more or less favoured by some of the leading Fathers. Clement of .-Uexandria, e.g., mentions it in terms which suggest that he did not question its validity (Strom, iv. 25). Origen refers to it in much the same way, explaining, however, that there was no authoritative doctrine on the subject (De princ. ii. 11). Augustine has an uncertain theory of his own, implying three heavens (De Gen. ad lit. xii. 5, 27). Even near the end of the 4th cent, these notions held such a place in Christian thought, that Philastrius pronounced it a heresy to deny the plurality of the heavens, though the question of tlie particular number, whether two, tliree, or seven, was left open (De Hfer. bk. 94). At last, however, the reaction came, and Clirj'sostom de- clared tlie whole conception of a series of heavens to be a human fancy, and contrary to Scripture. Repudiated by the Church, it was adopted by Moliammedanism. It is affirmed in the Koran (e.g. c. 22, 41), and in later Mohammedan writings it appears in the crudest possible forms.
The ideas of ' heaven ' and the ' heavens ' which are expressed in Scrij>ture are of a different order. Neither in the OT nor in the NT have we any- thing like those far-fetched ineptitudes. It is the more remarkable that it should be so, in Wew of the f.act that these things prevailed so long and so widely, and had so great a hold, not only of ethnic faith, but also of Jewish and Christian thought. Later Christian theology has relapsed from time to time into such theorizings, distin- guishing between the heaven of clouds, the heaven of stars, and the empyrean ; between the visible heaven or tirinaiiient, the spiritual heaven, the abode of saints and angels, and the intellec'.ual