Chapter 2

Revered Writings

“The Lord is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?”

The Bible, Psalms 113:4-6, NRSV

The ancient Hebrews believed that God was a king-like being who dwelled up above a dome holding back water above the earth. That belief goes back about 2500 years. We no longer believe it’s true today, of course, but the belief that God is up above is still with us today. It’s still very present in our present-day society. It’s a common presumption in Western culture. Heaven is up above and hell is down below. And God is in heaven. This presumption still exists quite literally in many Christian groups, such as those who believe in the rapture, the belief that God (or Jesus) is coming down from the sky someday and people will float up in the air to meet him. The belief in God above still exists in our language, in phrases like— Lord above and/or heaven above. We see that belief on church signs like ones that say— “Don’t make me come down there.” We see it on TV shows. We hear it in song lyrics, both religious and secular. Above All was a popular Christian song in the early 2000s. Spirit in the Sky was a popular rock song back when I was young. The Big Man Upstairs is still up there, for many people. And why is that? How did that happen? How has that belief been perpetuated for such a long time? And the answer is— because it was written down. It was written down and joined together with other ancient writings, writings that eventually came to be considered sacred. Writings that eventually became our Bibles.

The oldest parts of the Bible are believed to have been written about 1000 BCE. The Book of Job is thought to be one of the oldest. Those ancient writings were written on papyrus paper and rolled into scrolls, and through the years, writings were merged with other writings, and eventually, those that were believed to be authentic were merged into a single collection of books. The word Bible means books. This collection of books included writings from many authors, from different communities, writing in different eras. The process took a long time. About a thousand years, apparently. Scholars believe it was completed in the first century CE (AD), at which time these books were canonized, or made official. After that, no more changes could be made. No more were allowed. And these books were believed to be the revelation of God to the ancient Hebrews. They were considered authoritative and not to be questioned. They were considered unchanging and unchangeable, and thus was the birth of the Hebrew Bible, or at least that’s the simple version of it. So the ancient belief in God who dwells on high, up above the sky, was recorded in the sacred scriptures of the Hebrew religion.

Then also in the first century CE, the Christian religion developed as a branch of the Hebrew religion. It started small and humble, but soon spread throughout much of the Mediterranean region. In the year 380 CE it became the state religion of the Roman Empire, and therefore gained a great deal of political power. And in the early years, there were Christian communities and leaders with their own specific writings and their own specific beliefs, writings and beliefs that were often in conflict with other communities and other leaders, so it was necessary to unify writings in order to unify beliefs. It was necessary to unify writings in order to unify Christianity. So through a process of intense debate, councils, and edicts, Christian writings that were believed to be authentic were merged into a second collection of books, some which also depicted the belief in God above the sky. This process concluded about the year 400, although debate continued afterward. And these books then became very important to Christians. These books were believed to be the new agreement with God. The New Testament it was called. And these books were also believed to be authoritative and not to be questioned, in the Christian religion. They too were believed to be unchanging and unchangeable. And they were joined together with the books of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament (therefore including the creation story in Genesis 1), and thus was the birth of the Christian Bible, or at least that’s the simple version of it. So belief in God who dwells on high, up above the sky, was also recorded in the sacred scriptures of the Christian religion.

Then throughout the Middle Ages, from about the year 500 to 1500 CE, Christianity spread throughout Europe and parts of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, and this concept of God above the sky went with it. It went viral. It was recorded in scripture, established in doctrine, invoked in churches, and enforced by governments. In Europe, where armies conquered, Christianity was established. Therefore by the year 1500, Christianity had become a dominant world religion, Therefore belief in a king-like God who dwells up above the sky became the dominant concept of God in the Western hemisphere. But beliefs change, and during the Middle Ages the concept of God changed, a little. Belief in God’s residence changed, some. God got pushed outward to make room for new beliefs. Scientific beliefs were changing, and by the year 1500, most educated Europeans no longer believed in the ancient Hebrew model of the universe, instead they adhered to the geocentric model proposed many centuries before by the Greek thinker, Aristotle. In his view, the Earth was believed to be round, which was an improvement on the ancient Hebrew model, but his view still had a major flaw in the placement of the sun, the Earth, and the other planets. In Aristotle’s theory, the Earth was believed to be the stationary center of the universe (the known universe of his time, our solar system) and the sun, moon, and a few known planets were thought to revolve around the earth. This model was quite different than the ancient Hebrew model, obviously. It’s an improvement, but it’s still inaccurate. It was accepted by Christianity, however, due to developments in astronomy and because it could co-exist with Christian doctrine.