Dislaimer - I’ve never read the Bible and I’m not religious, and I’m not sure if there is a Heaven or Hell.
But if there are such places, I’ve always wondered if the societies in Heaven and Hell are set up like ours - divided into stratas (if not based on wealth, race, gender, etc., maybe based on something else - maybe like piety). Or is Heaven/Hell a Marxist utopia, a classless society?
good name
Hi GoHeels, welcome to the board.
I figured I’d say this before some crochety fart of an old-timer shows up to smack you around…
General Questions is supposed to be for questions of a strictly factual nature. Your question would probably be most appropriate in either Great Debates, where most religious discussions seem to end up, or IMHO.
As for your question, I refer you to the august theologians at the onion.
Maybe a better way to ask the question is -
“Does the Bible give any indication as to the social structures of Heaven and/or Hell?”
Based on my (weak) understanding of the Bible, I would guess that the Almighty God is at the top in Heaven, and Satan is the top dog in Hell.
I think there might be angels (or archangels?) that rank pretty high in Heaven.
I think that this belongs in Great Debates, as it cannot have a factual answer. Not in this life, anyway.
Lynn
Adminstrator
The usual way it’s portrayed in Christianity is that in Heaven there is God, in charge of everything, and the community of the Saved, all living in a perfect society of absolute mutual love – without distinction of “slave nor freeman, neither Grecian nor Barbarian, neither Jew nor Gentile…” says Paul in the Christian New Testament. A passage in the Book of Revelation does point to that a number of the Saved who displayed a specially heroic degree of holiness (such as, martyrs) would be granted a leading-citizen role (Catholicism calls them Saints; JW’s say they will be the ones that actually experience Heaven, as opposed to just a perfect life in a restored Earth).
The Angels are God’s personal Staff who already dwell in His presence, and a creature altogether different from the sanctified human. But they would still convey the messages from Mr. Big, backed with His authority.
Revelation does also indicate that in the End, all the wicked will be tossed into the lake of fire, including Satan. No pecking order of any sort, everyone just fries. A common view of the situation pre-End is that Satan “reigns in Hell” in the sense the biggest, meanest gangsta in the State Pen “rules” the cellblock – he still commands the legion of Fallen Angels and has great power to sow evil, but he is still just as much an inmate.
jrd
I understand that the Mormons have a four-tiered system and would be interested in learning how that works.
I figure Heaven is this infinitely large white room, where everyone has one of those “take a number” stubs as they’re waiting for service. I’ve got ticket #849489384959034859034584357348753, and the display counter reads “#2”. Oh, and a muzak version of John Denver plays endlessly in the background.
Hell is the same, only the room is painted red, and it’s a muzak version of Metallica instead of John Denver.
Where did the idea come from that Satan is in hell? I have always heard this. Usually, people who say this often mention that demons are the ones doing the torturing there also.
This is totally not in the Bible. The Bible states that Satan and his demons are on Earth and that they will be thrown into the lake of fire at the end(the lake of fire being created chiefly for them).
I believe that it is in Psalm 73 or 74(not 100% sure) that it mentions that people in hell are alone. Everyone is, so to speak, in their own hell, without anyone else at all.
By the way, I really want to know why people believe Satan is in hell. I just re-read it and fear it may have sounded sarcastic. I assume the answer involves the fact that movies and paintings always portray it this way.
No one has even one little tiny fking clue to either part of the question**
He’s got a point, but we are speculating here, so here it goes:
God is at the top, and it is a perfect place where love reigns, and there is no society, just happiness.
For some reason, that description brings to mind a marijuana-induced orgy/love-in organized by Timothy Leary…
Carryover from Greco-Roman myth, with “Hell” taking the role of the bad parts of the netherworld Hades, whose ruler (Hades/Pluto) dwelt therein according to some of the myths. (See for example Dante’s Inferno, complete with a River Styx to be crossed.) Lotsa carryovers from what came before, in Christianity – from Yule trees to Platonian Body-bad/Spirit-good dichotomy. Very, um, “catholic,” if you’ll excuse the usage.
The only thing we know for sure (Biblically speaking) is that there is no marriage there (Mark 12:25). There are two stories I’ve read that are rather nice. According to one, people in the afterlife lack elbows. In heaven, each feeds the other, while in hell, all starve. Acording to the second, there is but one afterlife, in which all are gathered around Moses, who expounds for all eternity upon the Law. For the righteous, this is heaven, while for the unrighteous, it is hell. I think one or both of these is from the Talmud. Chaim, CK, or Zev perhaps could tell for sure.
According to Kabala and Christian tradition the Celestial
Hierarchy is divided roughly as follows (Of course this is greatly simplified. As with most things of ‘tradition’ sources are frequently contradictory).
Almost all angels who have not fallen can be grouped into one of nine ranks called choirs. The nine choirs in the hierarchy are further clustered into three triads.
God (The trinity)
The First Triad
The choir of Seraphim
The choir of Cherubim
The choir of Thrones
The Second Triad
The choir of Dominations
The choir of Virtues
The choir of Powers
The Third Triad
The choir of Principalities
The choir of Archangels
The choir of Angels
These choirs are not evenly distributed. The vast majority of angels are from the choir of Angels. In fact the choir of Seraphim includes only 4 members (Metatron, Michael, Brachiel, and Nathaniel).
In addition there seem to be a few exceptions. Raphael is listed as being a member of at least 6 choirs. Some writers have speculated that he makes up a choir of one, separate from the other choirs, a soloist? 
On top of this there is also a collection known as the seven of divine grace (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Zadkiel, Raguel, and Remiel). These all come form various choirs but are God’s special favorites. Generally when he had an important mission to be performed, one of these seven did it.
Heaven itself is divided into seven parts i.e. “The Seven Heavens.” God himself dwells in the Seventh Heaven. It is supposedly indescribable by any human tongue. The various sources disagree greatly on the other six however. Here is one set of descriptions.
The First Heaven (SHAMAYIM)- Home of the First Triad of angels.
The Second Heaven (RAQUIA)- Prison of the fallen angels.
The Third Heaven (SHEHAQIM)- Final home of humans. Where the good are rewarded and live in bliss and where the wicked are eternally punished for their sins.
The Fourth Heaven (ZEBHUL)- Home of the First and Second Triad of Angels.
The Fifth Heaven (MACHON)- ??? No description included.
The Sixth Heaven (MAKHON)- Home of the library where all things past, present and future are recorded.
The Seventh Heaven (ARABOTH)- Home of God. Only the First Triad and the seven of divine grace may enter into His presence.
Dammit Black, you beat me to it!!
OK part 2 (It was getting long)
The Afterlife according to the LDS church (Mormons).
All souls existed before birth and live in “heaven,” or God’s presence. All angels are the spirits of the rightous either before or after their mortal existance. Here are some of the named corelations.
Michael=Adam
Gabriel=Noah
Raphael=Enoch
A hierarchy of sorts exists based on the mortal family tree. This is patrilenial. Thus below the Godhead (God, Jesus, and Holy Ghost (not the same as the trinity as they are completely seperate entities)) comes Adam (Michael) then Seth and so forth straight down the bible’s lists of begats. Obviously only the rightious participate in this heirarchy.
Heaven itself is divided into “three degrees of glory.”
The Telestial Kingdom- The residence of the Holy Ghost. This is where the bad people end up, those guilty of murder, adultery, and lying who do not repent. It is a place of indescribable beauty and happiness.
The Terrestial Kingdom- The residence of Jesus Christ. This is where the folk end up who lived mostly good lives but somehow fell short. It is a place of even greater indescribable beauty and happiness.
The Celestial Kingdom- The residence of God the Father. This is where all those who were good folk and did everything right end up. It is a place of the greatest indescribable beauty and happiness.
Outer Darkeness- The home of those who had a full understanding and directly rebeled against God/Jesus. This is cut off completely from God’s love and glory, supposedly the greatest punishment of all.
Of course this is a simplified view; I have left out some intervening steps etc. But it is a fairly good overview.
I have some questions about this stuff.
By the descriptions, hell is infact inside heavan.
And another thing:
“The Telestial Kingdom- The residence of the Holy Ghost. This is where the bad people end up, those guilty of murder, adultery, and lying who do not repent. It is a place of indescribable beauty and happiness.”
That is supposed to be a punishment?
I figure for a sinner, there is no worse punishment than the presence of perfection.
–Tim
Heh heh. I think the social structure in heaven has Duke fans on top.