Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Chris Henningson.
Coming home from Church yesterday morning, I was thinking about the scripture reading that was read at the worship service. It was Pentecost Sunday and the scripture described the Holy Spirit descending from heaven 50 days after the resurrection. And just 10 days prior (Ascension Day), Jesus ascended into heaven. As it is told, on Ascension Day Jesus floated up into the sky and disappeared from sight. And on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended from the sky and landed on the disciples. Jesus went to heaven and the Holy Spirit came from heaven. This leads me to the question: where is heaven?
Earth is located within our solar system and our solar system is located in the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy is located in the Universe. The Milky Way galaxy is a disk shaped galaxy. It is approximately 24,000 light years across and 4,000 light years in depth. Our solar system is located about half way between the center of the galaxy and its outer edge. And, it is located about in the middle of the disk shaped galaxy equidistant from the top and bottom of the disk. Of course, in space what is the top and what is the bottom of the disk is difficult to ascertain. Top and bottom are from the perspective of the viewer and we have no view ourselves from outside the galaxy.
Earth is about 6,000 light years from the near edge of the galaxy, about 6,000 light years from the center of the galaxy and 18,000 light years from the far edge of the galaxy. Earth is also about 2,000 light years from the top and bottom sides of the galaxy.
The scripture states that Jesus went up to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. The gospels that tell of the ascension were written 60-100 years after Jesus ascended. They all state that Jesus is in heaven and that he got there soon after he ascended.
When he ascended, let’s assume he went towards the top of the Milky Way galaxy (because we think of heaven as being “up”). Also, let’s assume that Jesus ascended at the speed of light. Contemporary physics claims that the speed of light is the fastest anything can travel. The ascension happened about 2,000 years ago. Ascending at the speed of light, after 2,000 years Jesus would just be getting to the top side of the galaxy.
So, is heaven then located somewhere within 60-100 light years of Earth within the Milky Way? Jesus got there by time the gospels were written and in fact scripture seems to imply that he got there on Ascension Day itself. But, why would heaven be in the Milky Way when the Universe (which God also made) is much, much larger that the Milky Way galaxy? If heaven is outside the Milky Way galaxy and is somewhere else in the Universe, was Jesus ascending at a speed beyond the speed of light? But since Jesus was human, wouldn’t the laws of physics apply to him? But since Jesus was divine, perhaps divinity bodies can get from here to there in an instant?
So given all this – where is heaven? Is it at the outer edge of the Milky Way galaxy and Jesus is just getting there today? Is it near to earth just above the Earth’s atmosphere? Is it within our solar system but beyond Pluto? Is it just outside of our solar system but within the Milky Way? Is it somewhere else in the Universe? Or, is it right here on earth?
And at what speed does one go to get to heaven? Since matter cannot exceed the speed of light, maybe our resurrected bodies are not composed of matter?
So many questions…