Are There Levels of Heaven?

Dear Catholic Exchange:

Thanks,

Trudy

Dear Trudy,

Greetings in Christ. I hope this response will adequately address your questions.

“Jehovah,” “Yahweh” and “Elohim” are all different names for the God of the Bible, i.e., the one and only God. “Jehovah” is actually an English variation on “Yahweh,” which means “I am Who am.” See the Catholic Encyclopedia on Yahweh at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08329a.htm.

“Elohim” is the plural of “Eloah.” When used to refer to the God of Israel, i.e., the one, true God, “Elohim” “is a plural of majesty, signifying the one God who embodies in Himself all the qualities of divinity, and is almost always accompanied by singular verbs and adjectives.” (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. V [Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1967], 287.) “Elohim” is also a divine name that was used before the Israelites, i.e., by the Phoenicians to refer to their god. “Elohim” is also used in the Bible to refer to various other persons besides God, such as Astarte of the Sidonians (3 Kings 11:5). (See same reference as above.)

Regarding your question on many gods, there is only one God, who is three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (See our Faith Fact on the Trinity.) While other gods may be professed by other religions, there is only one, true God. There is also the Communion of Saints who can intercede for us, but they are not gods. (See our Faith Fact on The Community of Saints.)

There is no heavenly mother other than Mary, the Mother of God. The Old Testament refers to a pagan goddess as the “queen of heaven.” For more information on Mary and her role in our salvation, see our Faith Fact, Mary's Role in Our Salvation.

If you are speaking of a Catholic individual with the pen name “Metatron,” you are referring to Kevin Orlin Johnson, a Catholic writer. While Mr. Johnson is a talented writer who has written several books, we would caution your reading him, because he sometimes broadcast emails of both a controversial and problematic nature.

You asked what the Church teaches about how the faithful will experience heaven. You asked whether there are really “levels” or “degrees” of heaven, which would mean that some of the faithful would have a greater experience of heaven than others. You further asked if indeed there would be no envy in heaven, despite these differences of enjoyment, and whether the differences of enjoyment would be based on the state of our holiness at our respective deaths.

In heaven, we will be completely fulfilled—in blissful, perfect eternal union with the Triune God:

This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity—this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed—is called “heaven.” Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness (Catechism of the Catholic Church [Catechism], no. 1024).

The Church teaches that in heaven we will experience the “beatific vision,” that is, contemplate God in his heavenly glory, “seeing him as he is,” “face to face” (Catechism, nos. 1028, 1023). Yet, how we will concretely experience heaven, as the Church teaches, remains veiled:

This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” [1 Cor. 2:9] (Catechism, no. 1027).

Yet, the Church does provide us with teaching to answer some of your questions. The Church teaches that the faithful may experience heaven differently, based upon how they have lived their lives on earth. As the Council of Florence (1438-1445) teaches, they will “see clearly the one and Triune God Himself, just as He is, yet according to the diversity of merits, one more perfectly than another.” (Council of Florence, “Decree for the Greeks,” as cited in Roy J. Deferrari, trans., Denzinger: The Sources of Catholic Dogma [St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1957], 220 [no. 693].) In its “Decree on Justification,” the Council of Trent (1545-1563) affirmed that the faithful will experience heaven differently, based on the merit of their good works, and anathematized those who taught differently. (Council of Trent, “Decree on Justification,” canon 32, as cited Deferrari, Denzinger: The Sources of Catholic Dogma, 261 [no. 842].) Earlier in the Decree, the Council noted several Scripture passages that teach about the importance of good works regarding our enjoyment of heaven, such as Romans 2:6, which says that God “will render to every man according to his works.” (Ibid., “Decree on Justification,” chapter 16, as cited in Deferrari, Denzinger: The Sources of Catholic Dogma, 258 [no. 810].) Our eternal destiny, including our reward in heaven, is indeed determined by our state of holiness at the time of our death. The Catechism explains this reality concisely:

Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. . . . Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ. . . (nos. 1021-22).

Because “heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (Catechism, no. 1024), envy, which is a deadly sin (cf. no. 2538-40), is necessarily excluded, despite any differing degrees of enjoyment of heaven among the faithful. There is no sin in heaven, and God perfectly fulfills each one of us.

The Church provides a few additional insights on how we will enjoy heaven. For example, “in heaven there is not the least pain or sadness; for every aspiration of nature must be finally realized. The will of the blessed is in perfect harmony with the Divine will; they feel displeasure at the sins of men, but without experiencing any real pain.” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VII [New York: The Encyclopedia Press, Inc., 1913], 174.) In his book The God Who Loves You, Peter Kreeft explains how the faithful’s joy in heaven will not be diminished by knowing that others, even loved ones, are in hell. God and the faithful will love the damned, but the faithful will love like God, a love that is “not passive to or dependent upon events”:

[T]his love does not demand to be reciprocated at the price of its own happiness, any more than the light demands to be reflected back by a mirror at the price of its own illumination. Light is still light whether it is reflected back by a polished mirror or absorbed into an opaque object. God’s joy is like that. It does not depend on us, nor does His knowledge of our lapses diminish it. And our joy will not be diminished by what we know about the damned. How could hell eternally blackmail heaven? (The God Who Loves You [Ann Arbor, Michigan: Servant Books, 1989], 122-24.)

In addition, every person in heaven will have a glorified body with four characteristics: 1) splendor, whereby our bodies will be beautiful to behold; 2) agility, in which we will be able to move simply by willing it in our mind; 3) subtlety, in which our souls will be totally subordinate to our souls, which could include our ability to pass through other physical entities as Christ passed through locked doors after His Resurrection; and 4) impassibility, whereby we will not suffer at all. (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VI [Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1967], 974).

Finally, The Catholic Encyclopedia provides that heaven will be basically and blissfully unchanging, yet offers theological opinion on how the faithful might experience some changes:

The happiness of heaven is essentially unchangeable; still it admits of some accidental changes. Thus we may suppose that the blessed experience special joy when they receive greater veneration from men on earth. In particular, a certain growth in knowledge by experience is not excluded; for instance, as time goes on, new, free actions of men may become known to the blessed, or personal observation and experience may throw a new light on things already known. And after the last judgment accidental beatitude will receive some increase from the union of soul and body, and from the sight of the new heaven and the earth. (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VII, 174-75.)

For more information, please see our Faith Fact, “Who Art in Heaven:” The Dwelling Place of God.

Finally, there is no biblical evidence that Gabriel is Noah, or that Michael the Archangel is Adam. If you would like to call us with additional information explaining where you heard these things, we’d be happy to follow up.

I hope this answers your questions. If you have further questions or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”

United in the Faith,

Thomas J. Nash

Senior Information Specialist

Catholics United for the Faith

827 North Fourth Street

Steubenville, OH 43952

800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484