What is the firmament?
What is the sub-lunar realm?
How many heavens were there?
Which Gods lived in the heavens?
Which Gods lived above the heavens.
How was it all arranged?
What did Paul and the Apostles write about their cosmology?
What did the Gnostic heretics write about their cosmology?
Where did the figure of Jesus fit into these cosmological schemes?
This thread is about the discussion of the ancient cosmological models which were in place in the Roman Empire during the epoch in which the Christian literature (both canonical and non canonical new testament manuscripts) were authored. We are trying to reconstruct how the authors of the New testament books, and the authors of the gnostic books thought about their place in the physical universe, and under the expanse of the sky. Consequently source material is highly relevant.
Kapyong has recently provided a series of diagrams and source quotes in support to start this discussion.
Kapyong wrote:
Ancients saw the universe as divided in two - beneath and above the Moon :
Everything changeable or corruptible was below the Moon, including the earth.
Paul saw it very similarly, with the division being the firmament (which included the Moon) :
With the perceptible world of change being beneath the firmament.
This leaves a region of Air or lower heavens which is beneath the Moon but still above the Earth. SOme authos saw this as PART of the firmament. Overall all I think Paul say his cosmology somewhat like so :
Looked at slightly differently, Paul's mention of the Third Heaven suggest he saw it perhaps like so :
In the lower heavens or Air are all the demons such as the 'Prince of Powers in the Air' (Satan) and all manner of other beings - demons, angels, spirits. As well as the 'Jerusalem above' and other images of earthly things - 'As Above So Below' as the Ascension of Isaiah has it.
Which is where Christ descended to be crucified - in the Lower Heavens or the Air Beneath the Moon :
Because this Lower Heaven, the Air Beneath the Moon is part of the fleshly corruptible world and because it contains heavenly images of what is below on earth, a crucifixion there achieves salvation for us below.
Kapyong