The Structure of the Universe

The Bible states that that there are three Heavens. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul says, "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man (whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth.) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities." (II Corinthians 12: 2-5). In that excerpt the Apostle Paul is talking about himself, but in the third person, as if describing not himself, but some other person.

Thus, the first Heaven is the atmosphere, the second, cosmic space, and the third Heaven is the invisible world. It was into the invisible world that the Apostle Paul was caught up, and where he contemplated God. He also was caught up into Paradise, which, as the highest part of the world, is divided from it by a revolving, flaming sword. Nonetheless, that is the loftiest and most perfect part of the world. As St. Ephraim of Syria said, even for people in the flesh, it is in some sense attainable,. I do now know whether in the flesh or not. And that Paradise is also a preliminary place for souls. As St. John Chrysostom said, we received more than we had lost; we lost Paradise, but were promised the Kingdom of God. But as yet, the Kingdom of God remains unattainable, and the New Jerusalem has not a single resident . It was created by God, but has not yet been populated. It will be, once the Lord comes down to us with Heavenly fire. That will be on the day the world ends.

Finally, above all worlds, God rules in His eternal Kingdom: God Who fills all things, Who holds all things, Who directs all things, Who permeates all, and Who is greater than all. He Himself is the place for everything and for Himself.

God is omnipresent. But is God in Hades? The Bible directly states that He is also in Hades: King David says, "If I go up into heaven, Thou art there; if I go down into Hades, Thou art present there"(Psalm 138: 8). God's realm fills absolutely everything, and everything exists by His Will. That is the structure of the Creation in which we live.

About the Soul

Now, as to our souls: What is the soul? Many think that inside us lives some separate "little person," and they do not want to believe in the soul. But remember, that the soul is an intelligence, with a will and with senses. Obviously, if one does not believe that he has a mind, he is logically called mad. There is nothing to talk about with such a person, for what is there to talk about with an irrational, weak-willed blockhead? In fact, the soul is the mind, with both will and senses, and also possessing a certain vital capacity that animates the body.

St. John Damascene distinguishes between a rational and an irrational part existing within the soul . That rational part, as I have said, is the loftier part of the soul. Highest of all in the soul is the intellect; it is also called the spirit, for it contains the Holy Spirit, which through the mind enlightens the entire person. This is why a person comes to the Church - by faith, which first transfigures the mind and then subdues the will and feelings. In like manner, the irrational part of our soul is divided into that which is subject to reason and that which is not. An example of what is subject to reason is anger, created and instilled in us by God so that with its help we might drive sins away from us. There are other things having to do with our soul that are simply not subject to our reason. For example, there is the power that gives us the possibility of growing and developing, the power that supports life in our body. That power is not subject to our body, but it is also a manifestation of our soul, possessed of will and feeling. The apprehension of the soul as being a separate person living within us, reflects some measure ofcommon sense.

The soul has, as it were, a separate mechanism directing the body. There is the concept of "phantom pain." For example: a person has a leg amputated, and yet it hurts, because the lower part of the soul, not subject to reason, continues to search for the missing member. As St. Gregory of Nyssa says, the soul bears upon it the stamp of the body which is dear to it, for it is not normal for a person to be an incorporeal being. This is why we believe in the resurrection of the body, and not simply the soul. One who believes in the immortality of the soul and thinks that after death he immediately enters into the Kingdom of Heaven and receives the full measure of bliss is not a Christian.

Death, as mentioned earlier, is also an abnormal state, but for a Christian, death is distinctly different from death of someone who has no idea of Christianity. Wherein does this difference among human beings lie? For the Christian, the individual is not destroyed, but for the non-Christian, it is, for the understanding of "individual person"encompasses both soul and body. "I am in pain," says a person, although it is his body that hurts, while his soul is quite healthy. When someone who has not been baptized dies, the soul is parted from the body, and the power that binds them together is lost. The body is left to lie in the grave, and the soul goes off into the chasms of the underworld to await the day of Judgment. That is not how it is for the Christian. The tie between his soul and body remains intact, for God is omnipresent, and He seals the body and soul at Baptism, when the person receives the seal of anointing with Myrrh, the seal of the Holy Spirit. That seal is put on the body, but simultaneously the soul is blessed. When a person receives the Body and Blood of the Lord, he literally becomes of one body with Christ, with Christ's Blood literally flowing in his veins. The person's body becomes Christ's Flesh, which is why we are called members of the Body of Christ.

In this way, the tie between a Christian's body and soul cannot be destroyed. The soul is separated from the body, but through God, the tie remains. It is for that reason that we pray before the relics of saints; in the righteous ones, the tie [between body and soul] has been maintained as well. Before, people did not pray [before relics]; until the Savior's redemptive work of Redemption had been accomplished, that tie did not exist .