Were the First Catholics Flat-Earthers?
My sons and I were looking at one of their school textbooks which has pictures of Heaven and the Pearly Gates shown as being above the earth, made of clouds. My sons innocently asked me “if Heaven is just above the clouds, why don’t airplanes destroy it when they fly that high? And “how come we can’t take a plane to visit people we miss?”.
These questions got me thinking about how most art produced from the Medieval and Renaissance period usually has Heaven and God depicted in being above the Earth, in clouds peering down on humanity. Why is this? Was there a societal belief at that time causing such a depiction or is it rooted in the Bible?
The main misconception regarding this depiction is that the citizens during the Medieval times thought that the world was flat, so a tiered system of Heavenly and Earthly bodies made sense to them. This misconception spread through the teachings that Columbus set sail in 1492 to prove that the world was round along with the Catholic Church never formally acknowledging that the Earth is a sphere. However, Aristotle declared the Earth was a sphere in 350 BC. 250 years prior to Aristotle’s declaration, Pythagoras of Samos calculated that the Earth was round. Most medieval citizens knew and accepted that the Earth was a Sphere. It was common knowledge that needed no acceptance from the Church because it was thought to be a truth.
Heaven is really depicted as being in the clouds above Earth because of the Bible. In Genesis Chapter 1 when God is creating the Heavens and Earth the passages lay out the location of each.
6 And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good — Genesis 1:6–10 (RSVCE).
These verses lay out the location of Heaven — above the waters and above the land which He gathered into one place and called Seas and Earth respectfully.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness — Genesis 1:14–18 (RSVCE).
The location is expanded upon in these verses. Not only is Heaven above the Earth and Seas but it is where the Sun and Moon are located.
One of the best Biblical evidences of why artists depict the Heavens above the clouds is this verse:
20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens — Genesis 1–20 (RSVCE).”
Here God says “Let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of heavens.” And where do birds fly? In the sky through the clouds. Medieval masses who took the Liturgy literally would read these passages and draw the conclusion that Heaven dwells above the clouds, just out of sight.
Genesis is not done explaining the location of Heaven though. In Chapter 11 men built the Tower of Babel whose “top was in the Heavens.” Again this points to a location near enough for men to believe that they could build high enough to reach the Heavens. However, God still had to “come down to see the City and Tower, which the sons of men had built.”
The first Catholics did not believe in a flat-earth, nor is the widespread belief of societal middle ages in a flat-earth the reason why Heaven is depicted as being just above the Earth in the clouds. Instead it is because of Biblical passages laying out a location during The Creation.
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