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Part IV: Dogma and Ritual Questions · 24

The Number of Heavens

Faith Q&A › Many Years with People's Questions › Part IV

The question

I heard that there are only three heavens, because the Holy Bible says Everything is perfected in the number three.

The answer

I would like to say to the one who sent in this phrase that there is no verse in the Bible which says that! This is purely a worldly expression! Perfection isn't confined to the number three. Number seven, for example, is sometimes made a symbol for perfection and so is ten etc.

The expression 'the third heaven' comes in the Bible as a name for Paradise (2 Cor. 12:2,4). But reference to the heaven which is the throne of God comes in John 3:13 and Matt. 5:34. On the other hand, the 'highest heavens' mentioned in Psalm 148:4, must obviously be higher than the third. This is the heaven to which only the Lord Jesus Christ has ascended, and to which no human being will ever rise. (John 3:13).

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Thrice-Blessed Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory

Thrice-Blessed Pope Shenouda III of Blessed Memory, Many Years with People's Questions, Part IV: Dogma and Ritual Questions. Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. Translated by Mrs. Glynis Younan, London. Revised by Mrs. Wedad Abbas. First edition, August 1992. Revised COEPA 1997. ISBN 977-5319-0-2-1.