Angels-HEAVEN AND HELL

Most traditional cultures have postulated a
three-level world: an upper world beyond the
sky (above the “heavens”) in which the gods of
light dwell, a middle realm occupied by humanity,
and a lower world beneath the earth in
which gods of darkness reside. In certain religious
traditions, particularly the familiar Western
faiths, the gods of light became angels (at
the service of one supremely good, monotheistic
God) and the gods of darkness became demons
(fallen angels). A natural consequence of this moral division is that the
realm of reward in the afterlife was placed in the upper world with
angels (heaven) and the realm of punishment in the lower world with
the demons (hell). In the Christian tradition in particular, underworld
devils acquire employment tormenting the souls of the damned, whereas
upperworld angels become companions of the saved. This was not
always the case: in early Christianity stern, righteous angels tortured
sinners in the underworld.
An issue with which serious thinkers have grappled across the
centuries is the fate of souls who, while not moral “athletes,” have
nevertheless not committed outrageous sins. This has led to the development
of ideas of “intermediate” afterlife abodes in which “mixed”
souls are purified (i.e., tormented by demons) and made fit for heaven.
Catholic purgatory is the most well known of these realms, but the
same basic idea is incorporated into other traditions. Yet another solution
has been to postulate multiple heavens and hells, or “levels” of
heaven and hell, in which good people and sinners are rewarded or
punished according to the degree of their noble deeds or sins. One of
the most well known examples is Dante’s Inferno. The heavenly hier-
archy of levels also provided a structure for arranging the host of God’s
angels according to degrees of power and development.