On the Heavens (Firmament & Powers Above) - St. John of Damascus

St. John of Damascus discusses the firmament, the heavens, the luminaries, and the powers above, speaking of the various veiws held by others and the Orthodox view of such things.

A reading from Book 2, Chapter 6 of the Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith

📖 Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith by St. John of Damascus
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St. John teaches:

The heavens are the outer shell which contains both visible and invisible created things. For, enclosed and contained within them are the spiritual powers, which are the angels, and all sensible things. Only the Divinity is uncircumscribed, filling, containing, and surrounding all things, because He transcends all things, and it is He Who has created all.
Now, since Scripture speaks of "heaven," the "heaven of heaven, and the "heavens of heavens, and says that the blessed Paul was caught up to the "third heaven," we say that in the creation of the universe we consider as heavens that which the pagan philosophers, making the teachings of Moses their own, call a starless sphere. And again, God called heaven the "firmament, which He ordered to be made in the midst of the water and so arranged that it was separated from the midst of the water above the firmament and from the midst of that which is below the fir-mament. Instructed by sacred Scripture, the divine Basil says? that its substance is subtle— like smoke, as it were. Others say that it is watery, because it was made in the midst of the waters. And others say that it is made from the four elements. Still others say that it is a fifth body and distinct from the four elements.

However, whichever way it may be, all things have been made and established by the command of God and have their foundation in the divine will and desire. "For He spoke, and they were made: He commanded and they were created. He hath established them forever, and for ages of ages: He hath made a decree and it shall not pass away."
So there is a heaven of heaven, which is the first heaven and is above the firmament. But now, because God also called the firmament "heaven,"' there are two heavens. However, it is customary for sacred Scripture to call the air heaven, too, because of its being seen above, as it says: "O all ye fowls of the heaven, bless the Lord," meaning the air, although the air is not heaven but a medium of passage for the fowls. Here we have the three heavens of which the divine Apostle spoke. Then, if you want to take the seven spheres as seven heavens, there will still be nothing contrary to the Word of Truth. It is also customary in the Hebrew tongue to speak of heaven in the plural as "heavens." So, when Scripture meant to say "heaven of heaven," it said "heavens of heavens," which would mean precisely "heaven of heaven"-that which is over the firmament and the waters which are above the heavens, whether over the air and the firmament or over the seven spheres of the firmament, or over the firmament expressed in the plural as "heavens" according to the Hebraic usage.
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