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142-458: Heaven , or the heavens , is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities , angels , souls , saints , or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned , or reside. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to Earth or incarnate and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife or, in exceptional cases, enter Heaven without dying . Heaven
284-578: A cosmic egg . Pangu emerged (or woke up) and separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky Yin ) and the Sky (clear Yang ). To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. After Pangu died, he became everything. Gnostic teachings were contemporary with those of Neoplatonism. Gnosticism is an imprecise label, covering monistic as well as dualistic conceptions. Usually
426-409: A creator deity or a larger pantheon of deities, explanations of the transformation of chaos into order, or the assertion that existence is a matter of endless cyclical transformations. Religious cosmology differs from a strictly scientific cosmology informed by contemporary astronomy , physics , and similar fields, and may differ in conceptualizations of the world's physical structure and place in
568-448: A "new earth" as the abode of mankind following the resurrection of the dead. Originally, the two ideas of immortality and resurrection were different but in rabbinic thought they are combined: the soul departs from the body at death but is returned to it at the resurrection . This idea is linked to another rabbinic teaching, that men's good and bad actions are rewarded and punished not in this life but after death, whether immediately or at
710-562: A 61-kilogram (135 lb) iron meteorite was found in a Sinagua (c. 1100–1200 AD) burial cyst near Camp Verde, Arizona , respectfully wrapped in a feather cloth. A small pallasite was found in a pottery jar in an old burial found at Pojoaque Pueblo , New Mexico. Nininger reports several other such instances, in the Southwest US and elsewhere, such as the discovery of Native American beads of meteoric iron found in Hopewell burial mounds , and
852-513: A belief that, in accordance with John 14, those who in the afterlife see the Saviour are in different mansions, some dwelling in the heavens, others in paradise and others in " the city ". While the word used in all these writings, in particular the New Testament Greek word οὐρανός ( ouranos ), applies primarily to the sky , it is also used metaphorically of the dwelling place of God and
994-672: A blend of rock and metal, the stony-iron meteorites . Modern classification of meteorites is complex. The review paper of Krot et al. (2007) summarizes modern meteorite taxonomy. About 86% of the meteorites are chondrites, which are named for the small, round particles they contain. These particles, or chondrules , are composed mostly of silicate minerals that appear to have been melted while they were free-floating objects in space. Certain types of chondrites also contain small amounts of organic matter , including amino acids , and presolar grains . Chondrites are typically about 4.55 billion years old and are thought to represent material from
1136-564: A chariot of fire. According to Michael B. Hundley, the text in both of these instances is ambiguous regarding the significance of the actions being described and in neither of these cases does the text explain what happened to the subject afterwards. The God of the Israelites is described as ruling both Heaven and Earth. Other passages, such as 1 Kings 8:27 state that even the vastness of Heaven cannot contain God's majesty. A number of passages throughout
1278-454: A few centimeters in size that were formed—according to most scientists—by the impacts of large meteorites on Earth's surface. A few researchers have favored tektites originating from the Moon as volcanic ejecta, but this theory has lost much of its support over the last few decades. The diameter of the largest impactor to hit Earth on any given day is likely to be about 40 centimeters (16 inches), in
1420-788: A flat, desert plain about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of Dirj (Daraj), Libya . A few years later, a desert enthusiast saw photographs of meteorites being recovered by scientists in Antarctica, and thought that he had seen similar occurrences in northern Africa . In 1989, he recovered about 100 meteorites from several distinct locations in Libya and Algeria. Over the next several years, he and others who followed found at least 400 more meteorites. The find locations were generally in regions known as regs or hamadas : flat, featureless areas covered only by small pebbles and minor amounts of sand. Dark-colored meteorites can be easily spotted in these places. In
1562-505: A form which at present you know not." According to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , the founder of the Ahmadiyya sect in Islam, the soul will give birth to another rarer entity and will resemble the life on earth in the sense that this entity will bear a similar relationship to the soul, as the soul bears relationship with the human existence on earth. On earth, if a person leads a righteous life and submits to
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#17328383982871704-435: A given year about four metres (13 ft), and in a given century about 20 m (66 ft). These statistics are obtained by the following: Over at least the range from five centimeters (2.0 inches) to roughly 300 meters (980 feet), the rate at which Earth receives meteors obeys a power-law distribution as follows: where N (> D ) is the expected number of objects larger than a diameter of D meters to hit Earth in
1846-655: A human soul belongs in Heaven and that Earth is merely a temporary abode in which the soul is tested to prove its worthiness became increasingly popular during the Hellenistic period (323–31 BC). Gradually, some Hebrews began to adopt the idea of Heaven as the eternal home of the righteous dead. Descriptions of Heaven in the New Testament are more fully developed than those in the Old Testament, but are still generally vague. As in
1988-593: A list of six realms of rebirth, adding demi-gods ( asuras ). The "hungry ghost, heavenly, hellish realms" respectively formulate the ritual, literary and moral spheres of many contemporary Buddhist traditions. According to Akira Sadakata, the Buddhist cosmology is far more complex and uses extraordinarily larger numbers than those found in Vedic and post-Vedic Hindu traditions. It also shares many ideas and concepts, such as those about Mount Meru. The Buddhist thought holds that
2130-401: A meteorite shower falls is known as its strewn field . Strewn fields are commonly elliptical in shape, with the major axis parallel to the direction of flight. In most cases, the largest meteorites in a shower are found farthest down-range in the strewn field. Most meteorites are stony meteorites, classed as chondrites and achondrites . Only about 6% of meteorites are iron meteorites or
2272-500: A meteorite that was understood by contemporaries to have fallen to the earth from Jupiter , the principal Roman deity. There are reports that a sacred stone was enshrined at the temple that may have been a meteorite. The Black Stone set into the wall of the Kaaba has often been presumed to be a meteorite, but the little available evidence for this is inconclusive. Some Native Americans treated meteorites as ceremonial objects. In 1915,
2414-538: A particular place somewhere in the cosmos ) of the supreme fulfillment of theosis in the beatific vision of the Godhead . In most forms of Christianity , Heaven is also understood as the abode for the redeemed dead in the afterlife , usually a temporary stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints ' return to the New Earth . The resurrected Jesus is said to have ascended to Heaven where he now sits at
2556-423: A person died, his or her soul went to Kur (later known as Irkalla ), a dark shadowy underworld , located deep below the surface of the earth. All souls went to the same afterlife, and a person's actions during life had no impact on how he would be treated in the world to come. Nonetheless, funerary evidence indicates that some people believed that Inanna had the power to bestow special favors upon her devotees in
2698-403: A person finds contentment and Peace at heart and at this stage, according to Ahmadiyya beliefs, it can be said that a soul within the soul has begun to take shape. The Baháʼí Faith regards the conventional description of heaven (and hell) as a specific place as symbolic. The Baháʼí writings describe heaven as a "spiritual condition" where closeness to God is defined as heaven; conversely hell
2840-512: A radius of a hundred or more kilometers. Whistling and hissing sounds are also sometimes heard but are poorly understood. Following the passage of the fireball, it is not unusual for a dust trail to linger in the atmosphere for several minutes. As meteoroids are heated during atmospheric entry , their surfaces melt and experience ablation . They can be sculpted into various shapes during this process, sometimes resulting in shallow thumbprint-like indentations on their surfaces called regmaglypts . If
2982-546: A rapid rise in commercial collection of meteorites. This process was accelerated when, in 1997, meteorites coming from both the Moon and Mars were found in Libya. By the late 1990s, private meteorite-collecting expeditions had been launched throughout the Sahara. Specimens of the meteorites recovered in this way are still deposited in research collections, but most of the material is sold to private collectors. These expeditions have now brought
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#17328383982873124-456: A reconstructed *k̑emen- or *k̑ōmen- "stone, heaven", has been proposed. Others endorse the derivation from a Proto-Indo-European root *h₂éḱmō "stone" and, possibly, "heavenly vault" at the origin of this word, which then would have as cognates ancient Greek ἄκμων (ákmōn "anvil, pestle; meteorite "), Persian آسمان ( âsemân, âsmân "stone, sling-stone; sky, heaven") and Sanskrit अश्मन् ( aśman "stone, rock, sling-stone; thunderbolt ;
3266-464: A single mandatory view point even in its oldest known Vedic scriptures, the Rigveda . Alternate theories include a universe cyclically created and destroyed by god, or goddess, or no creator at all, or a golden egg or womb ( Hiranyagarbha ), or self-created multitude of universes with enormous lengths and time scales. The Vedic literature includes a number of cosmology speculations, one of which questions
3408-428: A single person, Ivan Wilson. In total, nearly 140 meteorites were found in the region since 1967. In the area of the finds, the ground was originally covered by a shallow, loose soil sitting atop a hardpan layer. During the dustbowl era, the loose soil was blown off, leaving any rocks and meteorites that were present stranded on the exposed surface. Beginning in the mid-1960s, amateur meteorite hunters began scouring
3550-478: A truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved." The Baháʼí teachings state that there exists a hierarchy of souls in the afterlife , where the merits of each soul determines their place in the hierarchy, and that souls lower in the hierarchy cannot completely understand the station of those above. Each soul can continue to progress in
3692-434: A variant final -l : Old Frisian himel, himul "sky, heaven", Old Saxon and Old High German himil , Old Saxon and Middle Low German hemmel , Old Dutch and Dutch hemel , and modern German Himmel . All of these have been derived from a reconstructed Proto-Germanic form * hemina- . or *hemō . The further derivation of this form is uncertain. A connection to Proto-Indo-European *ḱem- "cover, shroud", via
3834-605: A year. This is based on observations of bright meteors seen from the ground and space, combined with surveys of near-Earth asteroids . Above 300 m (980 ft) in diameter, the predicted rate is somewhat higher, with a 2 km (1.2 mi) asteroid (one teraton TNT equivalent ) every couple of million years – about 10 times as often as the power-law extrapolation would predict. In 2015, NASA scientists reported that complex organic compounds found in DNA and RNA , including uracil , cytosine , and thymine , have been formed in
3976-456: Is 0.4%. Stony-iron meteorites constitute the remaining 1%. They are a mixture of iron-nickel metal and silicate minerals. One type, called pallasites , is thought to have originated in the boundary zone above the core regions where iron meteorites originated. The other major type of stony-iron meteorites is the mesosiderites . Tektites (from Greek tektos , molten) are not themselves meteorites, but are rather natural glass objects up to
4118-647: Is a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophies, and religions, and is on one end of the spectrum a synonym of Shangdi ("Supreme Deity") and on the other naturalistic end, a synonym for nature and the sky. The Chinese term for "heaven", Tian (天), derives from the name of the supreme deity of the Zhou dynasty . After their conquest of the Shang dynasty in 1122 BC, the Zhou people considered their supreme deity Tian to be identical with
4260-504: Is a meteorite collected after its arrival was observed by people or automated devices. Any other meteorite is called a "meteorite find". There are more than 1,100 documented falls listed in widely used databases, most of which have specimens in modern collections. As of January 2019 , the Meteoritical Bulletin Database had 1,180 confirmed falls. Most meteorite falls are collected on the basis of eyewitness accounts of
4402-413: Is currently prohibited by national law, but a number of international hunters continue to remove specimens now deemed national treasures. This new law provoked a small international incident , as its implementation preceded any public notification of such a law, resulting in the prolonged imprisonment of a large group of meteorite hunters, primarily from Russia, but whose party also consisted of members from
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4544-454: Is he now? How could God have made this world without any raw material? If you say that he made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression. There is a "primordial universe" Wuji (philosophy) , and Hongjun Laozu , water or qi . It transformed into Taiji then multiplied into everything known as the Wuxing . The Pangu legend tells a formless chaos coalesced into
4686-412: Is in an axis mundi or world tree which connects the heavens, the terrestrial world, and the underworld. In Indian religions , heaven is considered as Svargaloka , and the soul is again subjected to rebirth in different living forms according to its karma . This cycle can be broken after a soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana . Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, outside
4828-421: Is known as Infinite Time. During this period the good and the evil remained in perfect balance in their respective spheres. For 3000 years Ahura Mazda dwelt in the region of light, while his opponent Ahirman or Angra Mainyu , the evil spirit, remained confined to the region of darkness. A great Void separated them both. At the end of the first period, Ahirman crossed the void and attacked Ahura Mazda. Knowing that
4970-415: Is narrow at the top, broad at the middle and once again becomes broad at the bottom. Mahāpurāṇa of Ācārya Jinasena is famous for this quote: Some foolish men declare that a creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill advised and should be rejected. If God created the world, where was he before the creation? If you say he was transcendent then and needed no support, where
5112-572: Is no creator god. Buddhism views the universe as impermanent and always in flux. This cosmology is the foundation of its Samsara theory, that evolved over time the mechanistic details on how the wheel of mundane existence works over the endless cycles of rebirth and redeath. In early Buddhist traditions, Saṃsāra cosmology consisted of five realms through which wheel of existence recycled. This included hells ( niraya ), hungry ghosts ( pretas ), animals ( tiryak ), humans ( manushya ), and gods ( devas , heavenly). In latter traditions, this list grew to
5254-459: Is not discussed as often. The Torah has little to say on the subject of survival after death, but by the time of the rabbis two ideas had made inroads among the Jews: one, which is probably derived from Greek thought, is that of the immortal soul which returns to its creator after death; the other, which is thought to be of Persian origin, is that of resurrection of the dead . Jewish writings refer to
5396-481: Is not unique and are also found in Greek, Roman, Irish and Babylonian mythologies, where each age becomes more sinful and of suffering. Jain cosmology considers the loka , or universe, as an uncreated entity, existing since infinity, having no beginning or an end. Jain texts describe the shape of the universe as similar to a man standing with legs apart and arm resting on his waist. This Universe, according to Jainism,
5538-434: Is often described as a "highest place", the holiest place, a paradise , in contrast to hell or the underworld or the "low places" and universally or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various standards of divinity , goodness , piety , faith , or other virtues or right beliefs or simply divine will . Some believe in the possibility of a heaven on Earth in a world to come . Another belief
5680-498: Is or seems to be the way it is and prescribing what humans should do in context. Variations in religious cosmology include Zoroastrian cosmology , those such as from India Buddhism , Hindu , and Jain ; the religious beliefs of China, Chinese Buddhism , Taoism and Confucianism , Japan's Shintoisim and the beliefs of the Abrahamic faiths , such as Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . Religious cosmologies have often developed into
5822-469: Is seen as a state of remoteness from God. Bahá'u'lláh , the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, has stated that the nature of the life of the soul in the afterlife is beyond comprehension in the physical plane, but has stated that the soul will retain its consciousness and individuality and remember its physical life; the soul will be able to recognize other souls and communicate with them. For Baháʼís, entry into
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5964-417: Is the accepted orthodoxy of most denominations of Judaism and Christianity . Most denominations of Christianity and Judaism believe that a single, uncreated God was responsible for the creation of the cosmos. In his 2023 apostolic exhortation , Laudate Deum , Pope Francis outlines several ways in which the human relationship with the created cosmos might be understood: Islam teaches that God created
6106-525: Is the eighth heaven, where the benevolent, higher divinities dwell. During the end of days , the seven heavens of the Archons will collapse on each other. The heaven of Yaldabaoth will split in two and cause the stars in his celestial sphere to fall. In the native Chinese Confucian traditions, heaven ( Tian ) is an important concept, where the ancestors reside and from which emperors drew their mandate to rule in their dynastic propaganda, for example. Heaven
6248-492: Is the symbol of the universe in Serer cosmology and creation mythology . A similar set of beliefs related also to Sirius has been observed among Dogon people of Mali . Meteorite A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon . When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction , pressure, and chemical interactions with
6390-440: Is the way it is and the significance of it all. Religious cosmologies describe the spatial lay-out of the universe in terms of the world in which people typically dwell as well as other dimensions, such as the seven dimensions of religion; these are ritual, experiential and emotional, narrative and mythical, doctrinal, ethical, social, and material. Religious mythologies may include descriptions of an act or process of creation by
6532-606: The Dhofar and Al Wusta regions of Oman, south of the sandy deserts of the Rub' al Khali , had yielded about 5,000 meteorites as of mid-2009. Included among these are a large number of lunar and Martian meteorites, making Oman a particularly important area both for scientists and collectors. Early expeditions to Oman were mainly done by commercial meteorite dealers, however, international teams of Omani and European scientists have also now collected specimens. The recovery of meteorites from Oman
6674-539: The Gathas , spoke of the existence of Heaven and Hell. Historically, the unique features of Zoroastrianism, such as its conception of heaven, hell, angels, monotheism, belief in free will, and the day of judgement, among other concepts, may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including the Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Northern Buddhism, and Greek philosophy. As in other ancient Near Eastern cultures, in
6816-491: The Greek idea that it would be a place of punishment for misdeeds, and that the righteous would enjoy an afterlife in heaven. In this period too the older three-level cosmology was widely replaced by the Greek concept of a spherical Earth suspended in space at the centre of a number of concentric heavens . The belief that God created matter from nothing is called creatio ex nihilo (as opposed to creatio ex materia ). It
6958-509: The Hadiths , these are the different regions in paradise. According to the Ahmadiyya view, much of the imagery presented in the Quran regarding Heaven, but also Hell, is metaphorical. They propound the verse which describes, according to them, how the life to come after death is different from the life on Earth. The Quran says: "From bringing in your place others like you, and from developing you into
7100-572: The Right Hand of God and will return to Earth in the Second Coming . Various people have been said to have entered Heaven while still alive , including Enoch , Elijah and Jesus , after his resurrection. According to Roman Catholic teaching , Mary, mother of Jesus , is also said to have been assumed into Heaven and is titled the Queen of Heaven . In the second century AD, Irenaeus of Lyons recorded
7242-468: The Shang supreme deity Shangdi . The Zhou people attributed Heaven with anthropomorphic attributes, evidenced in the etymology of the Chinese character for heaven or sky, which originally depicted a person with a large cranium. Heaven is said to see, hear and watch over all people. Heaven is affected by people's doings, and having personality, is happy and angry with them. Heaven blesses those who please it and sends calamities upon those who offend it. Heaven
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#17328383982877384-538: The Talmud , the Qur'an and Hadith frequently mention the existence of seven samāwāt (سماوات), the plural of samāʾ (سماء), meaning 'heaven, sky, celestial sphere', and cognate with Hebrew shamāyim (שמים). Some of the verses in the Qur'an mentioning the samaawat are 41:12 , 65:12 and 71:15 . Sidrat al-Muntaha , a large enigmatic Lote tree, marks the end of the seventh heaven and
7526-753: The World of Darkness emerged. The Great Living God ( Hayyi Rabbi ) and his uthras (angels or guardians) dwell in the World of Light. The World of Light is also the source of Piriawis , the Great Yardena (or Jordan River ) of Life. The cosmological description of the universe in the Gnostic codex On the Origin of the World presents seven heavens created by the lesser god or Demiurge called Yaldabaoth, which are individually ruled over by one of his Archons . Above these realms
7668-690: The asteroid belt that never coalesced into large bodies. Like comets , chondritic asteroids are some of the oldest and most primitive materials in the Solar System . Chondrites are often considered to be "the building blocks of the planets". About 8% of the meteorites are achondrites (meaning they do not contain chondrules), some of which are similar to terrestrial igneous rocks . Most achondrites are also ancient rocks, and are thought to represent crustal material of differentiated planetesimals. One large family of achondrites (the HED meteorites ) may have originated on
7810-450: The blessed . Similarly, though the English word "heaven" keeps its original physical meaning when used, for instance, in allusions to the stars as "lights shining through from heaven", and in phrases such as heavenly body to mean an astronomical object, the heaven or happiness that Christianity looks forward to is, according to Pope John Paul II, "neither an abstraction nor a physical place in
7952-422: The firmament "). In the latter case English hammer would be another cognate to the word. The ancient Mesopotamians regarded the sky as a series of domes (usually three, but sometimes seven) covering the flat Earth . Each dome was made of a different kind of precious stone. The lowest dome of heaven was made of jasper and was the home of the stars . The middle dome of heaven was made of saggilmut stone and
8094-422: The genetic code of all life on Earth. These compounds have also occurred spontaneously in laboratory settings emulating conditions in outer space. Until recently, the source of only about 6% of meteorites had been traced to their sources: the Moon, Mars, and asteroid Vesta. Approximately 70% of meteorites found on Earth now appear to originate from break-ups of three asteroids. Most meteorites date from
8236-416: The same source , a collision that occurred somewhere between Jupiter and Mars. One of these fossil meteorites, dubbed Österplana 065 , appears to represent a distinct type of meteorite that is "extinct" in the sense that it is no longer falling to Earth, the parent body having already been completely depleted from the reservoir of near-Earth objects . A "meteorite fall", also called an "observed fall",
8378-522: The 10th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition found nine meteorites on a blue ice field near the Yamato Mountains . With this discovery, came the realization that movement of ice sheets might act to concentrate meteorites in certain areas. After a dozen other specimens were found in the same place in 1973, a Japanese expedition was launched in 1974 dedicated to the search for meteorites. This team recovered nearly 700 meteorites. Shortly thereafter,
8520-708: The American Southwest have been submitted with false find locations, as many finders think it is unwise to publicly share that information for fear of confiscation by the federal government and competition with other hunters at published find sites. Several of the meteorites found recently are currently on display in the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, and at UCLA 's Meteorite Gallery. A few meteorites were found in Antarctica between 1912 and 1964. In 1969,
8662-622: The Earth and learn nothing of what Heaven is like. There is almost no mention in the Hebrew Bible of Heaven as a possible afterlife destination for human beings, who are instead described as "resting" in Sheol . The only two possible exceptions to this are Enoch , who is described in Genesis 5:24 as having been "taken" by God, and the prophet Elijah , who is described in 2 Kings 2:11 as having ascended to Heaven in
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#17328383982878804-452: The Earth are caused by iron meteoroids, which are most easily able to transit the atmosphere intact. Examples of craters caused by iron meteoroids include Barringer Meteor Crater , Odessa Meteor Crater , Wabar craters , and Wolfe Creek crater ; iron meteorites are found in association with all of these craters. In contrast, even relatively large stony or icy bodies such as small comets or asteroids , up to millions of tons, are disrupted in
8946-628: The Hebrew Bible concerns the God of Israel's relationship with his people, most of the events described in it take place on Earth, not in Heaven. The Deuteronomistic source , Deuteronomistic History , and Priestly source all portray the Temple in Jerusalem as the sole channel of communication between Earth and Heaven. During the period of the Second Temple ( c. 515 BC – 70 AD), the Hebrew people lived under
9088-422: The Hebrew Bible indicate that Heaven and Earth will one day come to an end. This view is paralleled in other ancient Near Eastern cultures, which also regarded Heaven and Earth as vulnerable and subject to dissolution. However, the Hebrew Bible differs from other ancient Near Eastern cultures in that it portrays the God of Israel as independent of creation and unthreatened by its potential destruction. Because most of
9230-438: The Hebrew Bible, the universe is commonly divided into two realms: heaven ( šāmayim ) and earth ( ’ereṣ ). Sometimes a third realm is added: either "sea", "water under the earth", or sometimes a vague "land of the dead" that is never described in depth. The structure of heaven itself is not fully described in the Hebrew Bible, but the fact that the Hebrew word šāmayim is plural has been interpreted by scholars as an indication that
9372-526: The Kingdom of God was of something that is present but also still yet to come. For instance, Wright points to the synoptic gospels that Jesus' death and resurrection was anticipated as the climax and fulfillment of his "Kingdom of God" messages and that his combined prophecy about the temple's doom, through apocalyptic language, would serve as his vindication. The synoptic gospels and Pauline epistles portray Jesus as believing his death and resurrection would complete
9514-597: The Meteorite Observation and Recovery Project, ran from 1971 to 1985. It too recovered a single meteorite, Innisfree , in 1977. Finally, observations by the European Fireball Network , a descendant of the original Czech program that recovered Příbram, led to the discovery and orbit calculations for the Neuschwanstein meteorite in 2002. NASA has an automated system that detects meteors and calculates
9656-566: The Old Testament, in the New Testament God is described as the ruler of Heaven and Earth, but his power over the Earth is challenged by Satan . The Gospels of Mark and Luke speak of the " Kingdom of God " ( Ancient Greek : βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ; basileía tou theou ), while the Gospel of Matthew more commonly uses the term " Kingdom of heaven " ( Ancient Greek : βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ; basileía tōn ouranōn ). Both phrases are thought to have
9798-690: The Příbram fall, other nations established automated observing programs aimed at studying infalling meteorites. One of these was the Prairie Network , operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory from 1963 to 1975 in the midwestern US . This program also observed a meteorite fall, the Lost City chondrite, allowing its recovery and a calculation of its orbit. Another program in Canada,
9940-761: The Synoptic Gospels, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7. Jesus also taught that, in the Kingdom of Heaven, there would be a reversal of roles in which "the last will be first and the first will be last." This teaching recurs throughout the recorded teachings of Jesus, including in the admonition to be like a child, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16, the Parable of
10082-466: The US as well as several other European countries. Meteorites have figured into human culture since their earliest discovery as ceremonial or religious objects, as the subject of writing about events occurring in the sky and as a source of peril. The oldest known iron artifacts are nine small beads hammered from meteoritic iron. They were found in northern Egypt and have been securely dated to 3200 BC. Although
10224-890: The United States began its own program to search for Antarctic meteorites, operating along the Transantarctic Mountains on the other side of the continent: the Antarctic Search for Meteorites ( ANSMET ) program. European teams, starting with a consortium called "EUROMET" in the 1990/91 season, and continuing with a program by the Italian Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide have also conducted systematic searches for Antarctic meteorites. The Antarctic Scientific Exploration of China has conducted successful meteorite searches since 2000. A Korean program (KOREAMET)
10366-635: The Workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20, the Parable of the Great Banquet in Matthew 22, and the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. Traditionally, Christianity has taught that Heaven is the location of the throne of God as well as the holy angels , although this is in varying degrees considered metaphorical . In traditional Christianity, it is considered a state or condition of existence (rather than
10508-440: The afterlife, but the soul's development is not entirely dependent on its own conscious efforts, the nature of which we are not aware, but also augmented by the grace of God, the prayers of others, and good deeds performed by others on Earth in the name of that person. Mandaeans believe in an afterlife or heaven called Alma d-Nhura (World of Light). The World of Light is the primeval, transcendent world from which Tibil and
10650-463: The afterlife. Despite the separation between heaven and earth, humans sought access to the gods through oracles and omens . The gods were believed to live in Heaven, but also in their temples, which were seen as the channels of communication between Earth and Heaven, which allowed mortal access to the gods. The Ekur temple in Nippur was known as the "Dur-an-ki", the "mooring rope" of heaven and earth. It
10792-593: The ancient Israelites envisioned the heavens as having multiple layers, much like the ancient Mesopotamians. This reading is also supported by the use of the phrase "heaven of heavens" in verses such as Deuteronomy 10:14, 1 Kings 8:27, and 2 Chronicles 2:6. In line with the typical view of most Near Eastern cultures, the Hebrew Bible depicts Heaven as a place that is inaccessible to humans. Although some prophets are occasionally granted temporary visionary access to heaven, such as in 1 Kings 22:19–23, Job 1:6–12 and 2:1–6, and Isaiah 6, they hear only God's deliberations concerning
10934-730: The arid areas of the southwestern United States. To date, thousands of meteorites have been recovered from the Mojave , Sonoran , Great Basin , and Chihuahuan Deserts , with many being recovered on dry lake beds. Significant finds include the three-tonne Old Woman meteorite , currently on display at the Desert Discovery Center in Barstow, California , and the Franconia and Gold Basin meteorite strewn fields; hundreds of kilograms of meteorites have been recovered from each. A number of finds from
11076-721: The atmosphere and impact the Earth are called meteorite falls . All others are known as meteorite finds . Meteorites have traditionally been divided into three broad categories: stony meteorites that are rocks, mainly composed of silicate minerals ; iron meteorites that are largely composed of ferronickel ; and stony-iron meteorites that contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material. Modern classification schemes divide meteorites into groups according to their structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy. "Meteorites" less than ~1 mm in diameter are classified as micrometeorites , however micrometeorites differ from meteorites in that they typically melt completely in
11218-406: The atmosphere and fall to Earth as quenched droplets. Extraterrestrial meteorites have been found on the Moon and on Mars. Most meteoroids disintegrate when entering the Earth's atmosphere. Usually, five to ten a year are observed to fall and are subsequently recovered and made known to scientists. Few meteorites are large enough to create large impact craters . Instead, they typically arrive at
11360-516: The atmosphere can appear to be very bright, rivaling the sun in intensity, although most are far dimmer and may not even be noticed during the daytime. Various colors have been reported, including yellow, green, and red. Flashes and bursts of light can occur as the object breaks up. Explosions, detonations, and rumblings are often heard during meteorite falls, which can be caused by sonic booms as well as shock waves resulting from major fragmentation events. These sounds can be heard over wide areas, with
11502-433: The atmosphere, and do not make impact craters. Although such disruption events are uncommon, they can cause a considerable concussion to occur; the famed Tunguska event probably resulted from such an incident. Very large stony objects, hundreds of meters in diameter or more, weighing tens of millions of tons or more, can reach the surface and cause large craters but are very rare. Such events are generally so energetic that
11644-460: The atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate energy. It then becomes a meteor and forms a fireball , also known as a shooting star; astronomers call the brightest examples " bolides ". Once it settles on the larger body's surface, the meteor becomes a meteorite. Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an impact crater . Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transit
11786-480: The battle would continue forever, Ahura Mazda recited Ahuna Vairya, the most sacred hymn of Avesta and repelled him back. Having lost the battle, Angra Mainyu withdrew hastily into his dark world and remained there for another 3000 years. During this interlude, Ahura Mazda brings forth the entire creation. He creates the six Amesha Spentas or the Holy Immortals and several angel spirits or Yazatas . He brought forth
11928-775: The case of several meteorite fields, such as Dar al Gani , Dhofar, and others, favorable light-colored geology consisting of basic rocks (clays, dolomites , and limestones ) makes meteorites particularly easy to identify. Although meteorites had been sold commercially and collected by hobbyists for many decades, up to the time of the Saharan finds of the late 1980s and early 1990s, most meteorites were deposited in or purchased by museums and similar institutions where they were exhibited and made available for scientific research . The sudden availability of large numbers of meteorites that could be found with relative ease in places that were readily accessible (especially compared to Antarctica), led to
12070-773: The clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity . It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit ." While the concept of Heaven ( malkuth hashamaim מלכות השמים, the Kingdom of Heaven ) is much discussed in Christian thought, the Jewish concept of the afterlife , sometimes known as olam haba , the World-to-come,
12212-808: The company of their parents, spouses, and children. In Islam if one's good deeds outweigh one's sins then one may gain entrance to paradise only through God's mercy . Conversely, if one's sins outweigh their good deeds they are sent to hell. The more good deeds one has performed the higher the level of Jannah one is directed to. Quran verses which describe paradise include: 13:15, 18:31, 38:49–54, 35:33–35 and 52:17. The Quran refers to Jannah with different names: Al-Firdaws , Jannātu-′Adn ("Garden of Eden" or "Everlasting Gardens"), Jannatu-n-Na'īm ("Garden of Delight"), Jannatu-l-Ma'wa ("Garden of Refuge"), Dāru-s-Salām ("Abode of Peace"), Dāru-l-Muqāma ("Abode of Permanent Stay"), al-Muqāmu-l-Amin ("The Secure Station") and Jannātu-l-Khuld ("Garden of Immortality"). In
12354-615: The concept of original sin , and Muslims believe that all human beings are born pure. Children automatically go to paradise when they die, regardless of the religion of their parents. Paradise is described primarily in physical terms as a place where every wish is immediately fulfilled when asked. Islamic texts describe immortal life in Jannah as happy, without negative emotions . Those who dwell in Jannah are said to wear costly apparel, partake in exquisite banquets, and recline on couches inlaid with gold or precious stones. Inhabitants will rejoice in
12496-399: The course of clearing a field. The result was the discovery of more than 200 new meteorites, mostly stony types. In the late 1960s, Roosevelt County, New Mexico was found to be a particularly good place to find meteorites. After the discovery of a few meteorites in 1967, a public awareness campaign resulted in the finding of nearly 100 new specimens in the next few years, with many being by
12638-648: The creator deity, is the point of departure and conclusion. As farming people, trees play an important role in Serer religious cosmology and creation mythology. The Serer high priests and priestesses (the Saltigues ) chart the star Sirius , known as "Yoonir" in the Serer language and some of the Cangin languages . This star enables them to give accurate information as to when Serer farmers should start planting seeds among other things relevant to Serer lives and Serer country. "Yoonir"
12780-411: The destiny which lies in wait for the individual after death and its attitude to life after death has been expressed as follows: "For the future is inscrutable, and the accepted sources of knowledge, whether experience, or reason, or revelation, offer no clear guidance about what is to come. The only certainty is that each man must die – beyond that we can only guess." Similar to Jewish traditions such as
12922-525: The discovery of the Winona meteorite in a Native American stone-walled crypt. In medieval China during the Song dynasty , a meteorite strike event was recorded by Shen Kuo in 1064 AD near Changzhou . He reported "a loud noise that sounded like a thunder was heard in the sky; a giant star, almost like the moon, appeared in the southeast" and later finding the crater and the still-hot meteorite within, nearby. Two of
13064-451: The divine realm. Heaven and Earth were separated by their very nature; humans could see and be affected by elements of the lower heaven, such as stars and storms, but ordinary mortals could not go to Heaven because it was the abode of the gods alone. In the Epic of Gilgamesh , Gilgamesh says to Enkidu , "Who can go up to heaven, my friend? Only the gods dwell with Shamash forever." Instead, after
13206-624: The earlier ( Middle English ) heven (attested 1159); this in turn was developed from the previous Old English form heofon . By about 1000, heofon was being used in reference to the Christianized "place where God dwells", but originally, it had signified "sky, firmament" (e.g. in Beowulf , c. 725). The English term has cognates in the other Germanic languages : Old Saxon heƀan "sky, heaven" (hence also Middle Low German heven "sky"), Old Icelandic himinn , Gothic himins ; and those with
13348-534: The early Solar System and are by far the oldest extant material on Earth. Analysis of terrestrial weathering due to water, salt, oxygen, etc. is used to quantify the degree of alteration that a meteorite has experienced. Several qualitative weathering indices have been applied to Antarctic and desertic samples. The most commonly employed weathering scale, used for ordinary chondrites , ranges from W0 (pristine state) to W6 (heavy alteration). "Fossil" meteorites are sometimes discovered by geologists. They represent
13490-450: The extremely arid climate, there has been relatively little weathering or sedimentation on the surface for tens of thousands of years, allowing meteorites to accumulate without being buried or destroyed. The dark-colored meteorites can then be recognized among the very different looking limestone pebbles and rocks. In 1986–87, a German team installing a network of seismic stations while prospecting for oil discovered about 65 meteorites on
13632-424: The fireball or the impact of the object on the ground, or both. Therefore, despite the fact that meteorites fall with virtually equal probability everywhere on Earth, verified meteorite falls tend to be concentrated in areas with higher human population densities such as Europe, Japan, and northern India. A small number of meteorite falls have been observed with automated cameras and recovered following calculation of
13774-457: The first time, including ribose , suggesting that chemical processes on asteroids can produce some organic compounds fundamental to life, and supporting the notion of an RNA world prior to a DNA-based origin of life on Earth. In 2022, a Japanese group reported that they had found adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and uracil (U) inside carbon-rich meteorites. These compounds are building blocks of DNA and RNA ,
13916-430: The formal logics of metaphysical systems , such as Platonism , Neoplatonism , Gnosticism , Taoism , Kabbalah , Wuxing or the great chain of being . In Zoroastrian cosmology, universe is the manifestation of a cosmic conflict between Existence and non-existence, Good and evil and light and darkness which spans over a period of 12000 years. It is subdivided into four equal periods of 3000 years each. The first period
14058-523: The gospels record Jesus as having explained exactly what the phrase "Kingdom of God" means. The most likely explanation for this apparent omission is that the Kingdom of God was a commonly understood concept that required no explanation. According to Sanders and Casey, Jews in Judea during the early first century believed that God reigns eternally in Heaven, but many also believed that God would eventually establish his kingdom on earth as well. Because God's Kingdom
14200-561: The higher worlds of Light, called the Pleroma or "fullness", are radically distinct from the lower world of Matter. The emanation of the Pleroma and its godheads (called Aeons ) is described in detail in the various Gnostic tracts, as is the pre-creation crisis (a cosmic equivalent to the "fall" in Christian thought) from which the material world comes about, and the way that the divine spark can attain salvation. Serer religion posits that, Roog ,
14342-558: The highest heavens, He alone knows or perhaps He does not know." Time is conceptualized as a cyclic Yuga with trillions of years. In some models, Mount Meru plays a central role. Beyond its creation, Hindu cosmology posits divergent theories on the structure of the universe, from being 3 lokas to 12 lokas (worlds) which play a part in its theories about rebirth, samsara and karma . The complex cosmological speculations found in Hinduism and other Indian religions , states Bolton,
14484-542: The highly weathered remains of meteorites that fell to Earth in the remote past and were preserved in sedimentary deposits sufficiently well that they can be recognized through mineralogical and geochemical studies. The Thorsberg limestone quarry in Sweden has produced an anomalously large number – exceeding one hundred – fossil meteorites from the Ordovician , nearly all of which are highly weathered L-chondrites that still resemble
14626-451: The hot deserts of Australia . Several dozen meteorites had already been found in the Nullarbor region of Western and South Australia . Systematic searches between about 1971 and the present recovered more than 500 others, ~300 of which are currently well characterized. The meteorites can be found in this region because the land presents a flat, featureless, plain covered by limestone . In
14768-474: The idea of the resurrection of the dead is thought to be derived from Persian cosmology, although the later claim has been recently questioned. By the early first century AD, these two seemingly incompatible ideas were often conflated by Hebrew thinkers. The Hebrews also inherited from the Persians, Greeks, and Romans the idea that the human soul originates in the divine realm and seeks to return there. The idea that
14910-572: The impact point. The first of these was the Příbram meteorite , which fell in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) in 1959. In this case, two cameras used to photograph meteors captured images of the fireball. The images were used both to determine the location of the stones on the ground and, more significantly, to calculate for the first time an accurate orbit for a recovered meteorite. Following
15052-554: The impactor is completely destroyed, leaving no meteorites. (The first example of a stony meteorite found in association with a large impact crater, the Morokweng impact structure in South Africa, was reported in May 2006.) Several phenomena are well documented during witnessed meteorite falls too small to produce hypervelocity craters. The fireball that occurs as the meteoroid passes through
15194-549: The laboratory under outer space conditions, using starting chemicals, such as pyrimidine , found in meteorites. Pyrimidine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) may have been formed in red giants or in interstellar dust and gas clouds, according to the scientists. In 2018, researchers found that 4.5 billion-year-old meteorites found on Earth contained liquid water along with prebiotic complex organic substances that may be ingredients for life. In 2019, scientists reported detecting sugar molecules in meteorites for
15336-463: The meteoroid maintains a fixed orientation for some time, without tumbling, it may develop a conical "nose cone" or "heat shield" shape. As it decelerates, eventually the molten surface layer solidifies into a thin fusion crust, which on most meteorites is black (on some achondrites , the fusion crust may be very light-colored). On stony meteorites, the heat-affected zone is at most a few mm deep; in iron meteorites, which are more thermally conductive,
15478-437: The more notable meteorites recovered include Tissint and Northwest Africa 7034 . Tissint was the first witnessed Martian meteorite fall in more than fifty years; NWA 7034 is the oldest meteorite known to come from Mars, and is a unique water-bearing regolith breccia. In 1999, meteorite hunters discovered that the desert in southern and central Oman were also favorable for the collection of many specimens. The gravel plains in
15620-482: The next life has the potential to bring great joy. Bahá'u'lláh likened death to the process of birth. He explains: "The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother." The analogy to the womb in many ways summarizes the Baháʼí view of earthly existence: just as the womb constitutes an important place for a person's initial physical development,
15762-738: The oldest recorded meteorite falls in Europe are the Elbogen (1400) and Ensisheim (1492) meteorites. The German physicist, Ernst Florens Chladni , was the first to publish (in 1794) the idea that meteorites might be rocks that originated not from Earth, but from space. His booklet was "On the Origin of the Iron Masses Found by Pallas and Others Similar to it, and on Some Associated Natural Phenomena" . In this he compiled all available data on several meteorite finds and falls concluded that they must have their origins in outer space. The scientific community of
15904-406: The only materials from other planets ever recovered by humans. About 5% of meteorites that have been seen to fall are iron meteorites composed of iron- nickel alloys , such as kamacite and/or taenite . Most iron meteorites are thought to come from the cores of planetesimals that were once molten. As with the Earth, the denser metal separated from silicate material and sank toward the center of
16046-502: The orbit, magnitude, ground track , and other parameters over the southeast USA, which often detects a number of events each night. Until the twentieth century, only a few hundred meteorite finds had ever been discovered. More than 80% of these were iron and stony-iron meteorites, which are easily distinguished from local rocks. To this day, few stony meteorites are reported each year that can be considered to be "accidental" finds. The reason there are now more than 30,000 meteorite finds in
16188-537: The origin of the cosmos and is called the Nasadiya sukta : Neither being (sat) nor non-being was as yet. What was concealed? And where? And in whose protection?…Who really knows? Who can declare it? Whence was it born, and whence came this creation? The devas (gods) were born later than this world's creation, so who knows from where it came into existence? None can know from where creation has arisen, and whether he has or has not produced it. He who surveys it in
16330-591: The original meteorite under a petrographic microscope , but which have had their original material almost entirely replaced by terrestrial secondary mineralization. The extraterrestrial provenance was demonstrated in part through isotopic analysis of relict spinel grains, a mineral that is common in meteorites, is insoluble in water, and is able to persist chemically unchanged in the terrestrial weathering environment. Scientists believe that these meteorites, which have all also been found in Russia and China, all originated from
16472-481: The parent body of the Vesta Family , although this claim is disputed. Others derive from unidentified asteroids. Two small groups of achondrites are special, as they are younger and do not appear to come from the asteroid belt. One of these groups comes from the Moon, and includes rocks similar to those brought back to Earth by Apollo and Luna programs. The other group is almost certainly from Mars and constitutes
16614-399: The physical world provides for the development of the individual soul . Accordingly, Baháʼís view life as a preparatory stage, where one can develop and perfect those qualities which will be needed in the next life. The key to spiritual progress is to follow the path outlined by the current Manifestation of God , which Baháʼís believe is currently Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh wrote, "Know thou, of
16756-569: The planetesimal, forming its core. After the planetesimal solidified, it broke up in a collision with another planetesimal. Due to the low abundance of iron meteorites in collection areas such as Antarctica, where most of the meteoric material that has fallen can be recovered, it is possible that the percentage of iron-meteorite falls is lower than 5%. This would be explained by a recovery bias; laypeople are more likely to notice and recover solid masses of metal than most other meteorite types. The abundance of iron meteorites relative to total Antarctic finds
16898-445: The primeval Ox and the primeval man (Gayomart). Then he creates the material creation such as water, air, earth and the metals. The universe of the ancient Israelites was made up of a flat disc-shaped Earth floating on water, heaven above, underworld below. Humans inhabited Earth during life and the underworld after death, and the underworld was morally neutral; only in Hellenistic times (after c.330 BC) did Jews begin to adopt
17040-502: The righteous is conceived in Islam as Jannah ( Arabic : جنة "Garden [of Eden]" translated as "paradise"). Regarding Eden or paradise the Quran says, "The description of the Paradise promised to the righteous is that under it rivers flow; eternal is its fruit as well as its shade. That is the ˹ultimate˺ outcome for the righteous. But the outcome for the disbelievers is the Fire!" Islam rejects
17182-580: The rule of first the Persian Achaemenid Empire , then the Greek kingdoms of the Diadochi , and finally the Roman Empire . Their culture was profoundly influenced by those of the peoples who ruled them. Consequently, their views on existence after death were profoundly shaped by the ideas of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. The idea of the immortality of the soul is derived from Greek philosophy and
17324-465: The same meaning, but the author of the Gospel of Matthew changed the name "Kingdom of God" to "Kingdom of Heaven" in most instances because it was the more acceptable phrase in his own cultural and religious context in the late first century. Modern scholars agree that the Kingdom of God was an essential part of the teachings of the historical Jesus but there is no agreement on what this kingdom was. None of
17466-473: The six cosmological realms are interconnected, and everyone cycles life after life, through these realms, because of a combination of ignorance, desires and purposeful karma , or ethical and unethical actions. The Hindu cosmology, like the Buddhist and Jain cosmology, considers all existence as cyclic. With its ancient roots, Hindu texts propose and discuss numerous cosmological theories. Hindu culture accepts this diversity in cosmological ideas and has lacked
17608-530: The so-called "Northwest Africa" meteorites. When they get classified, they are named "Northwest Africa" (abbreviated NWA) followed by a number. It is generally accepted that NWA meteorites originate in Morocco, Algeria, Western Sahara, Mali, and possibly even further afield. Nearly all of these meteorites leave Africa through Morocco. Scores of important meteorites, including Lunar and Martian ones, have been discovered and made available to science via this route. A few of
17750-455: The structure of the metal may be affected by heat up to 1 centimetre (0.39 in) below the surface. Reports vary; some meteorites are reported to be "burning hot to the touch" upon landing, while others are alleged to have been cold enough to condense water and form a frost. Meteoroids that disintegrate in the atmosphere may fall as meteorite showers, which can range from only a few up to thousands of separate individuals. The area over which
17892-594: The subsequent resurrection. Around 1 CE, the Pharisees believed in an afterlife but the Sadducees did not. The Mishnah has many sayings about the World to Come , for example, "Rabbi Yaakov said: This world is like a lobby before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquet hall." Judaism holds that the righteous of all nations have a share in the World-to-come. According to Nicholas de Lange , Judaism offers no clear teaching about
18034-495: The surface at their terminal velocity and, at most, create a small pit. Large meteoroids may strike the earth with a significant fraction of their escape velocity (second cosmic velocity), leaving behind a hypervelocity impact crater. The kind of crater will depend on the size, composition, degree of fragmentation, and incoming angle of the impactor. The force of such collisions has the potential to cause widespread destruction. The most frequent hypervelocity cratering events on
18176-413: The tangible world (Heaven, Hell, or other) is referred to as the otherworld . At least in the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity , Islam , and some schools of Judaism , as well as Zoroastrianism , heaven is the realm of afterlife where good actions in the previous life are rewarded for eternity ( hell being the place where bad behavior is punished). The modern English word heaven is derived from
18318-635: The total number of well-described meteorites found in Algeria and Libya to more than 500. Meteorite markets came into existence in the late 1990s, especially in Morocco . This trade was driven by Western commercialization and an increasing number of collectors. The meteorites were supplied by nomads and local people who combed the deserts looking for specimens to sell. Many thousands of meteorites have been distributed in this way, most of which lack any information about how, when, or where they were discovered. These are
18460-469: The universe, including Earth's physical environment and human beings. The highest goal is to visualize the cosmos as a book of symbols for meditation and contemplation for spiritual upliftment or as a prison from which the human soul must escape to attain true freedom in the spiritual journey to God. In Buddhism , like other Indian religions, there is no ultimate beginning nor final end to the universe. It considers all existence as eternal, and believes there
18602-406: The universe, its creation, and forecasts or predictions on its future. The scope of religious cosmology is more inclusive than a strictly scientific cosmology ( physical cosmology and quantum cosmology ) in that religious cosmology is not limited to experiential observation, testing of hypotheses, and proposals of theories; for example, religious cosmology may explain why everything is the way it
18744-541: The use of the metal found in meteorites is also recorded in myths of many countries and cultures where the celestial source was often acknowledged, scientific documentation only began in the last few centuries. Meteorite falls may have been the source of cultish worship . The cult in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , possibly originated with the observation and recovery of
18886-478: The utmost extremity for all of God's creatures and heavenly knowledge. One interpretation of "heavens" is that all the stars and galaxies (including the Milky Way ) are part of the "first heaven", and "beyond that six still bigger worlds are there," which have yet to be discovered by scientists. According to Shi'ite sources, Ali mentioned the names of the seven heavens as below: Still an afterlife destination of
19028-406: The will of God, his or her tastes become attuned to enjoying spiritual pleasures as opposed to carnal desires. With this, an "embryonic soul" begins to take shape. Different tastes are said to be born in which a person given to carnal passions finds no enjoyment. For example, sacrifice of one's own rights over that of other's becomes enjoyable, or that forgiveness becomes second nature. In such a state
19170-496: The work of inaugurating the Kingdom of God and that his followers who wrote everything down expressed their belief he had done so, using first-century Jewish idioms, and that such events "did with evil and launch the project of new creation". In the teachings of the historical Jesus, people are expected to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God by living moral lives. Jesus's commands for his followers to adopt lifestyles of moral perfectionism are found in many passages throughout
19312-582: The world's collections started with the discovery by Harvey H. Nininger that meteorites are much more common on the surface of the Earth than was previously thought. Nininger's strategy was to search for meteorites in the Great Plains of the United States, where the land was largely cultivated and the soil contained few rocks. Between the late 1920s and the 1950s, he traveled across the region, educating local people about what meteorites looked like and what to do if they thought they had found one, for example, in
19454-572: Was also believed to transcend all other spirits and gods, with Confucius asserting, "He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can pray." Religious cosmology Religious cosmology is an explanation of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe from a religious perspective. This may include beliefs on origin in the form of a creation myth , subsequent evolution, current organizational form and nature, and eventual fate or destiny. There are various traditions in religion or religious mythology asserting how and why everything
19596-590: Was believed to be superior to any human kingdom, this meant that God would necessarily drive out the Romans, who ruled Judea, and establish his own direct rule over the Jewish people. This belief is referenced in the first petition of the Lord's Prayer , taught by Jesus to his disciples and recorded in Matthew and Luke 11:2: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Other scholars contend that Jesus' teaching of
19738-470: Was himself overthrown by his son, Kumarbi . Almost nothing is known of Bronze Age (pre-1200 BC) Canaanite views of heaven and the archaeological findings at Ugarit (destroyed c. 1200 BC) have not provided information. The first century Greek author Philo of Byblos may have preserved elements of Iron Age Phoenician religion in his Sanchuniathon . Zoroaster, the Zoroastrian prophet who introduced
19880-466: Was launched in 2007 and has collected a few meteorites. The combined efforts of all of these expeditions have produced more than 23,000 classified meteorite specimens since 1974, with thousands more that have not yet been classified. For more information see the article by Harvey (2003). At about the same time as meteorite concentrations were being discovered in the cold desert of Antarctica, collectors discovered that many meteorites could also be found in
20022-602: Was the abode of the Igigi . The highest and outermost dome of heaven was made of luludānītu stone and was personified as An , the god of the sky. The celestial bodies were equated with specific deities as well. The planet Venus was believed to be Inanna , the goddess of sex and war. The Sun was her brother Utu , the god of justice, and the Moon was their father Nanna . In ancient Near Eastern cultures in general and in Mesopotamia in particular, humans had little to no access to
20164-468: Was widely thought to have been built and established by Enlil himself. The ancient Hittites believed that some deities lived in Heaven while others lived in remote places on Earth, such as mountains, where humans had little access. In the Middle Hittite myths, Heaven is the abode of the gods. In the Song of Kumarbi , Alalu was king in Heaven for nine years before giving birth to his son, Anu . Anu
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