“He saw the heavens opened.” ([Mark 1 : 10].)
“There came a voice from heaven saying.” ([Mark 1 : 11].)
“And lo, a voice from heaven saying.” ([Mat. 3 : 17].)
“For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.” ([Mat. 28 : 2].)
“And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven.” ([Luke 22 : 43].)
“Then came there a voice from heaven saying.” ([John 12 : 28].)
“I heard another voice from heaven saying.” ([John 18 : 4].)
All these and many more passages which might be cited go to show that these writers supposed heaven to be but a short distance away. There was a constant and familiar intercourse between the gods above and men below.
The Christian idea of heaven is but another form of the Greek notion of Mt. Olympus—it is not only borrowed, but vague and mythical in the extreme—it is childish and has much of the flavor of Santa Claus stories.