What do ancient myths and modern poetry have to do with Heaven?  More than you might think.  It's not that they actually describe Heaven.  But there's something about them that's worth considering.

That image to the right is probably a view lots of people have about both Heaven and Hell.  For this discussion, it's Heaven as a place in the sky.  Somewhere physically above Hell.  

And there's not much more.  Life in the clouds.

Unless we take some descriptions in the Bible literally.  Like this one:

Rev 21:9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Rev 21:15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

Is this to be taken literally?  With Revelation, that's not the norm.  It was after all, a vision of Heaven.  John did the best he could to describe what he saw, using things he knew about from his life.  But does that make it 100% accurate and correct?  Hardly.

Imagine someone from Jesus' time trying to describe life in our time.  Surely, we're not living in Heaven here in 2019.  But there's no way John, or anyone else, could accurately describe even "simple" things like televisions and cell phones.  Then go to 3D IMAX theaters, immersive virtual reality, rockets going into space.  There's just no way to describe it using  objects, words or even thoughts from 2,000 years ago.

ancient myths and modern poetry

So why are ancient myths and modern poetry even being brought up?  Surely, they don't describe Heaven, do they?

If they do, it's purely by accident.  Ancient myths try to tell us about the past.  In fact, they take us away from Christianity.  Again, it begs the question of why bring them up.

Poetry is about thoughts.  Thoughts on the way things are in this life.  Or maybe thoughts about the way things could be.  There's even poetry in the Bible.  However, lots of poetry takes us away from Christianity as well.  So why bring it up?

ancient myths, modern poetry and Heaven

Here's why I bring up ancient myths and poetry in relation to Heaven:

Wisdom From the Spirit

1Co 2:6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.