Would you be so kind as to point me to the scripture that backs up the above?
I have never read nor found in the Bible (NIV, KJV for example) that there are different "levels" of Heaven, nor many "mansions."
In John 13 to 17 Jesus says: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my father's house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (Jn.14:1-4 NIV)
If we are truly to be where Jesus is in Heaven, then how would we be so if we are on different "levels?" That simply fails the test of logic and what Jesus actually said.
I’ll try but I suspect it won’t satisfy you. In John 14:2, KJV, it says mansions which apparently the NIV translates as rooms. See also 1 Cor. 15:40-41, 2 Cor. 12:2-4. These are oblique references and will not satisfy you, I know. Let me make it clear that I don’t think Heaven is bound by logic, else all of us would be forever left in the grave. That said, what defies logic is that there are only two places in which to spend eternity: burning in a fiery pit or hanging around with the choir. What explains the reference to mansions (or rooms) except a separation among people in Heaven. It’s not like we would require privacy up there. Writers have no problem thinking of different levels or cicles of Hell but for some reason they cannot envision different levels of Heaven. Yet why would someone like Mother Teresa merit only the same reward as someone who did nothing except manage to avoid Hell? I know that goes against the grace and works debate (and I won’t attempt to get into that) but why would the Lord put us through the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune here on earth merely to lump everyone into a vague heavenly national preserve for eternity. We believe we come here to learn and progress and to then participate with the Lord in His creations as He deems us ready to do so. That means the distinctions in Heaven remain. I know that is a radical concept and I don’t expect you to believe it based on the obscure references in the Bible.
I appreciate your questions and wish I could answer it better. I am not a professional theologian nor do I have any kind of divinity degree by which to convince you. I don’t even know how to post references. And my answer is necessarily limited to our common reference, which is the Bible. Because our church is graced by continuing revelation and more ancient and modern records, I have a different picture and understanding of heaven given through those Biblical references which you would not accept.
Neither logic nor science can explain God. You either have to puzzle it out with personal revelation from the Holy Ghost or you have to believe that religion is absolutely crazy. I know that sounds like a cop out and I don’t mean it way. To discuss it fully would require your being open to new revelations and most Christians I know believe God shut His mouth sometime around 100 AD and has not spoken since. Therefore, none of the information He has given since that time would hold the slightest water with you.