Most individuals have their own preconceived notion of how Heaven is structured due to their religious influences. There are even some that do not believe that Heaven exists at all. However, in the Christian community it is more often than not to be depicted as a one-level community where God and Jesus are two of the extremely few that are placed above everyone else. The people that are fortunate enough to make it into Heaven are all equal in most of the aspects of their newly found lives in Heaven. They sing and worship God together on the same playing field and are graced to be in the presence of the One True God. However, in Dante’s Paradise he lays out Heaven in a different layered system, just as he did with Inferno and Purgatory. In layering Heaven it can be misconstrued that there is some form of a ranking system present in Heaven. Dante’s idea of how Heaven is structured could potentially be seen as a hierarchy. Although Dante depicts Heaven in levels throughout the book, Heaven has no hierarchy present due to the contentment of its inhabitants, pagans are present in heaven, and everyone in Heaven still experiences God’s love.
In order to abolish the idea of a hierarchy in Dante’s Paradise it first needs to be addressed that all of the souls in Heaven are content with their placement in Paradise. None of the souls try to wonder what is beyond them in the next sphere. Piccarda states to Dante that she is “blest with all the blest who dwell within the slowest of the spheres” and that the souls “rejoice and rest” in their sphere of Heaven (Paradise 3: 27). She is showing Dante that the souls that occupy that sphere are not wondering what is beyond them. They are aware that what they did on earth is the reason they are placed in the farthest sphere away from where God is. Piccarda states that “ because we were neglectful in our vows” is the reason they inhabit that sphere. They take responsibility for their actions on earth and do not try to fight their positioning in Paradise. Instead they rejoice and praise God for allowing them into Heaven in the first place. If the souls ever tried to go against their placing in Paradise then disharmony would fall over Heaven and God would see to it that it was extinguished at its source, bringing harmony back.
The assumption that there is a hierarchy in Heaven can also be disproved by God allowing for pagans to pass into Paradise. God shows them compassion and rewards them for living a holy life without knowing Him at all. Dante states that God will have the people that “never knew of Christ” closer to Him on “judgment day” than those who cried “Christ, Christ” (Paradise 19:207). God allows these people into Heaven, because they chose to live a just life on their own volition. They were not like the others who say they are a follower of Christ but have nothing to show for it. Some individuals may be apprehensive to the thought of a nonbeliever to be in Heaven, but God reserves the right to pardon anyone He feels deserves it. Dante states that “Heaven loves a just king” (Paradise 20:217). God bases the entire structure of Heaven based off of what an individual does on earth. Therefore if the king on earth was just and treated his subjects well, then he will have a place in Heaven with God; no matter if he is a believer or not. Humans need to make sure to not try and to place God in a box, because they will never be able to understand God and His reasoning behind choosing who he graces the gift of Heaven to.
Every part of heaven still experiences God’s love, but the way it is seen through each sphere is different. The perception of God’s love by the souls through the sphere is what changes. Dante presents an illustration of mirrors and light refraction in order to drive the idea that the “more” distance there is between the souls and God the more “weak” the ray seems to be as it bounces off the mirrors (Paradise 2:19). The physics concept of refraction allows an illustrative view on how the perception of God’s love looks meniscal the farther you are from the source of the love. God's love can be seen radiating out throughout Heaven and it never changes. Dante states that there is “equal intensity in all the rays” (Paradise 2:19) when they are hitting the mirrors. If God’s love is the ray then it is equal in strength when it hits the last sphere as it was when His love hits the first sphere. The illustration shows that God’s love is the same and does not differ when it is permeating through Paradise.
Even though there are levels in Heaven, Dante’s view of the equality in Heaven is the same as it is depicted in the religion of Christianity. There is no first, second, or third place differentiation in Heaven. Everyone is still rewarded when they get into Heaven with the everlasting peace granted to them by God. Being placed in the different spheres in Heaven is based on what an individual does on earth, but they are still loved by God equally. He does not push the circles farther away from Him around like an ugly stepchild. The way He structured Heaven allows for the audience to understand that God is never changing. The only difference is their perception on how much of God’s love they see. The farther away an individual soul is from where God is housed in Heaven, the more it seems like God is not as focused on the soul. When in reality God’s love permeates through all of Heaven and every soul is able to experience it, even if their perception of God’s love is limited.
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