Pearly Gates

'The Pearly Gates is a name for the gateway to Heaven in some Christian traditions. It is inspired by Revelation 21:21. This describes the New Jerusalem having twelve gates. Each gate would have a pearl.^[1] In popular culture, these gates are imagined as large gates in the clouds. The gates would be guarded by Saint Peter. People who are not fit to go into heaven would be sent into Hell.^[2]

Johann Baptist Zimmermann (1680-1758): Ianua coeli

Hugo Simberg: The Peasant and Death at the Gates of Heaven and Hell (1897)

Fresco
"The Last Judgement" by Michelangelo (16th century)

References

↑ Lang, J. Stephen (2003). "59: Imagine the Size of Those Oysters". What the Good Book Didn't Say: Popular Myths and Misconceptions About the Bible. Citadel Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780806524603.
↑ Ferguson, Everett (1996). The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 9780802841896. The passage moves from a building, to gates, to keys. A popular image has Peter as the doorkeeper of heaven, deciding admission through the pearly gates to each person at death. This understanding of Peter goes back to an early medieval interpretation that identified Peter with a figure in Germanic mythology who was the porter of heaven.

[1] Lang, J. Stephen (2003). "59: Imagine the Size of Those Oysters". What the Good Book Didn't Say: Popular Myths and Misconceptions About the Bible. Citadel Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780806524603.

[2] Ferguson, Everett (1996). The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 9780802841896. The passage moves from a building, to gates, to keys. A popular image has Peter as the doorkeeper of heaven, deciding admission through the pearly gates to each person at death. This understanding of Peter goes back to an early medieval interpretation that identified Peter with a figure in Germanic mythology who was the porter of heaven.

[1]

[2]

Pearly Gates

References

Content Disclaimer