Heaven

The Books of Heaven

Is there a heavenly library? Are there angelic librarians? Is there a heavenly scriptorium?

Seth Vandebrooke

31 May 2025 — 6 min read

Did you know heaven has a library? Well, the word library may or may not be accurate, but they need to put the books of heaven somewhere. If you are a Christian of any kind, you have likely heard of the book of life, but you may or may not have heard of the various other books that the Bible mentions as being in heaven. Let’s look at each of them and see what’s going on up there.

The book of life / the living

Both the Old and New Testament refer to the book of life, or book of the living.

Angel Manuel Rodriguez from the Biblical Research Institute wrote in his paper The Heavenly Books of Life and of Human Deeds, “The Bible refers quite often to the existence of a heavenly register in which the names of those who belong to the Lord are recorded. This book is located in heaven (Luke 10:20) and is called “Your [God’s] book, which you have written” (Exod 32:32), the “book of life” (Ps 69:28; Phil 4:3), and the “book of the Lamb” (Rev 17:8). It is also referred to as “the book” (Dan 12:1).”^[1]

Let’s take a look at some of these passages and see what Scripture says about this mysterious book of remarkable length.

In Revelation 20, we see that it is one of the books used to judge humanity in the end is the book of life.

Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

The book of life is only one of many in this scene, which we will address later on.

The book of life is also referred to as the book of the living in Psalm 69:28, which most scholars agree is the same artifact.^[1:1]

Psalm 69:28
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

This act of blotting people out of the book of the living may be a double entendre, meaning both to kill and remove the possibility of them being welcome into paradise with God. This concept is mentioned earlier in Exodus 32, where the authorship of the book of life is ascribed to God Himself.

Exodus 32:32
But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”

In Revelation, it says the book of life belongs to Jesus, “the Lamb who was slain.”

Revelation 13:8
and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Jesus Himself confirms that the names of those who are saved are written down in heaven.

Luke 10:20
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Paul seemed to understand this concept and referred to it as the book of life.

Philippians 4:3
Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Psalm 56 seems to claim that more than simply a list of names is found in this book.

Psalm 56:8
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?

Be it metaphorical or literal, this Psalm creates a powerful image of the deep care of God the Father for His children through the illustration of Him taking an account of our tears and misfortunes.

The book(s) of deeds

As Rodriguez points out, “Besides the book of life, there are biblical references to other heavenly “books” in which are recorded the deeds of human beings. Daniel mentions “books” that are opened during the eschatological judgment (7:10), and Revelation refers to these same “books” (20:12).”^[1:2]

Daniel 7:10
10 A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

The fact that our every deed is recorded is a powerful encouragement to take heed and be watchful what we do, for an account is taken and will be given.

The book of remembrance

Malachi 3:16
Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name.

Notice how it says that the book was written before the Lord. This implies that someone else was perhaps writing the book, possibly an angel, or perhaps Jesus Himself. Are there angelic scribes? Maybe. Scripture doesn’t clearly say, but one could imagine God, as King over all, taking pleasure in those who feared and served Him well and saying “Someone write that down!”

The book of Truth

Daniel 10:21
But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.

It’s possible that this was simply a metaphoric way to say something was indeed true, but given the prevalence of books in heaven it is equally possible that such truths are written down somewhere. Clearly, everything that we have seen thus far being written down was true, so perhaps the book of truth refers to one already mentioned.

Birthday book?

Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

This, again, might be referring to a previously addressed book, but it is clear that somewhere the days of our lives were written down before they came to be. This means it is a prophetic book of our lives or at least the number of days we will live. Which may or may not be related to Psalm 87, where it says our birthplace is written down as well.

Psalm 87:5–7
And of Zion it shall be said,
“This one and that one were born in her”;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
The Lord records as he registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah
Singers and dancers alike say,
“All my springs are in you.”

On one hand it would make sense if these things were simply included in the book of life, but the function does appear to be different. When one is blotted out of the book of life, it means they are not going to receive eternal life. That would be strange if it included blotting out their birthday, lifespan, and place of birth. Thus, given the functional differences, it is plausible that this is a different book entirely.

Closing Questions

Interesting questions

Is there a heavenly library?
Are there angelic librarians?
Are there angelic scribes?
Is there a heavenly scriptorium?
What are the books made of?
What is being used to write these books?
- Is it hand written or otherwise produced?
- Are there pens, printers, or a printing press?
- What is used for ink?
Is the word “book” an oversimplification of what it actually is?
Will we ever be able to read them ourselves?
- Heavenly book club?
Will we be able to write our own books in heaven?
Is there a copy of the Bible in heaven?
- After all, Christ said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matt 24:35). If heaven and earth are destroyed but we aren’t, perhaps certain items in heaven will survive as well, such as the New Jerusalem which Christ said is already being built (John 14:3-10, Revelation 22:2).

I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I can’t wait to find out!