Will We See More Colors in Heaven?

Kaizah, age 14, asked,

In heaven will we be able to see colors we can’t see now?

What a great question!

First, let’s think a little bit about what colors are and how we perceive them. Light has wavelengths, and when light hits an object, some wavelengths are absorbed, and some bounce off the object and hit our eyes. The wavelengths of light that hit our eyes determine the color that we perceive.

Some wavelengths are in the window of visible light that we perceive as color, but there are wavelengths outside that window that we don’t see. Light with a longer wavelength than we can see is called infrared radiation, and light with a shorter wavelength is called ultraviolet radiation. While we can’t see these as colors, some animals can! Snakes, frogs, and some species of fish can see infrared radiation, and bees and some birds can see ultraviolet radiation.

Also, the language we use to identify colors affects how we perceive color. For instance, one person may just see all blues as “blue,” while another may differentiate between cyan, cornflower, navy, royal, and baby blue. Anyone can learn to perceive more shades of color, especially if they have names for those colors. In heaven, we’ll have ideal intellect and vocabulary for color, which will probably enhance our ability to perceive it!

We’ll have perfect bodies—including perfect vision.

We know that when we’re resurrected, we’ll have perfect bodies—including perfect vision. Will that include the ability to perceive colors in infrared and ultraviolet? We can’t be sure, but we can look forward to indescribably beautiful sights and especially to seeing the Lord!

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