In
my post, Paul
and the "third heaven" in 2 Corinthians 12:2, I discussed some of
the evidence for the historical Latter-day Saint interpretation of this passage
as being biblical evidence for plural heavens, á la D&C 76 and 131. Such a
concept is also found in the pseudepigrapha:
Take him up into paradise, into the third
heaven, and leave him there until that fearful day of my reckoning, which I
will make in the world. (Apocalypse of Moses 37:5)
And then he spake to the archangel Michael:
"Depart into paradise in the third heaven and bring to me three garments
of fine Syrian linen." (Apocalypse of Moses 40:1)
James
Charlesworth, a leading biblical scholar, has a recent article that discusses, in
part, Paul’s visionary experience as recorded in this chapter which is rather
enlightening:
2
Corinthians and its Three-Dimensional Apocalyptic Eschatology
According to 2 Corinthians, Paul describes “revelations
of the Lord” that he has experienced. Note his description and caution:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago
was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do
not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise—whether
in the body or out of the body I do not know. God knows—and he heard things that
cannot be told, which man may not utter. (2 Cor. 12:2-4; RSV)
Paul is certain that he was taken up into the
third heaven, saw paradise, and heard things that can never be revealed. These
three concepts are developed within the Jewish apocalypses and apocalyptic
writings. Ascension dominates in many
apocalypses. Two Jewish apocalyptic compositions place paradise in the third heaven; the most important one is 2 Enoch. And within the apocalypses,
there are revealed insights that can
be communicated only to the elect ones, if at all. Paul could have known the
traditions that were later incorporated into 2 Enoch:
And the men took me from there. They brought
me up to the third heaven. And they placed me in the midst of Paradise. And
that place has an appearance of pleasantness that has never been seen. Every
tree was in full flower. Every fruit was ripe, every food was in yield
profusely; ever fragrance was pleasant. And the four rivers were flowing past
with gentle movement, with every kind of garden producing every kind of good
food. And the tree of life is in that place, under which the LORD takes a rest
when the LORD takes a walk in Paradise. And that tree is indescribable for pleasantness
of fragrance. (2 En. 8:1-3; recension
A58) (James H. Charlesworth, “Paul, the Jewish Apocalypses, and
Apocalyptic Eschatology” in Gabriele Boccaccini and Carlos A. Segovia, eds. Paul the Jew: Rereading the Apostle Paul as
a Figure of Second Temple Judaism [Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016],
83-105, here, p. 96)
Matthew
Goff, in the same volume, has this to offer on 2 Cor 12, which also touches
Paul’s boasting (cf. Joseph
Smith: Boastful Prophet?)
Second Corinthians resonates powerfully with Enochic
ascent traditions in other ways. Paul was taken up to paradise and the third
heaven (2 Cor. 12:2, 4). In 2 Enoch
paradise, the ultimate abode of the righteous, designed after the garden of
Eden, is likewise in the third heaven. In 3
Enoch, the visionary who journeys to heaven is not Enoch, but Rabbi
Ishmael. He speaks with Enoch/Metatron in heaven. He reveals divine knowledge
to the rabbi. Ishmael’s goal is “to behold the vision of the chariot” (3 En. 1:1). 3 Enoch is an important example of merkabah mysticism, a late antique phenomenon in the context of
which rabbis devised various ecstatic techniques one could use to obtain a
vision of the “chariot,” a reference to God seated upon his heavenly throne.
Paul may have used some of these practices to attain the vision mentioned in 2
Corinthians 12 . . . Paul’s assertion about his vision can also be helpfully
interpreted in relation to ancient Jewish accounts of heavenly ascents (2 Cor.
12:6). One of the Dead Sea Scrolls, entitled the Self-Glorification Hymn (4Q491c), contains an account of someone
claiming to have had some sort of experience in heaven that transformed him. He
asserts that he is now among the angels. He boasts about his transformed
status. He asks “Who is comparable to me in my glory?” (line 8) Moreover, the
speaker claims that because of this experience, he is able to endure sorrow and
suffering as no one else can (line 9).
Paul has a lot to be modest about. Moreover,
he asserts that he was given a thorn in the flesh and torments by Satan, so
that he may not become too elated (verse 7). He experiences weakness and
hardships which he gladly boasts about (verses 11-12). Such boasting makes
sense in the context of his view, common throughout his letters, that the
heavenly world is radically distinguished from the worldly plane of existence.
Weakness, like foolishness, for Paul while bad from a conventional, or one
could say “worldly” perspective, become emblems of affinity with heaven (for
example, 1 Cor. 1:25-27). Weakness and hardship are, in the mindset of Paul,
worthy of boasting. And they, so understood, are not dissimilar to ascent
visions, since both signify affinity with the heavenly realm. Paul turns to
both his suffering and his ascent to bolster his authority among the
Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:7; 12:11). The Self-Glorification
Hymn suggests Paul’s combination of these two themes of suffering and
ascension is not simply a topos unique to his thought or social situation. It
is compatible with how other Jews in antiquity described their visions of
heavenly ascent. (Matthew Goff, “Heavenly Mysteries and Otherwordly Journeys
Interpreting 1 and 2 Corinthians in Relation to Jewish Apocalypticism” in
Boaccini and Segovia, eds. Paul the Jew,
pp. 133-48, here, pp. 142-144)
