Commenting on Eph 4:10, Marius Victorinus wrote the following:
Sed ascendit super omnes caelos. Ita nihil vacuum Christo
est, si quidem et descendit in inferiora terrae et ascendit super caelos. Quos
caelos multi tres dicunt, alii ptures, verum mihi sententia est tres esse, si
quidem et ipse Paulus raptum se dicit super tertium caelum. Et sic etiam quidam
docent supra terram esse aquas, quasi primum caelum, deinde firmamen torn ipsum
quod appellatur caelum, deinde rursus alias aquas, tertium caelum; de quo
tractatu iam multa diximus in praeterito. Verum quid interest? Christus qui
ascendit, super omnes caelos ascendit. Illic enim iam aeternitas est et vita
Ula incorruptibilis et omnia ex spiritu viventia. Haec autem alio modo se
habebant usque in descensionem Christi; quae omnia, misterio gesto, post
passionem Christi et ascensionem salutem acceperunt et perfecta sunt. (Marii Victorini Opera, Pars II: Opera Exegetica [Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum Editum Consilio Et
Impensis Academiae Scientiarum Austricae LXXXIII, Pars 2; Vindobonae:
Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1986], 61-62)
but
he ascended above all the heavens. Thus nothing is devoid of Christ -
if indeed he descended to the lower regions of the earth and has
ascended above the heavens. Many say there are three heavens, and others
say more; but really, my opinion is that there are three - if indeed Paul also
says that he himself was caught up above the third heaven. In this way too do
certain people teach that there are waters over the earth (a first heaven, as
it were), and then the firmament (which is itself called ’heaven’), and then
again other waters, a third heaven. (I have already said much about this
issue in the past.) Really, what does it matter? Christ, who has ascended,
ascended above all the heavens. For There is now eternity, this incorruptible
life, and all things are living from the Spirit. But all these beings were
situated in another way until the descent of Christ. After the passion and
ascension of Christ - the Mystery having been carried through - all these
beings took up salvation and have been perfected. (Stephen A. Cooper, Metaphysics
and Morals in Marius Victorinus’ Commentary on the Letter to the Ephesians [PhD
Dissertation; Columbia University, 1992], 208)
