Saturday, December 24, 2022

David M. Moffitt: Paul and the Author of Hebrews "Clearly" Believed in Multiple Heavens

  

In addition to Hebrews 9:24, two other uses of ουρανος in the singular form occur in Hebrews (11:12 and 12:26). Both of these latter instances of the term occur, however, in the context of biblical allusions. The singular form of the word at these points most likely reflects the direct influence of the versions of the biblical passages as the author knows them. This recognition is nevertheless important because it highlights the fact that the dependence of someone, like the author, on a Greek version of Jewish Scriptures might allow them to use the word “heaven” in both plural and singular forms without necessarily implying that the change in number entails any change in the reality to which they assume the term refers.

 

In fact, one commonly finds precisely this switching between the plural and the singular forms of the word in apocalyptically oriented early Jewish and Christian texts written in Greek. Thus Paul, who clearly believes in at least three heavens (2 Cor. 12:2), often refers to heaven in the singular (e.g., Rom. 1:18; 10:6; 1 Cor. 15:47; Gal. 1:8). He can even use ουρανος in the singular and plural forms back-to-back in 2 Corinthians 5:1-2 with apparent reference to the same reality (cf. 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:16). This variation between forms stands in marked contrast in nonapocalyptic Jewish authors such as Philo and Josephus. The latter hold the view that the cosmos is God’s temple complex—with heaven itself being the cosmic sanctuary/temple. In keeping with this cosmology, both of these authors use the singular ουρανος consistently throughout their writings. This usage agrees with Greek philosophical speculation about the nature of the cosmos, where the singular form is by far the norm.

 

Given that Hebrews’ use of the plural and singular form of ουρανος fits with the practice of others of the same time period who believed in multiple heavens, the use of the singular in 9:24 cannot bear the weight that MacRae tries to place upon it. More plausible is the interpretation advanced by Otfried Hofius that “heaven itself” in 9:24 refers to the highest of the heavens, the place where the heavenly holy of holies of the tabernacle/temple was taught to be located (see., e.g., T. Levi 5:1). That Jesus has entered the highest heaven coheres well with the language of Jesus passing “through the heavens” (4:14) and being now higher “than the heavens” (7:26) while still also being “in the heavens” (8:1). Jesus, that is, has not left the heavens, as one might imagine someone in Philo’s or Plato’s universe having to do were that person above to be absorbed into the ultimate realm of the divine that exists outside the cosmos. Instead, Jesus has been invited to ascend to the highest place in the heavens, the place above all other heavens, where the heavenly holy of holies and the heavenly throne of God are. (David M. Moffitt, Rethinking the Atonement: New Perspectives on Jesus’s Death, Resurrection, and Ascension [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2022], 129-31, emphasis in bold added)

 

In a footnote to the above, Moffitt notes that:

 

I have asserted elsewhere (Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection, 231n36) that the author distinguishes between created heavens and uncreated heavens. I am no longer confident that this view is correct. The evidence presented here—and particularly the fact that the author speaks of the “heavens” being changed (Heb. 1:10-11) and of the “heaven” being shaken (12:26)—seems to suggest instead that he is merely adopting biblical language and assuming that the plural and singular forms are interchangeable ways of referring to the same reality. There are things that are “unshakeable” and that “remain” after the final shaking (12:27), but such distinctions do not correlate neatly in Hebrews with a “heaven” and “earth” dualism. It seems to be that just as some of the heavenly things, like the earthly things, require purification (9:23), so also at least some of the heavenly things, like the earthly things, will be subject to the final, eschatological transformation (1:10-11; 12:26). (Ibid., 130 n. 33)