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In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul the Apostle writes: "I know a person 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. Also, I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard things that ...
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven. [2] "I know a man in Christ": refers to Paul himself, as he speaks in the first person in 2 Corinthians 12:7. Paul speaks in the third person to show his ...
The author was likely influenced by 2 Corinthians 12, where Paul says he knew of a man who went to the third heaven; the work presumes this man was Paul himself, and expands the journey to all of the layers of heaven.
The celestial kingdom is taught as being the highest of the three degrees of glory. It is thought by the LDS Church to be the "third heaven" referred to by the apostle Paul in the King James Version of 2 Corinthians 12:2 and it is said to correspond to the "celestial bodies" and "glory of the sun" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:40–41. [19]
The author was likely familiar with the Pauline epistles, most clearly 2 Corinthians due to its mention of someone visiting the third heaven, but also other letters of Paul. Some of the ideas, such as Paul's idea of a purified "body" ( soma ) for the righteous, clearly influence the Apocalypse.
During the end times, these heavens will collapse on each and the heaven of Yaldabaoth will split in two, causing its stars to fall upon the Earth, therefore causing it to sink into the Abyss. [33] In the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul, the apostle Paul ascends through the lower Seven Heavens. At the seventh heaven, he meets an old man who opens the ...
[6] [7] [8] Other scholars such as B. J. Oropeza, M. David Litwa, and Paula R. Gooder suggest that the thorn refers to the messenger of Satan who harmed Paul during his third heaven experience. [9] [10] [11] The "thorn" is most commonly interpreted in relation to persecutions or hardships Paul faced. Other interpretations include:
English Translation of the Third Epistle to the Corinthians; The full text of Third Epistle to the Corinthians at Wikisource, translation by M. R. James in the 1924 book The Apocryphal New Testament; Hovhanessian, Vahan. Third Corinthians: Reclaiming Paul for Christian Orthodoxy. Peter Lang Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-8204-4527-4