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Chapter 23GradH.1.23

De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae

Paul Carried to the Third Heaven

The Apostle Paul was carried off to the third heaven not by his own strength but by grace, and even he could not walk there on his own, so much less should we presume to ascend by our own effort.

Do you think Paul hadn't passed through these steps — Paul, who said he was carried off all the way to the third heaven?✦ But why 'carried off,' and not rather 'led'? The point is this: if so great an Apostle says he was carried off — where, not having been taught, he didn't know where he was going, and not having been led, he couldn't walk there on his own — then surely I, who am far lesser than Paul, should not presume that I can arrive at the third heaven by any strength of my own, by any effort of my own — lest I either trust in my own strength or despair of my own effort.1 For the person who is taught or led — precisely because he follows the one teaching or leading — is shown to be laboring, and has something of his own effort in it, so that he is drawn toward the appointed place or meaning in such a way that he can say: 'Not I, but the grace of God with me.'✦2

The Three Heavens and the Trinity

One who is carried does nothing in cooperation with the carrier; thus Paul could ascend to the first and second heavens by the help of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but only the Father, who neither descends nor is sent, carries the soul to the third heaven.

Whoever gets carried away, you see, does so not by their own strength but by leaning on another, as though they have no idea where they're being taken, and they do nothing at all to cooperate with the one carrying them. To the first or the middle heaven, then, the Apostle, having been led or helped, was able to ascend; but to reach the third, he had to be carried away.✦ For the Son is said to have descended for this purpose: that he might help those about to ascend to the first heaven, and the Holy Spirit to have been sent, who would lead them through to the second.✦✦ The Father, however, although he always cooperates with the Son and the Holy Spirit, is never said either to have descended from heaven or to have been sent to the earth.

Scripture on the Father in the Heavens

Scripture testifies that the earth is full of the Lord's mercy and the heavens of his glory, that the Son and the Holy Spirit are sent, but the Father is found only in the heavens, as the Lord's Prayer itself declares.

I certainly read that the earth is full of the Lord's mercy, and the heavens are full, and the earth is full of your glory — and many passages of this kind.✦ I read also concerning the Son: When the fullness of time came, God sent his Son; and the Son himself speaks of himself: The Spirit of the Lord has sent me.✦✦ And through the same Prophet: And now, he says, the Lord has sent me, and his Spirit. I read also concerning the Holy Spirit: The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name; and: When I have been taken up, I will send him to you — doubtless the Holy Spirit.✦✦ The Father, now — though he is nowhere absent — I nevertheless find nowhere except in the heavens, as in the Gospel: And my Father who is in the heavens; and in the prayer: Our Father, who are in the heavens.

Read the original Latin

Putas hos gradus Paulus non transierat, qui usque ad tertium caelum se raptum fuisse dicebat? Sed quare raptum, et non potius ductum? Ut videlicet si tantus Apostolus raptum se dicit fuisse, quo nec doctus scivit, nec ductus potuit ire, me, qui procul dubio minor sum Paulo, ad tertium caelum nulla mea virtute, nullo meo labore pervenire posse praesumam, ne vel de virtute confidam, vel pro labore diffidam. Qui enim docetur aut ducitur, ex hoc ipso quod docentem vel ducentem sequitur, laborare convincitur, et aliquid de se agit, ut ad destinatum vel locum vel sensum pertrahatur, ita ut dicere possit: Non autem ego, sed gratia Dei mecum.

Qui vero rapitur, non suis viribus, sed alienis innixus, tamquam nescius, quocumque portatur, nec cum alio aliquid operatur. Ad primum itaque sive ad medium caelum ductus vel adiutus Apostolus ascendere potuit; ad tertium autem ut perveniret, rapi oportuit. Nam et Filius ad hoc legitur descendisse, ut iuvaret ascensuros ad primum, et Spiritus Sanctus missus fuisse, qui perduceret ad secundum. Pater vero, licet Filio et Spiritui Sancto semper cooperetur, numquam tamen aut de caelo descendisse, aut ad terras legitur missus fuisse.

Lego certe, quod misericordia Domini plena est terra, et pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua, et multa huiuscemodi. Lego et Filio: Postquam venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum; et ipse Filius loquitur de se: Spiritus Domini misit me. Et per eumdem Prophetam: Et nunc, inquit, Dominus misit me et Spiritus eius. Lego et Spiritu Sancto: Paraclitus autem Spiritus Sanctus, quem mittet Pater in nomine meo, et: Cum assumptus fuero, mittam vobis eum, haud dubium quin Spiritum Sanctum. Patrem autem in sua persona, licet nusquam non sit, nusquam tamen invenio nisi in caelis, ut in Evangelio: Et Pater meus qui in caelis est, et in oratione: Pater noster, qui es in caelis.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩2Cor.12.2 — I know a person in Christ fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know; God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
  2. ↩1Cor.15.10 — But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain; but I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
  3. ↩2Cor.12.2 — I know a person in Christ fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know; God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
  4. ↩John.3.17 — For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
  5. ↩John.16.7 — Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
  6. ↩Ps.32.5;Ps.34.5 — I acknowledged my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not hide. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. Ps.34.5 — I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
  7. ↩Gal.4.4 — But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
  8. ↩Isa.48.16 — Draw near to me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time it came to be, I was there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.
  9. ↩John.14.26 — But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.
  10. ↩John.16.7 — Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Ut at the start of the sentence introduces the author's interpretive purpose: the point of the distinction between raptus and ductus is to humble the reader's self-reliance.
  2. 2 ↩The closing quotation 'Non autem ego, sed gratia Dei mecum' echoes 1 Corinthians 15:10. Status: candidate, pending Moses resolution.

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