Snatched into Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:1–10): Paul's heavenly journey in the context of early Chri...

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" Snatched into Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:1–10): Paul's heavenly journey in the context of early Christian experience "
James B. Wallace L. T. Johnson

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Language of Document	:	English
Record Number	:	55474
Doc. No	:	TL25428
Call number	:	‭3310299‬
Main Entry	:	James B. Wallace
Title & Author	:	Snatched into Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:1–10): Paul's heavenly journey in the context of early Christian experience\ James B. Wallace
College	:	Emory University
Date	:	2008
Degree	:	Ph.D.
student score	:	2008
Page No	:	458
Abstract	:	This dissertation explores the role of extraordinary religious experience in Pauline Christianity through a study of Paul's claim to have been snatched into the third heaven and Paradise only to suffer later from a "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). Many previous interpreters have argued that Paul describes his ascent in order to undermine the importance of such experiences, perhaps even in order to parody them. Other interpreters acknowledge the private importance of such experiences to Paul but maintain that Paul describes his ascent only to trump rival missionaries in Corinth. This project attempts to move beyond these interpretations by exploring the relationship between the experiences recounted in the passage and by examining the role Paul ascribes to extraordinary religious experiences within Christian communities. After an initial reading of the passage and a review of scholarship in the first chapter, the second and third chapters explore ascent to heaven in the Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian worlds in order to provide a background and point of comparison for Paul. The fourth chapter explores other passages in which Paul describes extraordinary religious experiences that he and/or his communities have undergone. The analysis demonstrates that immediate encounters with the divine world were experiences Paul expected not only himself but also other Christians to have undergone. These experiences can serve as catalysts of the desire for Christ that yields labor on behalf of Christ. Thus, Paul frequently connects such extraordinary experiences with the necessity of Christ-like suffering in order to develop the divine grace or power experienced in these visions and revelations. Chapter five offers in-depth analysis of 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 in its context. Paul seeks to explain how his apparent weakness is the source of divine power. As in similar passages examined in the chapter four, Paul's ascent to heaven is an immediate encounter with Christ that defies formulation in human language. This gift must be developed through Christ-like suffering in order for divine power to show forth to others. Thus, Paul does not belittle the ascent itself any more than he does his Damascus experience. Nonetheless, the presentation of the ascent to heaven followed by reception of "the thorn in the flesh" serves as an implicit warning to the Corinthians that their experiences of Christ and the Spirit must be brought to fruition through service and self-sacrifice. The sixth chapter analyzes the interpretations of Paul's ascent in the works of four pre-modern theologians in the Eastern Christian tradition. This investigation lends support and theological depth to the foregoing analysis. While these interpreters are often aware of the dangers of extraordinary religious experience, they nonetheless recognize that direct encounter with the divine world through visionary experiences, such as Paul's ascent, provide the foundation for self-transcendence by drawing human beings out of their immediate concerns and selfish desires.
Subject	:	Philosophy, religion and theology; Ascent to heaven; Christian; Corinthians; Corinthians 2; Ecstasy; Paul, the Apostle, Saint; Religious experience; Visions; Religious history; Biblical studies; Theology; 0321:Biblical studies; 0320:Religious history; 0469:Theology
Added Entry	:	L. T. Johnson
Added Entry	:	Emory University