what was paul talking about......?

Question

in Corinthians 12:2
"i knew a man in Christ..... such an one caught up to the third heaven"..... what the crap is the third heaven?????

Answer 1

There are 3 degrees of glory the 3rd heaven being the lowest degree.
Heavenly Father resides in the 1st or highest degree of glory... also known as the Celestial Kingdom, this is like the glory of the sun.
The 2nd degree, or heaven, is known as the Terrestrial Kingdom, this is like the glory of the moon.
The 3rd degree, or heaven is known as the Telestial Kingdom, this is like the glory of the stars.

1 Cor. 15: 39-41
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

John 14: 2
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Answer 2

In the Bible, the word "heaven" is used for three different places. The first "heaven" is what we would think of as the atmosphere around the earth. The second "heaven" is "outer space", where the stars, etc are located. The third heaven is the place where God the Father dwells that is seen in Revelation and other places in the Bible.

It appears that the "man in Christ" (who was actually Paul himself) had a vision similar to the book of Revelation in which he saw the future of the world, and what things are like in heaven. But unlike John, Paul was not permitted to write about them.

Answer 3

It is true that many believe, according to early rabbinic teachings, that heaven exists in levels, even going up to seven. But the scriptures do not speak of heaven in this manner. Seems to be an indication of the superlative degree of the rapture in which Paul saw his vision. It's a means of communicating the intensity. I suspect it's nothing more than that.

Hannah J Paul

Answer 4

He is poetically talking about himself, he even later says "I don't know if it was a vision or real" or something like that.

The Greeks had three words for heaven (and his epistle was written in Greek). The first was the sky, where the birds and such are. The second is outer space where the stars are. The third is the spiritual heavenly realm where the spirits (or God) resides.

Answer 5

This terminology was mostly used by gnostics, but it references different levels of spiritual enlightenment/knowledge. In the case of Paul he probably meant the highest level. Christian sects don't acknowledge more than three stages of "conversion." Some only one or two. You're right, it has been reduced over time into meaningless crap - having nothing to do with ego transcendence.

Answer 6

I have in front of me four versions of the Bible King James Amplified, New American, and New international all of them say he was caught up into paradise. 2 Corinthains 12 verses 1-4 it's and expression meaning that God had given this man a vision of heaven.
click here for an example http://egwdatabase.whiteestate.org/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates$fn=default.htm$vid=default

Answer 7

It's kinda like getting the third base....or 7 minutes in Heaven...ya know that game people used to play back in the day.

Answer 8

Many Apostles and people think that Heaven has 7 levels and the way you lived life for Christ you go to one of them.
God Bless

Answer 9

The Third Heaven is a delusion on top of another delusion.

Answer 10

1st heaven: The blue sky, atmosphere.
2nd heaven: The black sky, the space, where the moon, planets and stars are located.
3rd heaven: Where God's throne is located.