The Apocalypse of Paul

In a well-known passage from 2 Corinthians 12, Paul claims that he had once been caught up into heaven to behold a vision of things that could not be uttered. A later Christian nonetheless decided to give utterance to these things, and the present apocalypse is the result. The book describes Paul’s ascent into heaven to receive a revelation concerning the fate of individual souls after death. He observes souls that leave their bodies to appear before God, who knows every detail about their lives and metes out rewards or punishments accordingly. The vision continues with a narrative description of Paradise and a graphic portrayal of the torments of the damned. These parallel in many ways those found in the Apocalypse of Peter (p. 280), which the pseudonymous author—claiming to be Paul—appears to have used as a source. In its present form, the Apocalypse of Paul dates from the end of the fourth century, but it contains materials that were composed earlier, as they are alluded to by the proto-orthodox church father Origen in the early third century. The book became quite popular in Western Christianity, and was responsible for propagating many of the wide-spread notions of heaven and hell that have come down even till today. The excerpts here are often thought to be among the older portions of the book.

In the consulship of Theodosius Augustus the Younger and Cynegius, a certain nobleman was then living in Tarsus, in the house which was that of Saint Paul; an angel appeared in the night and revealed it to him, saying that he should open the foundations of the house and

should publish what he found, but he thought that these things were dreams.

But the angel coming for the third time beat him and forced him to open the foundation. And digging he found a marble box, inscribed on the

Translation by J. K. Elliott, Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993) 620; 624–27; 629; 631; 633–35; used with permission.

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sides; there was the revelation of Saint Paul, and his shoes in which he walked teaching the word of God. But he feared to open that box and brought it to the judge; when he had received it, the judge, because it was sealed with lead, sent it to the emperor Theodosius, fearing lest it might be something else; when the emperor had received it he opened it, and found the revelation of Saint Paul, a copy of which he sent to Jerusalem, and retained the original himself.

While I was in the body in which I was snatched up to the third heaven, . . .

And I said to the angel, “I wish to see the souls of the just and of sinners, and to see in what manner they go out of the body.” And the angel answered and said to me, “Look again upon the earth.” And I looked and saw all the world, and people were as naught and growing weak; and I looked carefully and saw a certain man about to die, and the angel said to me, “This one whom you see is a just man.” And I looked again and saw all his works, whatever he had done for the sake of God’s name, and all his desires, both what he remembered, and what he did not remember; they all stood in his sight in the hour of need; and I saw the just man advance and ﬁnd refreshment and conﬁdence, and before he went out of the world the holy and the impious angels both attended; and I saw them all, but the impious found no place of habitation in him, but the holy angels took possession of his soul, guiding it till it went out of the body; and they roused the soul saying, “Soul, know the body you leave, for it is necessary that you should return to the same body on the day of the resurrection, that you may receive the things promised to all the just.” Receiving therefore the soul from

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the body, they immediately kissed as if it were familiar to them, saying to it, “Be of good courage, for you have done the will of God while placed on earth.” And there came to meet it the angel who watched it every day, and said to it, “Be of good courage, soul; I rejoice in you, because you have done the will of God on earth; for I related to God all your works just as they were.” Similarly also the spirit proceeded to meet it and said, “Soul, fear not, nor be disturbed, until you come to a place which you have never known, but I will be a helper to you: for I found in you a place of refreshment in the time when I dwelt in you, while I was on earth.” And his spirit strengthened it, and his angel received it, and led it into heaven; and an angel said, “Where are you running to, O soul, and do you dare to enter heaven? Wait and let us see if there is anything of ours in you; and behold we ﬁnd nothing in you. I see also your divine helper and angel, and the spirit is rejoicing along with you, because you have done the will of God on earth.” And they led it along till it should worship in the sight of God. And when it had ceased, immediately Michael and all the army of angels, with one voice, adored the footstool of his feet and his doors, saying at the same time to the soul, “This is your God of all things, who made you in his own image and likeness.” Moreover, the angel ran on ahead and pointed him out, saying, “God, remember his labors; for this is the soul, whose works I related to you, acting according to your judgment.” And the spirit said likewise, “I am the spirit of viviﬁcation inspiring it; for I had refreshment in it, in the time when I dwelt in it, acting according to your judgment.” And there came the voice of God and said, “In as much as this man did not grieve me, neither will I grieve him; as he had pity, I also will have pity. Let it therefore be

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handed over to Michael, the angel of the Covenant, and let him lead it into the Paradise of joy, that it may become coheir with all the saints.” And after these things I heard the voices of a thousand thousand angels and archangels and cherubim and twenty-four elders, saying hymns and glorifying the Lord and crying, “You are just, O Lord, and just are your judgments, and there is no respect of persons with you, but you reward every one according to your judgment.” And the angel answered and said to me, “Have you believed and known that whatever each one of you has done he sees in the hour of need?” And I said, “Yes, sir.”

And he said to me, “Look again down on the earth, and watch the soul of an impious man going out of the body, which grieved the Lord day and night, saying, “I know nothing else in this world, I eat and drink, and enjoy what is in the world; for who is there who has descended into hell and, ascending, has declared to us that there is judgment there!’ ” And again I looked carefully, and saw all the scorn of the sinner, and all that he did, and they stood together before him in the hour of need; and it was done to him in that hour, when he was led out of his body at the judgment, and he said, “It were better for me if I had not been born.” And after these things, there came at the same time the holy angels and the evil angels, and the soul of the sinner saw both and the holy angels did not ﬁnd a place in it. Moreover the evil angels cursed it; and when they had drawn it out of the body the angels admonished it a third time, saying, “O wretched soul, look upon your ﬂesh from which you have come out; for it is necessary that you should return to your ﬂesh in the day of resurrection, that you may receive what is the due for your sins and your impieties.”

And when they had led it forth the guardian angel preceded it, and said to it, “O wretched soul, I am the angel belonging to you, relating daily to the Lord your evil works, whatever you did by night or day; and if it were in my power, not for one day would I minister to you, but none of these things was I able to do: the judge is full of pity and just, and he himself commanded us that we should not cease to minister to the soul till you should repent, but you have lost the time of repentance. I have become a stranger to you and you to me. Let us go on then to the just judge; I will not dismiss you before I know from today I am to be a stranger to you.” And the spirit afﬂicted it, and the angel troubled it. When they had arrived at the powers, when it started to enter heaven, a burden was imposed upon it, above all other burden: error and oblivion and murmuring met it, and the spirit of fornication, and the rest of the powers, and said to it, “Where are you going, wretched soul, and do you dare to rush into heaven? Hold, that we may see if we have our qualities in you, since we do not see that you have a holy helper.” And after that I heard voices in the height of heaven saying, “Present that wretched soul to God, so it may know that it is God whom it despised.” When, therefore, it had entered heaven all the angels saw it; a thousand thousand exclaimed with one voice, all saying, “Woe to you, wretched soul, for the sake of your works which you did on earth; what answer are you about to give to God when you have approached to adore him?” The angel who was with it answered and said, “Weep with me, my beloved, for I have not found rest in this soul.” And the angels answered him and said, “Let such a soul be taken away from our midst, for from the time it entered the stink of it crosses to us angels.” And after these things it was presented, that it

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might worship in the sight of God, and an angel of God showed it God who made it after his own image and likeness. Moreover its angel ran before it saying, “Lord God Almighty, I am the angel of this soul, whose works I presented to you day and night, not acting in accordance with your judgment. And the spirit likewise said, “I am the spirit who dwelt in it from the time it was made; in itself I know it, and it has not followed my will; judge it, Lord, according to your judgment.” And there came the voice of God to it and said, “Where is your fruit which you have made worthy of the goods which you have received? Have I put a distance of one day between you and the just person? Did I not make the sun to arise upon you as upon the just?” But the soul was silent, having nothing to answer, and again there came a voice saying, “Just is the judgment of God, and there is no respect of persons with God, for whoever shall have done mercy, on him shall have mercy, and whoever shall not have been merciful, neither shall God pity him. Let it therefore be handed over to the angel Tartaruchus, who is set over the punishments, and let him cast it into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, and let it be there till the great day of judgment.” And after these things I heard the voice of angels and archangels saying, “You are just, Lord, and your judgment is just.”

And again I saw and, behold, a soul which was led forward by two angels, weeping and saying, “Have pity on me, just God, God the judge, for today it is seven days since I went out of my body, and I was handed over to these two angels, and they brought me to those places which I had never seen.” And God, the just judge, said to it, “What have you done? For you never showed mercy, therefore you were handed over to such

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angels as have no mercy, and because you did no right, so neither did they act compassionately with you in your hour of need. Confess your sins which you committed when placed in the world.” And it answered and said, “Lord, I did not sin.” And the Lord, the just Lord, was angered in fury when it said, “I did not sin,” because it lied; and God said, “Do you think you are still in the world where any one of you, sinning, may conceal and hide his sin from his neighbor? Here nothing whatever shall be hidden, for when the souls come to worship in sight of the throne both the good works and the sins of each one are made manifest.” And hearing these things the soul was silent, having no answer. And I heard the Lord God, the just judge, again saying, “Come, angel of this soul, and stand in the midst.” And the angel of the sinful soul came, having in his hands a document, and said, “These, Lord, in my hands, are all the sins of this soul from its youth till today, from the tenth year of its birth; and if you command, Lord, I will also relate its acts from the beginning of its ﬁfteenth year.” And the Lord God, the just judge, said, “I say to you, angel, I do not expect of you an account of it since it began to be ﬁfteen years old, but state its sins for ﬁve years before it died and before it came hither.” And again God, the just judge, said, “For by myself I swear, and by my holy angels, and by my virtue, that if it had repented ﬁve years before it died, on account of a conversion one year old, oblivion would now be thrown over all the evils which it sinned before, and it would have indulgence and remission of sins; now indeed it shall perish.” And the angel of the sinful soul answered and said, “Lord, command that angel to exhibit those souls.”

And in that same hour the souls were exhibited in the midst, and

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the soul of the sinner knew them; and the Lord said to the soul of the sinner, “I say to you, soul, confess your work which you wrought in these souls whom you see, when they were in the world.” And it answered and said, “Lord, it is not yet a full year since I slew this one and poured his blood upon the ground, and with another I committed fornication; not only this, but I also greatly harmed her in taking away her goods.” And the Lord God, the just judge, said, “Did you not know that if someone does violence to another and the person who sustains the violence dies ﬁrst, he is kept in this place until the one who was committed the offence dies, and then both stand in the presence of the judge, and now each receives according to his deed?” And I heard a voice of one saying, “Let that soul be delivered into the hands of Tartarus, and led down into hell; he shall lead it into the lower prison, and it shall be put in torments and left there till the great day of judgment.” And again I heard a thousand thousand angels saying hymns to the Lord, and crying, “You are just, O Lord, and just are your judgments.”

The angel answered and said to me, “Have you perceived all these things?” And I said, “Yes, sir.” And he said to me, “Follow me again, and I will take you, and show you the places of the just.” And I followed the angel, and he raised me to the third heaven and placed me at the entry of the door; and looking, I saw that the door was of gold, and two columns of gold above it full of golden letters, and the angel turned again to me and said, “Blessed are you if you enter through these doors, for it is not permitted for any to enter except those who have goodness and purity of body in all things.” . . .

And I looked around upon that land, and I saw a river ﬂowing with milk and honey, and there were trees planted by the bank of that river, full of fruit; moreover, each single tree bore twelve fruits in the year, having various and diverse fruits; and I saw the created things which are in that place and all the work of God, and I saw there palms of twenty cubits, but others of ten cubits; and that land was seven times brighter than silver. And there were trees full of fruits from the roots to the highest branches, of ten thousand fruits of palms upon ten thousand fruits. The grapevines had ten thousand plants. Moreover in the single vines there were ten thousand thousand bunches and in each of these a thousand single grapes; moreover these single trees bore a thousand fruits. And I said to the angel, “Why does each tree bear a thousand fruits?” The angel answered and said to me, “Because the Lord God gives an abounding profusion of gifts to the worthy and because they of their own will afﬂicted themselves when they were placed in the world doing all things on account of his holy name.” And again I said to the angel, “Sir, are these the only promises which the Most Holy God makes?” And he answered and said to me, “No! There are seven times greater than these. But I say to you that when the just go out of the body they shall see the promises and the good things which God has prepared for them. Till then, they shall sigh and lament, saying, “Have we uttered any word from our mouth to grieve our neighbor even on one day?” I asked and said again, “Are these alone the promises of God?” And the angel answered and said to me, “These whom you now see are the souls of the married and those who kept the chastity of their nuptials, controlling themselves. But to the virgins and those who hunger and

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thirst after righteousness and those who afﬂicted themselves for the sake of the name of God, God will give seven times greater than these, which I shall now show you.” . . .

Again he led me where there is a river of milk, and I saw in that place all the infants whom Herod slew because of the name of Christ, and they greeted me, and the angel said to me, “All who keep their chastity and purity, when they have come out of the body, after they adore the Lord God are delivered to Michael and are led to the infants, and they greet them, saying that they are our brothers and friends and members; among them they shall inherit the promises of God.”

Again he took me up and brought me to the north of the city and led me where there was a river of wine, and there I saw Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Lot and Job and other saints, and they greeted me; and I asked and said, “What is this place, my lord?” The angel answered and said to me, “All who have given hospitality to strangers when they go out of the world ﬁrst adore the Lord God, and are delivered to Michael and by this route are led into the city, and all the just greet them as son and brother, and say to them, ‘Because you have observed humanity and helped pilgrims, come, have an inheritance in the city of the Lord our God: every righteous person shall receive good things of God in the city, according to his own action.’ ”

And again he carried me near the river of oil on the east of the city. And I saw there men rejoicing and singing psalms, and I said, “Who are those, my lord?” And the angel said to

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me, “These are they who devoted themselves to God with their whole heart and had no pride in themselves. For all those who rejoice in the Lord God and sing psalms to the Lord with their whole heart are here led into this city. . . .”

When he had ceased speaking to me, he led me outside the city through the midst of the trees and far from the places of the land of the good, and put me across the river of milk and honey; and after that he led me over the ocean which supports the foundations of heaven. The angel answered and said to me, “Do you understand why you go hence?” And I said, “Yes, sir.” And he said to me, “Come and follow me, and I will show you the souls of the godless and sinners, that you may know what manner of place it is.” And I went with the angel, and he carried me towards the setting of the sun, and I saw the beginning of heaven founded on a great river of water, and I asked, “What is this river of water?” And he said to me, “This is the ocean which surrounds all the earth.” And when I was at the outer limit of the ocean I looked, and there was no light in that place, but darkness and sorrow and sadness; and I sighed. And I saw there a river boiling with ﬁre, and in it a multitude of men and women immersed up to the knees, and other men up to the navel, others even up to the lips, others up to the hair. And I asked the angel and said, “Sir, who are those in the ﬁery river?” And the angel answered and said to me, “They are neither hot nor cold, because they were found neither in the number of the just nor in the number of the godless. For those spent the time of their life on earth passing some days in prayer, but others in sins and fornications, until their death.”

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And I asked him and said, “Who are these, sir, immersed up to their knees in ﬁre?” He answered and said to me, “These are they who when they have gone out of church occupy themselves with idle disputes. Those who are immersed up to the navel are those who, when they have taken the body and blood of Christ, go and fornicate and do not cease from their sins till they die. Those who are immersed up to the lips are those who slander each other when they assemble in the church of God; those up to the eyebrows are those who nod to each other and plot spite against their neighbor.”

And I saw to the north a place of various and diverse punishments full of men and women, and a river of ﬁre ran down into it. I observed and I saw very deep pits and in them several souls together, and the depth of that place was about there thousand cubits, and I saw them groaning and weeping and saying, “Have pity on us, O Lord!”, and no one had pity on them. And I asked the angel and said, “Who are these, sir?” And the angel answered and said to me, “These are they who did not hope in the Lord, that they would be able to have him as their helper.” And I asked and said, “Sir, if these souls remain for thirty or forty generations thus one upon another, I believe the pits would not hold them unless they were dug deeper.” And he said to me, “The Abyss has no measure, for beneath it there stretches down below that which is below it; and so it is that if perchance anyone should take a stone and throw it into a very deep well after many hours it would reach the bottom, such is the abyss. For when the souls are thrown in there, they hardly reach the bottom in ﬁfty years.”

When I heard this, I wept and groaned over the human race.

The angel answered and said to me, “Why do you weep? Are you more merciful than God? For though God is good, he knows that there are punishments, and he patiently bears with the human race, allowing each one to do his own will in the time in which he dwells on the earth.”

I observed the ﬁery river and saw there a man being tortured by Tartaruchian angels having in their hands an iron instrument with three hooks with which they pierced the bowels of that old man; and I asked the angel and said, “Sir, who is that old man on whom such torments are imposed?” And the angel answered and said to me, “He whom you see was a presbyter who did not perform his ministry well: when he had been eating and drinking and committing fornication he offered the host to the Lord at his holy altar.”

And I saw not far away another old man led on by evil angels running with speed, and they pushed him into the ﬁre up to his knees, and they struck him with stones and wounded his face like a storm and did not allow him to say, “Have pity on me!” And I asked the angel, and he said to me, “He whom you see was a bishop and did not perform his episcopate well, who indeed accepted the great name but did not enter into the witness of him who gave him the name all his life, seeing that he did not give judgment and did not pity widows and orphans, but now he receives retribution according to his iniquity and his works.”

And I saw another man in the ﬁery river up to his knees. His hands were stretched out and bloody, and worms proceeded from his mouth and nostrils, and he was groaning and weeping, and crying he said, “Have pity on me! For I am hurt more than the rest who

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are in this punishment.” And I asked, “Sir, who is this?” And he said to me, “This man whom you see was a deacon who devoured the oblations and committed fornication and did not do right in the sight of God; for this cause he unceasingly pays this penalty.” And I looked closely and saw alongside of him another man, whom they delivered up with haste and cast into the ﬁery river, and he was in it up to the knees; and the angel who was set over the punishments came with a great ﬁery razor, and with it he cut the lips of that man and the tongue likewise. And sighing, I lamented and asked, “Who is that, sir?” And he said to me, “He whom you see was a reader and read to the people, but he himself did not keep the precepts of God; now he also pays the proper penalty.”

And I saw another multitude of pits in the same place, and in the midst of it a river full with a multitude of men and women, and worms consumed them. But I lamented, and sighing asked the angel and said, “Sir, who are these?” And he said to me, “These are those who exacted interest on interest and trusted in their riches and did not hope in God that he was their helper.” And after that I looked and saw another place, very narrow, and it was like a wall, and ﬁre round about it. And I saw inside men and women gnawing their tongues, and I asked, “Sir, who are these?” And he said to me, “These are they who in church disparage the Word of God, not attending to it, but as it were making naught of God and his angels; for that reason they now likewise pay the proper penalty.”

And I observed and saw another pool in the pit and its appearance was like blood, and I asked and

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said, “Sir, what is this place?” And he said to me, “Into that pit stream all the punishments.” And I saw men and women immersed up to the lips, and I asked, “Sir, who are these?” And he said to me, “These are the magicians who prepared for men and women evil magic arts and did not cease till they died.” And again I saw men and women with very black faces in a pit of ﬁre, and I sighed and lamented and asked, “Sir, who are these?” And he said to me, “These are fornicators and adulterers who committed adultery, having wives of their own; likewise also the women committed adultery, having husbands of their own; therefore they unceasingly suffer penalties.”

And I saw there girls in black raiment, and four terrifying angels having in their hands burning chains, and they put them on the necks of the girls and led them into darkness; and I, again weeping, asked the angel, “Who are these, sir?” And he said to me. “These are they who, when they were virgins, deﬁled their virginity unknown to their parents; for which cause they unceasingly pay the proper penalties.” And again I observed there men and women with hands cut and their feet placed naked in a place of ice and snow, and worms devoured them. Seeing them I lamented and asked, “Sir, who are these?” And he said to me, “These are they who harmed orphans and widows and the poor, and did not hope in the Lord, for which cause they unceasingly pay the proper penalties.” And I observed and saw others hanging over a channel of water, and their tongues were very dry, and many fruits were placed in their sight, and they were not permitted to take of them, and I asked, “Sir, who are these?” And he said to me, “These are they who broke their fast before the appointed hour; for this

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cause they unceasingly pay these penalties.” And I saw other men and women hanging by their eyebrows and their hair, and a ﬁery river drew them, and I said, “Who are these, sir?” And he said to me, “These are they who join themselves not to their own husbands and wives but to whores, and therefore they unceasingly pay the proper penalties.”

And I saw other men and women covered with dust, and their countenance was like blood, and they were in a pit of pitch and sulphur running in a ﬁery river, and I asked, “Sir, who are these?” And he said to me, “These are they who committed the iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah, the male with the male, for which reason they unceasingly pay the penalties.” . . .