VISIONS, REVELATION, AND MINISTRY: REFLECTIONS ON 2 COR 12:1-5 AND GAL 1:11-17

WILLIAM BAIRD
Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, TX 76129

On two occasions, Paul cites experiences of revelation in support of his apostolic ministry. In Gal 1:11-17, he claims that he did not receive his gospel from a human source, but from a revelation of Jesus Christ. In 2 Cor 12:1-5, he boasts of visions and revelations, including a particular experience in which he was caught up to paradise. Both texts answer arguments of opponents, both support Paul's apostleship, and both use the key term apocalypsis. They differ, however, in content. One simply states that God revealed his son to Paul; the other describes a journey to the third heaven. The purpose of this essay is to investigate these texts in order to assess Paul's understanding of the significance of revelatory experience as ground for ministry. I 2 Cor 12:1-5 belongs to a section of the Corinthian correspondence (2 Corinthians 10-13), often identified as the "severe" or "sorrowful letter." Paul has just catalogued his many hardships on behalf of the gospel (11:2328), including finally his escape from Damascus (11:30-33). These incidents provide data for his boasting in things that show his weakness. The theme of boasting, which is repeated throughout this section of the correspondence (10:8,13,15,16,17; 11:12,16,18, 30), is taken up again in 12:1-5} Here, however, Paul boasts of "visions and revelations of the Lord." As evidence for experiences of this sort, Paul describes "a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven." Whether this experience occurred "in the body or apart from the body" only God knows. Within this experience, the man "heard unutterable utterances which a human being is not permitted to speak." Gal 1:11-17 follows the introductory section of the epistle, where Paul censures the Galatians for deserting God and turning to a different gospel
1 See E. A. Judge, "Paul's Boasting in Relation to Contemporary Professional Practice," AusBR 16 (1968) 37-50.

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(1:6-9). As for Paul, his intent is to please God, not human beings. "The gospel which I preached," he says, "is not a human message," for it was received "through a revelation of Jesus Christ." Prior to this revelation, Paul had "advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries. . . . But when the one who had set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through his grace saw fit to reveal his son to me so that I might preach him to the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood. . . ." About these texts, two preliminary questions can be raised: (1) Do the two accounts refer to the same event? (2) Do they describe the same kind of religious experience? The first can be answered with dispatch: in spite of a minority opinion to the contrary, 2 Cor 12:1-5 and Gal 1:11-17 probably do not depict the same event.2 The former describes a revelation that disallows disclosure; the latter describes a revelation that demands proclamation. The second question is more difficult. To the eyes of some interpreters, the text of 2 Corinthians 12 depicts an ecstatic experienceevidenced, for example, by the references to "in the body" and "out of the body." On the basis of this view of 2 Cor 12:1-5, some scholars conclude that Paul is himself a visionary.3 Since they believe Paul is subject to frequent ecstatic experiences, these exegetes interpret Gal 1:11-17 as the description of an ecstatic experience, too. At the same time, they note that the account of Paul's conversion in Acts 26:19 designates the Damascus road experience as "the heavenly vision" (t ourani optasi). Although the text in Galatians 1 does not use the term optasia, it does depict an apokalypsisthe same word that is used in 2 Cor 12:2. This interpretation of Paul's experience as ecstatic is encouraged also by his assertion that the revelation occurred en emoi (Gal 1:16) a phrase taken to imply an inward experience. Following the same line, some interpreters detect parallels between Paul's Damascus experience and the Merkabah visions of Jewish mysticism,4 and one commentator thinks that Paul's experiences are similar to hallucinations

2 This is the position of most recent commentators The identification of the two events was argued by John Knox ("'Fourteen Years Later' A Note on the Pauline Chronology," JR 16 [1936] 341-49, idem, "The Pauline Chronology," JBL 58 [1939] 15-29) In a footnote m his Chapters in a Life of Paul (New York and Nashville Abingdon, 1950), 78, Knox abandoned the identification The identification is supported by Donald W Riddle (Paul Man of Conflict [Nashville Cokesbury, 1940] 63), Charles Buck and Greer Taylor (Samt Paul A Study of the Development of His Thought [New York Scribner, 1969] 220-26), and Morton S Enslin (Reapproachmg Paul [Philadelphia Westminster, 1972] 53-55) 3 See Helmut Saake, "Paulus als Ekstatiker Pneumatologische Beobachtung zu 2 Kor xii 1-10," 15 (1973) 152-60, Ernst Benz, Paulus als Visionar (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Weisbaden Steiner, 1952) 4 See J W Bowker, "'Merkabah' Visions and the Visions of Paul," JSS 16 (1971) 157-73, Gershom G Scholem, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition (New York Jewish Theological Seminary, 1960) 14-18

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induced by psychedelic drugs. 5 However, careful survey of the two texts uncovers complexities that require further investigation. II In 2 Corinthians 10-13, Paul is engaged in a polemic against a band of opponents who have invaded Corinth from outside. Among other things, they have scorned Paul's apostleship for its spiritual poverty; he lacks the sort of ecstatic demonstration that certifies their mission. Paul, in what has been dubbed a "fool's speech," 7 refutes the invaders with a counterattack, heavily armed with sarcasm. He asserts that they have driven him to point less boasting, but a boasting that shows that he too has ecstatic religious experiences. To illustrate his claim, Paul proceeds to relate an experience that happened fourteen years in the past. About this narrative, questions can be raised: 1. How does this experience relate to Paul's ordinary religious life? In 2 Cor 12:1, Paul mentions "visions" (optasias)a term used nowhere else in the Pauline lettersand "revelations" (apocalypseis) also in the plural. In 7, he speaks of "the abundance of revelations" (t hyperbol tn apocalypsen). But if he has had so many, why does he relate this one which occurred so long ago? 8 In fact, apart from this account, descriptions of ecstatic experiences are scarce in the epistles. Apparently, Paul's understanding of this experience is similar to his assessment of speaking in tongues: his practice of glossolalia remains hidden from his parishioners, because in church he prefers to speak five words with his mind rather than ten thousand words with a tongue (1 Cor 14:19).9 In any event, the experience of being caught up to the third heaven had happened prior to Paul's first visit to the Corinthians, and though he had spent a year and a half with them he apparently had never mentioned it. 2. Why does Paul describe his participation in the experience in the third person? He says he knows "a man in Christ" who was caught up to the third heaven. This use of the third person, of course, does not imply that
5 J. L. Cheek, "Paul's Mysticism in the Light of Psychedelic Experience," JAAR 38 (1970) 381-89. 6 See Dieter Georgi, Die Gegner des Paulus im 2. Korintherbrief (WMANT 11; NeukirchenVluyn: Neukirchener, 1964). 7 Josef Zmijewski, Der Stil der paulinischen 'Narrenrede' (BBB 52; Cologne and Bonn: Hanstein, 1978). 8 Most commentators interpret the "fourteen years" in relation to the prophet's concern to date the call (see n. 28). Beverly Gaventa suggests that Paul cites the experience of fourteen years earlier in order to show that his experience had occurred a long time before that of his opponents ("Paul's Conversion: A Critical Sifting of the Epistolary Evidence" [Ph.D. dissertation, Duke University, 1978] 176-77). 9 Commenting on 2 Cor 12:1-10, Andrew T. Lincoln observes that "lack of frequent references does not necessarily mean lack of frequent experience" (Paradise Now and Not Yet [SNTSMS 43; Cambridge: University Press, 1981] 72).

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Paul is talking about someone other than himself. That he is describing his own experience is clear from 7, where he recognizes that he, Paul, might be "too elated by the abundance" of his revelationsincluding this one. In pondering the use of the third person, some exegetes have supposed that Paul is describing an experience of religious ecstasy in which personal iden 10 tity is lost. More likely, he uses the third person to distance his true self his apostolic identityfrom the self in which he has been forced to boast.11 In the argument with the opponents, Paul wants to prove that his ministry is not grounded in the sort of experience they claim as normative. 12 3. What is the significance of the phrases "in the body" and "out of the body"? Trips to heaven, of course, can be made in either mode. 13 In Helle nistic literature, two types of heavenly journey are depicted: (1) the journey of the soul, wherein the body is left behind, and (2) bodily ascension, whereby the whole person is transported to heaven. Paul's claim that he does not know which type of trip he has taken leads some commentators to conclude that he is describing an ecstatic experience in which he had lost the power of ordinary perceptiononly God knows what happened. 14 More likely, Paul's agnosticism about the journey represents indifference.15 His opponents claim ecstatic experiencesprobably out of the body 1 6 but about the particular form of his own experience Paul is unconcerned. 4. What did Paul see in the third heaven? Before an answer is at tempted, attention must be given to the possibility that Paul is describing two experiences. In 2, he speaks of a man "caught up to the third heaven,"
Heinz-Dietrich Wendland, Die Briefe an die Korinther (NTD 7; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1954) 219. 11 Ernst Kasemann, Die Legitimitt des Apostels (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1956) 51-66; Rudolf Bultmann, Der zweite Brief an die Korinther (ed. E. Dinkier; MeyerK; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1976) 221. 12 Dieter Luhrmann, Das Offenbarungsverstandnis bei Paulus und in paulinischen Gemeinden (WMANT 16; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1965) 57-59. 13 See Hans Bietenhard, Die himmlische Welt im Urchristentum und Spatjudentum (WUNT 2; Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1951) 247-48; Wilhelm Bousset, Die Himmelsreise der Seele (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1960); Carsten Colpe, "'Die Himmelsreise der Seele' ausserhalb und innerhalb der Gnosis," in The Origins of Gnosticism: Colloquium at Messina (ed. U. Bianchi; Leiden: Brill, 1967) 429-47; Gunter Haufe, "Entruckung und eschatologische Function in Spatjudentum," ZRGG 13 (1961) 105-13; Gerhard Lohfink, Die Himmelfahrt Jesu (Munich: Kosel, 1971) 32-41; Alan R. Segal, "Heavenly Ascent in Hellenistic Judaism, Early Christianity and their Environment," in Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt II.23.2 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1980) 1333-94; J. Kroll, Die Himmelfahrt der Seele in der Antike (Kolner Universitats-Reden 27; Cologne: Oskar Muller, 1931). 14 Saake, "Paulus als Ekstatiker," 155. 15 So C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (HNTC; New York: Harper & Row, 1973) 308. 16 So Walter Schmithals (Gnosticism in Corinth [Nashville and New York: Abingdon, 1971] 209-18), though his identification of the opponents as the same as those faced in 1 Corinthians (i.e., Jewish gnostics) is unconvincing.
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and in 3 of a "man caught up into paradise." However, the use of the same verb (harpaz) and the parallel structure of the verses indicate that Paul is describing a single experience.17 This means that for Paul the third heaven and paradise are the same place, or that paradise is located in the third heaven. Here Paul's perception of the celestial order is in harmony with the cosmology of 2 Enoch (8:1-8) and the Apocalypse of Moses (40:2). For Paul, the third heaven may be the highest, though the tendency in later apocalyptic literature is to add heavens.18 In paradise, Paul should have viewed the final abode of the souls of the righteous (2 Esdr 8:51-52, Luke 23:43); and in the highest heaven, he should have seen cosmic paraphernalia, angelic beings, and the radiant throne of God (2 Enoch 20:1-4; T. Levi 3:1-8; 3 Apoc. Bar. 1L1-9).19 However, Paul does not say that he saw anything, but that he heard (ekousen) "unutterable utterances." Paul does not relate anything about what he has heard or seen. 2 Corinthians 12, therefore, describes a revelatory experience through which nothing is communicated. 20 Ill Gal 1:11-17 can be more briefly treated. In context, Paul is answering opponents who have proclaimed a "different gospel" (1:6) so as to undermine his apostolic authority (1:1). In w 11-17, Paul argues that his own gospel, like his apostleship, had not been received from a human source, but had been disclosed through a revelation of Jesus Christa revelation whose ultimate origin is in God. This revelatory experience, as other texts indicate, had consisted of an appearance of the risen Christ (1 Cor 15:8); it was an experience in which Paul had seen the Lord (1 Cor 9:1). Although this general line of interpretation is widely followed, the exegetical details are debated. 21 However, for the purposes of this essay, the
So most commentators, e.g., Hans Windisch, Der zweite Korintherbrief (MeyerK; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1924) 371; Victor P. Furnish, / / Corinthians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 32A; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984) 526; Zmijewski, Narrenrede, 324-46. The possibility of two experiences is entertained by Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (ICC; New York: Scribner, 1915) 344. 18 See Bietenhard, Himmlische Welt, 6; Bousset, Himmelsreise, 7-23. 19 Michael E. Stone, "Lists of Revealed Things in the Apocalyptic Literature," in Magnolia Dei: The Mighty Acts of God: Essays . . . in Memory of G. E. Wright (ed. F. M. Cross, W. E. Lemke, and P. D. Miller; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976) 414-52. 20 The motif of seeing heavenly things that are inexpressible is common in apocalyptic literature (2 Enoch 17 [A]; 22:1-2 [A]; 2 Esdr 10:32). However, the intent is to describe the revelation of secrets to the seer so that they can be recorded (e.g., in sealed books) and eventually disclosed (Dan 12:4; 2 Esdr 14:44-46). 21 For example, there is debate about the specific charge that Paul is answering; see Karl Kertelge, "Apokalypsis Jesou Christou (Gal 1, 12)," in Neues Testament und Kirche (ed. J. Gnilka; Freiburg: Herder, 1974) 276-81. The relation of Paul's persecution of the Church to
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crucial issue is the nature of the religious experience. Some interpreters, influenced by the Acts accounts, stress the supernatural. 22 Their preoccupation with the visionary is encouraged, as noted above, by Paul's observation that the revelation of God's son occurred en emoi (Gal 1:16). As Betz observes, this could be taken to mean "that Paul's experience was ecstatic in nature, and that in the course of the ecstasy he had a vision."23 However, the phrase en emoi can be rendered "to me" (RSV)a translation supported by the parallel en tots ethnesin ("to the Gentiles"). 24 Thus, an inward or ecstatic experience is not necessarily implied. The description simply says that Paul had received a revelation of Christ (v 12), that God had revealed his son (v 16). In comparison with the accounts in Acts, Gal 1:11-17 displays a dearth of supernatural detail. Also important is the currently popular view that Galatians 1 presents not a conversion story but a commissioning account. 25 This view, though essentially correct, represents an exaggeration. Paul's revelatory experience did include features of a conversion as the reference to his "former life in Judaism" (anastrophn pote en t Ioudaism, 13) makes clear. Never theless, the form in which the experience is related is reminiscent of a call or commissioning narrative. This observation suggests another issue: the identification of the genres to which Gal 1:11-17 and 2 Cor 12:1-5 belong. IV Although Gal 1:11-17 does not constitute a formal call narrative, it reflects features of the call genre. Paul presents his commission in a manner reminiscent of the literary form that is used in the OT to depict the call of the prophets. The call narrative, as analyzed by N. Habel, is constituted by six basic elements, all of which find parallels in Paul's account. 2 6 1. Divine confrontation. Jeremiah says, "the word of the Lord came to me" (1:4). Paul says that his gospel (word) was received by a revelation from God (Gal 1:12, 16). 2. Introductory word. Yahweh says to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" (1:5). Paul says that he was called by "the one who set me apart from my mother's womb" (Gal 1:15).
his "conversion" is also disputed; see Ulrich Wilckens, "Die Bekehrung des Paulus als reli gionsgeschichtliches Problem," ZThK 56 (1959) 273-93; Jacques Dupont, "The Conversion of Paul, and its Influence on his Understanding of Salvation by Faith," in Apostolic History and the Gospel: Essays Presented to F. F. Bruce (ed. W. W. Gasque and R. P. Martin; Exeter Devon: Paternoster, 1970) 176-94. 22 E.g., Joseph L. Lilly, "The Conversion of Saint Paul," CBQ 6 (1944) 180-204. 23 Hans Dieter Betz, Galatians (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979) 71. 24 BDF, p. 118. Gaventa ("Paul's Conversion," 233-35) reaches the same conclusion after assessing other possible translations. 25 Krister Stendahl, Paul among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976) 7-23. 26 N. Habel, "The Form and Significance of the Call Narratives," ZAW 77 (1965) 297-323.

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3. Commission. To Jeremiah God says, "I appointed you a prophet to the nations" (1:5). Paul says that the purpose of his call was that "I might preach him (the son) to the Gentiles (ethnesin)" (Gal 1:16). 4. Objection. Jeremiah complains, "I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth" (1:6). Paul confesses that he persecuted the church (Gal 1:13) behavior which he says (elsewhere) made him "unfit to be called an apostle" (1 Cor 15:9). 5. Reassurance. God comforts Jeremiah, "Be not afraid . . . for I am with you" (1:8). Paul says that God "called me through grace" (Gal 1:15) a grace that works in Paul's ministry despite his unworthiness (1 Cor 15:10). 6. Sign. According to Jeremiah, "Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, 'Behold, I have put my words in your mouth'" (1:9). For Paul, the sign is the revelation of the son (Gal 1:16)the revelation through which he receives the gospel (the word; Gal 1:11-12).27 On the basis of these data, it can be concluded that Gal 1:11-17 echoes the main themes of the prophetic call narrative. To what genre does 2 Cor 12:1-5 belong? As noted above, Paul's account of his trip to the third heaven displays features of the heavenly journey motif. Does it also include elements related to the call of the prophets? For instance, does the notice that the event took place fourteen years ago (v 2) represent, as some commentators suppose,28 the prophetic concern with dating the experience of the call (Isa 6:1; Jer 1:2)? The answer must be in the negative. The prophets date their commissions from significant public events, for example, "the year that King Uzziah died" (Isa 6:1). Paul, on the other hand, dates his trip to paradise from the present (pro etn dekatessarn), from his own experience.29 The narrative of 2 Corinthians 12 is different from the call genre; it presents a heavenly journeya distinct feature of the genre "apocalypse."30 This can be illustrated by a list of some of the aspects of the otherworldly journey, together with parallels from Paul. 1. The heavenly traveler is transported by supernatural power. In the Similitudes of Enoch (71:3), Archangel Michael seizes Enoch by the hand and lifts him up (see Apoc. Mos. 37:3, 5). According to Paul's account, he is "caught up" (harpaz, 2 Cor 12:2-3). 2. The traveler journeys through a plurality of heavens and visits a
27 Vision as a feature of the call narrative is discussed by Rolf Knierim ("The Vocation of Isaiah," VT 18 [1968] 47-68). 28 Windisch, Zweite Korintherbrief, 373; Plummer, Second Corinthians, 341; Bultmann/ Dinkier, Zweite Korinther, 222. 29 See Zmijewski, Narrenede, 340-41. Similar to Paul's account is the report of an apparition by Eucrates: "Let me tell you . . . what I saw five years ago" (pro etn pente), presented by Lucian (The Lover of Lies 22 [LCL 3. 352]). 30 John J. Collins, "Introduction: Toward the Morphology of a Genre," Semeia 14 (1979) 1-19.

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number of heavenly places (2 Enoch 3-20; T. Levi 2-3; 3 Apoc. Bar. 2-11). Paul travels to the third heaven and visits paradise (2 Cor 12:2-3). 3. The heavenly traveler sees various hidden things: cosmic phenomena (1 Enoch 72-80), supernatural beings (2 Enoch 20-22). Paul sees "visions and revelations" (2 Cor 12:1). 4. The journey discloses secrets: mysteries are revealed (3 Apoc. Bar. 1:6-7), and books (2 Esdr 14:44-46) and tablets (. Levi 5:5) that contain secrets are inscribed. Paul says that he heard "unutterable utterances which a human being is not permitted to speak" (2 Cor 12:4). 5. The meaning of the revelation is interpreted by an angel. In the apocalyptic literature, this is accomplished by a dialogue between the traveler and his heavenly guide (I Enoch 72:1; 2 Enoch 23-24; 3 Apoc. Bar. 2-16). Some sort of communication to Paul is implied in his assertion that he heard utterances (2 Cor 12:4). Moreover, an angelan aggelos from Satanis introduced in the immediate context (12:7). On the basis of these parallels, it can be concluded that 2 Cor 12:1-5 presents Paul's experience under the rubric of the heavenly journeyan important feature of the genre "apocalypse." V If the two texts represent different genresa call narrative (Gal 1:1117) and a heavenly journey (2 Cor 12:1-5) what can be surmised about the religious experiences that stand behind these accounts? About the reality of the first, Paul has no doubt. His apostolic ministry rests on the authenticity of this experience (1 Cor 9:1). About the second, however, questions can be raised. Is 2 Cor 12:1-5 a parody of the heavenly journey as Betz supposes 31 a literary composition with no real experience behind it? An affirmative answer is tempting. In spite of theories to the con 32 trary, apocalypses are essentially literary compositions rather than the spontaneous products of visionary experience. Their symbolism employs a conventional code language; their complex cosmology reveals studied astronomical analysis. Yet, though Paul's account takes the shape of an apocalyptic composition, an actual experience probably stands behind the report of 2 Cor 12:1-5.33 In the next verse Paul insists that if he wants to
31 Hans Dieter Betz, Der Apostel Paulus und die sokratische Tradition (BHT 4; Tbingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1972). 32 See D. S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964) 158-73; Ithamar Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkabah Mysticism (AGJU 14; Leiden: Brill, 1980) 29-72. The view that the writer of Revelation is a seer of visions is developed by Paul S. Minear (The Kingdom and the Power [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1950]; idem, / Saw a New Earth: An Introduction to the Visions of the Apocalypse [Washington and Cleveland: Corpus, 1968]). 33 Betz's position is refuted by A. T. Lincoln ('"Paul the Visionary': The Setting and Significance of the Rapture to Paradise in II Corinthians XII. 1-10," NTS 25 [1979] 206-10).

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boast of visions he will be telling the truth. Surely he knows that his attempt to counter his opponents' claim to visions would not be enhanced by the presentation of a fictional experience of his own. Although actual experiences stand behind the two accounts, the experiences are different in nature. 34 This conclusion, suggested by Paul's choice of different literary forms, is confirmed by details of the accounts. In 2 Cor 12:1, Paul refers to revelations kyriou, and in Gal 1:12, to a revelation Isou Christou. These genitives may be either subjective or objective; Paul may be describing revelation in which the Lord (or Jesus Christ) is the source of the revelation, or revelation in which the Lord is the content of the revelation. As most commentators conclude, 35 the genitive in Gal 1:12 is objective; Christ is the content of the revelation, as 16 makes clear (God revealed his son). On the other hand, most interpreters agree that the genitive of 2 Cor 12:1 is subjective.36 The Lord is the source of the revelation, since the text does not imply that the Lord is the content of the revelation. Thus, the two texts describe different sorts of experience: one in which the Lord is the source of the revelation (2 Cor 12:1) and another in which God is the source (Gal 1:15-16) and the Lord (Jesus Christ, Gal 1:12) is the content of the revelation. In 2 Cor 12:4, Paul does not relate the content of the revelation at all. He says that he heard "unutterable utterances" (arrta rhmata), but he communicates no revelatory information. This surprising outcome of the heavenly journey serves to show that the two experiences are essentially different. In Galatians, Paul is commissioned to open proclamation (v 16), and the content of the revelation is the Christ whom Paul is obligated to preach. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul is "commissioned" to silence, and the content of the revelation is esoteric utterance which Paul refuses to relate. The former presents the experience on which Paul's apostolic mission is based; the latter describes a private experience which (like glossolalia, 1 Cor 14:19) Paul makes public only when goaded by his opponents. Actually, Paul's account of his heavenly journey can be informed by the text that immediately followsthe cryptic report of the thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:7-10). Precise identification of the thorn, of course, remains

James D. G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975) 103: "It is clear then that Paul himself made a firm distinction between his conversion experience and his subsequent spiritual experiences." 35 Betz, Galatians, 83; Ernest D. W. Burton, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (ICC; Edinburgh; T. & T. Clark, 1921) 41-43; Heinrich Schlier, Der Brief an die Galater (MeyerK; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1951) 20. 36 Windisch, Zweite Korintherbrief, 388; Plummer, Second Corinthians, 338; Bultmann/ Dinkier, Zweite Korinther, 220-21; Furnish, / / Corinthians, 524; W Michaelis, TDNT 5. 357.

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impossible.37 All that can be said with confidence is that Paul was afflicted with a painful malady that impeded his mission, and that the purpose of this affliction was to keep him from being too elated by his private religious experiences, like the one he has just described. Perhaps this is why Paul chooses to mention an experience that took place "fourteen years ago" (v 2). This particularly elating event may have been the very religious experience that had been deflated by the thornan experience marked by the occurrence of a physical malady that Paul readily remembers and dates. Although the Corinthians had never before heard of Paul's heavenly journey, they may have seen the effects of the thornthe malady of the one whose "bodily presence is weak" (2 Cor 10:10). According to Paul, the thorn was an aggelos from Satan. Thus, just as heavenly travelers were accompanied by angels who interpreted the meaning of their revelation, so Paul encountered an angel of Satan who disclosed deeper understanding of his ministry.38 As Paul's encounter with the thorn shows, extraordinary religious experiences were fraught with danger. 39 When Jacob wrestled with God, he hobbled away lame (Gen 32:25). To embark on a heavenly journey is to encounter terror (1 Enoch 14:9-14). This is illustrated by the story of four rabbis who were transported to paradise (Hag. 14b). Three of the four suffered tragedy: Azzai died, Ben Zoma became demented, and Aher apostatized; only Rabbi Akiba escaped unscathed. In the same way, Paul's entrance into paradise produced physical affliction. Instead of the protection of the heavenly guide (2 Enoch 20:2-3), Paul received the painful blows (kolaphiz, 7) of an angel of Satan. In the midst of his suffering, Paul prayed for deliverance. The apostle, who had been able to perform signs and wonders (2 Cor 12:12; Rom 15:19), requested a miracle of healing. The details of the account are reminiscent of the healing stories of the Gospels: the length of illness (fourteen years, 2), the serious character of the disease (buffeted in the flesh, 7), the 40 difficulty in securing a cure (praying three times, 8). This means that Paul's report of the thorn incident reflects features of a conventional miracle story. An actual miracle, however, does not take place. In spite of his
37 See the extensive discussion by Windisch (Zweite Korintherbrief, 385-88) and more recently by Barrett (Second Corinthians, 314-16). 38 A relationship between the messenger of Satan and the angels of apocalyptic journeys is suggested in a footnote by Russell P. Spittler ("The Limits of Ecstasy: An Exegesis of 2 Cor inthians 12:1-10," in Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation: Studies in Honor of M. C. Tenney [ed. G. F. Hawthorne; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975] 265). 39 See Robert M. Price, "Punished in Paradise (An Exegetical Theory of II Corinthians 12:1-10)," JSNT 7 (1980) 33-40; Johann Maier, "Das Gefhrdungsmotiv bei der Himmelsreise in der Jdischen Apokalyptik und 'Gnosis,'" Kairos 5 (1963) 18-40. 40 See Rudolf Bultmann, History of the Synoptic Tradition (New York and Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963) 220-23.

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repeated pleas, Paul's prayers for healing are unanswered. 2 Corinthians 12, then, combines an apocalypse and a miracle story. The strange feature of the combination, however, is that the apocalypse does not do what it is supposed to doprovide a revelation; and the miracle story does not do what it is supposed to doprovide a healing. 41 But, though the apocalypse provides no revelation, the miracle story that provides no healing does present a revelation.42 The risen Christ, 43 in an exceptionally rare occurrence,44 speaks directly to Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness" (v 9). VI What do these exegetical observations imply for Paul's understanding of revelatory experience as ground for ministry? Negatively, they indicate that Paul refuses to found his ministry on private, ecstatic religioneven though he can claim religious experiences of that sort. 45 At the same time, 2 Corinthians 12 does say something positive about ministerial authority. Paul, after demonstrating the vanity of boasting in visions, says, "on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses" (v 5). This weakness is epitomized by the experience of the thorn, and the revelation which that experience provided was crucial. In that revelation, the power of Christ was perceived to work in weakness. Paul's ministry, with its long catalog of weaknesses (2 Cor 11:24-29), was designed to conform to God's way of working (1 Cor 1:23-24) as power in weakness.46 Paul refrains from boasting in visions, so that "no one may credit me with more than one sees or hears from me" (2 Cor 12:6). In other words, Paul's ministry is accredited by the public credentials of his suffering service.47 Gal 1:11-17, of course, does present a religious experience that is basic to Paul's apostolic authority. The experience, however, is different. It is not an esoteric experience that communicates nothing, but an experience of
See Betz, Apostel Paulus, 92-100. Lincoln, "Paul the Visionary," 218: "Paul's account of his revelation contained no revelation, but now in his miracle story without a miracle a revelation is given. . . ." 43 Kyrios in w 8-9 probably refers to Christ, as the reference to he dynamis tou Christou (v 9) indicates; see Windisch, Zweiter Korintherbrief, 388-90. 44 Elsewhere, references to words from the Lord probably represent tradition from the historical Jesus (1 Cor 7:10; 9:14, 11:23). The difficult "word of the Lord" in 1 Thess 4:15 is open to a variety of interpretations (see Ernest Best, A Commentary on the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians [HNTC; New York: Harper & Row, 1972] 189-94); but even if it is taken as a direct revelation from the risen Christ, the word speaks (in contrast to the first person of 2 Cor 12:9) of the Lord in the third person. 45 See Derk William Oostendorp, Another Jesus: A Gospel of Jewish-Christian Superiority in II Corinthians (Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1967) 14; Lincoln, Paradise Now, 77; Kertelge, "Apocalypsis Jesou Christou," 274; Ksemann, Legitimitt, 64. 46 Dunn, Jesus, 339. 47 Zmijewski, Narrenrede, 362.
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revelation that commands proclamation. Taking the shape of the prophetic call narrative, the account recalls the common experience of the Church's beginning. Christ appeared to Paul in the same way he appeared to others indeed, to more than five hundred persons at one time (1 Cor 15:3-8). The revelation was essentially the affirmation that the crucified Jesus was Messiah and Lord. The crucial content of the revelation, therefore, was an affirmation about the historical. Thus, the ministry, accredited by Paul's suffering service, was based on God's revelation in the crucified Christ. The authority for ministry in the struggle with the Galatian opponents and with the Corinthian heretics was the same: the power of God revealed in the cross of Christ and confirmed in the ministry of the apostle.

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