Visions, Revelation and Ministry - Gal 1.11-17

7/31/2019 Visions, Revelation and Ministry - Gal 1.11-17

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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 hisgospel 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 expe

rience 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 (11:23-

28), 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 expe

rience 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 Paulcensures the Galatians for deserting God and turning to a different gospel


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652 Journal of Biblical Literature

(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. . . . Butwhen 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 demandsproclamation.

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. Follow

ing the same line, some interpreters detect parallels between Paul's Damas

cus 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 Lat er' 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 Con

flict [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 Hel mut Saake, "Paulus als Ekstatiker Pneumatologische Beobachtung zu 2 Kor xii

1-10," 15 (1973) 152-60, Ernst Benz, Paulus als Visionar (Akademie der Wissenschaften


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Baird: Visions, Revelation, and Ministry 653

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 th at he too has ecstatic religious

experiences. To illustrate his claim, Paul proceeds to relate an experiencethat 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 "th e abundance of revelations" (t hyperbol tn apoca-

lypsen). 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 expe

rience ofbeing 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; Neukirchen-

Vluyn: 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 fourteenyears 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 disserta


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Paul is talking about someone otherthan 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 thatPaul is describing an experience of religious ecstasy in which personal iden

tity is lost.10

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 body16

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,"

10Heinz-Dietrich Wendland, Die Briefe an die Korinther (NTD 7; Gottingen: Vanden-

hoeck & Ruprecht, 1954) 219.11

Ernst Kasemann, Die Legitimitt des Apostels (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buch

gesellschaft, 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 Him-

melsreise 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


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and in 3 of a "man caught up into paradise." However, the use ofthe 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

How

ever, 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 under

mine his apostolic authority (1:1). In w 11-17, Paul argues that his owngospel, 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

17 So most commentators, e.g., Hans Windisch, Der zweite Korintherbrief (MeyerK; Gt

tingen: 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 ofG. 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 apocalypticliterature (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 even


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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 preoccupa

tion 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 sup

ported 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 ofthe 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 byN. Habel, is constituted by

six basic elements, all of which find parallels in Paul's account.26

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. Introductoryword. 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) 176-94.2 2E.g., Joseph L. Lilly, "The Conversion of Saint Paul," CBQ 6 (1944) 180-204.

2 3Hans Dieter Betz Galatians (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress 1979) 71


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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 wordsin 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 fourteenyears 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 signifi

cant 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 appari


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numberof heavenly places (2Enoch 3-20; T. Levi 2-3; 3Apoc. Bar. 2-11).

Paul travels to the third heaven and visits paradise (2 Cor 12:2-3).

3. The heavenly travelersees various hidden things: cosmic phenomena

(1 Enoch 72-80), supernatural beings (2Enoch 20-22). Paul sees "visions

and revelations" (2 Cor 12:1).

4. The journey discloses secrets: mysteries are revealed (3Apoc. 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; 2Enoch 23-24; 3Apoc. 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 1:11-17) and a heavenly journey (2 Cor12:1-5) 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 supposes31

a literary composition with no real experience behind it?

An affirmative answer is tempting. In spite of theories to the con

trary,32

apocalypses are essentially literary compositions rather than the

spontaneous products of visionary experience. Their symbolism employs aconventional 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

31Hans DieterBetz, 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: West

minster, 1964) 158-73; Ithamar Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkabah Mysticism (AGJU14; 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,


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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 expe

riences 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 (Godrevealed 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 implythat 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 ofthe revelation (2 Cor 12:1) and anotherin 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 con

tent 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

34 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

th E i tl t th G l ti (ICC Edi b h T & T Cl k 1921) 41 43 H i i h S hli


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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 theirrevelation, 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 protec

tion 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 fordeliverance. The apostle,

who had been able to perform signs and wonders (2 Cor 12:12; Rom 15:19),

requested a miracle ofhealing. 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

difficulty in securing a cure (praying three times, 8).4 0 This means thatPaul's report ofthe thorn incident reflects features of a conventional miracle

story. An actual miracle, however, does not take place. In spite of his

3 7See 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 J h M i "D G f h d i b i d Hi l i


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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 pro

vides no healing does present a revelation.42

The risen Christ,43

in an excep

tionally 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 understandingof 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 ofweaknesses (2 Cor 11:24-29), was designed to conform to God's way of

working (1Cor 1:23-24) as power in weakness.46

Paul refrains from boast

ing 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

41 See Betz, Apostel Paulus, 92-100.42 Lincoln, "Paul the Visionary," 218: "Paul's account of his revelation contained no revela

tion, 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 firstperson 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


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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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Visions, Revelation and Ministry - Gal 1.11-17