I first read this book a year ago in its first published incarnation, Things Unutterable: Paul’s Ascent to Paradise in its Greco-Roman, Judaic, and Early Christian Contexts (University Press of America, 1986). Now the author, James Tabor, has used the COVID-19 lockdown to reissue it. There are slight revisions and some new footnotes that refer to recent research.
The original was the published version of Tabor’s dissertation, accepted by the University of Chicago. His doctoral advisor was not a New Testament scholar, but Jonathan Zane Smith, a leading expert in the broader field of ancient religion. This choice of advisor is reflected in the wide context of ancient texts Tabor brings to bear on the subject of his inquiry, three verses in 2 Corinthians in which Paul recounts his ascent to heaven. There were many such accounts in antiquity, but this one is notable in that it is the only first-person account.
Although Tabor has made some concessions to the non-specialist reader (Greek and Hebrew terms are either transliterated or translated, sometimes both), it remains a scholarly work. Readers seeking a more accessible introduction to Tabor’s thinking on the apostle to the nations are advised to begin with his Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity (Simon and Schuster, 2012).
The book’s subtitle expresses Tabor’s central point: both Paul’s self-understanding as an apostle to the nations and his message are intimately connected with his ascent experience.
The book is divided into four chapters, with the middle two chapters forming the bulk of the text. The first chapter, appropriately for a dissertation, situates Tabor’s project in the context of previous research. For some readers, this might be a first introduction to the history of religions school, which flourished more than a century ago, primarily in the German-speaking area. While many of its results are seen today as one-sided and outdated, Tabor shows how the questions scholars of this school raised remain relevant. Perhaps the most enduring is the insight that the Jewish faith, and the Christian movement that sprung from its womb, were not isolated phenomena, but must be seen in the broader context of oriental and Hellenistic belief.
Chapter Two is devoted to Paul’s mission and message. For centuries, Paul has been seen in the context of debates over law versus grace, faith versus works. Today this is sometimes dismissed as the Lutheran Paul. However, Paul’s contribution to this question was crucial. In the centuries since, in addition to Martin Luther, seekers ranging from the Latin Catholic Augustine, the founder of Methodism Wesley, and the Reformed theologian Karl Barth have experienced decisive breakthroughs through their reading of Paul’s treatment of this question, primarily in his letter to the Romans.
Tabor argues, however, that Paul’s teaching of justification through faith was preliminary to the main thrust of his message, salvation, consisting of nothing less than divine rebirth at the resurrection, This, too, may be new to some readers. However, it is an essential point in Tabor’s main argument of linking Paul’s message to his ascent experience.
In Chapter Three, Tabor presents an overview of texts recounting heavenly journeys in antiquity. He begins the chapter with a catalog of criteria according to which these texts can be classified, although he stresses that such schemes are aids; the traits of the texts themselves are often more complex.
One of the key differentiations between the texts is the cosmology it reflects. Following the work of Martin Nilsson, Tabor distinguishes between two cosmologies, an archaic and a new. The archaic cosmology imagined a three-tiered world, with the earth situated between heaven and the netherworld. Corresponding to this cosmology was the feeling that humans are at home, in their proper place, on earth, though a person may be accorded short visits above or below.
In contrast, the “new” cosmology, which, according to Nilsson, arose in the wake of Alexander’s conquests, posits many levels of heaven. Humans are no longer at the center of creation but displaced from their true home in the heavens. The transition is neither sudden nor absolute; the older view can survive alongside the newer.
Although not central to Tabor’s thesis, I missed any discussion of how to account for this radically new cosmology. How did people come to believe they were no longer in their place?
Tabor’s concluding chapter offers a brief exegesis of the text central to his inquiry, 2 Corinthians 12:2–4. His treatment is guided by questions such as whether Paul’s reference to the third heaven and to paradise refers to the same place or two places. If these are alternate terms for one place, how does one account for the two-fold, strongly parallel structure of the text?
My reading of the original book was hurried, since I had borrowed an acquaintance’s copy overnight. I’m grateful now to have been able to read it more slowly, and place it on my shelf alongside some of my favorite books on Paul, who remains one of the most fascinating figures of antiquity. Like the best of scholarship, by focusing on one narrow and oft-neglected passage and analyzing it in light of the broader context of mystical experience in the ancient world, Tabor has made a valuable contribution to New Testament studies.
In a way, it’s not surprising that many scholars have downplayed Paul’s account of his heavenly ascent. With its assertion of the centrality of that experience, this book is a healthy reminder that, no matter how we approach Paul, we’re never going to tame him and turn him into a comfortable contemporary. We must view him on his own terms, as a product of his culture—a world very different from ours—before applying his legacy to any questions facing us today. ( )