The Apocalypse of Paul

A large number of the books in the New Testament were written by the Apostle Paul. The manuscripts of several of these have only recently come to light. The "Apocalypse of Paul" was discovered in December 1945, together with a number of other manuscripts. This work outlines the early Gnostic Christian idea of what happens after death, when the soul is judged.

According to Paul's Apocalypse, each soul has to rise as best it can through a hierarchy of heavens and face the increasingly difficult challenges posed by the guardian angels of each heaven. The book focuses on Paul's ascent to the tenth and highest heaven. The journey begins with Paul meeting a child on the mountain of Jericho, on the way to heaven (symbolized by Jerusalem). This child turns out to be the Holy Spirit, who takes Paul first to the third heaven.

The Holy Spirit warns Paul to keep his wits about him, for they are about to enter the realm of "principalities ...  archangels and powers and the whole race of demons". The Holy Spirit also mentions that they will pass "one that reveals bodies to a soul-seed",  that is, the being that takes souls and plants them in new bodies for reincarnation.  For the soul who wished to ascend to the highest heaven, reincarnation was to be avoided. Reincarnation was a part of Christian doctrine until AD 553, when it and other Gnostic doctrines were suppressed.

When Paul reaches the fourth heaven, the Holy Spirit encourages him to look down upon his body which he has left behind on the mountain of Jericho. As Paul ascends, he witnesses in the fourth heaven the judgement and punishment of another soul. He says, "I saw the angels resembling gods ... bringing a soul out of the land of the dead." The soul has been resurrected so that it can be judged, one of the four events promised for the end of the world. The angels were whipping it.

The soul spoke, saying, "What sin was it that I committed in the world?" The "toll collector" of this heavenly gate accuses the soul. The soul replies, "Bring witnesses!  Let them show you in what body I committed lawless deeds". Three bodies rise up as witnesses and accuse the soul of anger and envy, and finally murder." When the soul heard these things, it gazed downwards in sorrow ... It was cast down.

At this point we expect the soul to be cast into hell, as in later Christian doctrine, but no: "the soul that had been cast down went to a body which had been prepared for it," and was reincarnated.

Paul, somewhat shaken by this experience, was beckoned forward by the Holy Spirit and allowed to pass through the gate of the fifth heaven. Here he saw his fellow apostles, and "a great angel in the fifth heaven holding an iron rod in his hand." This angel and three other angels, with whips in their hands, scourge the souls of the dead and drive them on to judgement. Paul remains with the Holy Spirit and the gates to the sixth heaven swing open effortlessly before him.

In the sixth heaven, Paul sees a strong light shining down on him from the heaven above. He is motioned by the "toll collector" through the gates of the seventh heaven. Here, he sees "an old man filled with light and whose garment was white. His throne, which is in the seventh heaven, was brighter than the sun by seven times." This old man bears a striking resemblance to Jehovah as he is described in the vision of Ezekiel.

The old man asks, "Where are you going, Paul?" Only reluctantly, after some encouragement from the Holy Spirit, does Paul speak with him and give the Gnostic sign he has learned. The eighth heaven then opens and Paul ascends. Here he embraces the twelve disciples, most of whom he has not met before, and together they rise to the ninth heaven. Finally, Paul reaches the tenth and highest heaven, where he is transformed.

It is not surprising that the early Christian fathers edited out the practical spiritual knowledge which was once an integral part of Christianity and was known and practiced by the Apostle Paul. For these fathers, it was far more convenient and gratifying for their egos to assert that spiritual grace could only be attained through them as Christ's representatives on Earth. To control the masses, the political organization of the Church declared that salvation was attained only through the Church rituals and through the priesthood. Salvation through a personal mystical experience apart from the organized Church was cast away. In a move that is very likely to have met with the disapproval of Christ Himself, the worldly political aspirations of a few priests won out over the spiritual enlightenment of the many.

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