St. Augustine: Commentary on Genesis, Book Twelve
Book Twelve: The Paradise or Third Heaven Seen by St. Paul
Chapter 1: St. Paul's Account of Paradise
Purpose of Book Twelve: The author (St. Augustine) aims to address the question of Paradise with greater freedom and length, specifically tackling St. Paul's apparent hint that Paradise is in the third heaven.
St. Paul's Vision Account:
St. Paul writes: "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows-such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man-whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—that he was caught up into Paradise and heard secret words that man may not repeat." 2 Corinthians 12:2-4.
Customary Questions Regarding St. Paul's Words:
What does St. Paul mean by the "third heaven"?
Does he mean Paradise is in the third heaven, or that he was caught up to the third heaven and then also to Paradise?
This suggests two distinct locations: "first there is the third heaven and then Paradise."
Obscurity of the Matter: The issue is so obscure that a solution seems impossible without recourse to other Scriptures or sound reasoning, as it's unclear whether the third heaven is corporeal or spiritual.
Corporeal Argument: One might argue a man couldn't be taken with his body except to a corporeal place.
Paul's Doubt: However, since St. Paul himself did not know whether he was "in the body or out of the body," it's rash for anyone else to claim certainty.
Implication of Doubt: If the spirit cannot be carried to corporeal places without the body, or the body to spiritual places, St. Paul's doubt implies the region he visited was such that its nature (corporeal or spiritual) was indistinguishable.
Chapter 2: St. Paul's Ignorance about How He Saw Paradise in Ecstasy
Experience of Images in Sleep and Ecstasy:
During sleep or ecstasy, a person often cannot distinguish images of bodies from real bodies until returning to normal bodily senses.
Dreaming Example: Upon waking, one immediately recognizes dream objects as mere images, a distinction not possible during the dream itself.
Lucid Dreaming Exception: The author notes personal experience of being aware of dreaming while in the dream state, realizing the images were not real bodies but "phantasies of a dream." However, attempts to convince a dream-friend of this unreality were partly undermined by the act of speaking to them as if real.
Ecstasy Example: A peasant who experienced ecstasy could not accurately describe it, only saying, "My soul saw him, not my eyes," unable to distinguish a body from an image of a body. The man's simplicity and trustworthiness made his account convincing.
Application to St. Paul's Vision: If St. Paul saw Paradise similarly to how other prophets (Peter, John, Ezekiel, Isaiah) saw their visions (which were often ecstatic or symbolic), then he could have been unable to determine if he saw Paradise "in the body or out of the body."
Chapter 3: St. Paul was Certain about the Vision, Uncertain about the Manner
Vision Out of Body: If the vision was "out of the body" and the objects were not bodies, it raises questions:
Were they images of bodies?
Or were they a substance bearing no resemblance to body, e.g., God, mind, intelligence, reason, or virtues (prudence, justice, charity)?
These abstract concepts are perceived intellectually, not through bodily senses (outlines, colors, sounds, etc.), but by a "more excellent and certain" light.
St. Paul's Superior Understanding: The author acknowledges St. Paul's understanding of corporeal and incorporeal nature was far greater than ordinary human comprehension.
If Paul knew spiritual things could not be seen through the body, or bodily things out of the body, why couldn't he deduce the manner of his vision from the nature of what he saw?
If he knew they were spiritual, he should know he saw them "out of the body."
If he knew they were corporeal, he should know he saw them "in the body."
His doubt about "in the body or out of the body" implies a doubt about whether the objects themselves were bodies or likenesses of bodies.
What St. Paul Knew with Certainty: St. Paul stated definitively: "I know…such a one was caught up to the third heaven." He was certain that fourteen years prior, a man was caught up to the third heaven. This certainty should be accepted by believers.
Nature of the Third Heaven:
If an "objective reality" (the third heaven itself) was shown, then it was the third heaven he saw.
If an image like a corporeal substance was produced, it was not the actual third heaven, but a vision structured to resemble ascending through heavens.
Crucially, St. Paul did not doubt that it was the third heaven he was caught up to; only how he experienced it.
Chapter 4: Difficulties about St. Paul's Vision and How He Saw It
The Reality of the Third Heaven: St. Paul's assertion "I know…a man was caught up to the third heaven" suggests it was an actual third heaven, not merely a "material symbol."
Contrast with Moses: Moses saw God in a visible creature but knew the difference, requesting, "Show me Thyself." Exodus 33:13 18.
Contrast with John: John saw images (beast, woman, waters) and inquired about their meaning, receiving explanations (e.g., "It is a city").
St. Paul, however, simply declares, "I know a man who was caught up to the third heaven," implying direct knowledge of the object itself.
The Problem of Images and Doubt:
If Paul referred to a "spiritual image resembling a corporeal substance" as 'heaven,' then the image of his body would also be an image. He would then not need to distinguish between what he knew and what he didn't know (e.g., "I saw a mountain" in a dream).
His precise distinction, "This I know; that I do not know," indicates a difference in certainty about the vision's content versus its mode.
If both (heaven and his body) appeared as images, both should be equally known or unknown.
If heaven was actually seen, how could his body only appear as an image?
Corporeal vs. Incorporeal Heaven:
If he saw a corporeal heaven, why didn't he know if he saw it with bodily eyes? Why was he not also uncertain if it was a real corporeal heaven or just an image?
If he saw an incorporeal substance (like justice or wisdom), which cannot be seen with bodily eyes, then knowing its incorporeal nature should remove all doubt about how he saw it (i.e., not with bodily eyes).
His persistent doubt "whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know" remains the central mystery.
Chapter 5: How Paul is Certain about the Vision but Uncertain about the Manner
Resolving Paul's Distinction: St. Paul knows "this same man…was caught up to the third heaven." The heaven was either body or spirit.
If it was a body seen with bodily eyes, his doubt about how he saw it is puzzling.
If it was spirit:
Represented under a bodily image: Then it's doubtful if it was a body and if he saw it in the body. Both certain or both uncertain.
Seen like wisdom in the mind (without bodily images): Then it's certain he could not have seen it by the body.
Contradiction: He cannot be certain about what he saw and uncertain about how he saw it, especially regarding incorporeal nature.
Reinterpreting "In the Body or Out of the Body": To reconcile St. Paul's truthfulness and his doubt, the author suggests an interpretation:
Paul's doubt may concern the state of his body during the rapture:
Was he "in the body" but with his soul withdrawn from bodily senses (like in sleep or ecstasy, but with the body still alive)?
Or did he literally "go out of the body," meaning his body was truly dead until his soul returned, not awakening from sleep or ecstasy but truly coming back to life from death?
In this view, what he saw was in reality (not an image). His doubt was about the precise physiological state of his bodily existence during this profound experience. This preserves the certainty of the vision's reality while explaining the uncertainty of its physical mode.
Chapter 6: Three Kinds of Vision
Introduction to Three Visions: To understand St. Paul's experience, the author proposes a classification of vision.
"To see an object not in an image but in itself, yet not through the body, is to see with a vision surpassing all other visions."
Example: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39):
Corporeal Vision: Seeing the letters of the commandment with the eyes. This is clear and universally understood (seeing heaven, earth, all visible things).
Spiritual Vision: Thinking of our neighbor (when absent) through an image in the spirit. This involves beholding "corporeal images" in the soul, whether true (from memory) or fictitious (fashioned by thought). Example: thinking of Carthage (known) vs. Alexandria (unknown).
Intellectual Vision: Seeing and understanding "love itself" through an intuition of the mind. This embraces objects that have no corporeal images resembling them (e.g., love does not have a different form when absent; its clarity depends on intellectual vision).
This type of vision perceives objects like justice, wisdom, virtues, which are not seen through physical senses or images but by "another vision, another light, and another evidence far more excellent and certain."
Chapter 7: Three Kinds of Vision Further Explained
Naming the Visions:
Corporeal: Perceived through the body and bodily senses.
Used properly (referring to bodies) or metaphorically, e.g., "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead corporeally" (Colossians 2:9). Godhead is not a body; "corporeally" here implies fulfillment and embodiment of what Old Testament shadows prefigured.
Spiritual: Refers to "whatever is not a body, and yet is something." This includes the image of an absent body and the act of perceiving it.
The word "spiritual" has various uses:
Resurrection Body: The "spiritual body" in the resurrection, subject to spirit, incorruptible, vivified by spirit, but still corporeal (1 Corinthians 15:44).
Air/Wind: "Spirit of the storm" (Psalm 148:8).
Soul of Man/Beast: "spirit of the children of man ascends upward, and the spirit of the beast descends downward into the earth" (Ecclesiastes 3:21).
Rational Mind: "eye of the soul," image and knowledge of God (Ephesians 4:23, Colossians 3:10).
God: "God is spirit" (John 4:24).
Intellectual: From "intellect." The author rejects "mental" as a newly-coined, ridiculous word (M
Chapter 8: The Basis for Calling the Second Kind of Vision Spiritual
Specific Pauline Use of "Spirit": The term "spiritual" for the second kind of vision derives from St. Paul's distinction between "spirit" and "mind" in 1 Corinthians 14.
"If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful" (1 Corinthians 14:14).
"Tongue" refers to obscure, mystical signs/images that are "in the spirit" but not yet understood by the "mind."
"For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, though the spirit is speaking mysteries" (1 Corinthians 14:2).
This implies that "spirit" here refers to the faculty that receives unexplained signs and images, whereas the "mind" (understanding) is required for those signs to be profitable.
Chapter 9: The Meaning of Spirit
Spirit as an Inferior Power of the Soul: In this specific usage, "spirit" is a power of the soul inferior to the "mind," where likenesses of corporeal objects are produced. Prophecy, then, belongs more to the mind (understanding) than to the spirit (seeing signs).
Prophet Who Interprets vs. Prophet Who Sees: The one who interprets what another has seen is a greater prophet.
Joseph and Pharaoh Example: Pharaoh saw the dream (seven ears of corn, seven kine) in his spirit (a form impressed upon it), while Joseph understood its meaning through a "light given to his mind." Joseph had the gift of prophecy; Pharaoh, the gift of tongues (seeing mysterious signs).
Degrees of Prophecy:
Less a prophet: One who sees only symbolic likenesses in spirit.
Greater prophet: One who is granted only an understanding of the images.
Greatest prophet: One endowed with both gifts (seeing symbolic likenesses in spirit and understanding them with the mind's vital power). Daniel is an example, who both recalled and explained the king's dream (Daniel 2:19-45).
Paul's Distinction: "I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also" (1 Corinthians 14:15) implies that signs are formed in the spirit, and understanding shines forth in the mind. This is the basis for designating the second kind of vision as "spiritual," involving thought-images of absent bodies.
Chapter 10: The Meaning of Intellectual and Intelligible
Intellectual Vision - Higher Plane: This type of vision is proper to the mind and is on a higher plane than corporeal and spiritual vision.
"Intellectual" and "Intelligible" Interchanged: The author uses "intellectual" and "intelligible" largely in the same sense, recognizing that some distinguish them (intelligible = reality perceived by intellect; intellectual = mind that understands).
The Mind Itself: The mind is seen only by mind. Therefore, being perceivable, it is intelligible; being able to perceive, it is intellectual.
The author sets aside the "difficult question" of a being that is only understood but does not possess understanding, choosing to use the terms interchangeably for practical purposes.
Chapter 11: Corporeal Vision is Ordered to the Spiritual, and Spiritual to the Intellectual
Hierarchy of Visions: The three kinds of vision (corporeal, spiritual, intellectual) are hierarchical, ascending from lower to higher.
Revisiting the Example: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Corporeal: Letters are seen.
Spiritual: Neighbor is thought of (even when absent, or letters when absent).
Intellectual: Love is beheld (known and perceived only in the mind/intellect, not through bodily senses or spirit images).
Interrelation of Visions: Corporeal vision announces to spiritual vision. When an object is seen by the eyes, an image is immediately produced in the spirit (anima).
If the spirit is irrational (e.g., in beasts), the input stops there.
If the soul is rational, the input is also announced to the intellect, which "presides over the spirit."
The intellect then either immediately understands the symbolic meaning of the image or seeks it out.
Baltassar and Daniel Example (Daniel 5):
King Baltassar saw the writing on the wall (corporeal vision). An image was impressed on his spirit. He recognized it as a terrifying sign but didn't understand its meaning.
Daniel, with his mind "illuminated by the spirit of prophecy," unfolded the prophetic meaning. Daniel was more a prophet because his mind functioned to understand the sign, whereas the king's intellect could only recognize it as a sign and inquire.
Chapter 12: Corporeal and Spiritual Vision
Distinguishing Waking Visions: When awake and in possession of bodily senses, we easily distinguish:
Corporeal Vision: Seeing present physical bodies.
Spiritual Vision: Thinking of absent bodies in imagination (recalling known objects, forming unknown ones, or fancifully creating unreal ones).
Abnormal States: Sometimes, images of bodies are produced in the spirit as if real bodies were present to the senses, even while actual bodies are seen with the eyes. This can happen due to:
Excessive thought.
Disorder (e.g., fever delirium).
Agency of another spirit (good or evil).
Examples: People conversing with absent individuals as if present. Some remember, some forget, like dreams.
Ecstasy: When the mind's attention is completely removed from bodily senses (eyes open but seeing nothing, no sounds heard), this is ecstasy.
The soul is fully intent on images in spiritual vision or incorporeal realities in intellectual vision, without bodily images.
Images Without Special Meaning: If, in sleep or ecstasy, the spiritual vision is occupied with images that have no special meaning, they are simply "imaginings of the soul itself." (Normal waking thought also involves images of absent bodies.)
Normal individuals distinguish these images from real bodies with a "sure instinct."
Images With Special Meaning: Images can have special meaning, whether in sleep, waking abnormal states, or ecstasy.
The revelation of knowledge through images to the mind necessarily comes from some spirit (not a body).
Chapter 13: The Power of Divination
Divination in the Human Soul: Some believe the human soul possesses a power of divination.
If so, why is it not always exercisable, despite the soul's desire?
It must require external aid, which cannot come from nothing or from a body; therefore, it must come from a spirit.
How Aid is Given (Questions):
Is there a bodily event that disengages and illuminates the soul to see "symbolic likenesses" already present but unseen (like forgotten memories)?
Are new images produced in the soul?
Does the soul enter into some other spirit to see these images?
Lack of Understanding: Why does the soul often not understand these images, even if it possesses them? Perhaps the mind needs similar aid to understand what the spirit sees. Or, perhaps the soul is directly carried to objects, whether to just see them in the spirit or to know them in the intellect.
Chapter 26: Two Kinds of Rapture: Spiritual and Intellectual
Spiritual Rapture:
Soul is removed from bodily senses: more than in sleep, less than in death.
Sees objects similar to corporeal things (likenesses of bodies) by the spirit.
Through divine guidance, knows these are likenesses and, potentially, future events (Revelation example for John).
The recipient of such a vision may not know if they were "out of the body" or still "in the body" but with the spirit withdrawn.
Intellectual Rapture:
Man is carried beyond the likenesses of bodies (seen by the spirit) to the "region of the intellectual or intelligible."
Sees "transparent truth without any bodily likeness." This vision is free from error.
Here, the virtues of the soul are not tedious (e.g., restraining lust, bearing adversity, punishing wickedness, avoiding evil).
The sole virtue and supreme happiness is to "love what you see, and to possess what you love." Beatitude is imbibed at its source.
Vision of God: The "brightness of the Lord" is seen, not symbolically or corporeally (as on Sinai), nor spiritually (as Isaiah or John), but "through a direct vision and not through a dark image."
This is "face-to-face" communion with God (mind to mind), as far as the human mind, elevated by grace, can receive it.
Chapter 27: The Vision Granted to Moses
Moses's Desire: Moses yearned to see God's "divine essence," not through mountain visions, tabernacle appearances, imaginary likenesses, or obscure symbols, but as far as a rational and intellectual creature could attain when "withdrawn from all bodily senses."
He said, "Show me Thyself, that I may see Thee clearly" (Exodus 33:13 18).
"Face to Face" with God:
Initially, "The Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend" (Exodus 33:11). This implies a corporeal manifestation, as Moses later desired to see what he did not yet see (God's brightness).
God's response: "You cannot see My face and live; for man shall not see My face and live" (Exodus 33:20). This answer is figurative, referring to the Church ("place with Me," built on a rock).
Moses's Unique Privilege: God told Aaron and Mary: "Not thus with My servant Moses: in all My house, he is the faithful one. Mouth to mouth I will speak to him in My essence and not through obscure signs, and he has seen the brightness of the Lord" (Numbers 12:7-8).
This refers not to a bodily substance seen by fleshly senses, but to an "incomparably more intimate and inward manner," an "unutterable converse."
This vision (of God's divine essence) is granted only to those who "die to this life" in some way – either leaving the body entirely or being so withdrawn from bodily senses that they do not know if they are "in the body or out of the body" (like St. Paul).
Chapter 28: The Third Heaven and Paradise May Be Understood as the Third Kind of Vision
"Third Heaven" as Intellectual Vision: The author proposes that St. Paul's "third heaven" refers to the third, intellectual type of vision.
This vision surpasses all corporeal (bodily senses) and spiritual (likenesses of bodies in spirit) visions.
In it, "the brightness of God is seen by those whose hearts are purified for the vision" (Matthew 5:8).
It is not seen through symbols or a mirror/riddle (1 Corinthians 13:12), but "face to face" or "mouth to mouth" (like Moses), a vision of God's essence comprehended by a mind cleansed from earthly stain and separated from all body and likeness of body.
"Paradise" as Intellectual Vision: Why not call this intellectual vision "paradise" too?
The word "paradise" properly means any wooded place.
Figuratively, it can mean any "spiritual region where the soul is in a happy state." Thus, the third heaven is Paradise.
Other Figurative Paradises:
"A certain joy springing from a good conscience within man himself is Paradise."
"The Church…is rightly called Paradise," vigorous with graces and pure delights, even in tribulation.
"Abraham's bosom after this life also be called Paradise," a place of wonderful rest and unique light, seen even by the rich man in hell.
The corporeal Paradise where Adam lived was a sign of the saints' life in the Church now, and of eternal life to come, similar to how earthly Jerusalem is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Chapter 29: Whether There Are More Than Three Heavens is Difficult to Say
Multiple Heavens Theory: Some conjecture more than three heavens (seven, eight, nine, or ten), asserting they are corporeal.
Author's Stance: The author refrains from discussing these corporeal theories. He acknowledges that spiritual or intellectual visions might have many grades based on revelation and illumination.
Limited Knowledge: He admits ignorance in establishing the precise number and degrees of excellence within the classes of vision, only recognizing the three kinds: corporeal, spiritual, and intellectual.
Chapter 30: Degrees of Excellence in Likenesses of Bodies Seen in the Spirit
Comparison to Corporeal World: Just as there is a corporeal "heaven" with luminous celestial bodies superior to earthly bodies, there are degrees of excellence in the "spiritual order."
Spiritual Order (Likenesses of Bodies):
Divine Revelations: "Certain objects more excellent and truly divine," revealed by angels through wondrous ways (how angels create visions in our spirit is difficult to understand).
Ordinary Thoughts/Dreams: Other objects arise from our spirit itself or are suggested by the body (e.g., thinking of troubles, dreaming of needs due to greed, hunger/thirst).
Hierarchy within Spiritual Vision: These ordinary thoughts/dreams are assigned the same relative value, in the spiritual order, as earthly bodies are to celestial bodies in the corporeal order, implying they are far less excellent than angelic revelations.
Chapter 31: The Soul Longs to See the Light, Which is God, Illuminating the Intellect, but Cannot Do So Except When Carried Off in Ecstasy
Objects of Intellectual Vision (within the soul):
Virtues (e.g., piety, justice) and vices, some enduring, some useful only for this life (faith, hope, patience, which are needed in exile but not in the blessed life).
These are seen with the intellect; they are not bodies nor have bodily forms.
The Light (God Himself):
Distinct from these virtues is the "Light by which the soul is illumined" to see and understand everything (either in itself or in that Light).
This Light "is God Himself," while the soul is a rational and intellectual creature made in His image.
Soul's Weakness: When the soul tries to behold this Light directly, it "trembles in its weakness and finds itself unable to do so."
Ecstasy and Divine Vision: All understanding comes from this Light. When the soul is "carried off" (raptured) and withdrawn from the bodily senses, it can be present to this vision more perfectly (not spatially, but ontologically).
In this state, it can "see above itself that Light" in whose illumination it sees and understands all other objects within itself.
Chapter 32: The Soul at Death is Transported with a Likeness of the Body to a "Spiritual" Place of Punishment or of Peace
Soul's Destination After Death: The author asks if the soul goes to a corporeal region, an incorporeal region like the corporeal, or something more excellent.
His direct answer: Not a corporeal region, unless transported with a body or non-spatially.
Soul and a Body-Likeness: The author doesn't believe the soul has a body after death, but it is brought to a spiritual realm "in accordance with its merits."
Spiritual Realm of Punishment (Hell-like):
This region is a "place of punishment, whose nature is similar to that of bodies."
Those who experience this (e.g., in ecstasies resembling death) report seeing "punishments of hell."
They are accompanied by "some sort of likeness of the body," which allows them to be transported and perceive these regions.
This "likeness of the body" can exist when the body is senseless but not dead (during ecstasy), or when truly dead and the soul departs.
Spiritual Realm of Peace and Joy (Abraham's Bosom-like):
Conversely, the soul can be transported to a place of "bodily likenesses" that offer peace and joy.
Reality of Spiritual Experiences: These punishments and joys are real, not false, though perceived through likenesses rather than actual bodies.
Falsity occurs when one mistakes an image for a body (e.g., Peter mistook the dish images for real bodies, or his angelic release for a vision).
The objects exist, and the joy/vexation produced by the spiritual substance are real (like profound joy/sorrow in dreams).
Nature of Hell: The afflictions of hell are more vivid than dreams. Hell exists, and the author's opinion is that "its nature is spiritual rather than corporeal."
Chapter 33: Hell and the Bosom of Abraham
Rejecting "Hell in This Life": The author dismisses theories that hell is experienced in this life, affirming that faith relies solely on Sacred Scripture.
Pagan wise men also believed in a lower world for souls after death.
Questions about why it's "under the earth" or "lower world" if not corporeal are discussed.
Incorporeality of the Soul: The soul is incorporeal, a "certain knowledge," not just an opinion.
Likeness of the Body: Anyone denying the soul's ability to have a likeness of the body must also deny that the soul in sleep sees itself walking, sitting, etc., which requires some bodily likeness.
Therefore, if the soul in the lower world bears this incorporeal but body-like likeness, it would be in a place that is not corporeal but like the corporeal, for rest or torment.
"Lower World" / "Hell" Usage: The author has not found "lower world" (or "hell") applied to the resting place of the just.
Christ's Descent: It is believed Christ's soul went to the region of tormented sinners to release those decreed to be released, loosening "the pangs of hell" (Acts 2:24). "Every knee does bend… under the earth" (Philippians 2:10) confirms Christ's power there.
Abraham's Bosom: Abraham and the poor man were in a "peaceful retreat," not torment. A "great gulf was fixed" between their abode and infernal torments (Luke 16:22-26).
Scripture mentions hell in reference to the rich man's punishment, not the poor man's repose.
Jacob's Fear: Jacob's words, "You will bring down my old age with sorrow unto hell" (Genesis 44:29), likely express his fear of dying in profound sorrow and thus going to the hell of sinners, not the blessed's resting place. Sorrow is a significant evil for the soul.
Conclusion on "Hell": No canonical Scripture uses "hell" in a good sense. Abraham's bosom and the resting place of the devoted poor man are understood in a good sense, thus cannot be in hell.
Chapter 34: Paradise and the Third Heaven
Summary of Discussion: The book concludes by returning to St. Paul's statement about being caught up to the third heaven and Paradise.
Interpretation of Paradise:
Proper Sense: Any wooded place.
Figurative Sense: Any "spiritual region, as it were, where the soul is in a happy state." Thus, the third heaven is Paradise, and so is "a certain joy springing from a good conscience within man himself." The Church (in righteous saints) is also called Paradise.
Abraham's Bosom as Paradise: This applies even more truly to Abraham's bosom, a place of peace, rest, and a transcendent light, seen by the rich man from hell.
Hell's Figurative Location: Hell is said to be "under the earth" or "inferi" (lower world) because its symbolic representation in the spirit corresponds to gravity and gloom.
Sinners (who sinned through love of the flesh) are affected by "likenesses of bodies" and experience a destiny akin to "dead flesh itself buried under the earth."
The Greek word for hell (hades) implies a place without delight.
Christ's Visit to Hell: Christ, the Wisdom of God, visited this part of the world to deliver certain souls, promising the robber "This day you shall be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). This Paradise is understood as Abraham's bosom or the higher vision of the third heaven, not hell.
Chapter 35: Reunion of the Soul with the Glorified Body Necessary for Perfect Beatitude
Problem of Separate Beatitude: Why do spirits need reunion with bodies in the resurrection if they can achieve supreme beatitude without them? This is a difficult question.
Limitations of the Separated Mind: Without the body (in ecstasy or after death), a man's mind "is unable to see the immutable essence of God just as the holy angels see it."
There may be a "mysterious reason" or a "natural appetite for managing the body" that hinders the soul from fully ascending to the highest heaven when not joined to the body.
The corruptible flesh, being a "load upon the soul" (Wisdom 9:15), further turns the mind away from the highest vision.
Hence, the soul must be carried out of the senses to achieve this vision as far as it is able.
Perfect Beatitude with Glorified Body: When the soul is made equal to the angels and receives its "spiritual body" (no longer natural but transformed, 1 Corinthians 15:44), it will achieve the "perfect measure of its being."
The resurrected body will be vivified with such ease that what was once a burden will become its glory.
Chapter 36: The Three Kinds of Vision Will Be Made Perfect in the Blessed After the Resurrection
Perfection of Vision in Resurrection: After the resurrection, the three kinds of vision (corporeal, spiritual, intellectual) will exist without error or confusion.
Intellectual Vision: Will bring joy and be "far more luminously present to the soul" than current corporeal forms.
Wise men currently cling to this incorporeal world, seen with the intellect, even if less vividly than bodily senses perceive material forms.
Angelic Vision: Holy angels, who judge and administer the corporeal world, also see:
Spiritual Symbolic Likenesses: They can effectively introduce these into human spirits through revelation.
Immutable Essence of the Creator: They behold this with such clarity that it guides all their judgments, impulses, and actions.
St. Paul's Remaining Ignorance Solved: Even St. Paul, in his rapture, lacked full and perfect knowledge (he didn't know if he was in or out of the body).
This knowledge will be complete for humanity at the resurrection when the corruptible body puts on incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:53).
"Everything will be clear without any error and without any ignorance, all things occupying their proper place, the corporeal, the spiritual, and the intellectual, in untainted nature and perfect beatitude."
Chapter 37: A Different Terminology Used by Other Interpreters
Alternative Terminology: The author acknowledges that some esteemed Catholic interpreters before him explained St. Paul's "third heaven" by distinguishing between "corporeal, animal, and spiritual men."
These interpreters suggested Paul was carried off to contemplate the "incorporeal" realm (the spiritual men's realm) with a "wonderfully clear vision."
Author's Defense of Terminology: The author states that his "spiritual" and "intellectual" terms correspond to what others may have called "animal" and "spiritual," indicating he just used "different terms for the same things." He hopes his explanation is clear and spiritually profitable.
The author in Book Twelve explains the unknowability of God through the limitations of human perception and the extraordinary conditions required for any direct apprehension. God, as an incorporeal substance, is "perceived intellectually, not through bodily senses (outlines, colors, sounds, etc.), but by a 'more excellent and certain' light" (Chapter 3). This highlights that God is not knowable through physical means.
Responding to Moses's desire to see Him clearly, God declares a fundamental barrier to direct human comprehension: "You cannot see My face and live; for man shall not see My face and live" (Exodus 33:20) (Chapter 27). This implies that a full, unmediated vision of God's essence is incompatible with mortal existence.
Even when profound communion is granted, such as the "face-to-face" vision described for Moses or St. Paul's rapture, it occurs only under exceptional circumstances. The text states that this "vision (of God's divine essence) is granted only to those who 'die to this life' in some way – either leaving the body entirely or being so withdrawn from bodily senses that they do not know if they are 'in the body or out of the body' (like St. Paul)" (Chapter 27). Even in this elevated state, the human mind receives such vision only "as far as the human mind, elevated by grace, can receive it" (Chapter 26), underscoring an inherent limitation.
Ultimately, the soul's own weakness in its natural state prevents direct apprehension of God. The "Light" which "is God Himself" is something the soul, despite being made in His image, "trembles in its weakness and finds itself unable to do so" when it tries to behold it directly (Chapter 31). This signifies that God, in His complete essence, remains beyond the grasp of the ordinary, unraptured human soul due to intrinsic human frailties.