Coptic Apocalypse of Paul

Below is a translated text of the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul (Nag Hammadi text) from Kaler (2008: 16-22).

This translation is based on Jean-Marc Rosenstiehl’s edition of the Coptic text (Rosenstiehl and Kaler 2005, with significant contributions from Wolf-Peter Funk).

Introduction

... the road, and he spoke to him, saying, “By which road can I go up to Jerusalem?”

The small child replied, saying: “Give your name, in order that I might show you the road.”

The small child knew who Paul was. His words were intended as an excuse to start up a conversation with him.

The Spirit’s Discourse

The little child spoke up, saying, “I know who you are, Paul: you are the one who was blessed from his mother’s womb.

I saw that you were on your way up to Jerusalem, to your fellow apostles, and it is because of this that I was sent to you.

I am the Spirit, who is with you.

Awaken ... several lines are missing For ... the whole ... which ... among the Principalities and these Authorities and Archangels and Powers and the whole crowd of demons, who belong to the one who created bodies which are provided with soul.”

And after he had finished saying this, he spoke again, saying to {him}: “Awaken your mind, Paul, in order to see that this mountain upon which you walk, is the mountain of Jericho, and so that you might come to know the things which are hidden within those which are apparent! It is to the twelve apostles that you are going, for they are elect spirits, and they will greet you.”

The Third Heaven

He lifted up his eyes.

He saw them. They greeted him.

Then the holy Spirit, who was conversing with him, snatched him up on high, up to the third heaven.

And he passed on up to the fourth heaven.

The Fourth Heaven: The Trial of a Sinner

The holy Spirit spoke to him, saying, “Look and see your likeness upon the earth.”

And he looked down, he saw those who were on the earth. He regarded ... those on the ... He regarded ... and he saw the twelve apostles at his right and at his left in the creation, and the Spirit was going before them.

And I saw {angels of all sorts in the fifth heaven, and I saw that these} angels were bringing a soul out of the land of the dead.

They set it at the gate to the fourth heaven, and the angels were whipping it.

The soul spoke up and said, “What sin did I commit in the world?”

The toll-collector who sits in the fourth heaven responded, saying, “It was not right to do all those lawless deeds that are in the land of the dead.”

The soul replied, saying, “Bring witnesses! Let them tell you in what body I behaved lawlessly.”

“I want to bring a book to read from.”

And the three witnesses came.

The first one spoke up, saying “Wasn’t it I who was in the body at the second hour ...? I rose up against you until you were filled with anger and wrath and envy.”

And the second spoke, saying, “Wasn’t it I who was in the world, and who came in at the fifth hour? And I saw you, and I desired you. And behold, now I am accusing you on account of the murders that you committed.”

The third spoke up, saying “Wasn’t it I who came to you at the twelfth hour of the day, when the sun was about to set, and I gave you darkness until you had completed your sins?”

When the soul heard these things it stared down, sorrowfully, and then it gazed upwards.

They cast it down.

When they cast it down, the soul went into a body that had been prepared for it.

And with that, the trial was over.

But as for me, I gazed up and I saw the Spirit saying to me, “Paul, come, follow me.”

The Fifth Heaven

Then as I went, the gate opened and I went up to the fifth heaven.

And I saw my fellow apostles going with me while the Spirit was going about with us.

And I saw a great angel in the fifth heaven, holding an iron rod in his hand, three other angels with him.

And I gazed at their faces.

They were quarrelling with one another, with whips in their hands, goading the souls on to the judgement.

But as for me, I was going with the Spirit, and the door opened for me.

The Sixth Heaven

Then we went up to the sixth heaven.

And I saw my fellow apostles going with me, and the holy Spirit was leading me before them.

And I gazed up.

I saw a great light that shone down in the sixth heaven.

I spoke up, saying to the toll-collector who was in the sixth heaven, “Open for me!”

And the holy Spirit was before me.

He opened for me and we went up to the seventh heaven.

The Seventh Heaven: The Meeting with the Old Man

I saw an old man ... the light ... white ... in the seventh heaven, shining seven times more than the sun.

The old man spoke, saying to me, “Where are you going, Paul, the blessed one who was set apart from his mother’s womb?”

But as for me, I looked to the Spirit, and it was nodding its head, telling me to speak with him.

And I spoke up, saying to the old man, “I am going to the place from which I came.”

And the old man replied to me, “Where are you from?”

But I responded by saying, “I am going to go down to the land of the dead in order to take captive the captivity that was taken captive in the Babylonian captivity.”

The old man responded to me, saying, “How will you be able to escape me? Look and see these Principalities and these Authorities!”

The Spirit spoke up, saying “Show him the sign that you have and he will open for you.”

And then I gave him the sign.

He turned his face down, towards his creation and those who were his, the Authorities.

The Ogdoad, and the Ninth and Tenth Heavens

And then the <seventh> heaven opened and we went up to the Ogdoad.

I saw the twelve apostles. They greeted me, and we went up to the ninth heaven. I greeted everyone in the ninth heaven.

And we went up to the tenth heaven. And I greeted my fellow spirits.

The Apocalypse of Paul

References

• Kaler, Michael (2008). Flora Tells a Story: The Apocalypse of Paul and Its Contexts. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 978-1-55458-282-2. Search this book on
• Rosenstiehl, Jean-Marc, and Michael Kaler. 2005. L’Apocalypse de Paul (NH V,2). Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi section “Textes” 31. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval and Louvain and Paris: Peeters.

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