要点
- What it is: An anonymous Christian vision of the afterlife attributed to Paul, also called the Vision of Paul or Visio Pauli.
- Date: Scholars usually date the work to the late fourth century, with 380 as an approximate convention.
- Biblical status: It is outside the New Testament canon of every major Christian tradition.
- Why it matters: It helped shape medieval visions of heaven and hell; it is distinct from the Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Paul.
The Apocalypse of Paul is an anonymous Christian account, usually dated to the late fourth century, in which an angel leads Paul through the rewards and punishments of the dead. Also known as the Vision of Paul, it became widely known in Latin and other languages and helped shape medieval accounts of the afterlife. Scholars discuss it as an antecedent to Dante's Comedy. It is not the different Coptic Apocalypse of Paul found among the Nag Hammadi codices.
This guide explains the work's identity, its probable date and authorship, and the main parts of its visionary journey. It then addresses its status outside the New Testament, the discovery story and surviving versions, and related guides for further exploration.
What is the Apocalypse of Paul?
The work is a Christian apocalypse: a religious narrative presented as a revelation to the apostle Paul. Its principal biblical starting point is 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, where Paul refers to being caught up to the third heaven. That passage gives no detailed account of heavenly sights. The apocalypse supplies an extended revelation, with Paul narrating much of the journey in the first person and an angel serving as his guide.
Its importance extends into the medieval tradition of journeys through the afterlife. Dante names Paul's journey to the other world in the second canto of the Inferno. Scholars discuss this apocalypse as an important antecedent to the Comedy, without requiring Dante to have used any particular surviving version directly. Its relationship to Dante therefore belongs to the history of visionary traditions as well as to questions about individual texts.
When, where, and by whom was it written?
The surviving work is usually dated to the late fourth century and was originally composed in Greek. The year 380 serves as an approximate dating convention, not a documented date of composition. A single year would oversimplify: the scholarly dating is broader than any one number. The attribution to Paul does not supply evidence that the work originated in the apostle's lifetime.
The author is anonymous, and the attribution is pseudonymous rather than evidence of apostolic authorship. A story attached to the work connects its supposed discovery with Paul's house in Tarsus, but that is a literary claim to authority, not a verified account of recovery. It therefore does not establish where the anonymous author composed the work. The original language, probable period, and claimed apostolic speaker are separate parts of its identity.
What does the vision contain?
The opening portion depicts creation complaining to God about human wrongdoing, while angels report human conduct before God. Divine patience toward sinners is a recurring concern. Accounts of souls leaving their bodies at death lead into contrasting treatment of righteous and sinful souls. The narrative connects conduct during earthly life with what happens beyond death, making moral responsibility central to its account of judgment rather than presenting only a description of otherworldly places.
The places of reward feature a City of Christ, the rivers of paradise, and encounters with biblical figures among the blessed. The scenes of punishment use vivid physical imagery, and many penalties correspond to particular kinds of wrongdoing. The condemned are not confined to people outside religious life: clergy who have failed in their responsibilities also appear. Failures of charity stand alongside other moral offenses in the work's account of conduct and consequence.
Paul's response to suffering brings grief and intercession into the vision. The condemned receive recurring relief associated with Sunday, but this respite is not the final release of all those undergoing punishment. Judgment and mercy therefore remain connected throughout the account. Scholars study these features as evidence for late antique Christian understandings of death, moral responsibility, and divine mercy, rather than treating the vision as a statement of what every Christian community believed.
Why is it not in most Bibles?
More precisely, the work is not part of the New Testament canon of any major Christian tradition. Its presentation as a revelation to Paul does not make it an apostolic writing. The distinction between the named visionary and the anonymous author is central here: a text can claim the authority of an apostle without providing evidence that the apostle composed it. Its biblical starting point likewise does not establish canonical status.
Augustine criticized an Apocalypse of Paul as an unsupported account of what Paul supposedly saw. His criticism provides evidence of a response to such a work, not a complete explanation of every tradition's canon. The facts of circulation and canonical recognition are different: this vision could be transmitted widely and influence accounts of the afterlife while remaining outside the New Testament. Its historical importance does not depend on its acceptance as scripture.
How does it survive, and was it really discovered?
The fifth-century church historian Sozomen records the discovery story, but also reports a denial from a cleric in Tarsus. That disagreement belongs to the history of the work's claimed recovery. The surviving manuscript tradition presents a different kind of evidence: the complete original Greek form does not survive, and the witnesses contain substantially different versions and abridgments. There is consequently no single surviving manuscript form that represents the complete Greek original.
Latin transmission was extensive during the Middle Ages, and the work also survives in Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic versions. Medieval vernacular adaptations carried its descriptions beyond readers of Latin. The Coptic evidence requires a distinction: the Christian Vision of Paul is not the Apocalypse of Paul preserved in Nag Hammadi Codex V. That separate work presents a different heavenly ascent narrative, despite sharing Paul's name and the title Apocalypse of Paul.
Where to go next
The related guide to the pseudepigrapha provides a next topic alongside this work's pseudonymous attribution. The guide to the lost books of the Bible offers a related topic alongside its noncanonical status. The edition on this site is titled Apocalypse of Paul.
Keep exploring
決める前に聴いてみてください
各書籍のページで、オーディオブックの冒頭を聴けます。下のThe Vision of Paulを開いて、再生を押してください。
Apocalypse of PaulAttributed to the Apostle Paul
The Vision of PaulAnonymous試聴します
The Complete 88-Book Ethiopian Bible試聴します
Questions about the Apocalypse of Paul
What is the Apocalypse of Paul?
It is an anonymous Christian apocalypse describing Paul's angel-guided journey through the world beyond death. Also called the Vision of Paul or Visio Pauli, it presents the treatment of souls, the rewards of the righteous, and punishments for wrongdoing. It is attributed to Paul, but that attribution is not evidence of apostolic authorship.
Is the Apocalypse of Paul in the Bible?
No major Christian tradition recognizes it as part of the New Testament canon. It expands on Paul's reference to the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, but that biblical connection does not give the later vision canonical status. Its extensive circulation and medieval influence are separate from recognition as scripture.
How did the Apocalypse of Paul influence Dante?
Scholars treat it as an important antecedent within the visionary tradition behind Dante's Comedy. Dante names Paul's otherworldly journey in the second canto of the Inferno. This connection does not require a claim that he directly used a particular surviving version of the apocalypse; its broader transmission also matters.
What is the difference between the Apocalypse of Paul and the Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Paul?
They are distinct works, not two titles for the same narrative. The Christian Vision of Paul describes judgment, rewards, and punishments beyond death. The Coptic Apocalypse of Paul found among the Nag Hammadi codices survives in Codex V and presents a different heavenly ascent narrative. Their shared title can obscure that distinction.
When was the Apocalypse of Paul written?
The surviving Christian work is usually dated to the late fourth century. It was originally composed in Greek by an anonymous author. The year 380 is an approximate convention rather than a documented composition date, and the attribution to Paul does not place its authorship in the apostle's lifetime.
