(161) Question. The teaching about man is very well taught. And where do you think paradise was? In heaven or on earth? Some say that he was in heaven, in the intelligible sense. And others say that he was on earth, visible.

 Answer. I think that paradise was visible and was on earth. This is clearly proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures.

(162) Question. But what does Paul mean when he says, "I know a man who (in the body or out of the body, I don't know, God knows) was caught up into paradise fourteen years ago, and heard ineffable words that cannot be uttered to man"? This indicates that paradise is in heaven. For it is not said, "He was caught up to the third heaven, and thence descended into paradise," but precisely "caught up into paradise."

 Answer. More than one short word speaks of heaven and paradise, when it is said, "I saw him caught up to the third heaven," and again it is said "in paradise." It is necessary that you take your voice to yourself, and then move on to the study of words. As you said, it is not said that he descended, but that he was raptured into paradise, that is, separated. It seems to me, as it is in the teaching of the Divine Fathers, that it is not said "ascended," but "caught up," and this does not mean that he ascended. Of course, if he ascended to heaven, then he is clearly delighted. But even the one who descends is "caught up" into paradise. Thus it is said: "I saw a man caught up into paradise."

(163) Question. But the fact that the visible heaven is higher than us shows that this man has ascended; that he was higher than him: where we understand paradise.

 Answer. But why then did Paul not say loudly: "I saw such a man caught up into heaven and into paradise"? But by adding a word he separated the two passages, when he said: "I saw such a man caught up to the third heaven" and again "caught up to paradise." This is what they say if they simply move to some other place. On the model of a flat field from the top of the mountain. If someone plans to climb a mountain, he goes through this field (along a gentle slope) and easily climbs it. And if someone wants to climb a mountain first (along a steep slope), and then from the top to this field, then he needs to make every effort to descend from the height to the plain. In the same way, I think of the holy Apostle, who was the first to ascend to heaven, and from there flew to paradise. Before Paul, Solomon the Wise reliably testifies to the divine, that we clearly see paradise on earth. He says: "My brother has descended into his vineyard." Solomon simultaneously preaches the coming of the Lord in the flesh and Paul's descent from heaven after his rapture from earth. Christ, the brother of Solomon and Paul in the flesh, descended into His vineyard. He, like their brother, was suckled, and was circumcised with iron, and bowed His neck under the yoke of the law, and sacrificed a dove and a turtledove, and gave all the tribute due by the law.

(164) Question. Why, then, do you think that the Savior Christ gave His soul in His crucifixion, not in heaven, but on earth, when He said: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit," and to the thief: "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise"? If the God and Father of Christ is in heaven, then in any case there is paradise, where Christ promised to lead the crucified thief with Him?

 Answer. It seems to me that this is blasphemous, and belongs to every folly to suppose that the Godhead is only in heaven and in paradise, and not everywhere. But everywhere there is One Who holds all things, Who holds the things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. We say that the incarnate soul of God the Word, which has reached hell, is in the hand of the Father. At the same time, Christ was in Paradise His Divine principle, and brought with Him the soul of the thief. Thus we confess that He lives in the hand of the Parent. God is in heaven, on earth, in the seas, and in all the deeps, as David said. And he said that the ends of the earth were in his hand. And again: "If I ascend to heaven, and You are there," if I descend, then you will come to hell. If heaven is the highest, then hell is deepest. In them there is Divinity at the same time. The Divinity holds everything. The God-speaking Fathers clearly proclaim that Christ by His Divine principle dwells everywhere, being with the Father, and puts His soul in His hand. And the souls of the righteous are in the hand of the Lord, as the Prophet said, how much more is the soul of God the Word there. The same Prophet teaches us that paradise is on earth and we are visible. For the Lord did not say to the thief crucified with Him on the cross: "Thou art with Me today in paradise," but He Who expelled Adam and had mercy on the soul of the thief leads the thief into this place.

(165) Question. But what does Isaiah mean when he says on behalf of God, "On my hand I have painted thy walls with paint"—what we understand is said about paradise. The Apostle, speaking of the same paradise, writes: "The heavenly Jerusalem is free," which is our mother, and by it we understand nothing else but paradise.

 Ответ. Мне думается, что это скорее идет на пользу нашего ответа, чем опровергает его. Приводятся слова, что рай — это «место садовое», «хранилище плодов за оградами и стеною». То ли же самое имя у рая и Иерусалима? Или у неба и Эдема? В этом раю, как рассказывает Моисей, который был от Бога, «насадил Бог рай в Эдеме на востоке», а не на небе на востоке. И «источник исходит из Эдема, чтобы напоевать рай», а не сходит с неба. Источник разделяется на четыре части. Где на небе ты найдешь смоквы, финики, розы и прочее, то, чем рай осенен и цветет? Есть ли на небе источники и реки; и растение преступления заповеди? Послушай и теперь написанное Моисеем, что из одного источника исходят четыре реки, которые имеют названия. Их имена видятся простыми. Одна из рек называется Фисон — она обтекает Миры и Инды, и они называют эту реку Гансис, а эллины — Истр и Инд. Сремены и славяне, живущие на реке, называют ее Данувий, а Готы — Дунай. Всю эту землю она обходит, затем — Эфиопию и страны Елуминские (проходя первой Эфиопию), оттуда течет в сторону юга и на запад. Гадир впадает прямо в славный Океан.

(166) Вопрос. Хватит, человеколюбивый отче. Но опиши нам словом течение второй реки, чтобы окончательно нас порадовать.

 Ответ. Вторая река — Геон, египтяне называют ее Нил. Она везде льется медленно, и каждый год напояет Египет. По ней ходят корабли под парусами. Река эта велит пахать землю плугом, и она сохраняет и водные стада, и земные. Можно есть и траву, и мясо. Река проходит великую Эфиопию и течет по малой, в Анумите, Влемуе и Аксумите, в стране Фиваидской и Египетской, и там впадает в море. Иеремия, многострадальный среди пророков, который утихомиривал обращения к Египту взбесившегося умом Израиля, явно возглашает: «Что тебе до земли Египетской — чтобы пить Геонскую мутную воду?!», то есть Нильскую мутную воду.

(167) Вопрос. Мы молим, чтобы мы не расслабились, поскольку час уже поздний. Но вкратце скажи и о третьей реке: откуда она начинается и где кончается?

 Ответ. После второй, из того же водного источника исходящая река — это Тигра, как ее называет Священное Писание. Она выходит прямо пред Ассириею, огибает страны востока, погружается под землю на долгое расстояние, и опять вытекаете сквозь Армению, и разделяется в Ассирийской стране.