Different Levels In Heaven?

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DrewC

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Ive read were St. Paul was carried into the “Third Heaven” before he was brought back to his body. So that prompted me to ask the question, are there different levels of Heaven?
 
DrewC said:
Ive read were St. Paul was carried into the “Third Heaven” before he was brought back to his body. So that prompted me to ask the question, are there different levels of Heaven?
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Drew, St. Paul writes of his experience in the language familiar to
the Jews who spoke of the three heavens after the imagery of
Genesis. The first heaven is the sky we see in the daytime; the second - and farther - is what we can see at night. Above these two “levels” is where God dwells. So, St. Paul isn’t saying that there are three levels within Heaven itself, but is merely saying that it was into God’s presence that he was drawn. (As you may know, this passage of St. Paul’s is used by Mormons in an attempt to uphold their teaching on three levels of Heaven: Telestial,Terrestrial and Celestial.)

In God’s presence, however, there is a variety in the intensity each soul experiences. Each individual will experience the Beatific Vision with a unique intensity suited to how his soul has corresponded to the graces received from God while on earth. Each soul will be the fulfillment of God’s action in that soul to the degree that the soul has consented to His action upon it in Divine Charity. The greater the conformity to the Image of the Incarnate Son, the greater the intensity of Communion. It is not at all a matter of “greed”, but of desiring to correspond fully to one’s
graced capability to be a true image of the Christ, and Him
Crucified.
 
FCEGM said:
In God’s presence, however, there is a variety in the intensity each soul experiences. Each individual will experience the Beatific Vision with a unique intensity suited to how his soul has corresponded to the graces received from God while on earth. Each soul will be the fulfillment of God’s action in that soul to the degree that the soul has consented to His action upon it in Divine Charity. The greater the conformity to the Image of the Incarnate Son, the greater the intensity of Communion. It is not at all a matter of “greed”, but of desiring to correspond fully to one’s
graced capability to be a true image of the Christ, and Him
Crucified.
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I had never heard this before. Where did you learn this?

Thanks,
 
mommyof4 said:
I had never heard this before. Where did you learn this?

Thanks,
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mommy, the first part about the Jewish conception of the heavens came from a tape by a former Mormon, now a Catholic seminarian (although he’s probably been ordained by now.) The latter part is basic Catholic theology (this is why the Blessed Virgin is the highest of all the Saints of God, e.g.). This article is a good introduction to the teaching:

rosary-center.org/ll48n5a.htm
 
FCEGM said:
mommy, the first part about the Jewish conception of the heavens came from a tape by a former Mormon, now a Catholic seminarian (although he’s probably been ordained by now.) The latter part is basic Catholic theology (this is why the Blessed Virgin is the highest of all the Saints of God, e.g.). This article is a good introduction to the teaching:

rosary-center.org/ll48n5a.htm
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks.🙂
 
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