Reincarnation, Aerial Toll Houses, and Jacob’s Ladder
Lost Doctrines of Early Christianity and Ancient Judaism
I should start by pointing out that the Bible does not present a clear picture of the afterlife. The doctrine of the afterlife in Judaism developed over time. Each book of the Bible is independent of the others and the views of one biblical author often conflict with the views of other biblical authors. Some biblical texts explicitly rule out the possibility of an afterlife.
“But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.”(Ecclesiastes 9:4–6)
Death is simply annihilation and the soul ceases to exist. All divine rewards and punishments come in this lifetime. There simply is no afterlife. This view appears also to be held by the authors of many other Old Testament texts, where it is implied by the fact that the authors have God demand obedience and promise various earthly rewards in return. Any good that will come to one for their faith and obedience is going to come in this lifetime. (Cf. Deuteronomy 28:1–14; 1 Kings 3:14; Proverbs 10:27; Job 14:14)
During the Babylonian Exile, some biblical authors began to introduce the notion of a bodily resurrection, an idea borrowed from Zoroastrianism. First, it appears that the concept of a bodily resurrection was introduced as a metaphor for the revival of Israel, the restoration of the Israelites to the promised land.
“Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”(Ezekiel 37:11–14)
Here, the Jewish community is metaphorically spoken of as the body of Israel in the same way that the early Christian community (church) was called the body of Christ. When Israel was conquered and carried away into captivity, this was viewed as a figurative death. Babylon was the grave of Israel where the dead bones were laying. God promises to revive Israel by returning her to the promised land — the return of the Israelites to their homeland is here referred to as a resurrection. The Zoroastrian concept of a bodily resurrection is here used as a literary device. While Ezekiel uses the bodily resurrection figuratively here, Daniel uses it in an apparently literal sense.
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”(Daniel 12:1–2)
Here we see the introduction of the idea of a bodily resurrection on Judgement Day, followed by reward and punishment in the afterlife. Daniel adopts the eschatology of Zoroastrianism and introduces it into the Hebrew canon. This conception of bodily resurrection on Judgment Day would become common in the New Testament as well. (Cf. Revelation 20:12–13; 1 Corinthians 15:42–44)
The earliest texts seem to have espoused “soul death,” the idea that both body and soul die and cease to exist at the end of this earthly life. With the introduction of the notion of a bodily resurrection following the Babylonian Captivity, “soul death” begins to evolve into “soul sleep.” When one dies, one remains unconscious until the time of the bodily resurrection on Judgement Day. This idea is implied by a number of biblical texts. (Cf. 2 Chronicles 9:31, 12:16, 16:13, 27:9; Daniel 12:2; Psalm 6:5; 115:17; Ecclesiastes 9:5) But there also emerges, in some biblical writers, an idea of disembodied spirits inhabiting the air after death.
“He told them that he had seen a vision of Onias, the former High Priest, that great and wonderful man of humble and gentle disposition, who was an outstanding orator and who had been taught from childhood how to live a virtuous life. With outstretched arms Onias was praying for the entire Jewish nation. Judas then saw an impressive white-haired man of great dignity and authority. Onias said: This is God’s prophet Jeremiah, who loves the Jewish people and offers many prayers for us and for Jerusalem, the holy city. Then Jeremiah stretched out his right hand and gave Judas a gold sword, saying as he did so, This holy sword is a gift from God. Take it and destroy your enemies.”(2 Maccabees 15:12–16)
Here we see the disembodied spirits of deceased saints appear in the sky and take on the role of angels or messengers of God. It would be good also to recall the story of Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead (cf. John 11) because the Bible contains a very interesting story about what happened to him while he was dead.
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house — for I have five brothers — so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’”(Luke 16:19–30)
When Lazarus died, he was standing beside Abraham. They were both fully conscious and aware, not in a state of unawareness as some versions of the “soul sleep” doctrine suggest. Moreover, they could see the rich man suffering in Hades. Thus, we begin to see a new picture emerge in which disembodied spirits inhabit the air, alongside angels and demons. The spirits of the dead are conscious and active while awaiting their resurrection. The angels led Lazarus’ spirit up through the air to where Abraham was while the rich sinner descended into Hades.
It should be noted here that the development of doctrine on the afterlife was by no means smooth or consistent. Various writers and theologians had different views, both within the scriptures and beyond them. While one may think that a single coherent doctrine of the afterlife appears to be emerging, it must be stressed that no coherent consensus view ever emerged. The sect of the Sadducees (Zadokites), according to both the New Testament and the Jewish scholar Josephus, rejected the idea of a resurrection or afterlife.
“…Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection.”(Luke 20:27)
“But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this; that souls die with the bodies.”(Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18:1)
Some later scholars and theologians would take up these conflicting visions of the afterlife and try to synthesize them into a single more-or-less coherent doctrine of the afterlife. Nevertheless, the Church never arrived at any single coherent doctrine of the afterlife.
We soon see the Jewish theologian Philo (ca. 25BC-50AD) tying this idea of disembodied spirits in the air to “Jacob's ladder,” where Jacob had a vision of a ladder between heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending, crossing back and forth between heaven and earth. In Philo, the disembodied spirits of the dead are inhabiting the same aerial realm (Jacob’s ladder) as the angels.
“Such then may be said, by way of preface, to the discussion of that description of visions which are sent from God. But it is time now to turn to the subject itself, and to investigate, with accuracy, every portion of it. The scripture therefore says, “And he dreamed a dream. And behold a ladder was planted firmly on the ground, the head of which reached to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending along it.”(Genesis 28:12) By the ladder in this thing, which is called the world, is figuratively understood the air, the foundation of which is the earth, and the head is the heaven…. This air is the abode of incorporeal souls, since it seemed good to the Creator of the universe to fill all the parts of the world with living creatures. On this account he prepared the terrestrial animals for the earth, the aquatic animals for the sea and for the rivers, and the stars for the heaven; for every one of these bodies is not merely a living animal, but is also properly described as the very purest and most universal mind extending through the universe; so that there are living creatures in that other section of the universe, the air…. Is it not then absurd that that element, by means of which the other elements have been filled with vitality, should itself be destitute of living things? Therefore let no one deprive the most excellent nature of living creatures of the most excellent of those elements which surrounds the earth; that is to say, of the air. For not only is it not alone deserted by all things besides, but rather, like a populous city, it is full of imperishable and immortal citizens, souls equal in number to the stars. Now of these souls some descend upon the earth with a view to be bound up in mortal bodies, those namely which are most nearly connected with the earth, and which are lovers of the body. But some soar upwards, being again distinguished according to the definitions and times which have been appointed by nature. Of these, those which are influenced by a desire for mortal life, and which have been familiarised to it, again return to it. But others, condemning the body of great folly and trifling, have pronounced it a prison and a grave, and, flying from it as from a house of correction or a tomb, have raised themselves aloft on light wings towards the aether, and have devoted their whole lives to sublime speculations. There are others, again, the purest and most excellent of all, which have received greater and more divine intellects, never by any chance desiring any earthly thing whatever, but being as it were lieutenants of the Ruler of the universe, as though they were the eyes and ears of the great king, beholding and listening to everything. Now philosophers in general are wont to call these demons, but the sacred scripture calls them angels, using a name more in accordance with nature. For indeed they do report (diangellousi) the injunctions of the father to his children, and the necessities of the children to the father. And it is in reference to this employment of theirs that the holy scripture has represented them as ascending and descending, not because God, who knows everything before any other being, has any need of interpreters; but because it is the lot of us miserable mortals to use speech as a mediator and intercessor; because of our standing in awe of and fearing the Ruler of the universe, and the all-powerful might of his authority; having received a notion of which he once entreated one of those mediators, saying: “Do thou speak for us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die.”(Exodus 20:19) For not only are we unable to endure his chastisements, but we cannot bear even his excessive and unmodified benefits, which he himself proffers us of his own accord, without employing the ministrations of any other beings.”(Philo of Alexandria, De Somniis)
There are two things that are worth noting about Philo’s account. First, his understanding of “Jacob’s Ladder” (the pathway between heaven and earth) is remarkably similar to “Chinvat Bridge” in Zoroastrianism. It should be remembered that the ideas of bodily resurrection, reward in heaven, and punishment in hell were also ideas borrowed from Zoroastrianism during the Babylonian Captivity. In Zoroastrianism, the souls of the departed are said to cross over the “Chinvat Bridge” that connects the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. There, the souls must account for their worldly deeds. The wicked are dragged away to hell by Vizaresha, while a beautiful maiden takes the righteous souls to heaven. The Zoroastrian story of Chinvat Bridge made it into English folk Christianity in the form of the “brig o’ dread,” the purgatorial bridge to the afterlife. (Cf. Lyke-Wake Dirge) This story is also present in Islam under the name of as-Sirāt. Second, it is striking that Philo explicitly teaches a doctrine of reincarnation here.
It is well-known that esoteric Judaism in modern times espouses a doctrine of reincarnation. For centuries, this was considered a part of the secret tradition (kabbalah) that was handed down by rabbis who practiced Jewish mysticism. It was forbidden to teach these doctrines openly. The doctrine of reincarnation was to be shared only with initiates. Within Judaism, the doctrine of reincarnation goes by the name gilgulei ha-neshamot (גלגול הנשמות, the cycle of souls). This secret teaching went mainstream following the rise of Lurianic Kabbalah and Hassidism, as espoused by Isaac Luria [the Ari] (1534–1572AD) and Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov [the Besht] (1698–1760AD), respectively. It was at this time that rabbis began to openly teach doctrines that had previously been regarded as off-limits to outsiders. The Besht, in particular, turned the kabbalistic mystical practices, which allow one to experience union with God, from being a practice only for initiates into a practice accessible to laymen as well — and, alongside the mystical practices, the esoteric teachings on reincarnation also became common knowledge to initiated rabbis and laymen alike. We have already established, by citing Philo, that there were Jews who believed in reincarnation in the 1st Century AD. But we can also cite Saadia Gaon (ca. 882–942AD) to establish that there were Jews who believed in reincarnation in the interim between Philo and the Ari, during the time where openly espousing esoteric teachings was forbidden within Judaism. Saadia Gaon, however, did not personally adhere to this doctrine.
“Yet, I must say that I have found certain people, who call themselves Jews, professing the doctrine of metempsychosis (reincarnation) which is designated by them as the theory of ‘transmigration’ of souls. What they mean thereby is that the spirit of Ruben is transferred to Simon and afterwards to Levi and after that to Judah. Many of them would go so far as to assert that the spirit of a human being might enter into the body of a beast or that of a beast into the body of a human being…
“They say, namely: ‘Inasmuch as the Creator is just, it is inconceivable that he should occasion suffering to little children, unless it be for sins committed by their souls during the time that they were lodged in their former bodies.’”(Saadia Gaon, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions)
Now Philo, in the 1st Century, had identified the aerial realm through which souls ascend toward heaven with Jacob’s Ladder, asserting that some souls fall while attempting to make that ascent and end up being reborn on Earth as a result. Mani (ca. 216–276AD), the Elchasaite Christian who founded Manichaeism, seems to have had a similar cosmology to that of Philo. In Mani’s cosmology, what Philo calls “Jacob’s Ladder” is referred to as the “Pillar of Glory” or “Column of Light” and is identified with the Milky Way. (The identification of Jacob’s Ladder with the Milky Way was common in later Medieval times as well, at least up until the time of Johannes Kepler.) And Mani too believed in reincarnation. But Mani had a dualistic view of the universe where good (light) and evil (dark) became mixed during a primordial war between a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness. The souls of living things are particles of light trapped in the darkness of the material world as a result of this primordial war. In Mani’s system, the souls of the departed were said to either ascend up along this Column of Light and reach the Moon before being transferred to the Sun (paradise) or to fall back down to earth and be reborn again in the body of a plant, animal, or human.
There are certainly some passages of scripture that do lend themselves to an interpretation consistent with the doctrine of reincarnation. The passages in the Bible that speak of a “second coming” of Elijah and a “second coming” of Christ could certainly be understood through the lens of a doctrine of reincarnation. Traditionally, the second coming of Elijah as John the Baptist is understood metaphorically but one could certainly take it literally.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”(Malachi 4:5–6)
“For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come…. And the disciples asked him, ‘Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?’ He answered, ‘Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.”(Matthew 11:13–14; 17:10–13)
It is well-known that Origen of Alexandria openly taught the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. We also know that St. Clement of Alexandria adhered to this view as well, though his writings espousing this doctrine are no longer extant. It even seems probable that St. Pantaenus, Clement’s teacher, adhered to this view, though there is little substantial evidence to prove it. We know that St. Clement of Alexandria espoused the doctrine of reincarnation in his lost work Hypotyposeis, though we only know this indirectly from references to that work by other ancient writers.
Even in the absence of the now-lost Hypotyposeis, Clement’s remaining works contain passages that strongly suggest he approved of this doctrine. St. Clement self-identified as a gnostic but not in the sense of adhering to heretical Gnosticism as espoused by Marcion, Valentinus, and Simon Magus. Instead, Clement’s “gnosticism” was in accord with the mainstream orthodox Christianity of his day but he held that there were certain secret or esoteric doctrines that the early Church reserved only for the initiated. However, unlike the heretical esotericism of the Gnostics, Clement’s secret “gnostic” teachings did not contradict the teachings of the mainstream orthodox Church of his day but rather complimented it. The Hypotyposeis was apparently an exposition of some of these esoteric doctrines.
It is disappointing that the only direct admission of belief in reincarnation by Clement of Alexandria is in a work that has been lost. Thankfully, we do have a clear exposition of reincarnation in the works of Origen which we will delve into shortly. Nevertheless, we can get a glimpse of it in Clement as well. The existing works of Clement are exoteric and are, according to Clement himself, written in a way to conceal secret esoteric teachings.
“Philosophy came into existence, not on its own account, but for the advantages reaped by us from knowledge, we receiving a firm persuasion of true perception, through the knowledge of things comprehended by the mind. For I do not mention that the Stromata, forming a body of varied erudition, wish artfully to conceal the seeds of knowledge. As, then, he who is fond of hunting captures the game after seeking, tracking, scenting, hunting it down with dogs; so truth, when sought and got with toil, appears a delicious thing. Why, then, you will ask, did you think it fit that such an arrangement should be adopted in your memoranda? Because there is great danger in divulging the secret of the true philosophy to those, whose delight it is unsparingly to speak against everything, not justly; and who shout forth all kinds of names and words indecorously, deceiving themselves and beguiling those who adhere to them.”(Clement of Alexanria, The Stromata 1:2)
Being an exoteric work in which Clement was, by his own admission, trying to conceal esoteric truths from his reader, you won’t find him openly espousing the doctrine of reincarnation in The Stromata. However, he does mention the doctrine in a way that suggests his approval. Clement says that Greek philosophy contains some truths and he argues that those truths are often the result of plagiarizing ideas from “barbarian” (foreign) cultures. He even suggests that the Greeks sometimes plagiarized Moses. The doctrine of the transmigration of souls, according to Clement, was borrowed by the Greeks from the Egyptians.
“We shall find another testimony in confirmation, in the fact that the best of the philosophers, having appropriated their most excellent dogmas from us, boast, as it were, of certain of the tenets which pertain to each sect being culled from other Barbarians, chiefly from the Egyptians — both other tenets, and that especially of the transmigration of the soul.”(Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata 6:4)
While Clement does not come out and clearly endorse reincarnation here, he does seem to imply that this particular teaching is among the “utterances of the true philosophy” and “most excellent dogmas.” (Cf. The Stromata 1:19, 6:4)
Clement also discusses the doctrine of the heretic Basilides. Basilides the Gnostic held that “the soul, having sinned before in another life, endures punishment in this — the elect soul with honour by martyrdom, the other purged by appropriate punishment.”(The Stromata 4:12) The soul, according to Basilides, becomes imprisoned in a body that is “of the devil” and will undergo punishment for sins committed in previous lives. Clement objects to Basilides’ claim that God inflicts suffering in this life as punishment for sins in past lives on the grounds that God is love and, as such, is above such vindictive and petty behavior. “For neither did the Lord suffer by the will of the Father, nor are those who are persecuted persecuted by the will of God…. We must not therefore think that He actively produces afflictions (far be it that we should think this!).”(ibid.) Clement then concludes by explicitly leaving the question of reincarnation open: “But with reference to these dogmas, whether the soul is changed to another body, also of the devil, at the proper time mention will be made.”(The Stromata 4:12) By “at the proper time mention will be made,” he presumably means when you get to his writing and lectures on the esoteric subjects (i.e. Hypotyposeis).
It would seem that St. Clement of Alexandria’s understanding of reincarnation was akin to Philo’s doctrine. The soul becomes incarnate by its own choice because it lusts after sensual and worldly things. The soul does not become incarnate so that it can suffer as punishment for its sins but rather because it freely chooses to. So, in Philo and Clement, there appears to be nothing like a concept of karma or any idea that being born into this world is a form of punishment. But Clement’s disciple Origen, on the other hand, says that earthly incarnation is punishment for past evil deeds.
Though it is difficult to determine much more about Clement’s doctrine of reincarnation since his most relevant book on the subject is now lost, the works of his student Origen of Alexandria are better preserved. Origen held that all minds were created in the beginning, prior to the creation of the material world. Originally, all minds were in union with God. However, God gave everyone free will and this resulted in minds revolting against God. The particularly wicked minds became demons, the more righteous ones became angels, and the ones that were in-between became souls. God created this world as a middle place between heaven and hell, a sort of purgatorial realm of punishment for those that were not entirely lost.
“…before the ages minds were all pure, both daemons and souls and angels, offering service to God and keeping his commandments. But the devil, who was one of them, since he possessed free-will, desired to resist God, and God drove him away. With him revolted all the other powers. Some sinned deeply and became daemons, others less and became angels; others still less and became archangels; and thus each in turn received the reward for his individual sin. But there remained some souls who had not sinned so greatly as to become daemons, nor on the other hand so very lightly as to become angels. God therefore made the present world and bound the soul to the body as a punishment…. God made one a daemon, one a soul and one an angel as a means of punishing each in proportion to its sin. For if this is not so, and souls had no pre-existence, why do we find some new-born babes to be blind, when they have committed no sin, while others are born with no defect at all?…
“But when they had revolted from their former blessedness they were endowed with bodies in consequence of the fall from their first estate….”(Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles, Book 1, Chapter 8)
Before the so-called “original sin” of Adam and Eve, a primordial sin had already taken place. The first man and woman were not sinless when they were brought to life—they were only placed in human bodies because they had sinned before coming into this world. One might wonder how a just God could allow sinless infants to be born with horrible defects that cause them great suffering. Origen sees the pre-existence of souls as the obvious solution. The infant had sinned prior to entering its body and the suffering is a punishment meant to atone for prior bad behavior. There is, in Origen of Alexandria, something like the idea of karma.
According to Origen, souls in union with God are stored in a spiritual realm but come to be born into this world when they fall into temptation. When the soul falls from its exalted state and is born into this world, it is first born as a human but can then end up descending further down in the chain of being to be born as an animal if it fails to live righteously during its lifetime.
“Whole nations of souls are stored away somewhere in a realm of their own, with an existence comparable to our bodily life…. There the representations of evil and of virtue are set before them; and as long as a soul continues to abide in the good it has no experience of union with a body. But by some inclination towards evil these souls lose their wings and come into bodies, first of men; then through their association with the irrational passions, after the allotted span of human life they are changed into beasts; from which they sink to the level of insensate nature. Thus that which is by nature fine and mobile, namely the soul, first becomes heavy and weighed down, and because of its wickedness comes to dwell in a human body; after that, when the faculty of reason is extinguished, it lives the life of an irrational animal; and finally even the gracious gift of sensation is withdrawn and it changes into the insensate life of a plant. From this condition it rises again through the same stages and is restored to its heavenly place. On earth by means of virtue souls grow wings and soar aloft, but when in heaven their wings fall off through evil and they sink down and become earthbound and are mingled with the gross nature of matter.
“For if a soul has been torn away from the more exalted realm through some wickedness and after having once tasted the life of the body again becomes a man, then, since life in the flesh is admittedly far more subject to passions than the eternal and bodiless life, it follows of necessity that the soul which comes into such a life, in which the occasions of sin are more numerous, comes also into the midst of greater wickedness and is rendered more subject to passion than before. Now passion in a human soul is a likening to the irrational. And when the soul has become closely associated with the irrational it descends to the nature of the brutes…. When the soul falls away from the good and inclines towards evil it becomes more and more involved in this. Then, unless it turns back, it is rendered brutish by its folly and bestial by its wickedness and it is carried towards the conditions of unreason and, so to speak, of the watery life. Then, as befits the degree of its fall into evil, it is clothed with the body of this or that irrational animal.” (Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles, Book 1, Chapter 8)
But Origen holds that these souls can reascend up the chain of being back towards union with God. Nevertheless, “salvation” or divine union never becomes a final endpoint, as God never takes away an individual’s free will. Since those who have achieved union with God retain their free will, there is always a possibility of them revolting or falling away again. So Origen envisions not just a cycle of reincarnation but also an eternal cycle whereby souls are redeemed, make it into heaven, and then fall away once again to repeat the whole process another time.
“But if at any time satiety should possess the heart of one of those who have come to occupy the perfect and highest stage, I do not think that such a one will be removed and fall from his place all of a sudden. Rather must he decline by slow degrees, so that it may sometimes happen, when a slight fall has occurred, that the man quickly recovers and returns to himself. A fall does not therefore involve utter ruin, but a man may retrace his steps and return to his former state and once more set his mind on that which through negligence had slipped from his grasp….
“All rational creatures who are incorporial and invisible, if they become negligent, gradually sink to a lower level and take to themselves bodies suitable to the regions into which they descend; that is to say, first, ethereal bodies, and then aereal. And when they reach the neighbourhood of the earth they are enclosed in grosser bodies, and last of all are tied to human flesh. It is a mark of extreme negligence and sloth for any soul to descend and to lose its own nature so completely as to be bound, in consequence of its vices, to the gross body of one of the irrational animals….
“Since, then, it was necessary for intellectual nature to make use of bodies, and this nature proved to be changeable and convertible by the very condition of its being created…of necessity God had foreknowledge of the differences that were to arise among souls or spiritual powers, in order to arrange that each in proportion to its merits might wear a different bodily covering of this or that quality….
“It must needs be that the nature of bodies is not primary, but that it was created at intervals on account of certain falls that happened to rational beings, who came to need bodies; and again, that when their restoration is perfectly accomplished these bodies are disolved into nothing, so that this is for ever happening.”(Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles, Book 1, Chapters 3–4 & Book 4, Chapter 4)
The doctrine of the transmigration of souls as espoused by Origen here is heavily drawing on Plato’s account in his dialogue Phaedrus and elsewhere. Origen is remembered for his doctrine of universal salvation but, it would seem, that to Origen a universal restoration of all things (apokatastasis) would not entail a final universal redemption for all souls, as the existence of free will means that souls can and will fall away again and again throughout eternity.
So far we have explored mostly canonical texts and orthodox Jewish and Christian writers. Now let us turn to the heterodox views of some of the early Gnostic Christians. There are two texts that interest me in particular: The First Revelation of James and The Apocalypse of Paul. These two accounts are particularly interesting to me because they represent an early version of the doctrine of aerial toll houses, which is taught in the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day. The idea is basically that the soul that is attempting to ascend to heaven from earth must pass through a series of toll houses in the aerial realm and answer to toll-collectors who try to ensnare the soul and drag it down to hell. The Apocalypse of Paul gives the following account:
“Then the Holy Spirit who was speaking with him caught him up on high to the third heaven, and he passed beyond to the fourth heaven. The Holy Spirit spoke to him, saying, ‘Look and see your likeness upon the earth.’…
“But I saw in the fourth heaven according to class — I saw the angels resembling gods, the angels bringing a soul out of the land of the dead. They placed it at the gate of the fourth heaven. And the angels were whipping it. The soul spoke, saying, ‘What sin was it that I committed in the world?’ The toll-collector who dwells in the fourth heaven replied, saying, ‘It was not right to commit all those lawless deeds that are in the world of the dead.’ The soul replied, saying, ‘Bring witnesses! Let them show you in what body I committed lawless deeds. Do you wish to bring a book to read from?’
And the three witnesses came. The first spoke, saying, ‘… I rose up against you until you fell into anger and rage and envy.’ And the second spoke, saying, ‘Was I not in the world? And I entered at the fifth hour, and I saw you and desired you. And behold, then, now I charge you with the murders you committed.’ The third spoke, saying, ‘Did I not come to you at the twelfth hour of the day when the sun was about to set? I gave you darkness until you should accomplish your sins.’ When the soul heard these things, it gazed downward in sorrow. And then it gazed upward. It was cast down. The soul that had been cast down went to a body which had been prepared for it. And behold, its witnesses were finished.
“Then I gazed upward and saw the Spirit saying to me, ‘Paul, come! Proceed toward me!’ 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 accompanied us. And I saw a great angel in the fifth heaven holding an iron rod in his hand. There were three other angels with him, and I stared into their faces. But they were rivalling each other, with whips in their hands, goading the souls on to the judgment. But I went with the Spirit and the gate opened for me.
“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 on high and saw a great light shining down on the sixth heaven. I spoke, saying to the toll-collector who was in the sixth heaven, ‘Open to me and the Holy Spirit who is before me.’ He opened to me.
“Then we went up to the seventh heaven, and I saw an old man…whose garment was white. His throne, which is in the seventh heaven, was brighter than the sun by seven times. The old man spoke, saying to me, ‘Where are you going, Paul? O blessed one and the one who was set apart from his mother’s womb.’ But I looked at the Spirit, and he was nodding his head, saying to me, ‘Speak with him!’ And I replied, saying to the old man, ‘I am going to the place from which I came.’ And the old man responded to me, ‘Where are you from?’ But I replied, saying, ‘I am going down to the world of the dead in order to lead captive the captivity that was led captive in the captivity of Babylon.’ The old man replied to me saying, ‘How will you be able to get away from me? Look and see the principalities and authorities.’ The Spirit spoke, saying, ‘Give him the sign that you have, and he will open for you.’ And then I gave him the sign. He turned his face downwards to his creation and to those who are his own authorities. And then the seventh heaven opened and we went up to the Ogdoad. And I saw the twelve apostles.”(The Coptic Apocalypse of Paul)
A similar account is given in the First Apocalypse of James:
“Now when James heard these things, he wiped away the tears in his eyes… The Lord said to him, “James, behold, I shall reveal to you your redemption. When you are seized, and you undergo these sufferings, a multitude will arm themselves against you that they may seize you. And in particular three of them will seize you — they who sit there as toll collectors. Not only do they demand toll, but they also take away souls by theft. When you come into their power, one of them who is their guard will say to you, ‘Who are you or where are you from?’ You are to say to him, ‘I am a son, and I am from the Father.’ He will say to you, ‘What sort of son are you, and to what father do you belong?’ You are to say to him, ‘I am from the Pre-existent Father, and a son in the Pre-existent One.’…
“When he also says to you, ‘Where will you go?’, you are to say to him, ‘To the place from which I have come, there shall I return.’ And if you say these things, you will escape their attacks.”(The First Apocalypse of James)
The Gnostic scriptures here are clearly espousing a version of the aerial toll house doctrine. However, their account differs from the Orthodox Christian version of the doctrine in two big ways. Firstly, those who fail to pass through the aerial toll houses are cast back down to earth to be reborn, similar to the account given by Philo. Secondly, the ability to progress along the path and get the toll-collectors to open the gates for you is predicated on knowing the right thing to say. The Gnostic version of the story is closely following The Egyptian Book of the Dead, where the souls of the departed must have the right words to say, the right spell or incantation, in order to get the entities they encounter to open the gates before them and let them pass. In the Orthodox account, on the other hand, the souls that fail to pass through the toll houses are cast down to hell instead of being reborn on earth. Furthermore, in the Orthodox version of the doctrine, whether you can pass through the toll houses or not is entirely based on the deeds you did while alive (or your moral character) rather than on your knowledge of the right thing to say.
It should be noted here that the experience described in the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul parallels the experiences associated with Jewish Merkavah mysticism (a precursor to modern kabbalah). This should serve as a reminder that Christian Gnosticism, like Christianity in general, has Jewish origins. Merkavah mysticism and the texts associated with it, according to the scholar Joseph Dan, “describe an active procedure by which a person can ascend to the divine realms and reach the highest level, and even ‘face God in his glory.’ This process of ascension is called in these texts, paradoxically, ‘descent of the chariot,’ and the sages who do it are called yordeh ha-merkavah (the descenders to the chariot). This practice is attributed in these texts to the two great sages of the early talmudic period, Rabbi Akibah and Rabbi Ishmael…. these texts do not rely on expounding biblical verses (midrash), but relate direct, personal spiritual experiences. The claim for veracity does not rely on ‘the verse said,’ as is usual in most Hebrew postbiblical literature, but on personal experience — ‘I saw,’ ‘I heard,’ ‘I envisioned.’ They used terminology that is not found anywhere else, such as the term ‘hekhalot’ in the plural, indicating the seven palaces or temples that are situated, one above the other and one inside the other in the seventh, highest heaven. The sages who overcome the many dangers on the elaborate way of ascension join with the angels in the celestial rituals of praise to God.”(Joseph Dan, Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction, Chapter 2) The stories of people ascending through the seven heavens in Christian literature, whether Gnostic or Orthodox, are firmly rooted in Jewish mystical practices. The doctrine of aerial toll houses in Eastern Orthodoxy and in Christian Gnosticism is actually Jewish in origin. (It’s interesting to note that the Greek philosopher Parmenides wrote a poem On Nature, which recounts his own ascent through the heavens on a chariot. This account bears some similarities to the accounts we find in Jewish, Gnostic, and Christian sources.)
I will not go into the basis of the Orthodox doctrine of aerial toll houses in the works of the early Chruch Fathers. There are plenty of resources already available on that subject, including Fr. Seraphim Rose’s book The Soul After Death and various online articles (cf. here, here, and here). According to Orthodoxy, there is a particular judgment that immediately follows death and a general judgment that occurs after the general resurrection when all must stand before the judgment seat of God. Immediately following death, the soul is escorted by its guardian angel through the aerial toll houses (often metaphorically depicted as Jacob’s Ladder). This journey is the particular judgment, where the soul is tested and will either be allowed to pass through to paradise or will be cast down to hell, depending on the soul’s merits. Souls will be held in paradise or hell (prison) until the day of the general resurrection, when they must stand before God. At that final judgment day, it will be determined whether the soul is ready to enter heaven and be in union with God or whether it will be cast into the lake of fire. (Some Church Fathers have held that all souls will be saved on that day, being purged by the lake of fire, while others have held that the wicked who are cast into the lake of fire will simply be annihilated and cease to exist altogether. The alternative doctrines of universal salvation and annihilationism in the early Church will be the topic of a different essay.)
According to the Roman Catholic Church, prayer for the dead works because the deceased may be in purgatory rather than in heaven or hell. Prayer for the departed may help reduce their suffering in purgatory. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, there is no belief in purgatory as an intermediate state between heaven and hell per se. One ought to pray for the dead, immediately following death, because they will need all the help they can get to navigate through the aerial realm on their way to paradise or hades. Furthermore, one ought to pray for the dead because even the souls in hades (hell) have not yet reached their final destination. The souls in paradise and hades are awaiting the bodily resurrection and the final judgment day. No one’s final fate will be sealed prior to the final judgment day, so the souls in hell today still have time to repent and turn back toward God.
