{"id":25,"date":"2008-08-21T19:05:02","date_gmt":"2008-08-21T19:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/returningking.com\/?p=25"},"modified":"2008-08-21T19:05:02","modified_gmt":"2008-08-21T19:05:02","slug":"spiritual-realms-paradise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/?p=25","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Realms (Paradise)"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 5 of 20 in the series Spiritual Realms<\/a><\/div>

Paradise<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

<\/a>The term<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n

“Paradise” is a Greek term meaning a royal park or a garden.\u00a0 <\/span>While Paradise<\/em> is uniquely a Greek term, it should also be noted that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) translates the garden of Eden “the garden of Paradise.”\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thus it can be gleaned that the Greek understanding of “Paradise”<\/em> was more than a mere garden.\u00a0 <\/span>It denoted a place of peace, innocence and freedom from the sinful realm.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>The Texts<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n

Paradise occurs three times in the New Testament:<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 23:43 (NIV) [to the thief on the cross]
\n43 <\/sup>Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” <\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (NIV)
\n2 <\/sup>I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know–God knows. 3 <\/sup>And I know that this man–whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows– 4 <\/sup>was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. <\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

Revelation 2:7 (NIV) [to the church at Ephesus]
\n7 <\/sup>He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

<\/a>Deductions<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n

\u00b7<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>“Paradise” is a term for the place of the righteous dead.<\/span><\/p>\n

o<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>That place changes (more on that later), but wherever that place is, it is Paradise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a7<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Luke 23 refers to Paradise prior to Jesus’ resurrection<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a7<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>2 Corinthians 12 and Revelation 2 refer to Paradise after Christ’s resurrection.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a7<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>It will later be demonstrated that Paradise is not the same after Christ’s resurrection as it was before.\u00a0 <\/span>However, Paradise is still that place where the righteous dead are in each usage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>For that reason, we will also observe that “Paradise” and “Heaven” are not necessarily synonymous. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Paradise is different locations<\/span><\/p>\n

o<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In Luke, Paradise is located at Abraham’s bosom.\u00a0 <\/span>(this will be demonstrated later)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>In 2 Corinthians, Paradise is equated with “the third heaven.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a7<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>“heaven” is Gk. Ouranos,<\/em> literally “heaven.”\u00a0 <\/span>However, ouranos is used to describe three different places.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>This will be developed more fully in the section on “Heaven.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>However, suffice it to say for now that the third heaven refers to Heaven proper, the throne of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

o<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>In Revelation 22, Paradise contains “the tree of life,” which indicates, too, that Paradise is in Heaven proper. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Conclusion<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n

Paradise is another name for the righteous side of Hades\/Sheol, or Abraham’s Bosom.

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This entry is part 5 of 20 in the series Spiritual Realms<\/a><\/div>

Paradise The term “Paradise” is a Greek term meaning a royal park or a garden. Luke 23 refers to Paradise prior to Jesus’ resurrection 2 Corinthians 12 and Revelation 2 refer to Paradise after Christ’s resurrection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,15],"tags":[26,84,93,95,97,112,151,165],"series":[212],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=25"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}