Miscellanies 5.12.79

The apostle will bear witness to what has been said, saying: “I know a man in Christ caught up to the third heaven, and from there into paradise, who heard unspeakable words, which it is not permitted for a man to speak.” In this way he hints at the ineffability of God, adding “not permitted” not because of a law or fear of some commandment, but showing that the divine cannot be uttered by human power, if indeed it begins to be spoken, as is right, above the third heaven, by those who there initiate the chosen souls into the mysteries. For I know that in Plato too (for my writing now puts off the many examples from the barbarian philosophy, awaiting the proper time according to my first promises) many heavens are thought of. At any rate, in the Timaeus, when he is in doubt whether one should think there are more worlds or only this one, he makes no difference between the names, calling it world and heaven synonymously. The wording is as follows: “Have we, then, rightly spoken of one heaven, or would it have been more correct to speak of many, even infinite? One, if it is to have been made according to the pattern.”