FOUR BIG WORDS

PARADISE

I was speaking to someone about the subject of this autumn's course and the title "Four Big Words" and they asked me what my big word was. When I told them, "Paradise", they retorted, "But that's not a big word!" I know what they meant because the word paradise is very different to the other words we have been looking at during this course, and not only because it is a bit shorter. Incarnation, atonement, resurrection are by and large theological words. They are not words one routinely hears on the E9 bus or in the queue at Tesco. My word however, paradise, has a very vivid life outside of theology and features prominently in popular culture. Ask a man in the street what incarnation or our other words mean to him - he'll think you are having a laugh; ask him his idea of paradise and he'll know what you are talking about. If you try a Google image search for our big words then religious art will come up in a first trawl for the incarnation, atonement and resurrection. For paradise the first 300 images are of beach resorts, luxury flats, shopping centres and dubious publications. So the first thing to bear in mind is this very wide popular understanding of the term Paradise.

The second thing to bear in mind is that the word paradise is not the same as the word heaven although for many people the words are used as though they were synonyms. I hope this evening to suggest why this might have happened and some of the implications of this happening.

Let us start with the word itself, paradise. The word is originally Persian taken into Greek then Latin through French into English. The original Persian Avestan word is pairadaeza, meaning walled enclosure; a compound of pairi = around (see Greek peri) and diz = to create. In Greek, paradeisoz. The word also made its way into the Semitic languages: Arabic firdaws , Aramaic pardaysa and Hebrew pardes. It is recognisably the same word in all Western and Middle Eastern Languages.

It is not clear exactly when a horticultural and spiritual dimension was added to this essentially topographically descriptive term but there is a gradual accretion of ideas. These accretions are separate but become readily confused. This original meaning became more often used to describe a royal garden or hunting grounds. A special place as only the wealthy would have the wherewithal to tend and enclose land. This added to its primary meaning as walled enclosure, the idea of a special, reserved place for the king and frequently a place where animals to be hunted were kept. So we see two separate ideas begin to merge:

1. Paradise as a garden in the more cultivated sense of trees, flowers, fountains, tended wildlife.

2. Paradise as a place close to God, "the king".

We see this quite clearly in Greek thought where they combined these two ideas in their own rich description and theology of Olympus home of the gods and the Elysian Fields. Paradise/Elysium very readily combined.

What happened of course is that this word paradise, used throughout the ancient world, attached itself to other older and separate theological ideas by word of mouth and by the choices made by translators when they rendered older, cultic texts into Greek.

"The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than any where else on earth"

Is this paradise or is this the Garden of Eden?

In the Hebrew scriptures the name of this place is gan eden = the Garden of Eden. But when the Greeks translated Genesis and the Jewish creation story into the version we call the Septuagint in 3rd - 1st century BC, they translated this gan eden as paradise. This is where non-Jewish readers gained their version of the Jewish creation stories - Greeks, Romans and ultimately of course Gentile followers of the new religion, Christianity.

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What does this elision/collision of ideas mean to us? The Jewish picture of Eden is of God's perfected creation. It is the phase in early human history that ended with the fall, with Eve and Adam's sin. Judaism does not see any return to the Garden of Eden gan eden . But the Persian/Greek trend of thought identifies this garden with an image of where God will eternally be with man. A return to Eden , unthinkable in the Hebrew original, is made possible by the use of a Persian word. That is: the idea of God's dwelling and a royal garden present in the word paradise finds itself attached to a Jewish account of, for the Jews, an historical and geographical place. If the Garden of Eden is not paradise for the Jewish people it is certainly therefore not heaven either.

The Jewish understanding of heaven (the word used is samayim ) is more like the English word for heaven. The word refers to the heavens as in the skies and the stars. God is variously described in Hebrew as being in, above or over the heavens. God's dwelling is firmly beyond and distinct from the earth. Elsewhere in the Old Testament there are descriptions of the dwelling place of God which do contain descriptions of precious stones and golden realms but not an earthly garden. Any sense of an afterlife with God is described in a more personal way. It is described in terms of a relationship, of being "in Abraham's bosom".

In the New Testament the teaching of Jesus on the "kingdom of God"/"kingdom of heaven" and of life with our heavenly Father is translated by the Greek word ouranos which contains the joint sense of the heavens in the Hebrew sense just described.

Modern Judaism has downplayed speculation on the afterlife altogether but historically, questions surrounding the survival of the soul were an important part of their religious debate. This was particularly true of the first century BC and the first century AD. That is around the time of Christ. Those religious groups we meet in the gospels, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, had this idea at the heart of one of their major controversies. The Sadducees were a priestly, wealthier group and they denied the reality of any afterlife. The Pharisees, of whom we hear a great deal in the gospels, were of lower social status and had a strong belief in the resurrection of the body and of an afterlife with or without God.

One other group active during Christ's ministry were the Essenes, (the community at Qumran ), who shared with the Pharisees a belief in the survival of the soul. We know quite a bit about this via the 1st century AD Jewish historian Josephus. The afterlife for the Essenes was a blessed affair. It consisted of "habitations beyond the ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed by storms of rain or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is .refreshed by the gentle breathing of a west wind, that is perpetually blown from the ocean". But they did not call this place samayim or ouranos or heaven. Interestingly, they called it paradise.

In the early centuries of the Christian church much energy was devoted to Christ's second coming. As the immediacy of this promise waned more attention was paid to the afterlife itself as distinct from the resurrection. Studying the scriptures led to the emergence of several strands of thinking based on the traditions and translations we have discussed. The equation to remember is Garden of Eden d paradise d heaven.
The first has no real connection with the third other than by accident of the word paradise being used to translate it.

Early church thinkers made a definite distinction between heaven and paradise in fact. Irenaeus a 2nd century theologian in his treatise Against Heresies, wrote that only those deemed worthy would inherit a home in heaven, while others (lesser ones) would enjoy paradise and the rest live in the restored Jerusalem.

Later centuries have lost this distinction and indeed the distinction we saw between the first and the third too. We see this in this painting of the Last Judgement by Fra Angelico painted around 1420.

This is the paradise panel of the painting. The central panel shows Christ in judgement. The other panel shows hell. Paradise is heaven here, perpetual bliss with God. And where are we? In a Garden with a tree of life. Eden .

Throughout the centuries Christian thinking on the afterlife contains this muddle. It leads to some interesting branches of speculation. One concerns a preoccupation with the identity of the real, historical Paradise/Garden of Eden of Genesis. The other concerns the real, cosmic location of Paradise/Heaven.

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We will begin with speculation on the real site of the Garden of Eden. Ancient maps show Eden close to Ur in Mesopotamia where the Genesis rivers of Tigris and Euphrates meet. We know it better as Basra in modern Iraq. Other candidates for the site of the Garden of Eden are Tabriz in modern Iran and here Albany Road , Bedford where the Panacea Society tends a walled garden they believe to be the place where Jesus will return and found his new Eden . For this is a complication of the Paradise/Garden of Eden equation we noted earlier. For some branches of Christian thought Eden becomes the place to return to as well as the place we came from. As a Bedfordian myself I think this all very probable.

Other speculative interests worked on the heavenly understanding of the word paradise. Dante's famous poem and theology the Divine Comedy written around 1300 develops the cosmological aspects of heaven. As this diagram of the time of the steps to Paradise shows:

From Jerusalem through the skies, via the planetary spheres to the home of God and the blessed. Is the desire to map paradise/heaven linked to the belief that it is possible to map paradise/Garden of Eden ? I'm not sure. And anyway does any of this matter? Faith in heaven the afterlife/paradise, call it what you will, has been very much a private part of our religion since the Reformation. Some of us might indeed imagine ourselves at peace in a garden, others chasing the planets in their courses, others might dream of St Peter at those pearly gates. These are matters we may consider private and personal.

Yet on September 11th 2001, nineteen men hijacked four planes and changed our world on their way to paradise. Their full stories and reasons died with them but from the messages they left behind the one thing they all believed was that by these acts of destruction they were going to paradise. Many have argued from within Islam and without that this is, of course a travesty of both the message of Qur'an and the Muslim community. I do not doubt this, but it is an understanding of paradise which comes early in their history. At Yarmuk just north of Jerusalem in 636 (just four years after the death of the prophet Muhammad) the Muslim fighters faced the Imperial army of Heraclius. Urging his fighters onwards into a battle that would claim many of their lives the Muslim leader Khalid cried, " Paradise is before you".

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We might then want to take a closer look at the paradise of Islam, firdaws in Arabic.

The Islamic texts describe life for its immortal inhabitants, one that is happy, without hurt, sorrow, fear or shame, where every wish is fulfilled.

"Traditions relate that inhabitants will be of the same age (33 years) and of the same stature. Their life is one of bliss including: wearing costly robes, bracelets, perfumes; partaking in exquisite banquets served in priceless vessels by immortal youths; reclining on couches inlaid with gold or precious stones. Other foods mentioned include meats, scented wine and clear drinks bringing neither drunkenness nor rousing quarrelling. Inhabitants will rejoice in the company of their parents, spouses, and children (provided they were admitted to paradise) - conversing and recalling the past. Texts also relate "pure consorts" created in perfection, with whom carnal joys are shared - "a hundred times greater than earthly pleasure".

The dwellings for inhabitants will be pleasant, with lofty gardens, shady valleys, fountains scented with camphor or ginger; rivers of water, milk, honey and wines; delicious fruits of all seasons without thorns; pavilions wherein houri are kept. One day in paradise is considered equal to a thousand days on earth. Palaces are made from gold, silver, pearls, among other things. Traditions also note the presence of horses and camels of "dazzling whiteness", along with other creatures. Large trees are described, mountains made of musk, between which rivers flow in valleys of pearl and ruby. "

In spite of the goodly dwellings given to the inhabitants of paradise, the approval of God and nearness to him is considered greater. According to the Qur'an, God will bring the elect near to his throne (`arsh), a day on which "some faces shall be shining in contemplating their Lord." The vision of God is regarded as the greatest of all rewards, surpassing all other joys". (Encyclopedia of Islam Online)

Interestingly this wonderful place is often called another name other than firdaws /paradise. It is often called jannah. For like gan eden, jannah means garden .

Paradise, whatever else it is, is worth dying for. Whether it is the Garden of Eden, Superplanetary Heaven or Albany Road Bedford , Paradise is an extremely powerful word. Today in London, just as surely as at the Battle of Yarmuk, and just as surely as in 1st Century Palestine. In the mind of man close to death the word Paradise has the most extraordinary effect of encouragement and consolation.

So where is this leading us? We are going to the only time in the gospels where the word paradise is used. The scene on the cross given only in Luke where one of the thieves crucified on either side of Jesus repents. What follows is a little speculation of my own. According to the translation of the New Testament we have, and from the Greek it translates, Jesus never uses the word paradise in his ministry. He teaches extensively on the kingdom and his Father in heaven but uses the samiyim / ouranos /heaven word throughout so it is hard not to think of its use here as significant. How can we be certain that this is the word actually used by Jesus? We can't be certain but if you remember we noted that paradise is one of the words which sounds more or less the same in all languages. A witness at the crucifixion hearing the word in Aramaic pardaysa /paradise would not when telling his story or writing his account in Greek (the language of St Luke's Gospel ) use any word other than that word which in Greek of course is paradeisoz /paradise.

I suggest that if Jesus had this conversation at all, the word he used was paradise. Why does he use it here then? The simple answer I believe is because of who is asking him the question - the repentant thief. If we remember the belief of the Pharisees and specifically the Essenes in the afterlife we will see a connection with this moment on the cross, of the great hope of paradise in the lives at the bottom of society. You do not get much lower than a crucified thief. It is not certain but very probable that this man shared in this hope and Jesus knew that.

I began by noting that paradise has a very wide popular understanding. " Ask a man in the street what incarnation or our other words mean to him - he'll think you are having a laugh; ask him his idea of paradise and he'll know what you are talking about." Jesus is not teaching a disciple on the cross, he is engaging with a man in torment. Console a man on a cross with the doctrine of the incarnation and he will not understand. Tell him he will be with you in paradise and he will know what you are talking about.

We have considered the immediacy of the power of the idea of Paradise : " In the mind of man close to death it has the most extraordinary effect of encouragement and consolation." What was most needed at that moment is what Jesus gave:

And he said unto Jesus,
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him,
Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise . (Luke 23 vv 42 and 43)

In these verses we find no confusion. The identity of this place paradise, garden/palace/ocean/stars, is of no consequence to the thief or to us in this moment. "You will be with me" is all we need to hear. Jesus speaks to what we know and meets us there. And for this reason I think my word Paradise is a very big word indeed.

© Susan Peatfield

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