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When was St. Paul caught up to the third heaven? Was this at the beginning of his service or after the appearance of the Lord to him?

The Lord appeared to St. Paul while he (as Saul) was still persecuting the Church (Acts 1:1-19). St. Paul mentioned being caught up to the third heaven in his second letter to the Corinthians. In his first letter to the Corinthians 15:3-8, St. Paul says, "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received." Therefore, the instructions he received must have been between the time of his conversion to his Second Epistle to the Corinthians—most likely to have taken place in the early part of his ministry so that he would be equipped with the sound doctrine, which was delivered unto him by Christ Himself like He did with the other apostles, and could then deliver it onto others. Most biblical scholars believe that 2 Corinthians was written around 57 A.D., which would agree with the time-line of St. Paul being caught up to the third heaven fourteen years prior to the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. St. Paul's ministry is estimated to have been approximately 30 years—beginning around 37 A.D. and ending around 67 A.D.
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