uncreated light | Martyria

Studia Theologica No. II (XXII) / 2026 The Rapture of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Third Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:1-10) in the Byzantine theological tradition The Most Reverend Archbishop Maximos Constas

This article analyses how Byzantine exegetes and theologians, from Origen and Saint Maximus the Confessor to John Geometres, Niketas Stethatos, Michael Psellos and Saint Gregory Palamas, interpreted the rapture of Saint Paul the Apostle to the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:1-10), understanding it as a paradigm of mystical ascension and deification, rather than as a cosmological description of the heavens.

Studia Theologica No. I (XXI) / 2026 The transfiguration of man through the grace-filled work of divine light, a foreshadowing of the transfiguration in the age to come Rev. Dr. Mercurie-Daniel Apostol

This article explores the theology of the uncreated divine light in the works of Saint Symeon the New Theologian, demonstrating that beholding this light is equivalent to beholding God and transfigures the mind, soul and body of man. Through repentance and the observance of the commandments, a person attains communion with the Holy Trinity even in this life, thus anticipating the Day of the Lord and eschatological joy.