Entering heaven alive

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the album by Jack White, see Entering Heaven Alive (album).
"Ascension (mystical)" redirects here. For other uses, see Ascension.
Ascension of Jesus, by John Singleton Copley. Christians believe that Jesus ascended into heaven after his death on the cross and resurrection. In Islam, it is believed that he ascended to heaven while still alive.

Entering heaven alive (called by various religions "ascension", "assumption", or "translation") is a belief held in various religions. Since death is the normal end to an individual's life on Earth and the beginning of afterlife, entering heaven without dying first is considered exceptional and usually a sign of a deity's special recognition of the individual's piety.

Judaism

In the

which?] that humans could not go to heaven – Enoch and Elijah – but neither is clear. Genesis 5:24 mentions Enoch as one who "walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away", but it does not explicitly say whether he was alive or dead, and it does not say where God took him. The Books of Kings describes the prophet Elijah being taken towards "shamayim" in a whirlwind, but the word can mean either heaven as the abode of God, or the sky (as the word "heavens" does in modern English), and so again the text is ambiguous.[citation needed
]

According to the post-biblical Midrash, eight people went to (or will go to) heaven (also referred to as the Garden of Eden and paradise) alive:[1]

Christianity

See also: Ascension of Jesus, Assumption of Mary, Rapture, Biblical cosmology, and Translation (Mormonism)
Chapel of the Ascension (Jerusalem)
, is said to bear the imprint of Jesus' right foot as he left Earth and ascended into heaven.

The Christian Old Testament, which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible, follows the Jewish narrative and mentions that Enoch was "taken" by God, and that Elijah was bodily assumed into Heaven on a chariot of fire.[5][6]

Jesus is considered by the vast majority of Christians to have died before being resurrected and ascending to heaven. Most Christians believe

Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism affirm the Assumption of Mary, while others in these traditions reject the Assumption of Mary.[9]

Since the adoption of the

Great Feasts
.

In the Reformed Churches, which teach

Second Helvetic Confession.[10]

The

dispensationalist belief in a "rapture"—a belief rejected by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and most Protestants—is drawn from a reference to "being caught up" as found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, though Christians differ on interpretation.[11][12]

Catholicism

Saint Michael the Archangel contends with Satan
over the body of Moses.

The Catholic Church distinguishes between the ascension of Jesus in which he rose to heaven by his own power, and the assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was raised to heaven by God's power, or the assumption of other saints.[13]

On November 1, 1950,

Roman Catholicism. In Section 44 the pope stated:[8]

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

The doctrine is based on

Mary was bodily assumed into heaven. For centuries before that, the assumption was celebrated in art and in the Church's liturgy. The proclamation's wording does not state if Mary suffered bodily death before being assumed into heaven; this is left open to individual belief.[14] Some theologians[citation needed] have argued that Mary did not die, while others maintain that she experienced death not due to original sin, but to share in her son's own death and resurrection.[15]

It is a pious belief in the Catholic Church, but not a dogma, that

John XXIII, supported this belief.[16]

When the tomb of

Paradiso.[18][19]

Altogether, the Catholic Church has taught by the

Mary
was assumed into Heaven; that it is acceptable as a pious belief that Saint Joseph was assumed into Heaven; and that it is a pious belief that Moses (after his death) and Saint John the Apostle were assumed into Heaven (though the assumption of Saint John has generally been considered much weaker and less probable).

Eastern Christianity

Theophan the Greek
)

The

Enoch, Elijah (Elias) and the Theotokos (Virgin Mary). Similar to the Western "Assumption" of Mary, the Orthodox celebrate the Dormition of the Mother of God on August 15. The Orthodox teach that Mary died a natural death like any other human being, that she was buried by the Apostles (except for Thomas, who was late), and three days later (after Thomas had arrived) was found to be missing from her tomb. The church teaches that the Apostles received a revelation during which the Theotokos appeared to them and told them she had been resurrected by Jesus and taken body and soul into heaven. The Orthodox teach that Mary already enjoys the fullness of heavenly bliss that the other saints will experience only after the Last Judgment
.

Mandaeism

In Mandaeism, the Left Ginza mentions that Shitil (Seth), the son of Adam, was taken alive to the World of Light without a masiqta (death mass).[20]

Zoroastrianism

It is believed in Zoroastrianism that the Peshotanu was taken up into heaven alive[citation needed] and will someday return as the Zoroastrian messiah.

Hellenistic religion

Main article: Hellenistic religion

Hinduism

Tukaram is said to have left for Vaikuntha, the heavenly abode of the god Vishnu at the end of his earthly life.
  • Yudhishthira of the Mahabharata and Lakshmana of the Ramayana are believed to have been the only humans able to cross the plane between mortals and heaven (Svarga) while still in their mortal bodies.[22]
  • Arjuna, Yudhishthira's brother, had been to heaven and lived there for five years in his human body.
  • Bhishma, his grand-uncle, had lived and studied in heaven.
  • Puru
    , his ancestor, had been to heaven.
  • Nahusha was admitted to heaven in his human body, as were several other kings.[23]
  • Tukaram is believed to have been taken to Vaikuntha on Garuda, an event that is reported to have been witnessed by villagers.[24]

Islam

See also:
Isra and Mi'raj and Kitab al-Miraj

The

Night Journey. After leading prayers at the mosque, Muhammad ascended into heaven alive. In heaven, he individually greets previous prophets and later, speaks to Allah, who gives him instructions regarding the details of prayer. Muhammad's ascent into heaven was temporary, and he later came back to Earth. In the hadith, later collections of the reports, teachings, deeds and sayings of Muhammad, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was understood as relating to Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, derived from the name mentioned in the Qur'an, was built on the Temple Mount under the Umayyads
several decades after Muhammad's death to commemorate the place from which Muslims believe he had ascended to heaven.

Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock
, are believed to be the location of Muhammad's ascension to heaven.

Islamic texts deny the idea of crucifixion or death attributed to

Jesus by the New Testament.[25]
The Quran states that people (i.e., the Jews and Romans) sought to kill Jesus, but they could not crucify or kill him, although "this was made to appear to them". Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified but instead he was raised by God unto the heavens. This "raising" is often understood to mean through bodily ascension.

Some Islamic scholars have identified the prophet

Enoch
from the Bible. This is because the Quran states that God "raised him to a lofty station", and that has been taken to be a term for ascending, upon which it is concluded that "Idris" was "Enoch".

Ascended Master Teachings

Members of various

channeled messages from the Ascended Masters, which they then relay to their followers.[26][27][28][29][30]

Fictional portrayals

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Derech Eretz Zuta (post-Talmudic tractate) cited in: Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi and Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin (2013).The Kuzari: In Defense of the Despised Faith. Feldheim Publishers. Jerusalem. pp. 137–138.
  2. ^ "Enoch". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  3. ^ According to The Kuzari, it was Eved, king of Cushi.
  4. ^ "Bithiah". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  5. ISBN 978-1-4143-4567-3
    . Enoch and Elijah appear to have been taken to Heaven in their physical bodies. 'Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him' (Genesis 5:24, NASB). Apparently Enoch's body was not left behind to bury. The Septuagint translates it as Enoch 'was not found'. Hebrews 11:5 explicitly says that Enoch didn't die: 'By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"' (NKJV). Similarly, Elijah was taken to Heaven without dying and without leaving a body behind: 'Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha ... saw him no more' (2 Kings 2:11-12, NKJV).
  6. ISBN 978-0-8028-3634-2
    .
  7. ISBN 0-89555-009-1
  8. ^ a b "Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII / Munificentissimus Deus / Defining the Dogma of the Assumption". Holy See. Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
  9. ^ Ford, Bruce E. "What is an "Anglo-Catholic" Parish?". Grace Church in Newark. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  10. ^ Quotations as cited by Redman, Gary, article/Web page titled "A Comparison of the Biblical and Islamic Views of the States of Christ" Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine/ Part 2: The State of Exaltation, at The Muslim-Christian Debate Website. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  11. ^ 1 Thess 4:16–17 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."
  12. ^ "Do Catholics believe in the Rapture?". 11 August 2014.
  13. ^ Brumley, Mark. "Mary's Assumption: Irrelevant or Irreverent?". Catholic.net. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  14. ^ Everett, Lawrence (1957). "Mary's Death and Bodily Assumption". In Carol, Juniper (ed.). Mariology. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company. pp. 461–492.
  15. ^ Brumley, Mark. "Mary's Assumption: Irrelevant or Irreverent?". Catholic.net. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  16. ^ Reverend Archdeacon Kinane P.P. (2015). Saint Joseph: His Life, His Virtues, His Privileges, His Power. Aeterna Press. p. 442.
  17. ^ "The Homilies of the Anglosaxon Church". Aelfric Society. March 7, 1844 – via Google Books.
  18. ^ Erlenbush, Father Ryan (December 27, 2010). "Was John the Beloved assumed into heaven?". The New Theological Movement.
  19. ^ "The Biblical Archaeologist". American Schools of Oriental Research. March 7, 1974 – via Google Books.
  20. OCLC 65198443
    .
  21. ^ Lendering, Jona. Apollonius of Tyana. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  22. ISBN 9788170223887
    .
  23. ^ "Sacred-Texts: Hinduism".
  24. ^ Manabendra Nath Roy (2001). The Radical Humanist, Volume 65. p. 21.
  25. ^ Shafaat, Dr. Ahmad, Islamic View of the Coming/Return of Jesus" Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine article dated May 2003, at the Islamic Perspectives Web site: "In 4:159, after denying that the Jews killed or crucified Jesus and after stating that God raised him to Himself, the Qur`an says ...". Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  26. ^ I AM Ascended Master Dictation List Saint Germain Press Inc., 1995, Listing of those who are claimed to be Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity
  27. ^ Schroeder, Werner Ascended Masters and Their Retreats Ascended Master Teaching Foundation 2004, Listing of those who are believed to be Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity and The Bridge to Freedom
  28. ^ Luk, A.D.K.. Law of Life – Book II. Pueblo, Colorado: A.D.K. Luk Publications 1989, Listing of those who are claimed to be Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity and The Bridge to Freedom
  29. ^ Booth, Annice The Masters and Their Retreats Summit Lighthouse Library June 2003, Listing of those who are believed to be Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity, The Bridge to Freedom, and The Summit Lighthouse
  30. ^ Shearer, Monroe & Carolyn I AM Adorations, Affirmations & Rhythmic Decrees Acropolis Sophia Books and Works 1998, Listing of those who are claimed to be Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity, The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse, and The Temple of The Presence

Sources

  • Encyclopedia of Religion s.v. Ascension; Eliade, Mircea, ed. in chief. New York: Macmillan, 1987.
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