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Entering heaven alive (called by variousreligions "ascension", "assumption", or "translation") is a belief held in various religions. Sincedeath is the normal end to an individual's life onEarth and the beginning ofafterlife, enteringheaven without dying first is considered exceptional and usually a sign of adeity's special recognition of the individual'spiety.[1]
In theHebrew Bible, there are two figures –Enoch andElijah – who are said to have entered heaven alive, but both wordings are subject of debate.Genesis 5:24 says "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him," but it does not state whether he was alive or dead nor where God took him. TheBooks of Kings describes the prophet Elijah being taken towards theheavens (Hebrew:שָׁמַיִם,romanized: šāmayim) 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).[citation needed]
According to the post-biblicalMidrash, eight people went to (or will go to) heaven (also referred to as theGarden of Eden andparadise) alive:[2]
TheChristian 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.[7][8]
Jesus is considered by the vast majority of Christians to have died before being resurrected and ascending to heaven. Most Christians believeJesus did initially die, but was thenresurrected from the dead by God, before beingraised bodily to heaven tosit at theRight Hand of God with a promise to somedayreturn to Earth. The fringe views that Jesus did not die are known as theswoon hypothesis andDocetism.Mary, the mother of Jesus, is considered inEastern Orthodoxy to have died prior to being assumed (translated) into heaven. In like manner,Roman Catholicism affirms that Mary, the mother of Jesus, suffered death prior to her assumption which has been "expressly affirmed in the Liturgy of the Church" and is expressly seen in paragraph 20 of the proclamation of this teaching.[9][10]Protestants generally believe thatMary died a natural death like any other human being and subsequently entered heaven in the usual manner, though certain adherents belonging to theEvangelical Catholic tradition ofLutheranism and theAnglo-Catholic tradition ofAnglicanism affirm the Assumption of Mary, while others in these traditions reject the Assumption of Mary.[11]
Since the adoption of theNicene Creed in 325, theascension of Jesus into heaven, as related in theNew Testament, has been officially taught by all orthodox Christian churches and is celebrated onAscension Thursday. In the Roman Catholic Church, the ascension of the Lord is aHoly Day of Obligation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the ascension is one of twelveGreat Feasts.[citation needed]
In the Reformed Churches, which teachCalvinist theology, belief in the ascension of Christ is included in theWestminster Confession of Faith, theHeidelberg Catechism and theSecond Helvetic Confession.[12]
Thedispensationalist belief in a "rapture"—a belief rejected byCatholics, Eastern Orthodox and most Protestants—is drawn from a reference to "being caught up" as found in1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet theLord, though Christians differ on interpretation.[13][14]
TheOld Testament indicates thatEnoch andElijah were assumed into heaven while still alive and not experiencing physical death. There is also an idea thatMoses was assumed bodily into Heaven after his death; this is based on theEpistle of Saint Jude, whereSaint Michael the Archangel contends withSatan over the body of Moses.[citation needed]
TheCatholic Church distinguishes between theascension of Jesus in which he rose to heaven by his own power, and theassumption of Mary,the mother of Jesus, who was raised to heaven by God's power, or the assumption of other saints.[15]
On November 1, 1950,Pope Pius XII, actingex cathedra, issuedMunificentissimus Deus, an authoritative statement of official dogma ofRoman Catholicism. In Section 44 the pope stated:[10]
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 onsacred tradition thatMary was bodily assumed into heaven. For centuries before that,the assumption was celebrated in art and in the Church'sliturgy. The proclamation's wording does not state if Mary suffered bodily death before being assumed into heaven; this is left open to individual belief.[16] Some theologians[citation needed] have argued that Mary did not die, while others maintain that she experienced death not due tooriginal sin, but to share in her son's own death and resurrection.[17]
It is a pious belief in the Catholic Church, but not a dogma, thatSaint Joseph, too, was assumed into Heaven, since he is among a few saints who left no bodily relics. This pious belief is called theAssumption of Saint Joseph. Many Catholic saints,doctors of the Church, as well as several Popes, such asJohn XXIII, supported this belief.[18]
When the tomb ofJohn the Evangelist (who isJohn the Apostle according to Christian tradition), located in theBasilica of St. John inEphesus, duringConstantine the Great's reign supposedly yielded no bones, this gave rise to the belief that his body was assumed into heaven (other accounts say that onlymanna or the saint'ssandals was found in the tomb).[19]Augustine of Hippo spoke against the tradition in hisTreatises on the Gospel of John (AD 406–420), andDante attempted to refute the belief in hisParadiso.[20][21]
Altogether, the Catholic Church has taught by theuniversal and ordinary magisterium that Saints Enoch and Elijah were assumed into Heaven, and it teaches dogmatically and thereforeinfallibly that Virgin 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 the Apostle has generally been considered much weaker and less probable).[citation needed]
TheEastern Orthodox Church teaches that three other persons were taken bodily into heaven:Enoch andElijah (Elias) entered without dying. However theTheotokos (Virgin Mary) died, was resurrected, and taken to heaven. Unlike the Western "Assumption" of Mary. However, the Orthodox also celebrate theDormition 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 theApostles (except forThomas, 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 theLast Judgment.[citation needed]
InMandaeism, theLeft Ginza mentions thatShitil (Seth), the son ofAdam, was taken alive to theWorld of Light without amasiqta (death mass).[22]
Apollonius of Tyana was said to have been assumed intoElysium byPhilostratus.[23]
Yudhishthira of theMahabharata andLakshmana of theRamayana are believed to have been the only humans able to cross the plane between mortals and heaven (Svarga) while still in their mortal bodies.[24]
Nahusha was admitted to heaven in his human body, as were several other kings.[25]
Tukaram is believed to have been taken toVaikuntha onGaruda, an event that is reported to have been witnessed by villagers.[26]
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-Aerial-Temple_Mount-(south_exposure).jpg)
TheQur'an, central religious text ofIslam, teaches thatMuhammad was transported from theGreat Mosque of Mecca toAl-Aqsa during theNight Journey. After leading prayers at the mosque, Muhammad ascended into heaven alive. In heaven, he individually greets previousprophets and later, speaks toAllah, who gives him instructions regarding the details of prayer. Muhammad's ascent into heaven was temporary, and he later came back to Earth. In thehadith, later collections of the reports, teachings, deeds and sayings of Muhammad, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was understood as relating toTemple Mount inJerusalem. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, derived from the name mentioned in the Qur'an, was built on the Temple Mount under theUmayyads several decades after Muhammad's death to commemorate the place from which Muslims believe he had ascended to heaven.[citation needed]
Islamic texts deny the idea of crucifixion or death attributed toJesus by the New Testament.[27] 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.[citation needed]
Some Islamic scholars have identified the prophetIdris to be the same person asEnoch 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".[citation needed]
Members of variousAscended Master Teachings, a group ofNew Age religions based onTheosophy, believe thatFrancis Bacon underwent a physical Ascension without experiencing death (he then became the deitySt. Germain). They also believe numerous others have undergone Ascension; they are called theAscended Masters and act as spirit guides to human souls on their spiritual path. The leaders of these religions claim to be able to receivechanneled messages from the Ascended Masters, which they then relay to their followers.[28][29]
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).
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