Where did Christ go?

[marco]

In Acts 1 we have:

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel.

Which also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.


The above raises a few questions.

Does the location of heaven in the sky suggest the story is mere fabrication?
In what possible way could Jesus physically vanish above the clouds?
Is the appearance of "two men" in white simply a "deus ex machina" device to explain what happened - at least partially?
Would listeners reasonably suppose that the return of Jesus is more than 2000 years away?
A reasonable person would dismiss all this as nonsense. But why, then, has it been accepted for centuries?

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 48 by KingandPriest]

The Mercator projection, the map most commonly seen hanging in classrooms and in text books, was created in 1596 to help sailors navigate the world. The familiar map gives the right shapes of land masses, but at the cost of distorting their sizes in favor of the wealthy lands to the north.

I'm still not sure where you're getting this thought of showing European nations to be larger than Africa. If I look at that map, cut out Europe and place it on top of Africa, there is still plenty of African landmass left over (my own rough cut and place was taking Europe in a square shape along with some ocean and Turkey).
I can see the arguments for North America appearing larger than it is, and China...but the claim you had about Europe?

[KingandPriest]

Even today with modern technology, we can make more accurate maps but choose to use the the maps that show western lands as more significant (size) than they really are.

Do you appreciate false teaching?

I was alarmed at first when you said our maps were wrong that my plane might not take me to my next trans-Atlantic destination. But it seems that the maps serve their purposes perfectly on the seas and in the air.

I don't think there's any false teaching by our good geography teachers and if indeed Europe seems to be depicted larger than its physical size, it is nothing more than a reflection of political reality. When Africa becomes Europe (or more likely when Europe becomes Africa) the maps will change, no doubt.

So let me get this straight. You do not think there is any false teaching in geography classes.
You are aware that Europe and North america is depicted larger than its actual size in order to reflect a "political reality"
This biased political reality communicates subliminal messages of superiority and bigotry. But I take it you are in favor of misrepresenting information to achieve political advantages or "political reality." This is the same type of tactic Hitler used to convince many to kill Jews, but I guess as long as it represents a political reality, misrepresentation of the truth is okay.

The maps do not serve the intended purpose perfectly. Imagine if your airline acutally used the estimated distance shown on the map to plot a course from London to South Africa. Since the size of the nations are not correct, the distance between the two locals would also be incorrect, resulting in improper fuel levels. Airlines actually use real satellite generate maps and radar because these maps presented by cartographers are so wrong.

Good grief - we are supposed to be asking where Christ went? Do you suppose one of these badly drawn maps misled him, and he's stuck somewhere in an African jungle or a Brazilian rain forest?

This question has already been answered. Christ went to heaven.

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 51 by KingandPriest]

This biased political reality communicates subliminal messages of superiority and bigotry. But I take it you are in favor of misrepresenting information to achieve political advantages or "political reality."

That's a bit of an extreme charge to make...
I'm still wondering about what you mean by Europe. I got a copy of the map in question, cut out Europe and put it over Africa. As I said before, plenty of African landmass left over, and this was when my cut out included some ocean.

The maps do not serve the intended purpose perfectly.

Which is?
Also, don't you realise, no 2-dimensional map can. It's impossible to have a perfect 2 dimensional map of an oblate spheroid.

Imagine if your airline acutally used the estimated distance shown on the map to plot a course from London to South Africa.

I'm sure marco will be ignoring this, since airlines do not use the map you're talking about.

Airlines actually use real satellite generate maps and radar because these maps presented by cartographers are so wrong.

So you do know this. So why even mention it?

In fact...why are we even talking about 2 dimensional maps? I can't remember. This thread is about where Christ supposedly went after he rose.

This question has already been answered. Christ went to heaven.

And you're happy with that, even though there is no evidence that he went anywhere? You're happy with the problem of a 4 dimensional body from our reality somehow going to a realm beyond our space and time.

[marco]

So let me get this straight. You do not think there is any false teaching in geography classes.

I think the point being made is a triviality. Geography teachers, who are from all political persuasions, don't go out of their way to teach lies. They will be well aware of the problems in trying to depict on a flat surface points on the surface of an oblate spheroid.

You are aware that Europe and North America is depicted larger than its actual size in order to reflect a "political reality"

I would omit the purpose clause. You have made us aware that different continents are depicted on different scales. But the important thing is the maps allow us to go places, despite your concern for planes not having sufficient fuel.

Christ went to heaven.

It is amusing that we are much exercised with the continent of Africa being depicted on a scale that makes it less in size than it is, relative to Europe and America but when we are told that Jesus exited vertically to get into heaven in a physical way we find no problem in accepting this in all its literality.