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?

[Elijah John]

Consider the alternative, but related scenario.

Jesus died, rose from the dead, and stuck around.

Either for eternity, or only to die again, presumably at an old age of natural causes.

That is IF the authorities didn't get him again.

Living on earth for eternity would draw some attention, especially if he didn't age beyond 33.

[JLB32168]

[Talishi]

[JLB32168]

[Talishi]

I subscribe to Augustine’s and Philo Juddaeus’ views that the creation story is metaphorical in nature. They taught this in a time when belief in a slavishly literal interpretation of creation narrative would have been perfectly acceptable.

"Let us, then, omit the conjectures of men who know not what they say, when they speak of the nature and origin of the human race. For some hold the same opinion regarding men that they hold regarding the world itself, that they have always been... They are deceived, too, by those highly mendacious documents which profess to give the history of many thousand years, though, reckoning by the sacred writings, we find that not 6000 years have yet passed." - Augustine, Of the Falseness of the History Which Allots Many Thousand Years to the World’s Past, The City of God, Book 12: Chapt. 10

I find the timbre of your response to be insulting.

Imagine the timber of my response if I wasn't holding back.

[JehovahsWitness]

In Acts 1 we have:
In what possible way could Jesus physically vanish above the clouds?

If we are to presume that heaven exists as a spiritual realm, governed by an Almighty God, then it seems perfectly possible that God could transport Jesus in any direction should he so wish. After all if humans can create objects that can lift of the ground, presuming God exists (which I suppose we are for the sake of argument) then it is reasonable and logical that God can at least do the same.

Logic,

JW

[Talishi]

If we are to presume that heaven exists as a spiritual realm, governed by an Almighty God, then it seems perfectly possible that God could transport Jesus in any direction should he so wish.

Adults believe this stuff, in 2016 CE? I suppose Santa Claus can bag millions of houses in one night because he has a time machine and can keep resetting the clock before the sun rears its ugly head.

[bluethread]

The current thinking is that heaven is in another dimension, or p-brane, or somesuch. Always somewhere where science can't quite reach it. Heaven is in constant retreat.

If one wishes to state it in the language of modern scientific humanist orthodoxy, one could say it that way, and indeed, in that view, the heavens are in constant retreat. However, if one takes the view that man and his understanding is merely part of the universe and not the entirety of it, it is not difficult to see that the kingdom of heaven is all around us.

The kingdom of heaven is like the clouds of the sky. From a distance they appear solid, like cotton candy, but if one examines them closely they disappear into water vapor. It is true they are water vapor, but they are much more, holding electromagnetic charge and reflect or deflect photons.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a rainbow, that appears solid form a distance, but disappears into water vapor as one attempts to approach it. The kingdom of heaven is not a place or dimension to be discovered and analyzed, but a reality to be experienced.

I believe that the purpose of the ascension was not to affirm a view that heaven is in the sky, but to impress upon the viewers the concept of coming and going.

[JLB32168]