Everything about Entering Heaven Alive totally explained
The concept of humans directly entering
heaven without dying is a feature of multiple religions and mythic traditions, including the three main
Abrahamic religions –
Judaism,
Christianity,
Islam. Since death is generally considered the normal end to an individual's life on earth, entering heaven without dying first is considered exceptional and usually a sign of
God's special recognition of the individual's
piety.
Judaism
According to the
Jewish Midrash, eight people went to heaven (also referred to as the
Garden of Eden and Paradise) alive.
» *
Elijah the Prophet "went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (
Kings II Chapter 2, Verse 11)
*
Serach, the daughter of
Asher - one of the sons of
Jacob (
Midrash Yalkut Shimoni (Yechezkel 367))
» *
Enoch went to heaven alive (
Genesis 5:22-24)
*
Eliezer, the servant of Abraham
» *
Hiram, king of Tyre
*
Ebed Melech, the Ethiopian
» *
Jaabez, the son of Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nagid
*
Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh
Christianity
Since the adoption of the
Nicene Creed in 325, the
Ascension of
Jesus Christ into heaven, as related in the
New Testament has been a doctrine of all orthodox
Christian churches and is celebrated on
Ascension Thursday. In
Anglican Church and
Roman Catholic Church the Ascension of the Lord is a
Holy Day of Obligation. In the
Eastern Orthodox Church the Ascension is one of twelve
Great Feasts.
In the Reformed churches' tradition of
Calvinism, belief in the ascension of Christ is included in the
Westminster Confession of Faith, the
Heidelberg Catechism and the
Second Helvetic Confession (for more information, see
Ascension)."
In Catholicism and Anglicanism
The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church distinguish between "The Ascension", in which Christ rose to heaven by his own power, and "The Assumption" in which
Mary, mother of Jesus, was raised to heaven by God's power. (
Enoch and
Elijah are said to have been "assumed" [experiencedassumption] into heaven.) However, in the
Anglican Church, the matter of Mary's assumption is considered pious legend, and is an optional feastday.
On November 1, 1950,
Pope Pius XII, acting
ex cathedra, issued
Munificentissimus Deus, an authoritiative satement of official doctrine of
Roman Catholicism. In Section 44 the pope stated:
» 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
Sacred Tradition that
Mary, mother of Jesus, was bodily assumed into heaven (for more information, see
Assumption of Mary). For centuries before that, the assumption was celebrated in art (see
Assumption of the Virgin Mary). The proclamation leaves open whether or not Mary died and was then resurrected before assumption into heaven.
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that three other persons were taken bodily into heaven:
Enoch,
Elias and the
Theotokos (Virgin Mary). Similar to the Western "Assumption" of Mary, the Orthodox celebrate the
Dormition of the Theotokos on August 15. Unlike Western uncertainty about Mary's physical death, the Orthodox teach that Mary died a natural death like any other human beign, 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'd 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.
There is a teaching among the Orthodox that the "
Two Witnesses" referred to in the
Book of Revelation are Enoch and Elias, who will be sent back to earth to preach the Gospel in the time of
apostacy, and will be the last Christian
martyrs before the
Second Coming. According to Revelation, that'll be resurrected and ascend again to heaven.
In Mormonism
Members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) believe that
Jesus Christ died, was resurrected, and ascended into heaven as a resurrected being. The church teaches that all persons who ever live and die will one day be resurrected, although not all will be resurrected to the same glory and not all will be admitted into heaven. It is also believed that not all will be resurrected at the same time; although Jesus was the first person to be resurrected, since his resurrection some righteous people have been resurrected and have presumably ascended into heaven. (For example, church founder
Joseph Smith, Jr. reported that
Moroni was sent to him from heaven as a resurrected being to reveal the
Book of Mormon to him.) Latter-day Saints thus believe that
all persons who go to heaven will eventually ascend there with a living, physical body.
Latter-day Saints also believe that a select number of individuals have ascended into heaven "without having tasted death". Often, these persons are referred to as
translated beings; they're said to be "changed so that they don't experience pain or death until their resurrection to immortality." These individuals may be admitted into heaven to await their formal resurrection or they may be permitted to remain upon the earth until that time. The following are a list of persons that Latter-day Saints believe were translated; the individuals in bold script are the ones that have presumably been admitted into heaven as a translated being:
» *
Enoch
*
People of Enoch's City of Zion » *
Moses
*
Elijah » *
John the Apostle
*
Three Unnamed Nephites » *
Alma, son of Alma
Many Latter-day Saints believe that there are also other persons who have been taken into heaven alive; there's some LDS scriptural support for this belief.
Islam
» *
Muhammad is believed by many Muslims to have ascended into heaven at the site of the
Dome of the Rock. (See
Kitab al-Miraj).
* Most Muslims believe that
Jesus is alive in heaven, but that view isn't universal. Tariq Hashmi writes in the Islamic journal,
Renaissance: "[W]e see that the Holy Qur’an clearly negates that Jesus (sws) was raised to heavens alive (3:55)." Yet Dr. Ahmad Shafaat writes elsewhere that the Qur'an in fact states that "God raised him to himself".
» * Some Muslims believe the
Mahdi was taken into heaven.
Other religions and traditions
Francis Bacon is believed to have undergone a physical "Ascension" (without experiencing death) by members of various Ascended Master Activities
Yudhishthira of the Mahabharata is believed to be the only human to cross the plane between mortals and heaven in his mortal body.Further Information
Get more info on 'Entering Heaven Alive'.
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