Taken up to heaven? (Brief review)

Cafe Logos, Vancouver

This free resource available from my employer, the Canadian Bible Society @ Cafe Logos, Vancouver.

Elijah and the Chariot of Fire (2015), Toronto, Canadian Bible Society,.

Brief review

This small and easy to read booklet, briefly, documents the life of the Prophet Elijah from the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible.

The part that interests me for this website, is at the end where it explains when Elijah, being with his Prophet successor (my add), Elisha, were walking together and a flaming chariot with fiery horses appeared and took Elijah up to heaven, never seen again within this present temporal realm, as normal man in this present realm.

Biblically, only Elijah (2 Kings 2) and Enoch (Genesis 5) went to heaven without first dying:

New American Standard Bible

2 Kings 2

11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a [e]whirlwind to heaven. 12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the [f]chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw [g]Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

Genesis 5

23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

In the later Gospels account of the transfiguration Elijah and Moses appear with Jesus Christ to Peter, James and John. From Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36. Also referred to in 2 Peter 2.

Were Moses and Elijah in spirit form, featured with simulated physicality? Or were they resurrected?

The biblical critic can state it in nonsense that any person can avoid natural death.

Typically yes, almost with absolute certainty, let us state with reasonable certainty. The New Testament acknowledges this as a person is appointed once to die (Hebrew 9). The Hebrew Bible (Genesis 2-3) acknowledges physical death as certain, as examples.

But, as God is biblically and theologically the one that existed in the beginning (Genesis 1), and is philosophically the uncased, first cause of all secondary causes, including all life, humanity and angelic and demonic beings; God is the author of both life and death, even allowing for the fall and rebellion of satanic beings and human beings (likely separate events) as secondary causes.

God has the sovereign, omnipotent, ability to create, grant and maintain life and to at the same time can reasonably willingly allow and directly cause death.

Therefore, God can reasonably translate persons from the temporal realm to the heavenly realm.

Matthew 7: 21-23: The Lord, Lord people trust in works righteousness

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Matthew 7: 21-23: The Lord, Lord people trust in works righteousness

Preface

A very good sermon on Matthew 7: 21-23

Matthew 7:21-23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’  

[a] Matthew 7:22 Or works of power

Bible Study Tools

ἀνομίαν

Bauer:

Lawlessness (71). ἀνομία is the root word. (71)

In the context of Matthew 7: 23, it is a lawless deed (72), therefore those who practice lawless deeds (72). I can further connect this within the New Testament in that those who practice lawless deeds (1 Corinthians 6) shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, and these people (Revelation 20-22) are outside the culminated Kingdom of God.

Sin is lifestyle for the 'Lord, Lord' people and sin is a struggle for those under grace, until culminated perfection in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). Seems to me, this is a stern warning from Jesus Christ for those that reason his/her works righteousness will gain him/her salvation, through any church and its practices and rules, in obedience. By embracing a form of the atoning and resurrection work of Christ plus works righteousness, in the case of the Lord, Lord people, in actuality the works righteousness through a religious system, becomes more central than the exclusive gospel work of God the Son, Jesus Christ. Thus, theologically and practically, cancelling out the gospel work of Christ which exclusively and only covers sin, defeats death and provides everlasting life. This is rather apparent in certain church, religious systems in this modern era.

Biblically, in contrast, one that is saved, performs works in salvation, after being saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2.8-10). Those that do the will of the Father in heaven are those that produce works (Ephesians, James) after the atoning and resurrection work of Jesus Christ is applied to him/her through regeneration (Titus 3), being born again (John 2) (1 Peter 1: 3, 23). I am not claiming moral and ethical superiority in every sense here for the Biblical Christians over the Lord, Lord, people. But these people trust in works righteousness over the exclusive atoning and resurrection work of Christ applied to those in Christ, for salvation. The soteriology from the New Testament is that there is imputed righteousness and justification. This is granted by grace through faith, alone (Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Hebrews as examples). There is no human works added for salvation; only human works, within salvation.

BARCLAY, WILLIAM (1976) The Letters of James and Peter, Philadelphia, The Westminster Press. 

BAUER, WALTER (1979) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Translated by Eric H. Wahlstrom, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.

BRUCE, F.F. (1987) Romans, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

CAIRD, GEORGE B. (1977)  Paul's Letters from Prison Paperback, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

CARSON T. (1986) ‘James', in F.F. Bruce (ed.),The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.

COAD, F. ROY (1986) ‘Galatians’, in F.F. Bruce (gen.ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Marshall Pickering/ Zondervan.

COURSON, JON (2005) Application Commentary, Thomas Nelson, Nashville. 

CRANFIELD, C.E.B. (1992) Romans: A Shorter Commentary, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

 

ELLISON, H.L. (1986) ‘Matthew’, in F.F. Bruce (ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.

ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House. 

FEE, GORDON (1987) The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 

FRANCE, R.T. (1985) Matthew, Grand Rapids, IVP, Eerdmans. 

GUNDRY, ROBERT (1981) A Survey of the New Testament, Grand Rapids, Zondervan. 

HUGHES, PHILIP, EDGCUMBE (1990) A Commentary On The Epistle To The Hebrews, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

JOHNSON A.F. (1996) 'Book of Life’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books. 

KANE, ROBERT HILLARY (1996) ‘Book of Life’, in Robert Audi (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 

MARSHALL, ALFRED (1975)(1996) The Interlinear KJV-NIV, Grand Rapids, Zondervan. 

MOUNCE, ROBERT H. (1990) The Book of Revelation, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 

MOUNCE, ROBERT H. (1995) The New American Commentary: Romans, Nashville, Broadman & Holman Publishers.

STRONG, J. (1890)(1986) Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Burlington, Welch Publishing Company. 

The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms, (1993) Saint Athanasius Orthodox Academy, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.

The Orthodox Study Bible: Epiphany

The cover

The Orthodox Study Bible, New Testament and Psalms, (1993) Saint Athanasius Orthodox Academy,Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 

Purchased from my employer, the Canadian Bible Society @ Cafe Logos, Vancouver.

Epiphany

I came across this Christian celebration on my mobile phone and related, a work friend mentioned it was celebrated at the Roman Catholic Church. So, I did a little research to see any difference between the Eastern and Western Church on this issue.

It is also celebrated in some Protestant churches...

BBC Religions

Cited

For many Protestant church traditions, the season of Epiphany extends from 6 January until Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent leading to Easter.

Page 297

New Advent

Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholic Encyclopedia

Holy Cross Orthodox Church

Cited

The Eastern And Western Traditions.

The Eastern Epiphany celebrates the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan by John the Baptist or “Forerunner” (in Greek Prodromos) as the event of the manifestation of Christ as the Son of God and its corollary, the manifestation of God in Trinity, and also as the event that marks the beginning of Christ’s saving mission. This is particularly revealed in the service of the Great Sanctification of the Waters (Megas Agiasmos), which is reminiscent of Christ’s Baptism and constitutes a conspicuous feature of the Eastern celebration. 

The Western Epiphany celebrates the veneration of the newborn Christ by the wise Oriental Magi as the event that marks the manifestation of the divinity of Christ to the “nations.” Especially since medieval times, Western Christianity developed an elaborate tradition around these Oriental figures – fixing their number to three and identifying them with three kings, called Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar – a tradition that included the re-discovery of their bodies at the Church of St. Eustorgio in Milan (1158), where they had been transferred from Constantinople in the 4th century, and their re-transference and deposition in Cologne Cathedral by Frederick Barbarossa (1164).

Reasonably, based on this documentation, Western mainline Protestant churches, when epiphany is celebrated, classically (as opposed to exhaustively) would follow closer to the Roman Catholic model than Eastern Orthodox model.

A class of dogs is simply a class of dogs

Tonight, walking back from the Boss's place...

LANGER, SUSANNE K (1953)(1967) An Introduction to Symbolic Logic, Dover Publications, New York. (Philosophy)

The review continues...

Key symbols

≡df = Equivalence by definition
: = Equal (s)
ε = Epsilon and means is
⊃ = Is the same as
⊨ is Entails
˜ = Not
∃ = There exists
∃! = There exists
∴ = Therefore
. = Therefore
< = Is included
v = a logical inclusive disjunction (disjunction is the relationship between two distinct alternatives).
x = variable = Conjunction meaning And
0 = Null class
cls = Class
int = Interpretation

Last time with this review:

Langer 212-213

Philosopher Langer on page 214 further explains that in symbolic logic the uniqueness of 0 and 1 is guaranteed and therefore a more important equation as the system of the Law of Tautology can be shown. (214).

Tautology is repeating the same idea, not identically.

These propositions are called 'tautology' because they show that no matter how many times a term is mentioned in a sum or in a product (within symbolic logic, my add), a product is not changed by being multiplied or by something in it, nor a sum by having one of its summands added to it. (215).

To simplify, she writes:

A class of dogs is simply a class of dogs. (215).

Adding of multiplying dogs in that class, does not change the fact it is only and simply a class of dogs.

Therefore,  my examples:

z= Dogs

z x z = z

z + z = z
---

This text is becoming increasingly technical, but practically, philosophically and theologically, the logic here assists with concepts such as...

The infinite class (God) is simply infinite, nothing can be multiplied or added to that class.

The finite class is simply finite, nothing can be multiplied or added to that class.

This logic would counter philosophies and theologies reasoning the finite can become infinite.

i = infinite
f = finite

i ˜ ⊃ f

The infinite is not the same as the finite.

i ˜ ⊨ f

The infinite does not entail the finite.

Tonight