I know that Jesus ascended of his own power according to Catholic teaching. I am in agreement with this. However, I have trouble explaining this to a Protestant when the passage says in the New American Bible “So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God”. The Protestant is taking issue with the word “taken” and does not think he did it of his own power, but that Father took him up. The Protestant is having some issues with the co-equalness of the Trinity (which is kind of a different issues, but if anyone has some bible passages for that too, that would be helpful)
Thanks
Not an answer to the question per se, but I’ll also add that there are also passages in Scripture where Jesus is not said to ‘rise’, but ‘raised’ from the dead, something which is unfortunately obscured in a few translations which turn the passive into an active in some instances. Here are three such passages (I’ll give more later):
“
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.”
Acts 2:32
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised oon the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. …] Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
…] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15
