Where is Jesus, RIGHT NOW?

[john_kay]

Hello all,

I have a question, regarding the validity of the ascension as it has been traditionally understood.

Catholicism teaches that Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, where he is now waiting to come back for his second coming. If this is the case, where is Jesus’ physical body right now?

Is he still ascending? Did he ascend above the clouds, then disappear? How fast was he traveling to break free of earth’s gravitational field?

The doctrine was formulated before our modern understanding of the cosmos and the atmosphere. One intellectual Catholic explained it to me as the time when Jesus stopped appearing to his disciples. Is this more un-orthodox interpretation in line with Catholic teaching?

 

[FCEGM]

Hello all,

I have a question, regarding the validity of the ascension as it has been traditionally understood.

Catholicism teaches that Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, where he is now waiting to come back for his second coming. If this is the case, where is Jesus’ physical body right now?

Is he still ascending? Did he ascend above the clouds, then disappear? How fast was he traveling to break free of earth’s gravitational field?

The doctrine was formulated before our modern understanding of the cosmos and the atmosphere. One intellectual Catholic explained it to me as the time when Jesus stopped appearing to his disciples. Is this more un-orthodox interpretation in line with Catholic teaching?

Scripture teaches that He physically ascended from their sight, so, no. IOW, this was an event that historically occurred and was witnessed by His Apostles. This article from an online Catholic encylopedia may be helpful to you:

newadvent.org/cathen/01767a.htm

This part addresses the essence of your question:

The language used by the Evangelists to describe the Ascension must be interpreted according to usage. To say that He was taken up or that He ascended, does not necessarily imply that they locate heaven directly above the earth; no more than the words “sitteth on the right hand of God” mean that this is His actual posture. In disappearing from their view “He was raised up and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9), and entering into glory He dwells with the Father in the honour and power denoted by the scripture phrase.

Also, His Human Body is a Glorified Body and is thus not limited by our understanding of physics, e.g., there was no need for velocity for Him to ascend to Heaven.

 

[john_kay]

This is rather confusing,

So was his ascension literal, or not?

 

[RyanL]

This is rather confusing,

So was his ascension literal, or not?

Yes, it was literal.

God Bless,
RyanL

 

[RyanL]

The doctrine was formulated before our modern understanding of the cosmos and the atmosphere.

Even way back then people were smart enough to know that the stars were very, very far away. Hopefully without offending, what does this have to do with anything?

God Bless,
RyanL

 

[wardrandolph]

Yes it is literal.May I ask you a question?I’m not trying to provoke,belittle or debate an issue the Church teackes is wrong,but how can your religion be “homosexual”?

 

[FCEGM]

This is rather confusing,

So was his ascension literal, or not?

Literal; but perhaps you are confused by the distinction between a physical body and a glorified body; this is addressed here by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theoligica:

. . .As stated above (Question 53, Article 3), Christ rose to the immortal life of glory. But such is the disposition of a glorified body that it is spiritual, i.e. subject to the spirit, as the Apostle says (1 Corinthians 15:44). Now in order for the body to be entirely subject to the spirit, it is necessary for the body’s every action to be subject to the will of the spirit. Again, that an object be seen is due to the action of the visible object upon the sight, as the Philosopher shows (De Anima ii). Consequently, whoever has a glorified body has it in his power to be seen when he so wishes, and not to be seen when he does not wish it. Moreover Christ had this not only from the condition of His glorified body, but also from the power of His Godhead, by which power it may happen that even bodies not glorified are miraculously unseen: as was by a miracle bestowed on the blessed Bartholomew, that “if he wished he could be seen, and not be seen if he did not wish it” [Apocryphal Historia Apost. viii, 2]. Christ, then, is said to have vanished from the eyes of the disciples, not as though He were corrupted or dissolved into invisible elements; but because He ceased, of His own will, to be seen by them, either while He was present or while He was departing by the gift of agility. . . .

newadvent.org/summa/4054.htm

 

[john_kay]

Even way back then people were smart enough to know that the stars were very, very far away. Hopefully without offending, what does this have to do with anything?

True, but people also believed that the sky was a dome.

how can your religion be “homosexual”?

I treat my homosexuality the way most people treat religion. I don’t want to digress, though. I love my homosexuality and would die for it. (but I’m always hungry for the truth, thats why im checking out this website! if it is true, i must believe it!)

the distinction between a physical body and a glorified body; this is addressed here by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theoligica:

So what happened when he was taken from the earth in his glorified body? Where did he go?

 

[Ridgerunner]

So what happened when he was taken from the earth in his glorified body? Where did he go?

Where does light go? What was there an hour and a half before the Big Bang?

If, indeed, God is the Author of the universe, His powers are so utterly beyond our understanding that about all we can do is speculate as to the “mechanics” of what He may do. I recall reading about physicists’ speculations about other dimensions, about “membranes”, “strings” and all that. Perhaps they’re right about those things; things we’re never going to actually see, but that work out mathematically or seem to. When it comes to how God may locate a physical body He took on, we can guess forever and never know. We can’t know because we can’t even see “strings” and “branes”, let alone what mode of presence an infinite Being might be capable of.

But at the bottom of it, we have to consider the fact that the question of God’s existence is massively greater than His capabilities, and massively more significant. If we believe He exists, then nothing is impossible and very little is, by us, fully knowable.