Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 95
95 the disciples is described. Additional discussion on the logical possibility of physical resurrection and ascension is presented elsewhere. 54, 83, 84 Regarding ascension, the Gospels do not contain any positive affirmation that Jesus physically ascended to heaven. There are no human witnesses to that event. The narrative in the Gospels of Matthew and John stops short of this alleged event. However, the Gospels of Mark and Luke comment vaguely on the event of ascension but do not state this event with any authority. Thus Mark's statement describing this event is: 85 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. This is simply a statement of belief and is not a record of a physically observable event. Likewise, Luke's statement also does not clarify this matter any further: 86 And it came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and came up into heaven. It is obvious from the above Biblical statements that after Jesus had parted from the disciples, they ceased to be witnesses of what happened to him since that time. The current Bible only records their attempts to explain the events of which they themselves had no knowledge. Recently discovered documents from the Nag Hamadi collection in Egypt and the Dead Sea Scrolls near Jerusalem, which contain the oldest versions of the writings on which the Bible is based, also refute this belief. Another difficulty in believing in the physical (bodily) ascent of Jesus to heaven is the explanation of his habitat after such ascent and how his physical needs are being met. The Bible confirms that Jesus had to satisfy his physical needs of eating and resting when he met his disciples after his removal from the cross. Hence those needs still have to be fulfilled if he ascended in the same physical form. If, however, it is suggested that his ascent to heaven was not physical but the ascent of his spirit, then the question of the whereabouts of his physical body would still remain. The answers to these and other similar questions are to be sought in considering the purpose of his advent. He had stated positively and emphatically: 87 Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Again, the Bible records Jesus' affirmation that his goal was to preach only to the Jews (the House of Israel) and that he prohibited his followers from preaching to the gentiles: 88 I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. . . . It is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. The same sentiment is again attributed to Jesus elsewhere in the Bible: 89