James 5:17
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
2 Kings 2:11
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind
John 3:13
No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man
Did Elijah go up to Heaven, was John wrong, was James wrong....come on...somebody was wrong here.
2006-10-03 13:08:25 · 12 answers · asked by eantaelor 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Just quoting another line from another book doesn't make any of the lines that I quoted "out of context" now.
2006-10-03 13:15:40 · update #1
another example of bible nonsense
2006-10-03 13:11:12 · answer #1 · answered by mrmoo 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
James does not fit what you are asking.
John says "no one has ever gone" to heaven-Jesus is speaking of "salvation".
2 Kings, Elijah was "taken" up to heaven and is not talking about salvation.
The context of John 3:1-21 is salvation. The context of 2 Kings 2:11 is the translation of Elijah. He did not die as Nicodemus would in John 3.
These two passages are talking about different things. They are not of the same context, even though the term heaven is used in both.
2006-10-03 13:24:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It could be that the word "heaven" means something different. It is used to mean a spiritual dwelling place of God, a paradise, and also the skies. Which did Elijah go to and is it the same as Jesus was talking about or
It could be that the difference is that Jesus went of his own authority and Elijah did not. or
It could be that since Jesus was talking about salvation to a pharisee that he was emphasizing to him that none of them have gone to heaven and come back to tell anyone about what God really wants of them. Basically, this would mean that Jesus was saying that they did not have an accurate understanding of what they needed to do to go to heaven because they did not have a source of info other than him. I think this is the most likely because Nicodemus was very confused.
2006-10-03 14:39:31 · answer #3 · answered by jmdeserna 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
James 5:17 is literally, why it is possible
2 Kings 2:11 metaphor, describing a story
John 3:13 taken out of context, John was promoting Jesus and was only concerned about promoting Jesus at the time he was saying this things
2006-10-03 13:18:01 · answer #4 · answered by man of ape 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Excellent! None are wrong. Jesus descended from heaven to earth and then descended below earth (Ephesians 4:9) and then Rose from the dead to Heaven. No conflict in this. Elijah went to Heaven as a man alive, Jesus went as a man alive after having risen from the dead.
2006-10-03 13:18:41 · answer #5 · answered by Birdbrain 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Context is the immediate line of thought that makes the sentence meaningful. Take any three lines out of a news paper and paste them together, you get nonsense. That is "context" in a nutshell. It is not difficult to make isolated statements appear contradictory. News pundits do this all the time when attacking a politician.
2006-10-03 13:14:32 · answer #6 · answered by BABY 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
But no man has acsended up to heaven,but he that came down from heaven. THE VERSE MEANS THAT NO ONE HAS ASCENDED AND RETURNED,to be qualified to speak of the things there, so no mere man,or prophet is qualified to do so. So Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.It doesn't mean that no one had gone to heaven.
2006-10-03 21:30:24 · answer #7 · answered by Letrice S 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Notice that Jesus said no MAN has ever entered into the Kingdom of Heaven because "Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God"(1 Cor 15:50)Read it in context next time.God bless.
2006-10-03 13:11:07 · answer #8 · answered by John G 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
In a nutshell http://www.apologeticspress.org/modules.php?name=Read&itemid=523&cat=2=5238&cat=2 ................... Note that the writer references Bullinger which is always a good place to when you have a question like this, as a helpful addition to whatever commentaries you're using.
2006-10-03 14:40:27 · answer #9 · answered by TalkingDonkey 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your answer is there for you to get; if you really want it.
But for you to get that answer; you need to study... the more you jump around, the less you will understand. But if you truly want understanding; go to the beginning: Genesis... and start reading... take your time, and look up any word you can't readily say the meaning of, and research any place you don't know about.
Do that and see if you feel the same way... or need to ask that question.
2006-10-03 13:28:47 · answer #10 · answered by Prince J 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
my opinion is that the people who put together the jesus myth just copied stuff right out of Kings II
2006-10-03 13:48:48 · answer #11 · answered by abcdefghijk 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋