Who Entered Heaven While Still Alive?

"Entering Heaven alive" is a phrase used by various religions around the world and based on religious faith. It is known by many religions as "ascension" or "translation". Since death is the general end to an individual's life on Earth and the beginning of an afterlife, entering Heaven without dying first is considered exceptional and usually a sign of the Creator's special recognition of the individual's righteousness and piety.

In the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), the Old Testament (of the Christian Bible), and the Quran (Muslim Bible) there are two men who can qualify for such an incident: Enoch and Elijah. 

Enoch

"And Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer, for God had taken him." (Tanakh-Bereishit 5:24)

"Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." (Bible-Genesis 5:24)

 "And mention in the Scripture Enoch. He was a man of truth, a prophet. And We raised him to a high position." (Quran-Maryam 19:56-57)

In the Abrahamic religions, their sacred books does not give much information about this prophet who was there, then he was gone without any explanation. Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam, the father of Methuselah and the great-grandfather of Noah. Enoch is introduced in the 5th Chapter of Genesis in the Christian Bible and only allotted 4 verses about his life. The same story is related in the Jewish Tanakh in Bereishit and in the Muslim Quran in Maryam. However, the Books of Enoch, (extracanonical biblical texts) details further information about Enoch. 

The literature of Enoch is an ancient Hebrew apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the prophet. The Books of Enoch contains unique material on the origins of demons and giants, why some angels fell from Heaven, an explanation of why the Genesis flood was morally necessary, and prophetic exposition of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah. This ancient book also chronicles Enoch's journey while on Earth and the reverence he received from the people of planet Earth. He was considered the greatest prophet of the Pre-Flood world. 

The Books of Enoch (1 & II) were unearthed in 1773 by the Scottish explorer, James Bruce; the majority of scholars and theologians believe they are authentic, while a small minority of educators believe the ancient books are just works of myth. 

In classical Rabbinical literature, there are diverse views of Enoch. One common aspect regarding Enoch is found in the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, which thought of Enoch as a pious man, taken to Heaven, and receiving the title of Safra rabba (Great scribe). After Christendom was completely disassociated from Judaism, this view became the prevailing rabbinical idea of Enoch's character and exaltation.

In Islam, Enoch is identified with the prophet, Idris. The Quran contains two references to Idris; in Surah Maryam (Mary) vs. 56–57 and Surah al-Anbiya (The Prophets) v. 85. Idris is closely linked in Muslim tradition with the origin of writing and other technical arts of civilization, including the study of astronomical phenomena, both of which Enoch is credited with in the Testament of Abraham. Nonetheless, although some Muslims view Enoch and Idris as the same person while others do not, many Muslims still honor Enoch as one of the earliest prophets, regardless of which view they hold.

Elijah

"And it was that they were going, walking and talking, and behold a fiery chariot and fiery horses, and they separated them both. And Elijah ascended to heaven in a whirlwind." (Tanakh- II Melachim 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." (Bible- 2 Kings 2:11)

"Ilyas (Elijah) was one of the messengers. He said to his people, “Do you not fear? Do you call on Baal, and forsake the Best of creators? God is your Lord, and the Lord of your ancestors.” But they called him a liar, and thus they will be brought forward. Except for God’s sincere servants. And We left with him for later generations. Peace be upon the House of Ilyas. Thus We reward the virtuous, He was one of Our believing servants." ~ (Quran-as-Saffat 37:123-132)

The difference between Enoch and Elijah's ascension into Heaven is that the sacred scriptures relates a more thorough account of Elijah and the events leading up to his translation. According to the holy books, Elijah was a prophet and a miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab in the 9th century B.C. The Prophet Elijah is also portrayed as leading a school of prophets known as "the sons of the prophets".

Elijah was credited with defending the Hebrew God over that of the Canaanite God (known as Baal). He was also instrumental in performing miracles through the Creator, such as resurrection, bringing fire from the sky and being ascended into Heaven while still alive. 

The Book of Malachi prophesies Elijah's return "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD", making him a harbinger of the Messiah. References to Elijah appear in Ecclesiasticus, the New Testament, the Mishnah and Talmud, the Quran, the Book of Mormon and Bahá'í writings.

In Judaism, Elijah is referenced in the Haggadah and rabbinic literature, including the Babylonian Talmud. The Tanakh portrays him as powerful prophet and a true messenger of God. In rabbinical literature, Elijah means, "let him be remembered for good," or "he who is remembered for good". The Prophet Elijah has been glorified in Jewish legend more than any other Biblical personage.

In Christianity, the prophet's story can be found in 1 Kings 17, 2 Kings 2 and he is mentioned in the New Testament Gospels. Christian doctrine says that Elijah appeared with Moses during the Transfiguration of Jesus.  In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus asks his disciples who the people say that he is (8:27). The apostles' answer includes Elijah among others. But Jesus' ministry had little in common with that of the Prophet Elijah; in particular, he preached the forgiveness of one's enemies, while Elijah killed his. Moreover, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus specifically identifies John the Baptist as the spiritual successor to Elijah: "and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come." (11:14)

In Islam, Ilyas (Elijah) appears in the Quran as a prophet and messenger of God, where his biblical narrative of preaching against the worshipers of Baal is recounted in a synoptic form. The Quran account bears many striking similarities to the story told in Books of Mellachim/Kings of the Hebrew and Christian bibles. Elijah has been the subject of legends and folktales in Muslim culture, usually involving his meeting with Khidr, and in one legend, with Muhammad himself.

Due to his importance and reverence to Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians, Elijah has been venerated as the patron saint of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1752.

Conclusion

The Holy Books' account of Enoch's ascension and Elijah’s removal from the earth tells mankind nothing about what happened to them after they were removed from Earth. The common view is that they did not see death on Earth, which is basically faithful supplication.

"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God." ~ Hebrews 11:5

Again, it is only known that both prophets was removed from the earth. The writer says Elijah was taken “to Heaven” but the Hebrew word for heaven is "shamayim", which can take one of three distinct meanings: the sky, outer space or God’s throne room. Most Jewish scholars agree the writer described Elijah’s departure from his perspective on the ground, so the writer could only say that Elijah was taken into the shamayim (i.e., the sky). Like Enoch, nothing more can be assumed about Elijah’s final destination. However, the Jews believe before the Messiah comes, the righteous redeemer will make his appearance; Elijah will appear on the mountains of the Holy Land and will herald the good tidings of the coming of Messiah.

In both supernatural cases, the holy books does not specifically say if these two special men entered into the presence of God in bodily form. On the other hand, Christian scripture says definitively that no man entered into Heaven before Jesus Christ (John 3:13). Based on other scripture, it is implied their souls were transferred to Abraham’s Bosom (see Luke 16) to await the arrival of the Messiah just like all the Old Testament saints. God granted these men remarkable departures from the earth, but He couldn't grant them entry into Heaven before Christ’s sacrifice was completed. Like the Jews, the Christians believe Elijah will return to the earth before the coming of Jesus.

The commentator Ibn Kathir narrated in the "During the Night Journey", the Prophet (Enoch) passed by him in the fourth heaven, implying that Enoch reached Heaven. In a hadith, Ibn Abbas asked Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf what was meant by the part of the verse which says, ”And We raised him to a high station.” Ka’b explained: Allah revealed to Idris (Enoch): ‘I would raise for you every day the same amount of the deeds of all Adam’s children’.  An angel visited and Idris said to him: ‘Allah has revealed to me such and such, so could you please speak to the angel of death, so I could increase my deeds.’ The angel carried him on his wings and went up into the heavens. When they reached the fourth heaven, they met the Angel of Death who was descending down towards earth. The angel spoke to him about what Idris had spoken to him before. The angel of death said: ‘But where is Idris?’ He replied, ‘He is upon my back.’ The angel of death said: ‘How astonishing! I was sent and told to seize his soul in the fourth heaven. I kept thinking how I could seize it in the fourth heaven when he was on the earth?’ Then he took his soul out of his body, and that is what is meant by the verse: ‘And We raised him to a high station.’ This implies that the soul of Enoch remained in Heaven. Whether Enoch or Elijah is to return again is not touched upon in the Quran.

Related articles:

Did Enoch and Elijah Escape Death and Go to Heaven?
Why did God take Enoch and Elijah to Heaven without them dying?
If the dead don’t immediately go to heaven, how did Moses and Elijah appear at the transfiguration?

The Protestant Reformation

The Reformation

HISTORY

The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. In northern and central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. They argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible- and pamphlet-reading pastors and princes. The disruption triggered wars, persecutions and the so-called Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s delayed but forceful response to the Protestants.

Dating the Reformation

Historians usually date the start of the Protestant Reformation to the 1517 publication of Martin Luther’s “95 Theses.” Its ending can be placed anywhere from the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, which allowed for the coexistence of Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany, to the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War. The key ideas of the Reformation—a call to purify the church and a belief that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority—were not themselves novel. However, Luther and the other reformers became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to give their ideas a wide audience.

Did you know? No reformer was more adept than Martin Luther at using the power of the press to spread his ideas. Between 1518 and 1525, Luther published more works than the next 17 most prolific reformers combined.

The Reformation: Germany and Lutheranism

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an Augustinian monk and university lecturer in Wittenberg when he composed his “95 Theses,” which protested the pope’s sale of reprieves from penance, or indulgences. Although he had hoped to spur renewal from within the church, in 1521 he was summoned before the Diet of Worms and excommunicated. Sheltered by Friedrich, elector of Saxony, Luther translated the Bible into German and continued his output of vernacular pamphlets.

When German peasants, inspired in part by Luther’s empowering “priesthood of all believers,” revolted in 1524, Luther sided with Germany’s princes. By the Reformation’s end, Lutheranism had become the state religion throughout much of Germany, Scandinavia and the Baltics.

The Reformation: Switzerland and Calvinism

The Swiss Reformation began in 1519 with the sermons of Ulrich Zwingli, whose teachings largely paralleled Luther’s. In 1541 John Calvin, a French Protestant who had spent the previous decade in exile writing his “Institutes of the Christian Religion,” was invited to settle in Geneva and put his Reformed doctrine—which stressed God’s power and humanity’s predestined fate—into practice. The result was a theocratic regime of enforced, austere morality.

Calvin’s Geneva became a hotbed for Protestant exiles, and his doctrines quickly spread to Scotland, France, Transylvania and the Low Countries, where Dutch Calvinism became a religious and economic force for the next 400 years.

The Reformation: England and the “Middle Way”

In England, the Reformation began with Henry VIII’s quest for a male heir. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could remarry, the English king declared in 1534 that he alone should be the final authority in matters relating to the English church. Henry dissolved England’s monasteries to confiscate their wealth and worked to place the Bible in the hands of the people. Beginning in 1536, every parish was required to have a copy.

After Henry’s death, England tilted toward Calvinist-infused Protestantism during Edward VI’s six-year reign and then endured five years of reactionary Catholicism under Mary I. In 1559 Elizabeth I took the throne and, during her 44-year reign, cast the Church of England as a “middle way” between Calvinism and Catholicism, with vernacular worship and a revised Book of Common Prayer.

The Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church was slow to respond systematically to the theological and publicity innovations of Luther and the other reformers. The Council of Trent, which met off and on from 1545 through 1563, articulated the Church’s answer to the problems that triggered the Reformation and to the reformers themselves.

The Catholic Church of the Counter-Reformation era grew more spiritual, more literate and more educated. New religious orders, notably the Jesuits, combined rigorous spirituality with a globally minded intellectualism, while mystics such as Teresa of Avila injected new passion into the older orders. Inquisitions, both in Spain and in Rome, were reorganized to fight the threat of Protestant heresy.

The Reformation’s Legacy

Along with the religious consequences of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation came deep and lasting political changes. Northern Europe’s new religious and political freedoms came at a great cost, with decades of rebellions, wars and bloody persecutions. The Thirty Years’ War alone may have cost Germany 40 percent of its population.

But the Reformation’s positive repercussions can be seen in the intellectual and cultural flourishing it inspired on all sides of the schism—in the strengthened universities of Europe, the Lutheran church music of J.S. Bach, the baroque altarpieces of Pieter Paul Rubens and even the capitalism of Dutch Calvinist merchants.

This article was obtained through History.com.

Biblical Prophecies Being Fulfilled (Matthew: Chapter 24)

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW: CHAPTER 24  (Holy Bible: King James Version)

1 - And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 - And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Proof of the Temple's Destruction

3 - And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4 - And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 - For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many

6 - And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7a - For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:    

   

Bible End Times Prophecy: Wars and Rumors of War

7b - and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 - All these are the beginning of sorrows.   

Eartquakes, Famines & Pestilences

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.    

   

Bible Prophecy...Then shall many be offended and shall betray one another

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.    

The Love of Many Shall Wax Cold

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Daniel's Prophecy and the Abomination of Desolation

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

25 Behold, I have told you before.

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

Can His Very Elect Be Deceived?

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.  

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

    

SIGN of the SON OF MAN REVEALED!

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

"As In the Days of Noah" | The Bible Explained

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Are You Ready for What's to Come?

45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

49 And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The Second Coming on the Clouds: Salvation and Judgment

~~~~ GOSPEL OF MATTHEW: CHAPTER 24 ~~~~~

Biblical Prophecies Being Fulfilled (2nd Timothy, Chapter 3)

2ND BOOK OF TIMOTHY: CHAPTER 3  (Holy Bible: King James Version)

1 - This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

Perilous Times Increasing 2020

2 - For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,   

3- Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good   

4 - Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;   

5 - Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

End Time Signs In OUR Generation

6 - For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

7 - Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

8 - Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

9 - But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was.

The False "Church System" Deception

10 - But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,

11 - Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

12 - Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Christians are facing 'extreme persecution' around the globe

13 - But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Evil In The Last Days - Perilous Times Will Come

14 - But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

15 - And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 - That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Vice President Mike Pence: The Christian Faith is Under Siege

~~~~ 2nd TIMOTHY: CHAPTER 3 ~~~~~

Lord of the World (A Prophetic Novel)

From Wikipedia.com ...     

Lord of the World is a 1907 dystopian science fiction novel by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson that centers upon the reign of the Antichrist and the end of the world. It has been called prophetic by Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. 

Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, a former High Church Anglican Vicar, began writing Lord of the World two years after his conversion to Roman Catholicism rocked the Church of England in 1903.  

The youngest son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson, and the society hostess Mary Sidgwick Benson, Robert was descended from a very long line of Anglican clergymen. He had also read the litany at his father's 1896 funeral at Canterbury Cathedral and was widely expected to one day take his father's place as the most senior clergyman in the Anglican Communion. After a crisis of faith described in his 1913 memoir Confessions of a Convert, however, Benson was received into the Roman Catholic Church on September 11, 1903. 

According to Joseph Pearce, "The press made much of the story that the son of the former Archbishop of Canterbury had become a Catholic, and the revelation rocked the Anglican establishment in a way reminiscent of the days of the Oxford Movement and the conversion of Newman." 

The former Vicar found himself inundated with hate mail from Anglican clergy, men, women, and even children. Benson found himself accused of being "a deliberate traitor", "an infatuated fool", and of bringing dishonor upon his father's name and memory. Although he replied scrupulously to every letter, Benson was deeply hurt. He later wrote that he received considerable solace in the words that an Anglican Bishop had spoken to his mother, "Remember that he has followed his conscience after all, and what else could his father wish for him than that?" 

After his ordination as a Catholic priest at Rome in 1904, Fr. Benson had been assigned as a Catholic Chaplain at Cambridge University. It was during his stay at Cambridge Rectory that Lord of the World was conceived and written. 

Inception

French Utopian Socialist

Henri de Saint-Simon, c/1820.

According to his biographer Fr. Cyril Martindale, the idea of a novel about the Antichrist was first suggested to Fr. Benson by his friend and literary mentor Frederick Rolfe in December 1905. It was Rolfe who also introduced Mgr. Benson to the writings of the French Utopian Socialist Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon.  According to Fr. Martindale, as Benson read Saint-Simon's writings, "A vision of a dechristianised civilisation, sprung from the wrecking of the old régime, arose before him and he listened to Mr. Rolfe's suggestion that he should write a book on Antichrist." 

Writing during the pontificate of Pope Pius X and prior to the First World War, Monsignor Benson accurately predicted interstate highways, weapons of mass destruction, the use of aircraft to drop bombs on both military and civilian targets, and passenger air travel in advanced Zeppelins called "Volors". Writing in 1916, Fr. Martindale compared Mgr. Benson's ideas for future technology with those of legendary French science fiction novelist Jules Verne. 

However, Mgr. Benson also presumed the survival of European colonialism in Africa, the continued expansion of Imperial Japan, and that predominant travel would continue to be by railway. Like many other Catholics of the era in which he wrote, Monsignor Benson believed in Masonic conspiracy theories and shared the political and economic views of G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. 

__________________________________________________________________

In the article entitled, "Why Are 2 Different Popes Telling Us to Read Lord of the World?" by Colin O'Brien | Apr 08, 2016 , he stated:

"Pope Francis raised eyebrows in 2013 and again in 2015 when he recommended Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World to the faithful as a book that depicts a “globalization of hegemonic uniformity.” Similarly, then-Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, referred to the Universalism depicted in Lord of the World in an address he gave in Milan in 1992."

Mr. O'Brien went on to expounded upon how the above mentioned book parallels with our world in the 21st century.

_________________________________________________________________

Lord of the World Summary    

Ave Maria Press - Dec 21, 2016 

Robert Hugh Benson’s dystopian novel Lord of the World describes a future where faith in God and religion has been replaced by secular humanism.

Many Catholics have abandoned the faith and even priests have defected. Few religious enclaves are scattered throughout the globe, but they face the growing popularity of this new secular ideology. The leaders of the secular government see the Church as a blockade to progress and thus view it as an enemy.

The story follows Father Percy, one of the few remaining faithful. A pillar of faith in within the crumbling Church, he tries to bolster his fellow faithful Catholics but faces many obstacles, primarily the meteoric rise to power of the mysterious Julian Felsenburgh.

Promising peace and harmony in exchange for obedience, Felsenburgh quickly becomes a dominant figure in world politics. The crowds love him, but Percy remains cautious.

As Felsenburgh begins exercising his newfound power, his influence continues to spread; any resistors of this new rationalist regime are subject to torture and execution. Percy and the remaining faithful maintain their beliefs in the face of such peril, but their situation becomes increasingly dangerous.

As the Church continues to disintegrate around him, Percy too begins to rise to power as the new Pope. He struggles with how to face Felsenburgh, who has become ruler of the entire world. Percy and the remaining faithful gather in Rome to try and prevent an upcoming apocalypse at the hands of Felsenburgh. A climactic battle ensues between the two parties, which will have earth-shaking consequences.

Mary Magdalene Biography

The following article was obtained through Biography.com

Mary Magdalene Biography [Saint (d. 100)]
Updated: Aug. 12, 2019  

Original: Apr. 2, 2018

Mary Magdalene was a pivotal New Testament biblical figure whose role in Christianity's development continues to be discussed and debated.

Who Was Mary Magdalene?   

                  Mary Magdalene by Leonardo Da Vinci

Mary Magdalene was a figure in the Bible's New Testament who was one of Jesus's most loyal followers and is said to have been the first to witness his resurrection.

While the Western Christian Church portrayed her as a repentant sinner for centuries, newer research has disputed this interpretation, and the discovery of the Gnostic Gospels, including the Gospel of Mary, describes Mary as a reflective, wise spiritualist favored by Jesus.   

Mary Magdalene According to the Bible

One of Jesus’s most celebrated disciples, most of what is known about Mary Magdalene comes primarily from the New Testament Gospels. She is believed to have been of Jewish descent, though her culture and manners were that of a Gentile. Her name, “Magdalen,” comes from her birth town of Magdala.

The canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John place Mary as witness to Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. The gospel references primarily speak only to her presence and rudimentary actions at these events; they don’t describe her personality, history or character. However, over the centuries, Western Christian doctrine, Renaissance art and literature and modern media have depicted Mary as a prostitute, love interest of Christ and even his wife.   

Mary Magdalene According to the Western Christian Church   

The notion of Mary Magdalene as a repentant sinner became the generally accepted view in Western Christianity as a result of a homily delivered by Pope Gregory I in the year, 591. He spoke highly of her devotion and love of Jesus, but also referred to her as the anonymous sinner with perfume in Luke’s Gospel (7:36-50) and as Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus. The pope also cited the Gospels of Luke (8:1-3) and Mark (16:9) which make a brief reference to Christ ridding Mary of “seven demons.” Pope Gregory surmised the seven demons as the seven deadly sins, thus making Mary not only guilty of lust, but pride and greed as well.

It’s important to note that this image is not accepted by Eastern Orthodox religion, which saw Mary Magdalene as only a devoted disciple of Christ. However, Mary as repentant sinner became solidified in Western medieval theology, with its emphasis on penitence, and flourished in Europe over the next fourteen hundred years. Western medieval and Renaissance Christian art usually depicted Mary dressed extravagantly, even suggestively, in stark contrast to the more modestly dressed women of the time. In some paintings, she is shown in the nude (most notably by the artist Titian), discretely covered by long blond hair.    

Revisionist History of Mary Magdalene   

This version of Mary Magdalene was challenged in 1518 by French humanist Jaques Laefevre d’Etaples, who argued against the conflation of the two Marys and the unnamed female sinner in Luke’s Gospel. This theory received some support but also much opposition, and in 1521 d’Etaples’s views were formally condemned by French theologians.  

In 1969, the General Roman Calendar put the matter of the composite Mary to rest when it identified the different dates for Mary, Bethany and the unidentified sinner in Luke’s gospel.   

Mary Magdalene according to the Gnostic Gospels

Beginning in 1896, fragmentary manuscripts known as the Gnostic Gospels were discovered by theologians and archaeologists. The Gospel of Mary, believed to have been written in the 3rd century, reveals a Mary Magdalene who had a special relationship with Jesus and possessed a deeper understanding of his teachings. The Gospel of Philip describes Mary’s relationship with Jesus as a partner, associate or companion. This has been interpreted to mean their relationship was intimate.

What of Mary’s life after Jesus? Today she is considered a saint by the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches, though the interpretations of her persona differ. According to some historical sources, she accompanied St. John the Evangelist to the city of Ephesus, near modern Selcuk, Turkey, where she died and was buried. Other traditions describe her as evangelizing as far north as southern France, and Medieval legend recounts that she was John’s wife.   

Modern Interpretations

Mary Magdalene continues to be an object of fascination for both religious devotees and those in secular media. In Martin Scorsese’s film adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’s novel The Last Temptation of Christ, in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Jesus Christ Superstar and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of Christ, Mary is depicted as the repentant sinner. However, Dan Brown’s popular novel The Da Vinci Code portrays Mary in the manner she is represented in the Gnostic Gospels.

Mary's story was back in the spotlight during NBC's live adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar on Easter Sunday 2018, with Sara Bareilles inhabiting the role. Around that time, Mary Magdalene hit theaters, with Rooney Mara as a young version of the titular character who seeks to escape an arranged marriage, and Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus Christ.