HuffPost: Science and the Ups and Downs of Christ’s Ascension
Garafolo Ascension of Christ 1510-20
My newest post (“Science and the Ups and Downs of Christ’s Ascension”) is up at The Huffington Post. Today is the Feast of Ascension for Christian churches that observe the liturgical calendar. As an historian, I’m interested in the intersection of ideas with their historical contexts, and the ascension of Christ (and consequently the return of Christ) is a theological concept intimately tied to an ancient worldview.
In the ancient world, heaven was considered above the earth. In our world today, we call that space. How does this change in cosmology affect these very central Christian beliefs? Read and find out.
May 17 is known as Ascension Thursday (the 40th day of Easter). It is the day many Christians observe Christ’s ascension into heaven, though some will do it on the following Sunday. The day means many things to Christians, including the idea that Christ will also one day descend from heaven in his return.
What intrigues me about the ascension of Christ is not only what it tells me about the ancient world and its “scientific” knowledge of the universe, but also what it tells me about many Christians today.
Read the whole article at The Huffington Post.
