How many have ascended into heaven?

Answer 1

Not everyone who dies just ascends into heaven. The Bible describes very few of these. 2 Kings 2:11 describes an awesome scene where Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind. Jesus, son of God ascended into Heaven, after being dead for 3 days. He came back to life, appeared to many witnesses, and later ascended into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Genesis 5:24 tells of a man named Enoch, who walked with God for 300 years, and then God simply took him. He was no more after that. Call that ascension if you will. With these examples, we are talking about people who were alive, and then made their way to Heaven.

A Biblical Perspective:

There are many religions and religious beliefs that don't stem from the Bible. And most of these, also, foster their own beliefs in "ascending into some sort of heaven or other" [assuming the question is asking about "people" going to this sort of place]. Some speak of a Valhalla... some of a Nirvana. There are all kinds of religious variations of belief in ascension into some sort of heaven.

This answer will limit itself with the biblical perspective of the question.

The Bible speaks of "three heavens" [II Corinthians 12:2] -- the "third one" being, according to Paul, where God's throne is; whether it's a literal "place" or "dimension" or whatever else it may prove to be beyond the comprehension of the finite human mind.

The key to understanding this third heaven, right off, is in believing what man's Creator, Jesus Christ [John 1:3], says about it -- which most folks don't seem to, by the way.

"...NO MAN HATH ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN, but He [Jesus Himself] THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, even the Son of Man which is in heaven." (John 3:13)

According to Jesus Christ, whose Words the Bible is: the Words His Father gave Him to speak, which were written down and recorded for us, today [see Acts 7:38] -- He is the ONLY MAN who has ascended into the "third heaven" of His Father's throne. Because He CAME FROM THERE!

As stated before, few people truly "believe what Jesus says"... even those who "believe on Him!" [see John 8:30-31]. Jesus even confronted these "believers-on-Him" who, yet, somehow, couldn't bring themselves to believe what He said:

"...ye seek to kill Me, BECAUSE MY WORD HATH NO PLACE IN YOU." (John 8:37)

"I speak that which I have seen with My Father... But now you seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the Truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham." (verses 38-40)

"Why do ye not understand My speech? Even BECAUSE YE CANNOT HEAR MY WORD... And because I tell you the Truth, ye BELIEVE ME NOT." (verses 43-45)

And so it is that few people believe what Jesus says regarding those who have ascended into the "third heaven" of His Father's throne. Which He reveals to be NO ONE!

And He further reveals to us: "Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me: and where I AM, thither YE CANNOT COME." (John 7:34)

That's the biblical perspective on any kind of ascension into the "third heaven." Believe it or not.

The "first two heavens," however, are a different story.

The first heaven is the breathable air of the earth's atmosphere where clouds form and birds fly. Elijah was carried away into this heaven by a "chariot and horses of fire" [some sort of "vehicle" or conveyance: the Literal Bible with Strong's Definitions].

The only thing a "believer" can know for sure, as asserted by Jesus Christ over a thousand years later, is that Elijah didn't ascend into the "third heaven."

The same goes for Enoch, according to Jesus. Plus the biblical fact that in none of the biblical accounts regarding Enoch is "any of the three heavens" mentioned at all. Most likely, like the disappearance of Moses, God "took Enoch, also" TO BURY HIM; because the Bible tells us:

"THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH, not having received the Promises..." (Heb.11:13).

In other words... all the Faithful of God [of whom Enoch and Elijah were two] are dead in the grave waiting for Jesus' return and their turn in the First Resurrection of God's Faithful from the dead!

"...This is the First Resurrection. Blessed and Holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection: on such the Second Death hath no power, but they shall be Priests of God [the Father] and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." (Rev.20:5-6)

"...even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But EVERY MAN IN HIS OWN ORDER: Christ the Firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's AT HIS COMING." (I Cor.15:23)

But then... Elijah isn't the only person [biblical or otherwise] to have ascended into the "first heaven." This world is crisscrossed with airports and airfields today, from which over the past couple centuries or so, millions of people have ascended into the first heaven. Only to come back down somewhere else on the earth; beit successfully or unsuccessfully.

The "second heaven" is "outer space" beyond the earth's breathable atmosphere where the planets, stars and galaxies reside. While this isn't a place where man absolutely "cannot come"... it is an inhospitable heaven that requires meticulous and precise equipment and preparation to ascend there... and to reside there for any prolonged period of time. In any event, the "second heaven" is a most temporary place for man to ascend.

Needless to say... relatively speaking, a mere "handful" of people have ascended into the "second heaven."

So, to answer the question from the biblical perspective... the numbers of [people?] who have ascended into heaven are:

The First Heaven: millions.

The Second Heaven: hundreds (?)

The Third Heaven: ONE!

Answer 2

To ascend means to rise using one's own power. Only Jesus Christ has ascended into Heaven.

Answer 3

Acts 8:38 AND 39 Then Phillip and the Eunuch went down into the water and Phillip baptised him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Phillip away, and the Eunuch did not see him again, but went on rejoicing.