From what I have always understood they are two totally different people. Elijah was a prophet and according to the bible was taken to heaven on a chariot of fire. Jesus however was the son of God. He ascended into heaven on his own. Perhaps when John said ascended he means just rising up like on a cloud whereas Elijah was taken away by a chariot. That is about the best guess I can give you honey.

If you believe in the inerency of the Bible; then, by logic, Elijah and Jesus must be one and the same. It does cause a bit of a problem, though, since the spirit of Elias (Elijah) is said to have rested on John the Baptist to herald the coming of the Messiah.

I think this refers to the spiritual nature (i.e., He comes in the spirit of Elijah) rather than actual bodily manifestations. We DO know that Moses and Elijah will stand and preach, literally, in Jerusalem in the non-to-distant future. They obviously will have to 'come back' in some form or fashion to accomplish this. Enoch also was taken up; the scriptures simply say he was 'no more'. It is a rare enough occurance to be so taken up. Elijah by way of the angel (NOT the chariot...that is what separated him from Elisha so that both would not be taken.), Enoch by 'walking with God, and Jesus by the 'transformation of His marvelous light'. Good question. I just don't think I did justice by the answer. (May try again later.)

Not according to Judaism.

From what I remember, Elijah went to Heaven in a chariot of fire, and he was still alive. Christ ascended into Heaven on a cloud after He had been killed and arose from the dead (this is after He had done all His visting and such). I don't pretend to be a Bible scholar, but I believe Elijah was the only one God called to Heaven while he was still alive. Elijah was a prophet of God, and Jesus was/is the son of God. I do not believe at all the two are the same person. But that is just my opinion from what I remember from reading about Elijah, but it's been years.

I wouldn't say so. God caused Elijah to ascend up to heaven in the chariot of fire, but he didn't ascend on his own power. Jesus, being God in the flesh, ascended in His own power. I hope that this helps. Thank you and God bless you!

They were different people and lived on earth at two different time periods. When it says "E·li´jah went ascending in the windstorm to the heavens", it doesn't mean he died. Elisha doesn't mourn his departure for one thing and simply takes on Elijah work. He may have just been transferred by God to a different assignment, we don't know.But a number of years after his ascension in the windstorm Elijah is still alive and active as a prophet, this time to the king of Judah. Because of the wicked course taken by King Jehoram of Judah, Elijah writes him a letter his condemnation, which is soon fulfilled.Look at 2 Chronicles 21:12-15

The actual, complex, contextual answer is that in verse 12 of John 3, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus who knows that Jesus has come from God--not in the sense of an ordinary man who's felt an inner calling, but that He has literally (think physically, if you want to) come FROM GOD and so can tell Nicodemus of heavenly things. No (ordinary) man, not even the prophet Elijah, ascended into heaven so as to come back down and tell Nicodemus the heavenly truth that he has so much trouble understanding. And John the Baptist wasn't Elijah reincarnated, any more than Elisha was the reincarnation of Elijah and his twin just because he asked for and got a "double portion of your spirit." The double portion, to any Jew, means the oldest brother's share of his father's property when the father dies, so that the oldest brother can take care of the widow and serve as the head of the family. Elisha asked for an oldest brother's portion of the Holy Spirit that animated Elijah, and he got it. John the Baptist was animated by the Holy Spirit in the same way, but in no way was Elijah reincarnated.

Duplicate question as http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/111164

No they are not. Notice that Jesus ascended (only he had the power to do so). Elijah was TAKEN up by God. Which required no such power on Elijah's part.

Elijah came to earth from heaven, sent by the God of Israel. He preached and lived among men as he lived among them before he was taken up to heaven. Some people believed in him. And like Elisha who received a double of his spirit when he was taken up to heaven, they also received a portion of Elijah's spirit when he was no longer in this world. They were the people that were called apostles. They preached about God and they also told the people about the message of Elijah. Though I do not know what is it, I know that it is important. Many people believed in them. Due to the miracles performed by the followers of Elijah, people from different nations believed in them. But the Roman empire was not happy about it. Since the power of the empire relies on the church and state power being merged, having the emperor as both priest and leader, the emperor was threatened by the growing influence of Judaism in there place since it threatens his position and weakens also the power of the state. So he persecuted the Jews, especially the apostles until only a remnant was left. The Roman authorities sent spies to the Jews, and also to those who are Romans who are now being converted into Judaism. They destroyed the group not only by the brute force of their government but also by the inner dissension inside Jewry brought by the spies. Judaism was destroyed because of this. Their writings were confiscated by Roman authorities and were edited in order to fit into their religion. The Roman authorities created a hybrid religion that combined the monotheistic Judaism and Polytheistic Sun God worship. That is precisely what we call Christianity today.

No. Elijah was taken up to heaven. Jesus ascended. The actions are a bit different. Also Elijah and Moses stand on either side of Jesus at the Transfiguration. See Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36. With love in Christ.