Thomas F. Torrance’s Theology of the Ascension

The ascension is a crucial doctrine, integrally related to the incarnation. When it is underemphasized, it results in an impoverishment of our theology of Christ, the church, human beings, and eschatology. T. F. Torrance's theology offers a compelling vision and holistic doctrine of the ascension that, notwithstanding its flaws, deserves a careful and detailed examination. Torrance develops a holistic account of the ascension by considering the ontology, spatiality, and present ministry of the ascended Jesus. What results is a theological construction that affirms the ascended body of Christ and understands the Lord to be currently serving as our human representative in a ministry of priestly intercession, prophetic declaration, and ascended kingship. Torrance is able to do this without succumbing to literalism (space travel), demythologization (metaphorical reading), or Pelagianism (human effort-based sanctification and glorification). This book interprets and then develops Torrance's theology of the ascension in critical dialogue with contemporary theological interlocutors.