Ascension Theology places the doctrine of the ascension in the context of the biblical narrative of descent and ascent, in order to shed light on 'the upward call of God in Christ Jesus' and on the eucharistic community that hears and answers that call. It is a book for the Church as well as the academy.
Ascension Theology also offers a contemporary account of the Eucharist itself. It addresses the relation of the heavenly session of Christ to the conflicting currents of the present age, and the transformation to the life of the world to come. Specialist and non-specialist alike will find much to ponder in its traditional yet controversial claims.
In Ascension Theology, Douglas Farrow tackles the fundamental question of political theology: How does the risen and ascended Christ exercise his life- giving lordship? Farrow's answer, developed out of a rich biblical and patristic background, provides strikingly fresh and accessible insights into ecclesiology, sacramental theology, Mariology, and the ongoing Christian engagement with modern culture. The theological passion is infectious. R. R. Reno, Professor of Theology, Creighton University and Senior Editor, First Things.
Douglas Farrow is surely right to say that much modern theology has shunned the topic of the Ascension as a mythological embarrassment, failing to realize the theological riches it offers when put in the context of the Judaeo- Christian Scriptures as a whole. The Trinity, the Eucharist, politics, cosmic order, all look different from the vantage point he takes up in this beautifully written book. Farrow's exploration of the pattern of biblical revelation and the further implications thereof is consciously indebted to Irenaeus, the great antagonist of ancient Gnosis, and seeks to continue his work today. It belongs with what I have called the Neo- Irenaean revival in contemporary non- liberal Catholicism - a challenge to the reductionism, subjectivism, mentalism, all too apparent in the psychologically or sociologically angled church preaching of recent decades. Expressed with a clarity that comes from years of careful thinking through the issues involved, Ascension Theology is an absolutely fi rst- rate addition to the body of Catholic systematics. Aidan Nichols, O.P., Blackfriars, Cambridge, UK
