ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book argues that Karl Barth's theology of Jesus' ascension and heavenly session has particular significance within his project as a whole. A dynamic of the presence and absence of the ascended Lord is worked out in Barth's doctrine of the Spirit, and subsequently in both his ecclesiology, with the related doctrine of Holy Scripture, and in his description of the Christian life. The book offers a critique of Barth that Douglas Farrow takes up and attempts to apply more rigorously. Torrance himself believes that Barth fails to give adequate space and attention to Jesus' ascended humanity, and therefore to Jesus' ascended work as high priest. Farrow's dual emphasis on ascension and eucharist unbalances his theology. Barth's incorporation of Jesus' ascended state into his theology is highly successful, and it bears fruit in making sense of the present age as the 'time between'.
