Abstract
This chapter proposes that the theology of the ascension has not been fully mined for its ecclesiological ramifications, compared to the incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Thus, this chapter explores John Calvin’s and Karl Barth’s distinctive, but related approaches to this doctrine as one focused on participation in Christ and communion. This chapter points to the “both/and”, “here but not yet” reality of the ascension in how the diaspora lives out faith with “two hearts and two homes.” A key feature of this section is connecting Gemma Tulud Cruz’s notion of pakikibaka (struggle) as bahala na (hopeful, hope-filled risk taking) and Joaquin Gonzalez’s discussion of how the diaspora in the San Francisco Bay Area participate in kasamahan (strengthening ties among the diaspora) and bayanihan (bridging with the US culture and with the Philippines).
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Notes
- 1.
The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Part I, Book of Confessions. Louisville, KY: Office of the General Assembly, 2016. §9.32, 9.33.
- 2.
The Apostles’ Creed in ibid., §2.2.
- 3.
Julie Canlis, Calvin’s Ladder: A Spiritual Theology of Ascent and Ascension. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010. pp. 48, 49.
- 4.
Adam Neder, Participation in Christ: An Entry into Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. Columbia Series in Reformed Theology. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009. p. 52.
- 5.
Ibid., 54.
- 6.
Ibid., 55.
- 7.
Ibid., 79.
- 8.
Ibid., 79.
- 9.
Ibid., 56. A comprehensive study of Barth’s theology of the ascension is Andrew Burgess, The Ascension in Karl Barth. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2004. Burgess said that for Barth, “The Holy Spirit as revealing agent is God at work in this time between Christ’s parousia in resurrection and His parousia in the eschaton – He is God present in the third mode of His being, the Spirit of the Father and the Son. But the work of the Spirit in this time is entirely predicated upon and an outworking of the accomplished and continuing history of Jesus Christ.” Burgess then summed up the matter: “The ascended Lord is the active and present Saviour in the action and presence of His Spirit . As ascended Lord He holds our future in the absolute reality of His being with the Father – even as this age allows the continuation of sin and evil, so that the whole creation may rejoice in its final redemption.” Op. cit., 50–51.
- 10.
Ibid., 71.
- 11.
Ibid., 72.
- 12.
Canlis, Calvin’s Ladder, 251.
- 13.
Cruz, An Intercultural Theology of Migration, 266.
- 14.
Gonzalez, Filipino American Faith in Action, 80.
- 15.
The Church: Towards a Common Vision. Faith and Order Paper No. 214. Geneva: WCC Publications, 2013. para 35.
- 16.
Ibid., para. 64.
- 17.
The Church: Towards a Common Vision, paragraph 67 (p. 39).
- 18.
Idem.
- 19.
The Church, paragraph 3, p. 6.
- 20.
Idem, paragraph 7, p. 7.
- 21.
Idem, paragraph 11, p. 9; para 14, p. 10;
- 22.
Idem., paragraph 24, p. 14.
- 23.
Idem., paragraph 27, p. 16.
- 24.
Idem., paragraphs 31–32, pp. 17–19.
- 25.
Idem., paragraphs 33–57, pp. 21–32.
- 26.
Idem., paragraph 39, p. 23.
- 27.
Idem., paragraphs 58–66, pp. 33–37.
- 28.
Idem., p. 35.
- 29.
Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes. Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. Geneva: WCC Publications, 2013.
- 30.
Ibid., para. 11.
- 31.
Ibid., para. 18.
- 32.
Ibid., para. 45.
- 33.
The Nature and Mission of the Church: A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement. Faith and Order Paper No. 198. Geneva: WCC Publications, 2005.
- 34.
The presentation of H.E. Metropolitan Geevarghese Coorilos on October 13, 2009 can be accessed at: https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/commissions/faith-and-order/x-other-documents-from-conferences-and-meetings/plenary-commission-meeting-crete-2009/the-nature-and-mission-of-the-church-presentation-by-metropolitan-geevarghese-coorilos
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Presa, N.D. (2018). Ascension Theology and Habakkuk. In: Ascension Theology and Habakkuk. Asian Christianity in the Diaspora. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76342-2_2
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