Synthesis and prospect

Summary

Synthesis

Chapter 1 has outlined the three contentions underpinning this study which, taken together, locate the horizons for this study between Jesus' ascension, a narrative appreciation of Acts, and the inherent production of space within a narrative. Chapter 2 has set the study's direction, namely to occupy the central ground among these three poles. This tri-polar analytical framework demonstrates the limitations of previous ascension scholarship, namely its insufficient connection of these three poles. First, as Chapter 1 confirmed, existing ascension scholarship lacks a narrative dimension, Parsons – the sole exception to this pattern – having made only limited steps towards a corrective reading. Also, analyses of the relationship between the ascension and space have tended to arise from systematic perspectives, thus downplaying Acts' specific narrative ordering. Chapter 1 also illustrated how biblical studies has struggled with the problematic rendering of post-ascension Christological presence and absence, judging that its analyses often polarise into untheorised dualisms.

Chapter 2 reflected at length on the production of space within a biblical narrative such as Acts. This was necessary preparation for a spatialised reading, given the prevalence of limited and reductionist understandings of geography within biblical studies. Chapter 2 also proposed reading the Acts narrative for its space using thirdspace, an approach which takes seriously the role of space in constituting narrative meaning while recognising the dynamism and diversity within narrative ‘spatiality’.