P. Derek Overfield PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

In the discussion that follows we shall
refer from time to time to this scheme of categorisation
as we discuss both Christian writings and those having
their source outside the mainstream development of the
Christian Church.
We shall proceed chronologically,
though of course in both classes of writings and
particularly in the latter, this can only be app~oximate.
It should be stressed though that we are in no way
attempting to establish a chronological development of
the doctrine of the ascension, nor of the traditions
inherent in the doctrine~
it may well be that a
position related in a comparatively late document of
this period
is· - more primi ti ve in terms of the
tradition or source used than that reflected in an
earlier writing.
With this in mind we can now turn
our attention to the earliest writings available to
us, those of the NT itself.
2. THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS: THEIR VIEW
OF ASCENSION
Apart from Luke-Acts and the 'long'
ending of Mark's Gospel, the NT knows nothing of an
ascension that is either 'historical' or capable of
being described in physical terms;
all the texts where
there is some form of ascension theology fall into the
second of the categories that we listed above, that is
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