Today is Ascension Thursday.

[okasha]

100. You are correct, of course,

that Muslims do not believe in either the divinity of Jesus, nor in his death and resurrection. They do, however, believe in his ascension to heaven. Along with many Jews and Christians, they also believe that Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot, and many Muslims and Catholic Christians believe that Jesus's mother Maryam was also raised bodily into Paradise without experiencing death. The belief in ascension, therefore, is entirely separable from belief in the ascended's divinity or resurrection.

You argue that the ascension is theologically necessary to the narrative of Jesus' s life and death. If you read Paul and the gospels, however, you will find that it is the resurrection and the post-resurrection appearences to his disciples that carry the weight of soteriology. I don't mean to be flippant, but the chief function of the ascension is narrative, not theological. The evangelist needed some way to get his Saviour off-stage after his appearances to the disciples, preferably something.dramatic and symbolically linked to the OT prophetic literature. Hence the ascension, prefigured by Elijah's fiery chariot. (See Father Bruce Chilton's Rabbi Jesus for a discussion of Jesus and chariot mysticism.)

I'm not sure why you seem to think that belief in Christianity precludes acceptance of the inarguable fact that non-Christians can and do have mystical experiences. I think you will find, if you do a bit of research, that liberal Christians in general consider other spiritual paths entirely valid. For an example, I offer an Episcopal priest I know whose spiritual advisor is Hindu.