Thomas Torrance
Thomas Forsyth Torrance (born 30 August
1913) is a 20th century
Protestant Christian theologian who served for 27 years as Professor of Christian Dogmatics at
New College, Edinburgh in the
University of Edinburgh, during which time he was a leader in Protestant Christian theology. While he wrote many books and articles advancing his own study of theology, he also translated several hundred theological writings into English from other languages, including the thirteen-volume, six-million-word
Church Dogmatics (germ. "Die Kirchliche Dogmatik") of celebrated Swiss theologian
Karl Barth. Torrance's work has been influential in the
paleo-orthodox movement, and he is widely considered to be one of the most important
Reformed theologians of his era.
Torrance was born to
Scottish missionary parents while they were serving in
Chengtu,
Szechuan,
China.He first studied Classics at the
University of Edinburgh and
University of Oxford before receiving an academic scholarship that brought him to the
University of Basel in
Basel, Switzerland. There, Torrance studied under theologian
Karl Barth and the experience made him a life-long Barthian.
Torrance initially served as a professor at Auburn Theological Seminary in
New York City,
USA, but resigned the post two years later with the outbreak of
World War II. He served as a chaplain during the war, and then after the war moved to Scotland and served as a
Church of Scotland parish minister for a decade. Torrance was then offered a professorship at
New College, Edinburgh in the
University of Edinburgh to teach church history. Because of his thorough understanding of theology he was later installed as Professor of Christian Dogmatics, a position that he held from 1952 to 1979.
He was elected
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1976 (his son
Iain held the same post in 2003).
In 1978, he won the
Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion for his contributions to theology and the relationship between it and science.
He is influential in work on theological method, and the relationship between theology and science. Opposed to dualistic thought, he argues that modern science is similar to theology in that it is developed in terms of relation and integration: each has its distinctive method, and each is fully rational.
*
The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996.
*
Christian Theology and Scientific Culture. Belfast: Christian Journals, 1980.
*
The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers, Thesis for Basel University. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1948
*
Divine Meaning. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1995.
*
God and Rationality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
*
The Ground and Grammar of Theology. Charlottesville, VA: The University Press of Virginia, 1981.
*
The Hermeneutics of John Calvin. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1988.
* "Justification: Its Radical Nature and Place in Reformed Doctrine and Life," SJT 13 (1960) 240.
*
Karl Barth: an Introduction to his Early Theology, 1910-1931. New York: Harper, 1962.
* "Karl Barth and Patristic Theology," in Theology Beyond Christendom: Essays on the Centenary of the Birth of Karl Barth May 10, 1986. ed. John Thompson. Allison Park, PA: Pickwich, 1986, 215-39.
* "My Interactions with Karl Barth," How Karl Barth Changed My Mind, ed. Donald McKim. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986.
*
Reality and Evangelical Theology. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1982.
*
Reality and Scientific Theology. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1986.
* "The Relation of the Incarnation to Space in Nicene Theology," The Ecumenical World of Orthodox Civilization: Russia and Orthodoxy. V. 3. (Essays in Honor of Georges Florovsky) ed. Andrew Blane. Paris: Mouton, 1974.
*
The Royal Priesthood. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1955/1993.
*
Space, Time and Incarnation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969.
*
Space, Time and Resurrection. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976.
*
The Trinitarian Faith: The Evangelical Theology of the Ancient Catholic Church. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1988.
* Ed. Theological Dilaogue Between Orthodox and Reformed Churches, 2 Vols. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1985-1993.
*
Theological Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969.
*
Theology and Reconciliation: Essays Towards Evangelical and Catholic Unity in East and West. London: Chapman, 1975.
*
Theology in Reconstruction. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965.
* "Theological Realism." The Philosophical Frontiers of Christian Theology: Essays Presented to D. M. MacKinnon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982, 169-96.
* "Toward Ecumenical Consensus on the Trinity," Theologische Zeitschrift 31 (1975) 337-50.
*
Transformation & Convergence in the Frame of Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984.
*
Trinitarian Perspectives: Toward Doctrinal Agreement. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1994.
* "The Uniqueness of Divine Revelation and the Authority of the Scriptures: The Creed Associations's Statement."
Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 13 (Aut. 1995): 97-101.
*
The Boston Collaborative Encyclopedia of Modern Western Theology*
Victor Shepherd's Website*
Church of Scotland*
New College, Edinburgh*
University of Edinburgh
