Thomas Forsyth Torrance (1913-2007)

[bookslover]

The Scottish theologian, educator, and author T. F. Torrance passed away on Sunday, December 2, at the age of 94, probably of complications of a severe stroke he suffered several years ago. He died in Edinburgh. I think I've mentioned before that his great book, The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being, Three Persons (1996) is one of the finest books on that subject and one of the best theological books of the last century.

For a little more, see my blog entry on the first blog listed in my signature.

 

[DMcFadden]

I mourn the passing of any brother. However, the Torrance brothers had a number of theological quirks that keep me from being too enthusiastic about their theological output.

T.F. Torrance was the mentor of one of my college and (later) seminary profs (Ray Anderson). Torrance drew much from John MacLeod Campbell who had a universal atonement view that virtually eliminated any notions of penal satisfaction.

Torrance was the undisputed leader of the so-called New Reformation after WWII, a neo-orthodox version of Calvinism. Compared to the rest of the Edinburgh faculty, I suppose he looked like a fundamentalist. However, reading Calvin through Barthian glasses and rejecting inerrancy leaves you with a most interesting result. BTW, T.F.’s brother J.B. was one of the leading voices in ridding the Scottish church of the Westminster Confession.

Torrance is one dense author with a style that only a dialectician could love.

 

[bookslover]

Torrance is one dense author with a style that only a dialectician could love.

As I've noted, I'm aware of Torrance's neo-orthodoxy and make sure to look out for it in his writings. In the introduction to The Christian Doctrine of God, by the way, Torrance himself warns his readers upfront about his, in this book, deliberately 1-John-like writing style. He says he did it because he wanted to be sure his statements about the Trinity were as full and complete as possible, hence the style that seems to double back on itself at times.

Still, when read carefully, that book is one of the few theological books that can be read doxologically. It's really a great theological book about the Trinity, not merely a compiling of the biblical references to it.

In case you didn't know: his brother, JB, died in 2003 at 80. I imagine both boys have changed their minds about the Westminster documents by now...

 

[dannyhyde]

The Scottish theologian, educator, and author T. F. Torrance passed away on Sunday, December 2, at the age of 94, probably of complications of a severe stroke he suffered several years ago. He died in Edinburgh. I think I've mentioned before that his great book, The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being, Three Persons (1996) is one of the finest books on that subject and one of the best theological books of the last century.

For a little more, see my blog entry on the first blog listed in my signature.

I've not read that one. His book, The Trinitarian Faith: The Evangelical Theology of the Ancient Catholic Church, is the best thing I've ever read as basically a commentary on the Nicene Creed. There's nothing else like it and his Barthian sensibilities cannot keep him from praising the Triune God of grace!

 

[bookslover]

The Scottish theologian, educator, and author T. F. Torrance passed away on Sunday, December 2, at the age of 94, probably of complications of a severe stroke he suffered several years ago. He died in Edinburgh. I think I've mentioned before that his great book, The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being, Three Persons (1996) is one of the finest books on that subject and one of the best theological books of the last century.

For a little more, see my blog entry on the first blog listed in my signature.

I've not read that one. His book, The Trinitarian Faith: The Evangelical Theology of the Ancient Catholic Church, is the best thing I've ever read as basically a commentary on the Nicene Creed. There's nothing else like it and his Barthian sensibilities cannot keep him from praising the Triune God of grace!

Danny: I agree. His Barthianism notwithstanding, Torrance can't help glorifying God by how deeply, yet reverently, he gets into the subject of the Trinity. The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being, Three Persons (1996) is out in paperback, if you're interested.

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

The Scottish theologian, educator, and author T. F. Torrance passed away on Sunday, December 2, at the age of 94, probably of complications of a severe stroke he suffered several years ago. He died in Edinburgh. I think I've mentioned before that his great book, The Christian Doctrine of God: One Being, Three Persons (1996) is one of the finest books on that subject and one of the best theological books of the last century.

For a little more, see my blog entry on the first blog listed in my signature.

I thought he died long ago; shame to hear this.

 

[Dieter Schneider]

Here is the Times Obituary.
I studied under J B Torrance who was a Barthian (leaving aside the baptism question), obsessed with Macleod Campbell (to this day I fail to see why the latter was the greatest 19th cent. Scottish theologian).
J B (as he was affectionately known) never affirmed the doctrine of eternal punishment, but vigorously denied (I recall him protesting on numerous occasions) that he was a universalist. When pressed (I plead guilty to playing an active part), he got rattled.
I possess a letter which he obtained for me in response to a question he was unable to answer from his most learned brother which mercilessly attacks Prof. John Murray's article on the Nicene Creed. JB (and presumably his brother, too) did not believe that 5-point Calvinists believed in the God of the Bible. Thomas Boston, however, got a good hearing!!!
For all his mistaken beliefs, he was kind, most approachable and hospitable.
On T F Torrance, I heard it said by one of his post-graduate students, that there are only five people who understood him. It's not un-Barthian. A Lutheran pastor told me that God allowed Barth to live for so long to find out what he thinks about him!

 

[DMcFadden]

For all his mistaken beliefs, he was kind, most approachable and hospitable.
On T F Torrance, I heard it said by one of his post-graduate students, that there are only five people who understood him.

In my limited experience, some of TF's former students may not have understood him, but they learned quite well his knack for indecipherably dense prose! After taking four courses from one of TF's PhD protégés on the "inner logic of the incarnation" where transcendence is revealed in its imminence and imminence is the inner logic of transcendence, etc. I was almost ready to read Torrance.

 

[Dieter Schneider]

For all his mistaken beliefs, he was kind, most approachable and hospitable.
On T F Torrance, I heard it said by one of his post-graduate students, that there are only five people who understood him.

In my limited experience, some of TF's former students may not have understood him, but they learned quite well his knack for indecipherably dense prose! After taking four courses from one of TF's PhD protégés on the "inner logic of the incarnation" where transcendence is revealed in its imminence and imminence is the inner logic of transcendence, etc. I was almost ready to read Torrance.

Pity my simplicity! C H Spurgeon preferred 'an ounce of revelation to a mountain of speculation'.