A Trinitarian Theologian

After reading sven’s articles on theologians I was inspired to write this one on one of my favourite theologians, T. F. Torrance. Born in China to Missionary perants he was Later to become the Moderator of the Kirk of Scotland.


Torrance is the most important English speaking theologian of the 20th century and I am sure will continue to be for this century. He studied theology under H. R. Mackintosh in Edinburgh moving to Basel for his doctorate under Karl Barth. His connection to Barth is certainly influential, but he is certainly not a mere repetition of Barth.

For Torrance the major problem of western theology was the notion of Dualism. That the reality that we experience is only a shadow of the reality (Plato) or the we impress that reality on our experience (Kant). For Torrance this has led the weakness that there is an unknown God behind the incarnation. For instance in Federal Calvinism, God’s revelation of his will to save all by Christ is in fact not God’s ultimate will, rather a hidden will stands behind this 'Christ revealed' Will.

This dualism is also evident in Augustine’s theology of the Trinity and those who follow him. For Augustine and his later follows the Persons of the Blessed Trinity are not ultimately who God is. The Divine being is who God is in of himself. Again this is to deny that in the incarnation God has revealed who his is in himself.


For Torrance God has revealed his very self in the incarnation. Not that incarnation has exhausted who God is. But that in the incarnation we are truly meeting God, there is not hidden diety behind Jesus. ‘For in Christ all the fullness of the Diety lives in bodily form’. In this method Torrance is consciously following the Great church Father Athenasius. In the incarnation Christ reveals to us who God really is, there is ultimately no split between the economic trinity and the imminent Trinity.

For Torrance the act of incarnation is ultimately salvific, as the Word, which in greek also means rationality, restored reason to man. This was by assuming our fallen humanity and sanctifying it. Christ heals us not from without but from within.

In Jesus God himself descended to the very bottom of our human existence where we are alienated and antagonistic, into the very hell of our godlessness and despair, laying fast hold of us and taking our cursed condition upon himself, in order to embrace us for ever in his reconciling love.

The Mediation of Christ, T. F. Torrance (T T Clark: 1992)pg 43


This expresses for Torrance another major theme, that of the Vicarious Humanity of Christ. For Torrance Christ makes the perfect human response to God. Thus a Christians actions and responses are not on their own but rather a participation in the action of Christ. So as Torrance puts it all of Grace does not mean nothing of man, but rather in Christ it means all of Man.

These are just my Sketch of Torrance’s thought for a better understaning of this great theologian try reading his book:

The mediation of Christ.