T F Torrance As Missional Theologian

Christ has ascended. Yet his work continues. Much has been made of a "missional" view of the church in recent theological literature, but largely overlooked in this discussion has been the contribution that T. F. Torrance, the late Church of Scotland minister and theologian, can make to this discussion. Addressing this lacuna, theologian and pastor Joseph Sherrard considers how Torrance's theology can inform the church's understanding of its ministry and mission—in particular, his appeal to the church's participation in the ascended Christ's threefold office as king, prophet, and priest. Through the ministry of the church, Christ is still at work. Featuring new monographs with cutting-edge research, New Explorations in Theology provides a platform for constructive, creative work in the areas of systematic, historical, philosophical, biblical, and practical theology.

Thomas F. Torrance is considered by many to be the most outstanding living Reformed theologian in the Anglo-Saxon world. In The Promise of Trinitarian Theology, Elmer M. Colyer presents a collection of essays critiquing Torrance's work. It explores his place in Reformed theology and his relation to the Greek fathers. Both everyday life and scientific understanding are discussed in the essays within. The Promise of Trinitarian Theology is a hopeful step engaging the works of T. F. Torrance and the theology behind his words.

This book provides a constructive analysis of Thomas F. Torrance’s ecclesiology. Holding the doctrine of the Trinity to be the “ground and grammar of theology,” Torrance viewed the doctrine of the Trinity as foundational for all ecclesiological reflection: What does it mean to be the people of the God whom Christians name as Father, Son, and Spirit? Tyler examines Torrance’s development of the rich potential of the metaphor koinonia, involving both a vertical dimension––the Church’s union with Christ through the Spirit––and a horizontal dimension––its visible existence in human history, lived out in space and time, and considers how the relationship between these two dimensions informs the structured forms of the Church’s life, its ecumenical breadth, and its missional vision.

Missiologists and theologians do not often talk to each other, which has resulted in increased ignorance of each other’s questions and concerns about how to do theology in ways that effectively serve the Church’s mission. Under the auspices of the Tyndale Fellowship Christian Doctrine study group, a colloquium of distinguished scholars and practitioners recently gathered at the University of Cambridge. This volume, arising out of that symposium, begins conversations that have been waiting to happen. Each participant brings a particular perspective to questions about the nature of theology and how it is most meaningfully constructed so as to offer a truly interdisciplinary perspective on theology and mission. It highlights perspectives of contextual theology and systematic theology, as well as missiology and mission studies, world Christianity and historical inquiry, biblical studies and missional hermeneutics, ethnography, pastoral practice, and social justice. It also pays keen attention to matters on the ground with a profound desire to relate questions of evangelical identity – including ministry practice and mission – to the wider tradition. In short this volume sets out to model the kind of engagement required by both Church and Academy to do theology for mission.

Thomas F. Torrance invites evangelicals to think more Christianly Thomas F. Torrance and Evangelical Theology: A Critical Analysis brings Torrance into closer conversation with evangelical theology on a range of key theological topics. Thomas F. Torrance and the Evangelical Tradition (Thomas A. Noble) Torrance, The Tacit Dimension, and The Church Fathers (Jonathan Warren P. (Pagán)) Torrance and the Doctrine of Scripture (Andrew T. B. McGowan) Revelation, Rationalism, and an Evangelical Impasse (Myk Habets) Theology and Science in Torrance (W. Ross Hastings) A Complexly Relational Account of the Imago Dei in Torrance's Vision of Humanity (Marc Cortez) Barth, Torrance, and Evangelicals: Critiquing and Reinvigorating the Idea of a "Personal Relationship with Jesus" (Marty Folsom) Torrance and Atonement (Christopher Woznicki) Torrance and Christ's Assumption of Fallen Human Nature: Toward Clarification and Closure (Jerome Van Kuiken) Torrance, Theosis, and Evangelical Reception (Myk Habets) Thinking and Acting in Christ: Torrance on Spiritual Formation (Geordie W. Ziegler) 'Seeking Love, Justice and Freedom for All': Using the Work of T.F. and J.B. Torrance to Address Domestic and Family Violence (Jenny Richards) Toward a Trinitarian Theology of Work (Peter K. W. McGhee) Torrance and Global Evangelicalism: Some Potential Generative Exchanges with Contemporary Indian Evangelical Theology (Stavan Narendra John) Thomas Forsyth Torrance (1913–2007) was one of the most important theologians of the twentieth century, yet his work remains relatively neglected by evangelicals. A diverse collection of contributors engage Torrance's pioneering and provocative thought, deriving insights from theological loci such as Scripture, Christology, and atonement, as well as from broader topics like domestic violence and science. These stimulating essays reveal how Torrance can help evangelical theologians articulate richer and deeper theology.

How might a church infused with missional theology change the way it approaches Christian practices? Interacting both with the missional theology of George Hunsberger and Darrell Guder and with the theology of Christian practices laid out by Craig Dykstra and Dorothy Bass, Benjamin T. Conner argues that allowing these two disciplines to inform one another can enhance the nature of the church s witness, its congregational discipleship, and its theological education. Framing his work with real-world narratives and applications inspired by his work as a minister to adolescents with special needs, Conner shows how a practical missional mindset can redefine and reinvigorate the spirit and purpose of a congregation.

"As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21). With the reality of broad-scale secularization in the West and the attendant cloud of insignificance hanging over the church, is there any hope for the re-evangelization of the West? In this comprehensive theology of mission, Ross Hastings directs the fretful gaze of the church to the trinitarian commission of John 20. There we find Jesus granting peace to his disciples by breathing his Spirit on them. He formed them into his community of shalom. Leaving their locked room, these "sent ones" went out to participate in God's own ongoing mission to the world. Hastings also tackles the dual challenges of isolation from and accommodation to the surrounding culture. Building on the works of David Bosch, Lesslie Newbigin, Christopher Wright and Darrell Guder, the author corrects numerous dichotomies that hinder the church. In the power of the Spirit the gathered church is spiritually transformed and also scattered as it proclaims God's forgiveness and freedom. This comprehensive theology of mission opens possibilities for renewal of faithful effort as we join in Christ's mission to the world.

For more than six decades, the brothers Torrance--Thomas, James and David--have had a tremendous influence on the theological world. They and particularly TF Torrance, have a devoted following world-wide and particularly in the US. Their high view of the fully human, fully divine Jesus is built upon the foundation of the Patristic writers, and the great Reformers from Calvin to Barth. Working in both pastoral and academic settings, the Torrances have stressed the profound implications of Christology for the mission of their Church and the daily life of Christians. Today, a generation of their students around the world find themselves in positions of pastoral and theological leadership. The focus of this book is the person of Christ (christology), a subject central to the Torrance theological vision and one which has had great influence on the presbyterian church. The contributors explore the contemporary relevance of Torrance Christology in such areas as the nature of Christ, the atonement, the ministry of the Church, epistemology and inclusion in Christ. The result is a book that offers both a fresh introduction to the Torrance tradition even as it advances the Torrance thought along fresh avenues of theological exploration