Conflict and Agreement in the Church, Volume 1

Conflict and Agreement in the Church, Volume 1
Author: T.F. Torrance
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2023-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0227179692

T.F. Torrance’s Conflict and Agreement in the Church gathers together his most influential essays and articles on topics relating to ecumenism. Himself involved heavily in the ecumenical movement, he wrote that ‘ours must be the task of learning together again how to confess, like the early Church, faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and God in all its breadth and length and height and depth, and therefore in the overflowing love of God.’ Out of this conviction grew a comprehensive doctrine of the Church ‘in which our differences are lost sight of because they are destroyed from behind by a masterful faith in the Saviour of men.’ In this first volume, Torrance presents a set of essays engaging theologically with different denominations, along with responses to particular problems facing the ecumenical project. In particular, writing after the third world conference on faith and order, he addresses the hopes and barriers it raised to closer ecumenical relations. Throughout, Torrance’s acute awareness of contrasting theological principles establishes a firm basis for further progress, without obscuring the doctrinal and ecclesiological differences that remain.

Conflict and Agreement in the Church. Volume I

Conflict and Agreement in the Church. Volume I
Author: Jean Rilliet
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2023-11-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0227179706

T.F. Torrance's Conflict and Agreement in the Church gathers together his most influential essays and articles on topics relating to ecumenism. Himself involved heavily in the ecumenical movement, he wrote that 'ours must be the task of learning together again how to confess, like the early Church, faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and God in all its breadth and length and height and depth, and therefore in the overflowing love of God.' Out of this conviction grew a comprehensive doctrine of the Church 'in which our differences are lost sight of because they are destroyed from behind by a masterful faith in the Saviour of men.' In the first volume, Torrance presents a set of essays engaging theologically with different denominations, along with responses to particular problems facing the ecumenical project. In particular, writing after the third world conference on faith and order, he addresses the hopes and barriers it raised to closer ecumenical relations. Throughout, Torrance's acute awareness of contrasting theological principles establishes a firm basis for further progress, without obscuring the doctrinal and ecclesiological differences that remain. In the second volume, Torrance's thought on inter-denominational cooperation in light of the Church's mission is presented. He begins by suggesting that 'the lines of conflict and agreement in the Church coincide less and less with the frontiers of the historic communions'. This opens the door for greater union between those communion, but also exposes significant challenges to unity within them. Addressing the major debates on the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist, along with the priesthood and biblical exegesis, Torrance proposes a constructive way forward sealed by 'reconciliation in the Body and Blood of Christ'.

Thomas F. Torrance and the Orthodox-Reformed Theological Dialogue

Thomas F. Torrance and the Orthodox-Reformed Theological Dialogue
Author: Jason R. Radcliff
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2018-10-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498226302

In this volume, Jason Radcliff offers an introduction, critical appreciation, and constructive extension of the Orthodox-Reformed Theological Dialogue spearheaded by Thomas F. Torrance in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Focusing upon the Greek Patristic foundations of the Dialogue, as seen particularly in the “shared rapport” between Torrance and Archbishop Methodios Fouyas as well as the monumental theological outcome of the Dialogue, “The Agreed Statement on the Holy Trinity,” a document that claims to cut behind the issue of the filioque, this book also highlights some of the notable conversations that went on “behind the scenes” of the Dialogue as seen in the photos, the unpublished Official Minutes, and correspondence between Torrance and other major figures, namely George Dragas, Methodios Fouyas, and The Patriarch of Constantinople himself, about such topics such as the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity, Barthian Christocentrism, and John Zizioulas’ existentialism. The book includes selections from unpublished minutes and photographs as well as out-of-print documents—such as Torrance’s “Memoranda on Orthodox/Reformed Relations” and “Common Reflection” as well as “The Agreed Statement on the Holy Trinity.” Radcliff argues that the Dialogue’s ecumenical use and creative interpretation of the Trinitarian and Christocentric theology of the Greek Fathers is profoundly relevant for contemporary Trinitarian theology.

T. F. Torrance and Eastern Orthodoxy

T. F. Torrance and Eastern Orthodoxy
Author: Matthew Baker
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2015-11-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498208134

A properly ecumenical theology, T. F. Torrance believed, points the church to Christ as the only source and reality of its own unity. Its only hope for unity must be discovered in him and unveiled to the church, rather than pieced together and manufactured through ecumenical slogans and well-meaning intentions. Acting on this belief, Torrance initiated an international dialogue of Reformed and Orthodox Churches, which culminated when the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Orthodox Church issued a groundbreaking joint statement of agreement concerning the Trinity in 1991, a move beyond the filioque controversy that has divided East and West for a millennium. The current volume on T. F. Torrance and Eastern Orthodoxy continues the theological and ecclesial work of the reintegration of Western and Eastern traditions on a classical patristic foundation.

Evangelical Calvinism

Evangelical Calvinism
Author: Myk Habets
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 439
Release: 2017-05-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498209076

Continuing the discussion initiated in volume one, volume two of Evangelical Calvinism further articulates the central motifs of this mood within Reformed theology by examining themes having to do with dogmatics and devotion. After further clarifying the methodological and dogmatic aspects common to an Evangelical Calvinism, the heart of the present volume is an explication of the vicarious ministry of Christ as it is worked out in its diverse theological dimensions. The volume offers constructive accounts of various aspects of liturgy, sacraments, and doxology, showing the vitality and lived spirituality of this Christian vision of faith and practice. Both advocates and critics of Evangelical Calvinism now have an extended and thorough body of work with which to interact. As with volume 1, this volume promises to set the agenda for contemporary and constructive Reformed studies in a way that provides an alternative to neo-Calvinism and Westminster Calvinism alike.

Thomas F. Torrance and the Church Fathers

Thomas F. Torrance and the Church Fathers
Author: Jason Robert Radcliff
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2015-04-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0227904680

In this volume, Jason Radcliff examines T. F. Torrance's reading of the church fathers. Radcliff explores how Torrance reconstructs the patristic tradition, producing a Reformed, evangelical, and ecumenical version of the Consensus Patrum (Consensus of the Fathers). This book investigates how Torrance uniquely understands the Fathers and the Reformers to be mutually informing and how, as such, his approach involves significant changes to both standard readings of the Fathers and Torrance's own Reformed evangelical tradition. Torrance's approach is distinctive in its Christocentric rootedness in the primary theme of the Nicene homoousion (of one essence [with the Father]) and its champion Athanasius of Alexandria. The book explores Torrance's inherently broad ecclesiology and constructive achievements, both of which contribute to his ongoing ecumenical relevance.

Theology in Transposition

Theology in Transposition
Author: Myk Habets
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2013-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1451465297

T. F. Torrance was one of the most significant English-language theologians of the 20th century known extensively for his curatorship of the English translation of Barth's Church Dogmatics but also for his own prodigious theological scholarship. The complexity and astonishing breadth of Torrance's output, however, have made assessment and appropriation markedly difficult. This volume seeks to rectify that lack of assessment through careful exposition of the vital centers and interconnections within Torrance's theology alongside constructive appraisal and critique of his contributions to contemporary theology.

Resurrection, Apocalypse, and the Kingdom of Christ

Resurrection, Apocalypse, and the Kingdom of Christ
Author: Stanley S. MacLean
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2012-04-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1621890015

In recent decades few Christian themes have attracted as much attention as that of eschatology, or Christian hope. Resurrection, Apocalypse, and the Kingdom of Christ explores the meaning of this theme for Thomas F. Torrance, one of the twentieth-century's leading theologians. This study, the first of its kind, brings Torrance's eschatology to light through an exploration of the whole range of his corpus, including sermons, lectures, and correspondence. It also demonstrates that his eschatology is molded by momentous historical events such as World War II, the spread of communism, and the ecumenical movement. Out of all this, we realize that eschatology is a central component of Torrance's theology--so much so that it conditions his thinking on other Christian doctrines.

Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance

Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance
Author: Myk Habets
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2016-02-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1317010833

Torrance's vision of Theosis (deification/divinisation) is explored through his doctrine of creation and anthropology, his characterisation of the incarnation, his accounts of reconciliation and union with Christ, and his theology of church and sacraments. Myk Habets' study distinguishes Torrance's Reformed vision of theosis from other possible accounts of salvation as divinisation as they are found, for instance, within patristic thought and Eastern Orthodoxy. This book presents the first critique of the theology of T.F.Torrance to focus on theosis, and examines a model of theosis within the realm of reformed theology built upon Western theology.