The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons

by Thomas F. Torrance

Publisher:

T&T Clark

, 2001

Overview

In this ground-breaking work, T. F. Torrance aims to clarify understanding of the most profound article of Christian Faith, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

The Trinity is grounded upon God’s historical self-revelation in Jesus Christ. It is presented in this work as teaching which is implicit in the New Testament revelation and in the worship of the Early Church, rather than as a logical derivation from other aspects of Christian doctrine. Adopting a holistic approach, Torrance explains the inter-relatedness of the three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and their dynamic Communion in the Triune Being and Nature of God.

Combining immense academic range with new theological perspectives, Torrance expounds the basic teaching of the ancient Catholic Church and builds a significant bridge between ancient and modern, Catholic and Evangelical theology.

Contents

Top Highlights

“My argument and presentation have taken an open-structured form in the conviction that the truth of the Holy Trinity is more to be adored than expressed. The Holy Scriptures do not give us dogmatic propositions about the Trinity, but they do present us with definite witness to the oneness and differentiation between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, under the constraint of which the early Church allowed the pattern and order of God’s Triune Life to impose themselves upon its mind.” (Page ix)

“This means that owing to the atoning reconciliation which God has worked out in Jesus Christ in the midst of our human historical existence, he has established an intimate two-way relation between himself and us and us and himself, making himself accessible to us and giving us entry into the inner fellowship of his divine Life by allowing us to share in God’s own eternal Spirit.” (Page 2)

“Only through God is fellowship with God accessible to man.’” (Page 3)

“This self-revelation of God in the Gospel amounts to the greatest revolution in our knowledge of God.” (Page 3)

“First, we need to indwell the New Testament as a whole and in all its parts in such a way that we acquire the habit of looking through the various books and passages of the Scriptures and allowing their message to be interiorised in the depths of our mind.” (Page 37)

Endorsements

Torrance writes not only with intellectual rigor and scholarly breadth, but with the winsome spiritual warmth of a praying theologian… [He] offers an excellent exposition and defense of the classical doctrine of the divine Trinity. This erudite book repays careful reading.

—Trinity Journal

Product Details

• Title: The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons
• Author: Thomas F. Torrance
• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Print Publication Date: 2001
• Logos Release Date: 2008
• Era: era:Contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: God; Theology, doctrinal; Trinity
• ISBNs: 9780567658074, 0567658074
• Resource ID: LLS:CHRDOCTOFGOD
• Resource Type: text.monograph.biblical-theology
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:20:03Z

About Thomas F. Torrance

Thomas F. Torrance (August 30,1913–December 2, 2007) was a Protestant Christian theologian and professor of Christian dogmatics for 27 years at the University of Edinburgh. Torrance was influential in the dialogue between science and theology.

He began studying in Edinburgh in 1931, focusing on classics and philosophy. At that time his own realist views of philosophy, theology, and morality started to develop, and they continued to do so as he moved to the study of theology at the Faculty of Divinity in 1934. From 1939 to 1940 Torrance studied at Oriel College, Oxford. He was ordained as minister on March 20, 1940.

He has authored several works, including Divine and Contingent Order, Ground and Grammar of Theology, and The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons. Besides writing many books and articles, Torrance also translated several hundred theological writings into English from other languages, including the thirteen-volume, six-million-word Church Dogmatics of the Swiss theologian Karl Barth (co-edited with G.W. Bromiley).