“In the very act of our knowing Christ he is the master, we are the mastered” (2), writes Scottish theologian Thomas F. Torrance (1913–2007). Knowing God in Christ is the starting point of theology, but also a mystery we enter through our confession of Jesus as Lord.
This book, along with it’s companion volume Atonement, took a precarious path to publication. In the early 2000s, Torrance began to compile his lecture notes on Christology and Soteriology from his teaching at Edinburgh University from 1952–78. Unfortunately, a stroke ended Torrance’s ability to rework the notes into publishable form. Fortunately, Robert Torrance Walker stepped in to faithfully edit the manuscript which was published in 2008.
A word of advice? Take your time. This is the sort of theology to savour. Theological abstractions like homoousios, perichoresis, and communicatio idiomatum move from being mere historical debates to rich devotional material in Torrance’s hands. I wrote summaries and brief thoughts on this work between 2013 and 2016. Torrance’s perspective has stuck with me ever since.
Incarnation by Thomas F. Torrance (Introduction)
I did a little math the other day. The average Canadian life-span is sitting just shy of 80 years. I'm 38. If I keep reading at my current pace of a book or so per week, I'll be able to consume just over 2,000 books this side of the great divide. With that thought in mind, I try to choose the books I read more carefully than I used to. Instead of raiding second hand book shops to fill the shelves of my library with interesting spines, I want to know that a book is substantial enough to spend my [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 1.0: Preliminary Matters
The task of christology (pp. 1-2) Jesus Christ has given himself to us to be apprehended. Our task is to "yield the obedience of our mind" to (1) him. This self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ is is not a fact on par with other facts—his revelation is an "utterly distinctive and unique fact" (1). This knowledge is not something we can earn or achieve, but something we submit to. When we know Jesus as our Lord, we recognize that he has chosen us before we had any power to know him. Indeed, knowing Christ is evidence of the power [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 1.1: The Relation of Christ to History
The inseparability of the historical from the theological in Christ (pp. 6-8) Christ is presented to us in history. That said, historical method cannot faithfully apprehend Christ, who is God and man. Faith is the "kind of perception appropriate to perceiving a divine act in history" (7). If we try to study merely the historical Jesus, we are left with a distortion having attempted to break up what can never be broken. Our Christology must be scientific: faithful to the whole mystery of Christ. In Christ, God has invaded the world of humanity and, by doing so, has left historical [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 1.2: Jesus Christ and the New Testament Kērygma
We cannot study Jesus from a neutral position. Faithfulness to this object of study demands that we conform to him. "We can approach Jesus only as sinners who need the mediation of Christ in order to go to the Father" (11). This is how the entire New Testament presents Christ—not as a merely historical Jesus. The New Testament presentation of the Jesus of history as the Christ of faith (pp. 12-14) Jesus in scripture is always clothed with the divine light made visible in his transfiguration—never as a mere human. As a God-and-man unity, Christ presents himself to us not only [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 1.3: Procedure in christology
a) Knowledge of Christ by revelation through the Spirit (pp. 28-29) In Christology, we seek knowledge of Christ as he has disclosed himself—not simply as he is found on the "mere plane of profane history" (29). This is what Paul said when he speaks of Jesus "according to the Spirit" (Romans 1:4). A merely historical presentation of Jesus is a false presentation. Jesus is a "complex of historical fact and spiritual event" (29). In order to truely know the mystery of the kingdom, we must respond to Jesus after the spirit, not only after the flesh. b) Knowledge of the [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 1.4: The biblical witness to Jesus Christ
Encounter with Christ in the witness of the New Testament When we read the Bible we not only hear people's thoughts about Jesus but are confronted by Jesus himself. Therefore, what is revealed about Jesus and how it is revealed are inseparable. When we start to look at what the scripture tells us of Jesus, we therefore also have to ask how this information is revealed. Knowing Christ through knowing his salvation: the works of Melanchthon Melanchthon wrote in 1521, "This is to know Christ, to know his benefits" (Loci Communes). This is true, but needs to be understood properly. [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 2.1: The incarnation and the old Israel
To sum up what we've already read, we must know Jesus in his God/man duality. He is the Word and his being (word) and teaching are identical with his saving work. If the incarnation was God's plan for a certain point of history, we should be able to see signs of preparation for the incarnation within history. The Old Israel Background The story begins in Eden where humanity sinned. That sin ruptured fellowship between God and humanity, between humans and themselves, between humans and each other, and even between humans and the land. Even in that first sin-story, however, there [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 2.2: The incarnation and the new Israel
In the New Testament we see God's covenant in its perfect form. God provided from within Israel and within humanity the fulfillment of his covenant. In Jesus, God comes as the Son (reconciliation) and the Word (revelation)—one "mighty act of the incarnation" (57). The Word made flesh In Jesus, the Word became flesh. We need to consider these three important words. "Word" in the Old Testament is dabar which carries two meanings. It refers to the back or hinterground of something as well as a thing or event itself. When John said that the Word became flesh, he has the tabernacle [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 2.2b: Outline of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ
After exploring the background matters relating to the incarnation, Torrance pauses to offer an outline of his theology of the incarnation before launching into the details. (This section technically comes between chapters 2 and 3. I've listed it as "2.2b" in the title to reflect its positioning.) 1) The mystery of true God and man in one person It's difficult to grasp something so new that it lies at the outskirts of our human understanding. This is the mystery of divine and human nature in one person. The best way to approach this is doxologically: with worship and praise. 2) [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 3.1: The Biblical Witnesses to the Virgin Birth
The virgin birth is one of the chief places where the historic claims of the church collide with our enlightenment worldview. Torrance tackles this issue by first considering the biblical witnesses to the virgin birth (3.1), and then by drawing his conclusions (3.2). Torrance follows the "scientific method" he explained earlier—he allows the mystery to declare itself according to its own nature. "It is a miracle" (87). a) The Synoptic Gospels The two gospels which tell us of Jesus' human origin (Matthew and Luke) speak of the virgin birth. They speak this way unashamedly, despite offering human genealogies. It is curious that [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 3.2: The Doctrine of the Virgin Birth
While Israel is the start of God's union with humanity, it comes to completion in Jesus. Jesus is at once a new race—new creation—in perfect union with God, and a person in continuity with our fallen humanity. a) Preliminary observations A doctrine of the virgin birth will never explain how God became man—it can only describe "what happened within humanity when the Son of God became man" (94-5). If we ask biological questions concerning how it could happen, we'll get inadequate biological answers. The virgin birth is a sign that God created new humanity within our fallenness. The sign of the virgin [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 4.1: The One and the Many – the Mediator
In chapter four, Torrance discusses the "continuous union" (103) of Jesus. Here we move on from the event of the incarnation and look at his life. This falls under the category of enhypostasia, because we stress that "the humanity of Jesus had real existence in the person of the eternal son" (103). a) The union of God and man in the person of Christ The union of God and man which began in the incarnation continues through various stages. At 12 years old, we see Jesus passing from childhood to adult responsibility in the temple. Then, at 30 years old (the age [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 4.2: The Life and Faithfulness of the Son Towards the Father
The life of Jesus entailed more than just passive obedience ("forensic and judicial righteousness" (114)), but active obedience. Jesus lived a life of love and worship and, in doing so, subdued our humanity that had turned away from God in rebellion. a) Jesus' life of utter dependence upon the Father in prayer Humanity was created for relationship with God. As such, prayer is an essential element of our existence. Jesus fulfills this from the side of God and man. When he prays in the garden, "not my will but thine be done," he is redemptively offering a prayer of obedience out [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 4.3: The Life and Faithfulness of the Son Toward Man
Jesus' relationship toward man is identical to the Father's relationship toward man. Here we'll explore how Jesus' human life served his mission of "revelation and reconciliation," (129) as shepherd and king. a) Jesus the shepherd of the sheep Many texts in the gospels refer to Jesus as a Shepherd. This is primarily seen when he had compassion on the shepherdless people (Mark 6:34) and fed them. Jesus' actions as shepherd echo Yahweh's role as shepherd (e.g. Ezekiel 34). Jesus found the lost and outcast and returned them to the house of Israel. Jesus' shepherding role is seen clearly in his deep profound [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 5: The Mystery of Christ
Jesus kept his messianic secret until the end of his ministry, so as not to be he be severely misunderstood. At the end, in the resurrection, the mystery was revealed. The New Testament writers reflect this mystery, especially in the glorified vision of Christ in Revelation. Paul proclaimed this mystery, too. He understood that the mystery of Christ existed from all eternity. 1) The mystery of Christ: mystērion, prothesis, koinōnia The mystery of Christ is nothing less than Jesus Christ: God made flesh. Jesus revealed this mystery to his disciples, however imperfectly they understood it at first. This mystery was proclaimed by the apostles' [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 6.1: The Humanity and the Deity of Christ
In chapter 6, Torrance turns his attention directly to the hypostatic union. When we try to describe this in theological terms, we can fall into two different traps—we can emphasize Jesus' eternal being at the expense of the historical person, or vice versa. When patristic theologians attempted to describe this union, they didn't say enough. They rightly guarded the doctrine from error by claiming that Jesus was fully God and fully man, but they didn't say how these natures are united. In developing a doctrine of the hypostatic union, we must be careful not to divorce Christology from Soteriology. Christ's person is [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 6.2: The Hypostatic Union in Revelation and Reconciliation
The hypostatic union—the indivisible unity of the divine and human nature in Christ—is a more intimate union than the one flesh union of marriage. This union happens within one person. In this union, these two natures cannot be separated or confused. "God remains God and man remains man, and yet in Christ, God who remains God is for ever joined to man, becomes man and remains man" (191). We need to consider how this hypostatic union relates to revelation and reconciliation. a) The hypostatic union of God and man in one person is the heart of revelation and its full substance Because [...]
Torrence’s Incarnation 6.3: The Patristic Doctrine of Christ
Now that we have considered the hypostatic union and the relationship between this union and the atonement, it's time to consider how to examine this in light of Patristic theology. a) The differing strands in Patristic theology The doctrine of Christ in the early church fell into two main camps: Antioch, which emphasized Jesus' humanity, and Alexandria, which emphasized Jesus' divinity. In the middle of these positions were Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Cyril, who stressed both natures equally. The tendency of the early church, in its battle against a lopsided hypostatic union, was to ignore the atonement in its effort to get incarnation correct. This [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 6.4: The Reformation Doctrine of Christ
The Reformers approached the hypostatic union from a different angle than the church fathers. The Patristic emphasis on abstract being was pushed to the side in favour of a more relational understanding. a) The different emphases in Lutheran and Reformed theology The Lutheran and Reformed traditions look at the incarnation differently. The Lutherans emphasize the union of divine and human, while the Calvinists emphasized the person of the Son of God as God and man. These are two "complementary and overlapping aspects of the truth" (215). Both traditions focused more on the dynamic movement of grace in the incarnation than defining [...]
Torrance’s Incarnation 7: The Kingdom of Christ and Evil
1) The breaking in of the kingdom In the incarnation, the king has come to reclaim his people for his Kingdom. Jesus is the mighty one who paradoxically exercises his might through submission to violence. Jesus' preaching, healing, and exorcising power are all attacks on the power of Satan. His entire life was a conflict with the powers of this world. In Jesus, the light of God invades the darkness and releases the prisoners who sit therein. 2) The human situation as revealed by the breaking in of the kingdom of God in Christ The Father is grieved by the [...]