Colyer on Torrance: the error of dualism

By -
Elmer Colyer
In How to Read T.F. Torrance, Elmer Colyer addresses what theologian Tom Torrance says about two forms of dualism that, unfortunately, shape the theology of many Christians:
Torrance believes that the church has had to struggle repeatedly with the problem of dualism.... Dualism connotes the division of reality into two incompatible or independent domains. Torrance's repudiation of cosmological and epistemological dualism is decisive for grasping his understanding of the mediation of Christ...(pp57-8).

Cosmological dualism

This form of dualism asserts a disconnection between God and the world (cosmos) - an idea that arose in the early church out of Greco-Roman philosophy. It then emerged in the middle ages based on a Newtonian cosmology, yielding a deistic view of God. Sadly, this dualism remains common in our time (think of Bette Midler singing about the God who is "watching us from a distance"). Those holding this viewpoint tend to dismiss as merely symbolic those scriptures that speak of God as personally and actively involved in the world (p58).

In contrast, Tom Torrance had a "realist" cosmological perspective, understanding that God is directly and personally involved with his creation (while remaining distinct from it). According to Torrance, "revelation is the living God entering history, interacting with humanity and providing real and redemptive self-communication" (p59). Indeed, God is Emanuel (God- with-us). He decidedly is not "watching from a distance." There is no cosmological dualism when it comes to the relating of the triune God with his creation.

Epistemological dualism

This form of dualism asserts that the reality of God and of the cosmos cannot be known in themselves, but only in how they appear to us (the knower).
[Note: epistimology is the study of knowledge and has to do with understanding how knowledge is created and disseminated.]
In contrast, Torrance takes a "realist" epistemology, "in which reality discloses itself to human knowing in such a way that the human subject is capable of real understanding, both of the created world and of God" (p59). For Torrance, this real knowledge is available to us as we actively respond to "the self-presentation of reality in the appropriate manner" (p60).

When it comes to real knowledge of God, it is the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is God's appropriate, accessible and very real self-presentation. In this revelation of God to humanity, there is no hiddeness--no epistemological dualism of any sort. Torrance famously put it this way: "There is no other God hidden behind the back of Jesus." God really is like Jesus, as Jesus himself attested: "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).

The mediation of Christ

Torrance's rejection of these dualisms is bound up with his understanding that Jesus Christ, the unique God-man, serves as the one mediator. As divine, he mediates from God to humanity; as human, he mediates from humanity to God. Colyer (who quotes Torrance), comments:
God has interacted with humanity in history, within the creaturely conditions of the created world of space and time. God has revealed himself to humanity in Israel and in Jesus Christ. Yet, "If we are to know [God] and speak about him in a way that is appropriate to him, we need to have fitting modes of thought and speech, adequate conceptual forms and structures, and indeed reverent and worthy habits of worship and behavior governing our approach to him" [quoted from Torrance's The Mediation of Christ, p6]. This means that for human beings to know God, they require not only a self-revelation from God but also suitable forms of thought and speech, an active and appropriate human response, a communal reciprocity where God's reconciling self-revelation is actualized and mediated within the conditions of our creaturely existence (p60).

Reality in Christ

As Torrance asserts elsewhere, God has indeed revealed himself, and Jesus is both the "ground and grammar" of that revelation. This revelation is not merely a word sent from God at a distance (from "on high"), but God-with-us, revealing himself to us as he actually is in the person and work of his incarnate Son--the Word of God made flesh--our Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:14).

In the light of the person and work of Christ, these dualisms are exposed as nothing more than mythologies arising from the darkness of our fallen imaginations. The reality--the truth--is that in Christ, God is seen for who he really is; and we are seen for who we really are.

To know Christ is to know that humanity has been reconciled to God--included in his triune love and life. In and through Jesus, God is with us, for us and knowable by us. Any theology that posits otherwise is false--it has lost sight of the reality of Jesus Christ.

Comments

  1. Thanks, Ted. Allowing the Holy Spirit to sweep these dualisms out our our minds and hearts allows us to better fix our eyes on Jesus, who is really with us!

    ReplyDelete

  2. Thanks for your comment Jerome. It's so easy for us to project onto God the false, dualistic views that arise from out of our own, fallen imaginations.

    Thank God that he does not leave us captive to these self-created mythologies, but comes to us in the person of Jesus in order to reveal himself to us as he *really* is. Only God knows God, and therefore only God can reveal his God-self to us. And that he has done!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7/06/2013

    Romans 1:18-20 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

    In response to your last paragraph regarding reconciliation:
    "The doctrine of ultimate reconciliation or universalism may be appealing to human sensibilities, but it is simply wrong and unbiblical. Scripture teaches that beyond this life, there are no second chances. Instead, the Bible declares, “Today is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Love does indeed win for those who turn by faith to Christ in this life and embrace Him as Savior. Those who don’t and dismiss the concept of hell will find out eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong. As writer Os Guinness puts it, “For some, hell is simply a truth realized too late.”

    Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/ultimate-reconciliation.html#ixzz2YHqNFTVJ

    In addition, unless I have misunderstood you, nowhere does the Bible teach that "all of humanity" is reconciled to God by your definition of inclusivism and salvation -- a proper interpretation is borrowed from Sam Storm's commentary on Colossians 1:20 -- "What this suggests is that the "reconciliation" Paul has in mind includes the notion of subjugation and the bringing to nought of God's enemies. God's reconciliation of all things includes the triumph and victory over those who are and ever will be his enemies. Some have wondered how this constitutes a "victory" for God. Does not the perpetual presence in hell of unbelievers signify his failure, perhaps even his defeat? No. It would only be failure if they were to escape the punishment their sin merits. Divine justice prevails and holy wrath is revealed, all to the glory of God." - See more at: http://www.samstorms.com/all-articles/post/will-everyone-be-saved-part-ii--1:20-#sthash.IwEDtR8r.dpuf

    Any other "theology" would be universalism and therefore false.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7/06/2013

    Let me re-state my earlier comments just so we aren't misunderstanding each other.

    If you are saying that "humanity" is included you mean that Jesus' atonement is sufficient for the sins of the world and that a universal call is going out to believe in Him, and those that have put their faith in Jesus are now included in His triune love and life, then I'm in agreement with your last paragraph. If, however, you mean that "humanity" has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit (believer and unbeliever alike), then I vehemently disagree with you because you are preaching a false gospel.

    ReplyDelete

  5. Dear anonymous. I appreciate your concerns. That all of humanity has been, in Christ, reconciled to God is, as you note a statement about the universal scope of the atonement. But to say that God has reconciled all humanity to himself, is not to say that all individual people have received that reconciliation. It is for that reason that Paul notes in 2Cor 5.19 that all are reconciled to God, but then in v20 that individuals need to be reconciled. The point here is that what has been universally given must be personally received for it to become personally effective. Here we find the objective (universal) and subjective (personal) aspects of reconciliation/salvation/redemption that all forms of Christian theology, be it Arminianism, Calvinism or Trinitarianism have accounted for in one way or another. This blog upholds the later, finding that it gives what seems to me to be a more Christ-centered explanation of what can seem to us to be a paradox. In the person of Christ who is the *vicarious human* (the one who stands in for and represents us all), the apparent paradox is resolved. If you will review past posts on this blog, you will find this issue examined in great detail. I hope you'll find these posts to be helpful in your studies.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can people get out of hell?

By -
Image
In a previous post titled, Will all be saved?, I noted a question raised by Rob Bell in his controversial book, Love Wins. That question is this: Can people get out of hell? To answer this question, we must consider two others:
Is a person's fate determined permanently at death?If not, on what basis might those in hell get out? Many Christians answer "yes" to question number one. In support of their position they frequently cite Hebrews 9:27, understanding this scripture to assert that upon death, a person is judged and the decision rendered is irreversible.

However, using this passage to make this point is, in my view, questionable. Note that the context is the universal scope of Jesus' substitutionary, atoning work, which he did "once for all" (Hebrews 9:26). He does not accomplish this work at some future time (such as some point prior to or including the moment of our death). Also, note that Hebrews 9:27-28 points forward to a future time when Jesus wil…
Keep reading

Does everyone have the Holy Spirit?

By -
Image
[updated 3/13/2017]

A key understanding of incarnational Trinitarian theology, is that God has included everyone in his love and life through the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and through what Jesus did at Pentecost in pouring out the Holy Spirit on all humanity. Are we then saying that all people have the Holy Spirit? There are several issues at work here, which I'll briefly address in this post.


First there is the nature and the timing of God’s call. Paul writes in Romans 8:30 that, "...those he [God] predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." Here Paul addresses believers, locating their call in the broad sweep of salvation history, which sees all humanity as included in Christ--in what he accomplished for all humanity through his life, death and resurrection. This is the objective or universal reality of salvation history. And it is stunning good news!

However, as Paul is a…
Keep reading

Theology and Biblical Studies - What's the Difference?

By -
Image
Are theology and biblical studies the same thing? If not, how do they relate? How are they different? Are they in conflict? This article by Michael Morrison of Grace Communion Seminary addresses these and related questions. For another post on this topic, click here.

 In most seminaries and Bible schools, theology and biblical studies are in separate categories. Yet most lay Christians assume they are the same. In this article we will explain why there is a difference, problems that can arise because of the difference, and how biblical studies and theology can both be better if they work together.

A brief history of biblical studies
The early church taught the gospel, and educated pagans said, “Oh really? How does that work?” Some of the pagans wanted to ridicule people who believed the gospel about a crucified hero; others were genuinely interested.

So the early church leaders began to answer some of the philosophical and logical questions about salvation through Christ – often using …
Keep reading

The missional character of the church

By -
Image
This post continues a series examining key points of Andrew Purves' book Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation. For other posts in the series, click a number: 1, 2, 3, 4. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

Purves now addresses the essential missional character of the church, noting that by our union with Christ, we have both opportunity and the calling as members of the body of Christ (the church), to participate with Jesus our one High Priest, in what he is now doing, by the Spirit, to fulfill the Father's mission to the world.

The broad scope of Christ's mission That calling, which is for the whole church, involves sharing in what our Lord is doing to redeem every aspect of human existence: spiritual, social, economic, etc. Purves comments on this broad scope of mission:
There are no limits to the compassion God has shown toward the human race in Jesus Christ [thus] there can be no limits upon the scope of the church's mission in union with Christ to the who…
Keep reading

The nature of our union with Christ

By -
Image
This post excerpts Gary Deddo's essay, "The Christian Life and Our Participation in Christ’s Continuing Ministry" (to read the full essay, click here). The portion excerpted here relates to clarifying the meaning of the important New Testament concept of "union with Christ."

The New Testament message is that we are so united to Christ that the core of our very being is changed because it has become spiritually joined to the perfected humanity of Jesus. The apostle Paul writes that we are one in Spirit with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17). In his letter to the Ephesians he writes that we are presently—right now—seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:6). We are so joined that what happened to Christ 2,000 years ago has actually included us. So in Paul’s letter to the Colossians we read that we have co-died with Christ and have been co-raised with Christ (Colossians 2:12-3; 3:1). Paul announces this fact as a completed action that is true of all the members…
Keep reading

How big is hell?

By -
Image
GCI President Joseph Tkach answers a question that many people ask. This post appeared originally in GCI Weekly Update.

Unless my wife Tammy is traveling with me, most of my seatmates on planes don't seem to want much conversation---especially after they ask, “What do you do?,” and I reply, "I’m a pastor." But when I say "I supervise missionary work," more conversation often ensues.

Recently, a seatmate asked, “How big do you think hell is?” It’s interesting he didn’t ask for my definition of hell, or what the Bible says about it. He just wanted to know how big it is. I jokingly asked if he was familiar with the pictures of Dante’s Inferno (see an example below). When he replied "no" I said, “Dante makes it look as though hell is already full!” I went on to explain that the topic of hell seems to suffer from more misinformation that is typically realized.

Most are surprised to learn that the early church did not dogmatize the topic of hell, nor was th…
Keep reading

Ministry: sharing in what Jesus is doing

By -
Image
This post continues a series looking at The Shape of Practical Theology by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 11,12, 13, 14, 15.

Previously in this series we've noted Anderson's emphasis on the unity of theology and mission. When fully Christian, both are grounded in the person (being) and work (doing) of Jesus, the incarnate, resurrected, ascended Son of God. There is no separation between Jesus' being (from which flows Christian theology) and his doing (from which flows Christian mission). In Jesus, by the Spirit, Christian mission (ministry) is actual participation in what Jesus is doing in the world to fulfill the Father's mission.

It is thus vital that the church keep at the forefront of its thinking the truth that it is Jesus (the living Word) and not someone or something else, that constitutes the interpretive key (hermeneutic) by which the church is able to rightly understand Hol…
Keep reading

Question on John 3:36

By -
Image
I was sent the following question:
Doesn't John 3:36 (and also John 3:18) indicate that non-believers will not see life, and that God's wrath is still on them? Here is my reply:

John 3:36 says this: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them." How are we to understand this statement?
From a perspective of a theology of separation, this verse would be interpreted as saying that God stands separate from and in wrath toward all people *until* the moment they believe in his Son, at which point in time, God enters their lives (for the first time), stops being wrathful toward them, and grants them eternal life.
But is this interpretation justified?  We would say no. Why? Because it is not consistent with what Scripture tells us about who God is - as revealed to us in the person of Jesus. According to that revelation, rather than  separate from sinners, God is "a friend of sinners&qu…
Keep reading

Torrance on the church and its mission

By -
Image
We now continue our review of Communion with the Triune God where Dick Eugenio examines TF Torrance's trinitarian understanding of soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). Last time we looked at TF's understanding of the role of the Spirit in salvation. Now we'll look at his view of the Spirit's work related to the church and its mission. For the other posts in this series, click on a number: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11.

 TF often noted that the goal of salvation is participation in the life and love of the Trinity. The Spirit's distinctive role is to facilitate this participation (Gk. koinonia, also meaning sharing, fellowship and communion). The Spirit does this work by coming into us, then opening us out to God, thus enabling us to commune with the triune God. TF elaborates:
As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell in one another, so God is in us by the indwelling of the Spirit and by participation of the Spirit we are in God, and thus our being in the Father i…
Keep reading

The link between theology and mission

By -
Image
This post is quoted, with permission, from the Church-Next Training course manual published by Church Multiplication Ministries (CMM), GCI's U.S. church planting arm. The manual was written by CMM national coordinator Randy Bloom. In this section of chapter one, he helpfully outlines the essential (though often overlooked) link between theology and mission.


The Trinity: Loving Communion According to Scripture, there is one God who reveals himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; three distinct yet unified Persons sharing the same essence, nature, and will. Father, Son, and Spirit live in a perfect, mutually dependent relationship of love. An ancient theological term used to describe this loving communion is perichoresis. Perichoresis attempts to express the interpenetration and co-inherence of the three persons of the Trinity. Perichoresis refers to the eternal “movement of love between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” which is expressed in the outworking of God’s purpos…
Keep reading