The Surprising God

This post continues our look at what  Dick Eugenio (in  Communion with the Triune God ) says concerning Thomas F (TF) Torrance's view of the "how" of salvation . Last time we looked at participation in Christ . This time we'll look at justification in Christ.  This is the second of 11 posts, for the other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . According to Eugenio, TF was "adamant that justification should be expounded in the light of the vicarious person and work of Jesus Christ" ( Communion with the Triune God, Kindle ed, loc 1987). For TF, justification is what Jesus Christ accomplished for us, emphasizing "Jesus Christ" above "for us" so as not to lose in our thinking the priority of who Jesus is and what he has done in an objective sense for all of humankind. In upholding that Christ-centered perspective, TF is critical of those who give priority to subjective/personal dec

This post continues our look at Thomas F. (TF) Torrance's trinitarian doctrine of salvation as summarized by Dick Eugenio in  Communion with the Triune God . This time we'll look at TF's rejection of universalism and his teaching concerning participation in Christ. F or the other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . Last time  we looked at TF's teaching that salvation involves an "atoning exchange"--the stunning truth that the Son of God, through the Incarnation, united our humanity with his divinity, and through his vicarious human life, death, resurrection and ascension, healed us from the inside, giving us a share in his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Given this teaching, TF has been accused of being a universalist. But as Eugenio notes, TF rejected that accusation: Torrance considers both universalism and [the Calvinist doctrine of a] limited atonement as twin heresies that

In this post, we'll continue looking at what  Dick Eugenio (in  Communion with the Triune God ) says concerning Thomas F. (TF) Torrance's view of the  "how" of salvation , now considering the role of the resurrection and the ascension of Christ. F or the other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . As noted last time , though TF emphasized the centrality of the cross in our salvation, he understood that its significance "does not entail supremacy or priority" ( Communion with the Triune God,  Kindle edition, loc 1754). Eugenio comments: [For TF] the cross definitely fulfills a unique and distinct significance that other redemptive experiences of Christ do not convey, but it is only a part of the whole, not an aspect that can stand on its own apart from the virgin birth, resurrection and ascension. This is why Torrance argues that the resurrection and ascension should also be viewed soteriologica

In this post, we'll continue looking at what Dick Eugenio (in Communion with the Triune God ) says concerning Thomas F. (TF) Torrance's view of the "how" of salvation . Our focus this time is the Cross of Christ. F or the other posts in this series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . Why did Jesus have to die? Various theologies answer in differing ways. According to Eugenio, TF's answer is that though the Cross of Christ is essential to our salvation, it is part of a larger story. TF embraced what Eugenio refers to as an incarnational, holistic  view of salvation (soteriology). This Trinitarian, incarnational theological perspective seeks to account for the full biblical and patristic witness concerning a stunning reality: The incarnate God-man Jesus saved us (and continues to save us) by assuming all  our human experience, including our death. On the cross, Jesus did not merely die to pay a penalty (though his subs