The Surprising God

This series explores  T.F. Torrance in Plain English  where Stephen D. Morrison presents nine key ideas in Thomas F. Torrance's Christ-centered, Trinitarian theology . For other posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 , 5 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 .   Last time  we explored Torrance's key idea that the doctrine of the Trinity holds the place of primacy in Christian theology. This time we'll look at another of his key ideas---the twofold mediation (agency) of Jesus Christ. As Morrison notes, Torrance teaches that "Jesus Christ is at once God for humanity and human being for God... [mediating] the things of God to humanity and the things of humanity to God" (p. 135). Torrance puts it this way: Jesus Christ is Mediator in such a way that in his incarnate Person he embraces both sides of the mediating relationship. He is God of the nature of God, and man of the nature of man, in one and the same Person. (p. 136, quoting  The Mediation of Christ ,  p. 56) C

This series explores  T.F. Torrance in Plain English  wherein author Stephen D. Morrison unpacks nine key ideas in the Christ-centered, Trinitarian theology of  Thomas F. Torrance . For other posts in the series, click a number: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 .   Last time , we looked at Torrance's key idea that the triune  God is one in being ( homoousion ). This time we'll look at his key idea that the doctrine of the Trinity holds the place of primacy in Christian theology in that, 1) it is the  ground and grammar  of all theological knowledge, 2) it declares that  God is for us , and 3) it includes the doctrine of  perichoresis , which declares that both God and humans are  beings-in-relationship. Perichoresis (source unknown) 1) The  ground and grammar of theology Morrison notes that, according to Paul Molnar, the doctrine of the Trinity is for Torrance " the  central doctrine around which all other Christian doctrines gravitate and become compre