Torrance

At the heart of James B. Torrance’s theological project was a concern to demonstrate the importance of an evangelical account of repentance, over against a legal account. This was a concern that he inherited from John Calvin, who stood as the greatest theological influence on Torrance. Out of his respect for Calvin, Torrance did not seek to commandeer Calvin’s work on this topic for his own project. Rather, he sought to communicate Calvin’s own vision of evangelical repentance to a new generation. Accordingly, this essay will primarily devote itself to exploring Calvin’s position. Before so doing, however, I shall provide a brief analysis of the distinction between the “covenant God” and “contract God,” which underlays Torrance’s emphasis on Calvin’s distinction between legal and evangelical repentance. Also, following our exploration of Calvin, I shall look briefly at Torrance’s own account of evangelical repentance, as it followed Calvin’s trajectory.

This paper explores two different readings of Athanasius on the question of whether Christ possessed a human soul. Aloys Grillmeier (among others) basically said no. Thomas Torrance believed a soul was definitely implied on the basis of Christ's assuming a damaged human nature and sanctifying it. Since all of human nature was damaged, all needed healing (as with Gregory of Nazianzen's "What is not assumed cannot be healed." This paper sides with Torrance's view.

Representing what may be termed 'evangelical Calvinism,' Thomas Forsyth Torrance's doctrine of election is, with critical modifications, recommended as a model worthy of contemporary acceptance. Torrance follows Barth's christologically conditioned doctrine of election closely, but not slavishly, and presents a view of universal atonement and even universal pardon, but not universal salvation. Torrance contends that the word 'predestination' emphasizes the sovereign freedom of grace and so the 'pre-' in predestination refers neither to a temporal nor to a logical prius, but simply to God Himself, the Eternal. For

The doctrine of the mediation of Jesus Christ in the scientific theology of T.F. Torrance rests on the fundamental methodological axiom that knowledge is developed “according to the nature” (kata physin) of the object of scientific inquiry. To know God through the incarnate Son, who is “of one nature with the Father” is to know God in strict accordance with God’s nature and hence in a theologically scientific way. In Torrance’s kataphysical method, a priori knowledge of God is excluded, for epistemology follows ontology.

Because the fundamental aspects of reality are relational rather than atomistic, a scientific theological approach to the doctrine of the mediation of Jesus Christ requires that he be investigated within the nexuses of “being-constituting” interrelations, or “onto-relations,” that disclose his identity as incarnate Saviour of the world.  Following the principle of logical simplicity, the vast and scattered array of Torrance’s thought can be reduced to a minimal number of elemental forms that succinctly describe in a unitary, non-dualist manner the onto-relations that constitute the identity of the incarnate Son. The primary elemental forms of Torrance’s doctrine of mediation are the Nicene homoousion and the Chalcedonian doctrine of the hypostatic union. Two additional elemental forms that readily arise as corollaries of the doctrine of the hypostatic union are the doctrines of incarnational redemption and the vicarious humanity of Jesus Christ. These elemental forms provide a conceptual lens for a theologically holistic view of the mediation of Jesus Christ in the scientific theology of T.F. Torrance.

Atonement in Christian thinking is a subject with a protracted and polychromatic history. From the earliest days to the present there have been proponents of recapitulation in Christ, bait and switch, ransom, moral example, Christus Victor, as well as propitiation and penal substitution, just to name a few.

The purpose of this essay is to explore, albeit in a very limited way, the profound importance of the concept of the person not only for the wellbeing of the church, our society and our culture, but also for the wellbeing of the academy that in so many ways and greatly to its detriment has lost sight of this massively significant element in the legacy of the Christian tradition.

This essay will be divided into three parts. First, we shall describe the contemporary challenge. Second, we shall consider insights that are highly pertinent to the analysis and critique of contemporary approaches. Third, we shall consider, albeit briefly, the emphases that Christian theology must recover here if it is to be an effective witness in the context of the threat to contemporary culture.

The fourth-century Christian thinker, Gregory of Nyssa, has been the subject of a huge variety of interpretations over the past fifty years, from historians, theologians, philosophers, and others. In this highly original study, Morwenna Ludlow analyses these recent readings of Gregory of Nyssa and asks: What do they reveal about modern and postmodern interpretations of the Christian past? What do they say about the nature of Gregory's writing? Working thematically through studies of recent Trinitarian theology, Christology, spirituality, feminism, and postmodern hermeneutics, Ludlow develops an approach to reading the Church Fathers which combines the benefits of traditional scholarship on the early Church with reception-history and theology.

The most outstanding theological thinker of the twentieth century is
proving to be the most pivotal theological figure of the twenty-first century as well. It
is no wonder some have referred to Karl Barth as a “Father” of the Church. His work
has occasioned appreciation, critique, and rejection, but however one responds to
Barth, one must reckon with him in pursuing the theological task.
This volume draws together scholars whose essays exhibit work “after Barth” in
engaging the doctrine of the Trinity and its related themes. Barths thought allows
for a variety of interpretations and it is this variety that gives such vibrancy to the
essays in this volume by seasoned Barth scholars and voices new to the conversation.
Contributors include: Ivor J. Davidson, Bruce L. McCormack, John C. McDowell,
Paul D. Molnar, Murray A. Rae, and a Foreword by John B. Webster.

This paper explores two different readings of Athanasius on the question of whether Christ possessed a human soul. Aloys Grillmeier (among others) basically said no. Thomas Torrance believed a soul was definitely implied on the basis of Christ's assuming a damaged human nature and sanctifying it. Since all of human nature was damaged, all needed healing (as with Gregory of Nazianzen's "What is not assumed cannot be healed." This paper sides with Torrance's view.

ProblemStatement: Inthecompetitiveglobalenvironments,universitieshave become very important since they develop very innovative ecosystems for the economy by conducting right investments:therefore,Big Data Management is needed to make right decisions
Research Questions: Which investment area is more important than the other,especially about systems,infrastructures,human capital,and research and development is questioned while decreasing costs and expenses.
Purpose of the Study: In order to make right decisions on university investments while decreasing the costs and expenses,the new assessment is needed by using Big Data Management (BGM),which is a very complex system to conduct properly.So, BGM Assessment has developed to understand the priorities fields for the investments, which have impacts.
Research Methods: In the development of this assessment, after the systematic deep interviews were conducted with the experts of the university management, the critical literature review was done to develop the items. In the content validity,eight experts’ recommendations had taken and the 120 items was assessed with a five- point scale in the sample consisted of 158 experts from five different universities. Findings: The item-total correlation test,comparisons for upper and lower 45 % groups,exploratory factor analysis,and Alpha coefficient were used for psychometric examination.All items had factor loadings more than 0.65.Cronbach’s α for the entire scale was 0.96. In the internal consistency,each of the scales reinforced the results of factor analysis, showing that the results were significantly consistent.
Conclusions: Consequently, since the psychometric quality of the instrument has proved high quality, the results BGM Assessment are found reliable and valid to measure systematically right decisions on university investments, particularly on systems, infrastructures, human capital, and R&D while decreasing the costs and expenses. Hence, the BGM Assessment will open new dimensions for the university managers’ in their investment decisions.