Torrance as a Scottish Theologian

While the theology of T. F. Torrance is properly recognized for its catholic and ecumenical range, less attention has been devoted to the importance of its Scottish sources. These are significant not only for understanding Torrance’s development but for an appreciation of the distinctive setting of his mature theology. Attention is devoted here to his Edinburgh teachers, most notably H. R. Mackintosh, to his various ecclesiastical commitments and to several key works on the history of Scottish theology. These shaped inter alia his reading of the Reformed tradition, his reception of Barth, his account of church and sacraments, his understanding of our union with Christ as an objective and subjective reality, and his mature work on theological science. By setting these in their Scottish context, a stronger contextual reading of his work is enabled.