The Vicarious Humanity of Christ and the Sacramental Action of the Church

Thomas F. Torrance’s thought on social ethics is not developed as an independent area of theology but is alluded to in his trinitarian theology and Christology. The concept of the vicarious humanity of Christ is key to our understanding of how Torrance derives social ethics from trinitarian theology and Christology. Just as for Torrance, Christ’s vicarious humanity is the creative source of not only redemption but also personalization, which enables us to have personal relations with God and other humans and sincerely follow moral obligations and order in society; it is of both soteriological and practical significance. Moreover, since the personalizing person of Christ is present and his personalizing work is continuous in the church and its sacramental action, for Torrance, the church’s participation in Christ through the Spirit becomes a means of grace to fulfill its mission, that is, a communion of reconciliation amidst a distorted and divisive society. This reflects Torrance’s theological approach to the particular social ethics of the church.