Torrance

I've been doing a lot of reading by and about T. F. Torrance lately. I thought I would offer a couple of quotes that struck me, coming mainly from his sermon material, rather than the intricate academic work that he's most known for. These quotes come from T. F. Torrance: An Intellectual Biography by Alister McGrath.

“Why is it then that the cross has become the dearest and the most sacred emblem of the Christian faith, the religion of love? Why does it produce saints, when, it seems, it ought to produce skeptics? This is the fact of the matter: – Put God in heaven and Jesus on the cross allowed to die, and you destroy your faith, for you cannot believe in a God who allowed that. On the other hand, it makes us utterly despair of man, for if that is what we have done, what hope is there of the world ever living in love and brotherhood after this war? But (and this is the Gospel) put God on the cross and you alter the whole situation, for then the cross is not the picture of God’s unconcern or careless disregard. Rather it is the picture of God’s utmost concern, nay, a picture or his actual intervention in the affairs of men, for it means that God Almighty has come down into the midst of human sin and shame, not only to bear our sin, but to destroy it for ever. That is the incomprehensible cast and design of his glory, that in the cross we have the invasion of God striking in desperate anguish at the heart of evil.” This comes from a sermon he gave as a military Chaplin during WWII.

“There are too many people in the church who are only religious. Their religion consists simply in a belief in God – and in the end it doesn’t matter very much what God they believe in. Theirs is simply a bare religion with not much room for Jesus Christ in it. Why is it that so many people are apt to be content with a bare religion with only a creator for their God? Why is it that so many people in modern times are apt to be Unitarian, whether in explicit faith or in virtual practice? It is because in Jesus Christ, God comes too near them – and they only want a God that is far-off and distant. It would spoil their selfish enjoyment; it would mean a radical alteration in their way of life; it would cost too much; hurt too much, to have a God so close to them that he had come down into the world and become man.” This is from a sermon given during his parish ministry at Alyth.

I'm afraid that this is still a major issue in Western Protestant churches these days. We are not Christocentric in practice and we have yet to fully grasp the significance of the Incarnation. To this day we continue to separate the Person and the Work of Christ and don't really have a Christocentric and Trinitarian vision. Lord, have mercy...help us in our weakness. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God." Until next time - Blessings in Christ ~ RLS