Geordie W. Ziegler offers an exploration of the concept of "grace" in the thought of T. F. Torrance, and what it means for understanding the Christian life as "participation" in Christ's ongoing humanity. He clarifies Torrance's claim that Christ's vicarious humanity intensifies, rather than lessens, the necessity of human response to God in sacrificial and Christ-like service. Specifically, Ziegler demonstrates the centrality of Torrance's concept of grace across the dogmatic spectrum and argues that grace, for Torrance, is a downward, twofold movement from and to the Father, through the Son in the Spirit. This understanding of grace distinctly defines the Christian life as the gift of sharing in the Son's relation with the Father through the Spirit. This project is distinct in that it articulates a Trinitarian approach to grace which spans the entire dogmatic spectrum. Part One considers grace as a movement of the Trinity, expressed in the economy of salvation. Part Two applies this understanding of grace to the human person. It traces the way in which human beings, through the Holy Spirit, participate in Christ's Sonship within the three concentric levels of anthropology, ecclesiology, and personal formation in Christ.
Foreword (John Webster)
Introduction
Part 1: The Objective Agent in Grace—The Triune Persons
1. The Motion of Grace from the Trinity
2. The Motion of Grace through the Son
3. The Motion of Grace through the Spirit
Part 2: Human Participation in the Motion of Grace
4. Anthropology—Grace Has a Context
5. The ecclesiological Form of Grace
6. Formation through Participation: Identity and Movement
Conclusion
A clear and extensive invitation
“God speaks. Are we listening? Thomas F. Torrance was a master at redirecting our attention from asking or questioning God to listening to God. God is chiefly a God of grace, which means that his presence among us fundamentally is to give us life, salvation, and blessing. Geordie W. Ziegler's dissertation is a clear and extensive invitation to pastors to restore grace to its primary position in our understanding of what we are about.”
A rich theological feast
“This comprehensive, carefully developed exploration of the theology of T. F. Torrance is marked by consistent attention to the personal encounter with God’s grace given for us in, through, and as Jesus Christ. Geordie W. Ziegler patiently leads readers into a serious, direct, and sometimes critical conversation with Torrance—all the while pointing to where Torrance himself would have us look, unto Jesus Christ. This book is a rich theological feast, and I endorse it with enthusiasm and applause for a job well done.”
For anyone who wishes to understand the power of grace as God’s action for us
“This book is not just for Torrance scholars, but for anyone who wishes to understand the power of grace as God’s action for us in his Word and Spirit—a power that God does not relinquish, but exercises here and now as the risen and ascended Lord, through the action of his Holy Spirit uniting us to himself. With clarity and consistency Geordie W. Ziegler explains exactly why salvation by grace, when rightly understood with the help of Torrance’s theology, eliminates the need to seek assurance for our salvation in what we do, since that assurance is freely actualized for us in Christ himself and enabled by the Spirit. Ziegler demonstrates precisely why the theology of T. F. Torrance offers a breadth and depth of understanding that simply will not be found elsewhere.”
A full and perceptive study of an under-appreciated element in the work of a theologian of great stature
"Although it is now widely acknowledged that T.F. Torrance was one of the most distinguished and original British theological thinkers in the second half of the twentieth century, his theology of divine grace has rarely been studied at any depth. This is a full and perceptive study of an under-appreciated element in the work of a theologian of great stature, and an opportunity to give thought to some central questions in the theology of the Christian life."
This is a work of invitation to the theology of Thomas F. Torrance, but it is more than that, it is also an invitation to enter into a vision of the Christian life that is all of grace.
"The work of Thomas F. Torrance is amongst the most profound and technical English language dogmatics one could wish to find and it has fueled an entire industry of scholarship. That in itself is a gift to the church. But often overlooked is the applied nature of Torrance’s theology. The practical implications of Torrance’s work are only now being unearthed and exposed; Ziegler’s work is one such project. With grace as its main theme, Ziegler shows how Torrance’s theology can be read as a resource for worship and Christian formation. This is a work of invitation to the theology of Thomas F. Torrance, but it is more than that, it is also an invitation to enter into a vision of the Christian life that is all of grace."