Trinitarian Grace and Participation: An Entry into the Theology of T. F. Torrance (Emerging Scholars)

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 Christs ongoing humanity. He clarifies Torrances claim that Christs 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 Torrances 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 Sons 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 Christs Sonship within the three concentric levels of anthropology ecclesiology and personal formation in Christ.