Viewpoint
December 5, 2007

A tribute to Thomas Torrance
By Gerrit Dawson

For me, the way just got harder, the light dimmer and the road longer. The Very Reverend Professor Thomas Forsyth Torrance passed from this world on December 2 at the age of 94. For Tom, of course, it is all glorious gain. He who perceived the glory of the Triune God so much more clearly than the rest of us, now sees face to face, and, I have no doubt, rejoices with exceeding great joy. But we have lost a great father in the faith.

Tom lived and breathed the quality he identified as so essential to theology: eusebeia, or worshipful godliness. In his masterwork, The Trinitarian Faith, he wrote, "As found in Nicene theology, eusebeia referred to the orthodox understanding of truth embodied in the tradition of faith and worship that derived from the apostles... the way of belief and worship characteristic of those who are committed to Christ and who have to suffer for it." Theology and eusebeia were inseparable to the church fathers and Tom Torrance understood that all good theology must be done in the context of faithful, consecrated worship.

So his writings have always had a liturgical quality for me. As I read, I am led to worship. Tom's works contain theological poetry. The very precision of thought partakes of the Triune God's beauty and evokes the pleasure of lovliness.

This quality was borne out in his life. He lived a life of prayer. The kneeling bench in his study was well worn. He ever consecrated himself to the Word of God and never ceased striving to be more accurate and more truthful in all he taught and wrote.

This week, I have spent some tearful, happy hours pouring over the letters, articles and books he sent me through the years. His regard astounds me still. His encouragement was transformative. He, like his brothers James and David, loved to point people to Christ. Theology was more than academics to Tom Torrance. It was worship, the path to the true life, worth dying for and, above all, worth living for. When Tom passed through a church, a seminary, or a lecture hall he left a wake of people thinking, talking, and praying about Christ Jesus and all he means to us.

Much will justifiably be written about his contributions to the theology of science, his service as moderator of the Church of Scotland, his role as a translator and editor of Barth and Calvin, his Templeton prize. But first of all to me, he is a father in the faith. Through him, theology was recovered for me, and, in many ways, my very ministry was rescued. He led me to see a Jesus bigger than I had ever imagined. I love him dearly and will miss him until by grace I can join him on the farther shore.